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Wednesday 31 December 2014

2014 Review: Nutella-Eating Buttocks, Reasons NOT to Date a Runner and Upside Down Tattoos

2014 has been a year full of adventures ... and misadventures. And animal attacks. 

... I'll let the numbers do the talking ...




Miles Run: 1464 ... approximately the distance from Norwich, UK to Moscow, Russia.

Races Run: 25

Arses bitten by animals: 1 arse but multiple ants 

Runs which included a blocked loo, a rubber duck and a dog: 1



Weedy bogie frequency:  High between July - September 

Number of races in which I was overtaken by a kayak: 1 



Reasons not to date a runner: 10 

Numbers of upside down number tattoos: 1 



Number of times trodden on own foot with spikes: 0 (definitely a WIN) 

Reasons to start running: 10 

Reasons to Hate Running: 10 

Races over marathon distance: 9

Trophies won: 2 … and both for beer races. I know my strengths … Whale Ale Relay & Equinox Beer Mile 



Number of buttocks eating Nutella seen: 2

Running Rules: 27 

Feet of water I nearly drowned in, in my first triathlon: 4 

Miles run at TR24: 87 



Number of reasons a wine marathon is better than a road marathon: 20 


And number of adventures I'll be having in the new year? I'll aim for 2015 and go from there ...

Happy New Year ... may it be full of adventures and lots of good numbers.

Friday 26 December 2014

10 Reasons I HATE Running ...


1. You get a beautiful tan in summer ... but in the shape of your running kit. White sock marks are SEXY, right? Hello? Anyone ...?

2. You earn the calories to drink gallons of cocktails ... but can’t drink them as you have a 6am run the next morning. It's hard work being a dedicated fun runner. Sulk.   


Socks that cost as much as 2 bottles of vodka ...

3. Your legs have never looked better ... your feet have never looked worse.


After 87 miles at TR24 in the heat. Cankles are sexy ... right? 

4. You FEEL great post-lunchtime run  ... you LOOK terrible. Hastily brushed shower hair is horrific. As is bright-red-shower-face. Both are my standard post-lunch look. So why is MY desk in the corner behind that big board? 

5. You’re in the best shape of your life from all the running ... but your race photos STILL look horrendous. 


Sprint finish ... yes I KNOW I look like a dying goldfish. I was trying hard. 

6. You get to find secret trails and amazing views from the top of hills ... but you’re too busy checking the pace on your Garmin or trying not to vomit from having made yourself run up the hill.
Hills in the heat. Hate hills, hate heat, Sulk. *vomits*
7. You get to buy new shoes. Lots of new shoes ... But they’ll ALL have laces, rubber soles and smell like a dying kipper.

8. You have enough technology on your wrist to power a small spaceship ... but all you use it for is to beat yourself up about why you didn’t run up that hill a bit faster. Stupid hills.


Get outside and enjoy nature. Source
9. You’re saving money from not going out and not drinking ... and spending it all on trainers and socks that you'll have to replace within 3 months. 

10. You know the exact pace you have to run to get a sub-20 5k ... but you still can’t bloody do it. 

Stupid running.

Huff.

(Goes and puts trainers on and goes for a run in a sulk)



Tuesday 23 December 2014

Nuun Hydration Tablet Review: Take That Hangovers! ... A Well Kept Secret

I made an amazing discovery the other day. 

I'd had a girls weekend in Manchester and as an afterthought had taken the nuun hydration tablets with me. There was cocktails, dancing … and a hydration tablet in a glass of water before bed and another one in the morning.

It was one of my best decisions that weekend. Certainly better than the '3rd-jug-of-cocktails-and-one-straw' idea at 1am.

Running hydration tablets stop hangovers. Why is this such a secret? I don't go out drinking often but this could have made several Sunday mornings this year a lot more pleasant.

It certainly made Christmas shopping a bit easier, although dancing in heels for 6 hours didn’t really do my feet much good. Maybe I should bring my trainers to the next girlie weekend ...



Taste Test … Using the 5 year old ...
I was sent the tablets by nuun to try out but I gave my usual proviso that I would try them out and say exactly what I thought. Along those lines I thought it might be interesting to try a taste test using my 5 year old.

I had the tri berry, the strawberry lemonade and the fruit punch to try out. The flavours sounded delicious and all tasted fairly similar to me, light and fruity and something I'd be happy to drink on a long run. I prefer flavoured water to plain water and having something tasty encourages me to drink.


