Category: Running

Hello everyone! I hope you are all having a lovely weekend. Mine has been great so far. I went out on a run on Friday after work, and managed the 8 mins run, 1 min walk again. We spent a few hours at the allotment on Saturday (saw the Red Arrows fly over) and made it ship-shape! The weeds had really taken over, and I had only been doing light weeding, but I have been feeling so much better so I took along a big fork and tackled the fruit bed, Andy tackled other weeds and my Mum and brother came along and did some planting for us. I was awake very early (we have a neighbour who mows his lawn with a strimmer very early on summer weekends) so I made some scones for my Mum and brother to thank them for helping us.

I made these with some dried fruit and a little almond extract, and one was a very welcome late lunch (and some chocolate tea) after all that digging.

I had a lot of jobs to do at home, so after doing some cleaning and tidying I walked up to Sweatshop as they were having 20% off.

I decided (I think while in hospital and reading countless running magazines) that this year I would get fitted for proper running trainers. I have always been happy with Nike shoes (and I like Nike+) but my current ones are not as comfy as my old ones, and the soles feel a little too thick.

Anyway, I thought I would have to run on the treadmill once, so I did wear my trainers and a sports bra. But it actually went like this:

I had to remove my socks, and stand while the lady felt my arches and heels (poor her), then I had to walk around the shop while she watched me. Then I had to try on a pair of neutral shoes and go on the treadmill while she watched me. Interestingly she said that my right leg is fine (my right knee is the one that used to give me issues and I have to be careful with) and my left foot does not overpronate, but it flicks out to the side a little bit. She said I needed moderate/ light supportive shoes, whereas my current ones were very supportive which is why they felt too solid. She also said that my current size (5) were too small. I tried on one pair of size 5’s and they did feel small, and I even measured the soles against my current ones to see (they were the same). So I tried on 5 1/2’s, and a couple of 6’s (but they were too big).

Anyway, she kept bringing out different shoes, I had to try them on, then go back on the treadmill again. At one point she got someone else to come and watch me run too- it was so hard to run naturally as I was really conscious of being watched! Anyway, this went on for over 30 mins! I must have tried on at least 8 pairs of shoes, and the ones I finally settled on I tried on twice and had to run with them twice (with a different pair in between to check) just to make sure.

So here they are! They have a 30 day exchange policy so if I don’t get on with them I can swap them for another pair, and I also got a free 16 week membership to an on-line run club (Full Potential Run Club- never heard of it but it sounded good) and a reminder that they have a run each week from the shop. They are Mizuno ones, and apparently the support (the wave?) goes along the whole length which should help to correct the flicking out.

So this morning I was up bright and early for a run in them! 🙂  I did the same route, and the same 8 min run, 1 min walk, but I managed it about 3 minutes quicker! They felt lovely, although I think I need to lace up the right foot better next time.

Then after a quick bath and breakfast I was off out again, this time to watch Andy and his brother run a local 10K race.

Photographer fail! When Andy was running along the finish bit, I took out the camera and took the photo, only the camera was switched over to showing me the last photo I took! Oops!

I did like it when the first person was coming in, and they started to play Chariots of Fire over the speakers!

I got his brother anyway (in the blue) as he was a few mins behind so that gave me time to work out what had happened to the camera!

Watching a race is so much colder than running a race- it was so cold out there! I had a hot chocolate when I got home as I was freezing!

I have been doing some other baking this weekend, but I will save that for another post.

Runners- have you ever had your gait analysed? Or anyone tempted? It was much more in depth than I was expecting.

Did you have a lovely weekend too ?

Yup! I did it! Perhaps it was not such a good idea as I went out on Saturday and Sunday morning, but I didn’t get home too late today (I had brought work home with me instead) so I decided to go out for my first run of this week.

The plan was 8 min run, 1 min walk, repeated for the 3 mile route. It still takes me ages to run it, as I think when I am moving I am going at 11-12 min miles on average, but I didn’t need to stop at any time, and kept to the time limits. The jump up from 5 mins seemed big in a way, but I basically made my head tell my legs they could do it.

I also made a lovely lemon and lime cake at the weekend (for Sunday tea)- it was a basic lemon cake recipe (sponge cake with lemon zest in it) to which I added lime zest to. Then you pour it with lemon and lime juice when it comes out of the oven (pierce it first), leave it to cool and then top with a lemon/lime icing (lemon and lime juice with icing sugar) and then sprinkle with zest.

Look at how yellow it is on the inside! It was delicious- the recipe was from my National Trust recipe book and I am very sure I will make it again. It went perfectly with the summery weather over the weekend- shame it is back to rain now!

Share a celebration with me please- I am in the mood for positives right now!

Hello all

Thanks for the comments about my hip- I looked up loads of stretches on the internet in the end, and didn’t even go on a walk on Wednesday or Thursday. By Friday it was loads better, and was just stiff if I sat for too long, and so Friday evening we had a walk after dinner, just to test it out.

Anyway, all was well so this morning I went out on a run.

