Maria Runs

It’s that time of year again (or what is the fortnight equivelant for a year?)- Sport Relief will be here soon.

Two years ago I did a 6 mile run for Sport Relief, which ended up being on a track, a 400m track, and I think only 4 people did the 6 miles (most did the 3 mile option). I actually really enjoyed it, and ended up finishing first lady! You have to be in it to win it after all. But they are not doing that event this year. I have been sent some information about cycling and swimming events, as they seem to be focusing more on this this year. It’s for a great cause, so have a look if you, or anyone in your family, might be tempted to have a go at one of the events.

SAINSBURY’S SPORT RELIEF GAMES RETURN FOR 2016

 Renowned charity event returns with the Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Games from 18th – 20th March 2016

 More than £71 million was raised in 2014, breaking all previous records

Sport Relief is back for 2016 with the Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Games. The fundraising event which encourages the Great British public to do themselves proud will take place across the country over the weekend of 18th – 20th March. Participants will have the chance to walk, run, swim or cycle in the steps of their favourite athletes to raise money and help to transform people’s lives across the UK and the world’s poorest communities.

This year there are more ways than ever before to get involved with flagship events at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London, and in Belfast, Cardiff, Glasgow, Norwich and Sheffield. There are also hundreds of local event across the nation, so there’s no excuse not to sign up and get involved!

The public can walk or run at the Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile. With a host of events to take part in, fundraisers can make every step count with events covering one, three and six miles so people of all ages and abilities can join in and help change lives.

Budding bikers can take part once again with the return of the Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Cycle. Cyclists across the UK will be securing sponsorship and saddling up to raise much needed cash across the country. The pedal powered events offer a number of distances for first time cyclists and enthusiasts alike:

 3 mile Family Cycle for those that to prefer to ride as a team

 For all yellow jersey wannabes there’s the opportunity to sign up for 25 miles or 50 mile challenges, raising the heart rate and some serious sponsorship

 Simply Cycle where participants can set their own goal

Finally for those that favour the water, the Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Swimathon, the UK’s biggest swimming event, will welcome eager entrants. With over 600 venues across the UK, including the London Aquatics Centre at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, there will be no shortage of opportunities to get involved across a variety of distances:

 1.5 km for novice swimmers

 2.5 km for those who want to up the ante

 5 km for those looking to go to great lengths

 Those who prefer to swim as a team can join a relay over 1.5 km, 5 km or simply set their own distance in Team Swim and splash their way to super sponsorship

Michele Settle, Director of UK Campaigns and Brands at Comic Relief said of the Games: “As one of the UK’s largest fundraising events, Sport Relief aims to inspire people to do themselves proud by getting active and raising much needed funds to transform people’s lives across the UK and the world’s poorest communities.

In 2014 we broke records raising over £71 million; this year we hope to inspire more participants and raise more funds than ever before, so we can continue to support communities around the world. For 2016 we’ve got more exciting things to come and fantastic celebrities involved than ever before so watch this space!”

To take on an event and get sponsored to walk, run, swim, or cycle yourself proud, head to www.sportrelief.com to locate and sign up to your nearest event.

Sport Relief 2016 will take place from Friday 18th to Sunday 20th March 2016. You can run, swim, cycle or even walk yourself proud at events across the country. There’s a distance for everyone in the

Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Games, whether you’re sporty or not. Find out more at www.sportrelief.com.

Distances

All challenges are available across a variety of distances for both solo and team participants, please find further details below:

Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile

 1 mile (walk or run)

 3 miles (walk or run)

 6 miles (walk or run)

Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Cycle

 Family Cycle: A 3-mile ride providing the perfect chance for keen cyclists of all ages to saddle up with family and friends.

 25 miles (solo cycle)

 50 miles (solo cycle)

 SimplyCycle: Create your own sponsored cycle, pick your own distance and time and participate either with individually or with friends and family.

Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Swimathon

 1.5k (solo or team swim)

 2.5k (solo swim)

 5k (solo or team swim)

 SimplySwim: Set your own distance and time and swim solo or with friends and family

Have you every taken part in any of the Sport Relief activities before? What do you think encourages people to get into sport?

 

So last week, Laura from WholeheartedlyHealthy.com had offered a free bootcamp to kick-start the new year. I am not one for juice fasts, or fad diets, but as I love Laura’s philosophy on finding a healthy balance, I thought it would be a great idea to join in.

What I loved about it was the focus on the positives- Laura had created tick sheets (I put notes into mine) and the idea was to focus on things like how many glasses of water had been drunk in a day, how many portions of veggies, plus other areas of life such as “me time” and self-care.

Our first task was to de-clutter something (could be something small like your handbag)- I went for my cookery book shelf, and I think I got rid of around 40 books! I had a BBQ cookery book- first, we don’t even own one, and really, as a vegetarian, the book didn’t contain many recipes! I had be meaning to do it for ages, so it was a great reason for me to sort through them and only keep ones with recipes I actually use.

I went on to sort out my desk (I do have files for payslips and bills but had kept just shoving them in the drawer when I ran out of time to sort them), and later in the week I sorted a couple of drawers and my old coats- the charity bag went out this morning. Another task (that links to the de-cluttering) was to think about barriers- I took this on a tangent- as we had said that in the new year we would talk about moving (turns out we have been here for 10 years)- it kicked us into gear and we looked through our finances, contacted a few estate agents and have started the process.  I am very glad of the de-cluttering as we had a few agents over to value, and then are having one to take photos later in the week.

The plan is to keep on de-cluttering different areas each weekend.

I did my “happy list” and it will be good to peek at every now and then to check I am doing things from it. Something that rang true with me was Laura saying that just like on a plane, where you put your own mask on before helping others, you need to take care of yourself first. With my job (which I do love) I do find sometimes that I am constantly working, or thinking of work (until one task this week to create an inspiration board, all of my pinterest boards were to do with school), and really at some points I need to not work, and not feel guilty about having an evening off. Last Wednesday we went to see Star Wars (Andy had already seen it… twice…) and it was a rush to get work finished once I got home, but it was worth it to do something else in the week.

I really love listening to podcasts, and now with my car, I can plug my phone into the sound system, so I have started making a point of doing that. I realised that while I like listening to the radio, the constant reminders of the time would make me a bit stressed- if I was not by a certain roundabout by Thought for the Day, I would worry about being late and so on. So now, I download some podcasts and listen to those on my commute. Also, it feels like I am in a bit of a bubble, whereas listening to news (especially if they get people from the government talking about education) could get a bit stressful. I can’t quite explain it but I much prefer it. That’s something from my happy list every day!

One day the task was to try out a new recipe. I only saw this on Saturday (after a muddy parkrun)- I had seen this recipe on Lucie’s blog a while back, and fancied making the topping (although I forgot the raisins)- the maple and apple was delicious (plus a bit more maple syrup on the pancakes), and much better than the easy nutella option.

I do love trying new recipes (although mainly cake ones, not so much meals as Andy does that most of the time now) but sometimes I get stuck in baking the same things over and over. I did start working through the CCC book, so I think once our weekends get back to normal I must start looking through it again. Projects like battenberg cakes (yes Mark Kermode, some people love them!) are so nice to do at the weekend if I have a bit more time.

Finally, I did think a bit about food. Last Tuesday I had a long day with meetings before and after work, I got home with 5 minutes to change before heading out to running club, then it was home, shower, dinner, finish work, dry my hair, and then I realised I hadn’t sorted out my lunch. The temptation to have my “easy” lunch (which is hummus and ryvita- no prep needed) was so tempting, but it would not up my veggie count, and I had all the ingredients waiting. So I sorted out a salad (for the next 3 days) using a pouch of ready cooked lentils and quinoa, avocado, spinach, baby corn, beetroot and a little hummus on top. It was so much nicer than my standby, and I was glad to spend that little bit of extra time sorting it, and need to remember that in weeks to come.