Lily's the 5 year old's verdict:
Pink Lemonade: "Mmmmm. It tastes like healthy food. Like oranges."
Fruit Punch: "It tastes like tablets, fruit tablets. Yummy. Tastes like another orange. This one tastes the best."
Tri-Berry: "It tastes like fizzy. Tastes like carrots. Some carrots are fruit. Some carrots are vegetables."

So in conclusion, they all tasted good to Lily and as you can probably tell, she doesn't have many filters, she says exactly what she thinks!

Reasons to use nuun hydration tablets
  • nuun is just balanced electrolytes which you can lose through dehydration, water alone isn't enough.It is not a source of sugar or carbs. This means you can manage your energy needs alongside the rehydration, you don't need to take into account any extra sugar and calories from the tablets … as there are none. After all on a hot day you need to replace more fluids and electrolytes than on a cold day but you don't need all the extra sugar and carbs.


Other benefits
  • They come in a small pot which is handy if you want to take them along on a long run. I used the Fruit Punch nuun in my hydration pack on my birthday run (44 miles) and because of the small pack size I could pop the whole tube in my vest for water refills.
  • Despite drinking approximately 3 litres of water flavoured with nuun I didn't get sick of the taste and I didn't find them sickly after a few miles.
  • Because they have no sugar and are designed to be non-sticky, I felt comfortable using these in my hydration pack which can be quite awkward to clean.
  • There are 12 different flavours, most of which are fruit and all sound tempting.

Why nuun?
They invented the hydration tab over 10 years ago and the nuun tablets are used by more athletes than all the other brands combined. The company was also founded by competitive cyclists, skiers, rock climbers, runners and triathletes so they knew what they wanted from a hydration tablet.

Flavours Available:
Lemon lime, strawberry lemonade, tri berry, fruit punch, citrus fruit, grape, kona cola, lemon tea, tropical, cherry limeade, lemonade, orange.

Thanks nuun for sending them to me! I may not be doing much long distance running at the moment ... but they're certainly helping keep the hangovers at bay!!

nuun hydration tablets available from their website here

Tuesday 9 December 2014

Running the Coventry Way: 35 years, 35 miles. A birthday in Numbers and Mud.

35 years
43.76 miles
11:40 hours 
5 runners, 7 runners, then 3, then 5, then 3, then 4, then 3 again.
1 cider, 1 mulled wine
2 creme eggs
3 pubs
10 sudocremed toes 
0 blisters
89,222 footsteps
1 brilliant birthday

Prior Preparation Prevents Pustulating Putrid Blisters
On the 8th of December, I was 35. A new race age category. Scary stuff. 

But birthdays are awesome. I bloody love birthdays. There’s presents and cake. But there could also be running ...

I decided to celebrate my birthday in a way I wouldn’t forget. 35 miles for 35 years. 

The Coventry Way is a 40 mile circle of remote footpaths looping around Coventry. There is sheep poo, cow pats and mud aplenty. Stiles beyond counting. Silly amounts of kissing gates. And fields and fields and fields. It seemed a shame not to ...

The Starting Five ...

There was getting friends from the station, getting to the pub,  getting muddy, getting cold, getting cider, getting the giggles at Lozza, getting hugs from Liz, getting support from Simon and Nick, getting lost, getting some sense and letting Richard navigate, getting some great training run ideas from Claudie, getting some headtorches and a crème egg from Simon ...


You've been holding the map upside down, Sarah ...

... And having a BRILLIANT birthday.

Whaddaya mean they've closed our footpaths ...

And just for the record I’m 35 years old not 43 ... but we got a bit lost and then decided we’d done most of the Coventry Way so we may as well carry on and finish it. 

7 miles in ... (Pic by Lozza)


And we got to the pub just in time to get a round in. Win.

The Final Three ... and drinks 



Friday 5 December 2014

Asics262: Back to Bootcamp with Runners World

I had a treat on Friday. A sneak peek as it were. I got invited by Runners World back to the #Asics262 bootcamp day.

If you don’t know, Runners World and Asics choose 5 people every year to kit out, train and prepare for the Paris Marathon in April. You get trained by amazing coaches (Steve Smythe and Sam Murphy), kitted out by Asics in their gorgeous running clothes, a personal and scary (but lovely) nutritionist Ruth,  Sarah-Connors-of-the-Pointy-Elbows, the brilliant physiotherapist and Sports Psychologist Victor; “So WHY do you want to run everywhere then, Sarah?” ... “Well for the crème eggs ... obviously!”