In one of my new Thoosa vest tops, and my lovely Bondi band too! I love the Bondi band- when it was colder I was having it over my ears too, to keep them warm, but now it is warmer it just works like a hair/sweatband.

I did a 3 mile route, 5 mins running, 1 min walking, and all was well. The wind was pretty chilly, but that is much nicer than being too hot.

Smiley and shiny when I got back home again! I like the before and after- see how much my mood improves when I get to go running 🙂

Then I got to use my new bowl and cup for breakfast!

This breakfast was amazing! Blueberries (massive ones on offer from Ocado that taste delicious), Dorset muesli, almonds and Kara coconut milk, all left to soak overnight. Then I added some cinnamon this morning. It was so creamy. Plus a mint tea as I was a bit cold.

Earlier in the week I made some more macaroons (mostly because standing up was more comfy than sitting down):

The pink ones (were meant to be orange- I used some yellow and some red food gel but the yellow didn’t mix in very well!) are orange flavour, and the purple ones are coconut flavour.

I made a ganache for the filling- equal amounts of cream (I used some Alpro soya cream) and dark chocolate. You warm up the cream, then pour it over the chocolate and stir until it melts the chocolate. Then leave it to thicken up.

Yum that ganache was good! I have never made it before but it was so simple. I don’t really like cream, and so I normally get put off recipes that use it, because the rest would go to waste, plus I never know if I will like it, but using the soya cream worked really well, and as it has a longer date than cream (and comes in a smaller carton) I might try it in other things too. Anyway, they went down well at work again!

This weekend I have plans to plant some new seeds, as I did plant some before but the little greenhouse they were in got blown over, and they were not salvageable. We need to get to the allotment and plant our carrot seeds too. I might make some blueberry scones, or maybe a lemon cake. And hopefully get out for some walks in this sunshine.

Have a lovely weekend everyone 🙂

 

Hello all

I hope you all had lovely weekends.

Friday for me included this:

When I got home from work I had some lunch, did some work and then headed out for another walk with some running interspersed. I did the same route again, and pretty much the same as the other day- 3 mins of jogging and 2 mins of walking. It chucked it down with rain, but I never mind that when running because I will get in the shower once home anyway (so really it gets my hair washing started sooner). I even got to wear my Bondi Band- and it did keep all my hair out of my face- shame it could not keep the rain off!

Once I got home the skies opened and it poured down- I did try to take a photo (the rain was beating against the window) but it does not do the heavy rain justice. My trainers would have been squelching in all that water.

Then after my shower I had a lovely dinner (cooked by Andy)- pasta with veggies, pesto and fresh basil (and then some cheese). After that we packed a bag each and headed to the train station. Andy had managed to book us a weekend in York (train tickets + hotel) and although I was a bit concerned about going away when I was tired after work, actually it was great because I couldn’t take any work with me (I could have been tempted to take loads home and work all weekend) and also could not do any housework either.

We got the train up on Friday evening, and then had a lovely weekend wandering around York. We went to another National Trust place (good timing as it tipped with rain), went out for lunch (again good timing as we were stuck in a hail-storm), and enjoyed some time walking around the town, looking at the impressive buildings and little streets. On Sunday morning we lounged around the hotel watching the London marathon (Well done everyone!!!!!!) and popped out for breakfast (I had a scone- yummy) before checking out at the last possible moment! We then paid a visit to the railway museum (and saw all the Scouts and Brownies out for the St George’s Day parade in the town centre).

And I even treated myself to some bargains: some Whittards chocolate tea which sounds divine- chocolate truffle tea which has black tea, cocoa beans, coconut and macadamia nuts in it, some Hotel Chocolat Easter goodies (reduced) and also some chocolate peanut “smudge” (spread) which I could not resist!

We did have a little bit of a hard time getting home on Sunday- we had to get two trains on the way home (which I don’t mind) and they were running late, and then the second one terminated early because of a train blocking the line, so it was a bit chaotic and we had to get a rail replacement coach, which took ages. Ah well, we got home in the end.

Having a break at the weekend is always nice, and I feel like my batteries were well and truly recharged ready for this week. This week I have a few afternoons where I won’t be in, but today and also Wednesday I will be in all day. I am taking Lara’s advice and making myself a little plan to say when I will be doing housework, when I will do work, and when I will fit in exercise, so that I don’t do it all at once. I do like a good plan.

What did you get up to this weekend? I am trying to catch up on blogs but the new Blogger dashboard is not as easy to use and I think I have missed ones out. So update me 🙂

Anyone else love watching marathons on TV? Andy thinks I am a bit strange to like it so much- last weekend I was watching the Paris marathon too- but I love seeing all the people out there running, all the people raising money for charity is so inspiring, and the elite runners are so fast!

Hello everyone!

Since dipping my toes back into the running water (shoes?), I have been thinking a lot about starting running. I really wish I had started this blog right then (back in 2008), but in fact I waited a couple of years (and had run my first half marathon) before I started blogging. I did a post about how I started out running here, and I really believe that anyone can do it.

Here are some of my tips for starting out (or starting again!)

Have a plan!