So, all in all, a really successful week and I must thank Laura for organising it.

(Not all at once, don’t worry!)

Over the last few weeks I have been sent a few bits to try out- some I have already mentioned, but here they all are.

Neat Nutrition vegan protein powder

They sell a range of protein powders, and I was sent the vegan one, made with pea and hemp protein, plus xylitol, xanthan gum and stevia.

This was sent to me in two flavours- chocolate and vanilla (but they also sell a plain and berry flavoured one). I did try one as a shake, and although it blended better than some other protein powders, it was still lumpy. The taste was fine though. It does contain stevia as a sweetener, which often I find tastes very metallic, but there does not seem to be too much in here. I tried mixing a spoonful into porridge (after it was cooked- not sure if you should cook it?) and that was better. Probably the best protein powder I have tried, although I am not convinced that I would buy some for myself as I just forget to use it, and find porridge pretty filling anyway.

Maple Syrup from We Love Maple (I certainly do).

Mmmmm, all the maple syrup! I was sent four grades of syrup. From their website:

Extra Light maple syrup

Primarily produced from the syrup collected at the very beginning of the season. Recognisable by its light colour and sweet, delicate flavour.

Light maple syrup

Harvested after the Extra Light syrup and relatively light in colour. It has a pure, delicate taste. Ideal in vinaigrettes or drizzled over sweet and savoury dishes.

Medium maple syrup

The most commonly used syrup, harvested after Light syrup. Its more pronounced maple flavour is perfect for cooking, desserts and sauces.

Amber maple syrup

Darker in colour. Rich, distinctive flavour that is more pronounced than that of Medium syrup. Recommended for sauces and glazes.

I used the Amber syrup to roast some nuts with, which I gave away as Christmas presents- they were very well received and smelled amazing as they were baking.

French toast made with panettone (so good, and such a good way to use it up) covered in Medium maple syrup. So delicious.

Their website also has a lot of recipes on there, plus information about sports nutrition (maple syrup contains zinc, potassium and antioxidants- much better than sugar or sweeteners) so it makes me feel even better about including some in my post-long run brunches.  They also have a section on maple water (which I tried in the US in the summer and loved) so I shall be looking out for that in the shops.

4 SOME (seeds of mother earth) Vegan smoothie:

I also loved the red shiny jiffy bag it was sent in!

I was sent one smoothie from a range of four vegan, dairy free, gluten free, wheat free smoothies that contain no added sugar. The four seeds (flax, poppy, hemp and pumpkin) are combined with superfoods, such as oats and quinoa, and fruit and vegetables, which are cold pressed to retain all of their goodness and nutrients.  The end result is a smoothie that is a great source of protein (20g per 500ml), iron, magnesium and potassium, while also being packed with vitamins.

The Berry Boom one contained pressed apple, water, blueberries, oats, beetroot, raspberries, pea protein, pumpkin seeds, poppy seeds, flax seeds and hemp seeds. It had a lovely berry flavour- I could not taste the beetroot (although I love beetroot in a salad, or cooked, I don’t like the idea of it in a smoothie particularly), and although the seeds and oats gave it a bit of texture, it wasn’t gritty like a protein powder drink can be. I was impressed with the amount of protein in one bottle (10g) and I can imagine that when the weather is hot it would be even more refreshing to drink after a long run.

4 S.O.M.E smoothies are available in 4 flavours – Strawberry Slam (4 super seeds, strawberries, quinoa and beets); Mango Passion (4 super seeds, quinoa, mango, carrot and pressed passion fruit); Power Greens (4 super seeds, crushed pineapple, spinach and oats) and Berry Boom (4 super seeds, blueberries, oats, beets and raspberries).

Have you tried any of these products? What is your favourite way to eat maple syrup?

*Products sent in exchange for a mention on my blog. All opinions are my own.