Photography by Tom Miles

I was invited back along with Roger, Ady and Malcs to chat to the 50 bootcampers from among whom the lucky 5 would be selected. Our role was to put them at their ease and to tell them what exactly was involved in the campaign. The prize is amazing and wonderful and exciting ... but it was also the hardest 4.5 months of my life. It’s not to be taken lightly! As Ady joked “If it had lasted another month it might have cost me my marriage.”  

It’s an intense 4.5 months. Every training session, every workout is scrutinised, not only by the coaches, but by the people following you on the Runners World forums, in the magazines and on social media. You have to report back on your progress, on each individual session and reply to any questions that might be raised. Even if the question was “So why do you wear such awful neon pink socks?”


Photography by Tom Miles

You have to track your food ... and post every morsel, mouthful and crème egg online. And be judged and corrected or condemned by both the nutritionist and the forumites. I had to cut down on crème eggs AND got told off for my all-you-can-eat chilli nights ... but I learned the proper way to fuel and to carb load. Carb loading for me included pick’n’mix sweeties. I LOVE Ruth. 

You’re an ambassador, both for Runners World and Asics and have to behave accordingly. Lots of running, lots of photos, lots of behaving self.

And hardest of all is the responsibility. 3000 people wanted this. You were lucky enough to be chosen. You have to prove to yourself that you deserve this. That you are going to make the most of this.  You are NEVER going to get this opportunity again. This is your one opportunity. Make the most of it. 

It’s hard. It’s really hard. I remember being up to midnight most nights as I was running 5 or 6 days a week, then posting about it on the forum, answering questions on the forum, checking what I was eating, following the training schedule and trying not to panic about the thought of knocking a huge amount off of my marathon time. 

But it’s brilliant. You become good friends with the other 4 people going through the same thing.  You achieve times, paces you never thought possible. You learn how to fuel for a race. You have a coach you can put your absolute trust in.  And most of all you get belief.

Belief that you can do this. 

And then you do.

It was a crazy, hard, AMAZING 4 months. One of the toughest things I’ve done.

But I’d do it again in a heartbeat. 




And if you want to help a fellow runner get to Paris with Asics262, you can vote for Lindsay here. She's completely bonkers and goes by the name of Tigger as she's always so incredibly enthusiastic. Especially about wine.

Wednesday 3 December 2014

Cross Country Hatred: Earthworms, Mountains & AWESOME Spectating

Rain is pelting down and our feet are sinking into the already sodden grass. Huddled in the Club tent, we try to stop the worms getting into our bags. Actual wriggly worms. And as we’re all wearing spiked running shoes, it’s going to be worm-kebab time when we start running on the mushy grass. Poor Jim

Northbrook post-race legs. Spoiler: We all survived.

However it’s not all earthworm-death and torrential rain, I get some good news too. 

The race is 4 miles long, not the 5 miles I’d thought. So just once around the fields, a bit of a trot up a hill and then a cup of coffee. It’s sounding pretty good. Apart from the rain. And the worms. And the having-to-run.  

There had better be cake afterwards. 

Waiting until the last minute due to the downpour, I miss my warm-up. I’ll be fine. I’m sure I’ll be fine. It has to be better to warm up on the run, than be out in that freezing rain? In fact, running in that would be more likely to be a ‘cool down’ rather than a ‘warm up, right’? Huddling in a nice warm tent is much more sensible, I tell myself. I ignore the little voice that tells me ‘You realise you’re talking crap, right?’

It’s time.

The girls all pour out of the tiny Northbrook gazebo like clowns out of a tiny car. The men’s race is half an hour later so they’re staying in the warm and dry. I don’t blame them. I’d stay in the tent too. If someone removed the worms for me that is.  

It’s nice though at the start. Despite the rain. There is a sea of green and gold sunburst vests. The feeling of camaraderie makes me forget, just for a moment, that very soon I’ll be running around a field, covered in mud and feeling like hell. 

The girls at the front in their tiny pants and crop tops, bend forward for a good start, the ones in the middle including me, try to coordinate our starts so we don’t get mown down by the over-enthusiastic girls behind us. The girls at the back put on their best ‘mowing down the girls in front’ faces. We all look serious and dedicated and as though our very lives depend on getting a good start.

Then the gun goes off and the entire crowd of ladies do a very girly “Oooh!”. It would have been highly amusing if I wasn’t running for my life, trying to avoid being trampled into the mud by the girls behind me wearing spiked shoes. 

The whole field rushes past me. Like the WHOLE field. Did I miss some sort of energy drink given out at the start? Maybe there’s something really special at the end? Maybe they’re giving out free trainers to the first 50 finishers or something. Or maybe it’s just the thought of finishing quickly and being able to stop running through ankle deep mud. 