I think if you are starting out, then having a plan is really important. The plan I followed is here– it starts with 1 minute of running (which means gentle jogging and not fast sprinting) alternated with walking. I did think that I might need to start there, but as I have had a few years of running under my belt I think my body had retained a little of that and so I have started a little further along this time. Anyway, each week the next week looked too hard, but your body does adapt and I think a plan helps to move you on at an appropriate pace. I am going to create a plan for myself, based on previous training plans and my current fitness levels. Because I am going back to work I need to fit in with that, so I will only be going out maybe twice a week to begin with, until I am feeling better and can increase that.

Don’t go too fast or too soon

I think often (and I was included here) people think the “run” part of a plan means all out sprinting, when really it is a gentle jog and might only be a tiny bit faster than walking pace. You can work on your speed once you can run steadily for 30 mins or more. Also don’t go from doing nothing to going running every day. Your body needs time to adapt to this new exercise.

Rest!

Your body needs rest days. The temptation is to go out every day, but when you are starting I think the rest days are even more important as your muscles will be recovering.

Kit yourself out

I think getting some good trainers (and of course a sports bra girls) is really important. When I started originally I was wearing old skechers which were not very supportive (and slipped off when I ran). This time I was back in my trusty old Nike’s (even though I would be walking more than running). I am also planning to get my gait analysed when I next buy some new trainers.

As I have got more into running, I have accumulated more bits (e.g. a Nike+ band, a Garmin, water bottles etc), but I used to time my running/ walking intervals on my mobile phone! I have a little mp3 player and I love to load it with podcasts and listen to radio shows, and that would be my favourite item I think.

Enter a race!

This is great for motivation. The reason I started running was because I wanted to run a Race for Life (a 5K race), and when the training runs were feeling tough, I had my goal in the back of my mind. I was worried that races would be elitist and full of speedy lycra-clad club runners, but in reality they are friendly and inclusive. Just don’t start at the front as you will get in the way of the fastest runners!  And don’t worry about coming last. I always worry about this, as even at my fastest I was still a slow runner. Last summer I was last for the majority of a race, but it was still fine (and I had a personal cycle escort for a lot of it!). If you are starting out (and a female) then I think the Race for Life series is brilliant- very inclusive and beginner friendly (as lots of people walk the events)- and of course great for raising money for charity, and raising awareness. I am following this advice, as I have two half marathons booked for the autumn- hopefully by then I will be able to run that distance again. 🙂

Run in a different part of the country.

I am lucky because Andy enjoys running too (OK, maybe he does not enjoy it, he sees it as something he should do) so we have completed a few races in different parts of the country- a nice excuse for a weekend away. My favourite of all time was the one we did near Nottingham last Autumn– who would not want to run with views like this?

And of course if you enter races you can get rewards like medals, t-shirts etc.

Think about nutrition

Different food works for different people, so you have to find out what works well for you before and after running. I know that some foods that I can eat normally do not agree with me before a run, and also I want to make sure I am eating nutritious foods to help my body with the running. In the summer heat, think about keeping hydrated, especially when running further. I know I get very sweaty (is that too much info??) and end up with salt all over my face and body after a run in the heat, so I have to make sure I replace those salts with something too, not just replace the water, as otherwise the salts get too diluted in your blood.

I am pretty sure that a soya chai latte was a good way to rehydrate after running 10 miles -right?

I really really love running, and I cannot really say it enough. My 22 year old self would be surprised to know this, as I really could not run at all, and never thought I would be able to. So if you fancy giving it a go, then please do- you never know, you might love it! (But of course check with your GP first).

This year AXA PP healthcare are one of the sponsors of Race for Life, and they are going to be holding some live discussions about running on the 26th April (next Thursday). They have experts from different areas, including training and nutrition, so if you want to join in you can click here. You can also leave comments on their facebook page, or on Twitter.

The line up looks like this:

10-12am: John Grudington, who is a personal trainer, fitness tutor and physiologist.

2-4pm: Lucy Wyndham-Read, a personal trainer. She has contributed to some great articles on the AXA PPP website including this one about starting running.

5-7pm: Dr Sarah Schenker, a nutritionist.

I would love to ask them about getting back to running after surgery. I did ask my consultant about when I could start, and he said to leave it at least 6 weeks, because the surgery was around my abdominal area, and he wanted to give everything time to heal up before I put it under stress. So one question would be “Following surgery, how can I tell the difference between pushing myself to improve, and pushing myself too far?”

I would also like to ask about nutrition- I am vegetarian and am not keen on eggs or dairy. I do like cheese but with the saturated fat content it is not ideal to have too much, so my nutrition questions would be “how can I include some healthy vegetarian/vegan protein into my diet?” and “how much protien should I be aiming to eat each day?”

What sorts of questions would you like to ask? 

They also have a Race for Life competition– and if you enter you have the chance of adding £100 to a sponsorship fund (or £200 if you are a member of AXA healthcare).

Happy running!

This post was sponsored by AXA PPP healthcare. All the views are my own, I was just asked to include certain links.