I try to run a bit faster but my legs aren’t having any of it.

Picture by the lovely Sarah McNaney

I try to think of excuses. My legs are tired from bike ride yesterday. My spikes aren’t spiky enough. Maybe I’m ill. (Tries a fake cough). Maybe they’re all going too fast and then I can overtake them all at the end. I didn’t warm up because it’s raining. Also I’m not wearing clothes that make me look as though I’ve forgotten my PE kit and am being made to run in my pants and vest. Everyone knows that crop top and pants are the best thing to race cross country in ...  

Ah crap. I’m just going to have to get on with it. *Puff, pant.* This SUCKS.

How can I enjoy trail running, but not cross country? Maybe it’s the spikes. I must be allergic to spiky shoes. That’s it. That must be what’s slowing me down so much as well. Stupid spikes. 

This course is fairly flat, although I am slightly suspicious of the fact that we are running towards Beacon Hill. Beacon Hill which has its own name and is so stupidly steep we have run hill repeats up it. And it has a freaking massive beacon up the top. I can remember Lord of the Rings. You remember that MASSIVE mountain the hobbits had to run up to light the beacon? It was EXACTLY like that. But without the hobbits. 

But I overtook a few people going up the hill. Ha ha! I thought. My hill reps here in the past have helped! I am like Queen of the Hill! I bounded up the hill, wearing my imaginary crown shooting scornful looks at everyone else. I am WINNING at running up hills! 

But the girls I was overtaking? They knew something I didn’t know. They knew we had to go up Beacon Hill TWICE. 

The second time? I wasn’t overtaking anyone. Queen of the Hill? More like Over the Hill. I plodded up, doing what can only be calling ‘running’ by the generous minded. 

I dragged myself around the field, mud up my legs, earthworm murder under my shoes and despair in my heart. Why are the miles taking so long to go? I check my Garmin ... how can I ONLY have gone that far? I’ve got MILES to go before I finish. 

Run ... Run ... Run ... 

I check my Garmin again. 0.06miles have gone past since I last checked it. Oh this is rubbish. At this rate I’ll be here ALL day. AND there isn’t even a medal at the end. There had better be cake or I’m going to be REALLY grumpy. GrumpIER. 

Then the ground disappears.

There’s a ditch. A massive ditch. Filled with mud. The taller women in front are jumping it. Some are landing in it. This doesn’t bode well for a vertically-challenged girl like me. I summon up my best gazelle-like leap and throw my arms out at the same time, pushing the girl over next to me. 

Whoops.

I land on the other side of the ditch and a quick glance shows me, that luckily my accidental push-ee made it over too. Phew. I probably wouldn’t have waded back in to save her but I WOULD have shouted an apology. I’m thoughtful like that. 

Picture by the lovely Sarah McNaney

Run up the hill and back onto the trails and there’s slippery mud everywhere. It’s like ice skating, but dirtier. My spikes are thoroughly clogged up and I can’t claim the grace of Bambi-on-Ice but I manage Bog-Monster-Emerging-From-Toilet. It’s carnage, people are slipping all over the place, my legs are skating around but I manage to avoid the one thing I’m most scared of in cross-country ... stepping on my own foot in spiked shoes. I don’t even get trodden on by anyone else’s spiked shoes.

Am obviously over-achiever. 

We emerge from the slippery mud and back onto the grass and leaves of the playing fields. We circle the field. This is promising. This is towards the finish! ... And past the finish. 

Stupid cross country. 

And guess what. Just to top off the muddy, mucky horror, we get a 2nd go at the ditch jump. 

2 goals: Don’t fall in. Don’t fall in. 

I can’t quite manage my gazelle-leap of before, making do with a cat-startled-by-hoover jump but am grateful not to have ended up in the dirt soup. I’m on the last muddy, grassy bit now, just one more corner and it’s the final straight. It’s not been my race and my legs – and heart – just haven’t enjoyed it.

But it’s nearly done and ... hang on! The girl I’ve been leapfrogging with the whole time has just put on a burst of speed to try and overtake me in a sprint finish! Can’t have that! My legs, thoroughly unimpressed at the whole cross country thing, decide that they DO have something left and whisk me along to the finish chute ... a hair ahead. I hope it’s not ditch-jump-pushed-girl or she is going to beat me to DEATH with the finish token at this final injustice. 

Northbrook ladies. I'm on the far right. (Pic source unknown)

I am relieved to be finished, but am disappointed with how I’ve done. I UNDERSTAND that I can’t be good at things I haven’t trained for. But I don’t have to LIKE it. 

I’ve trained for ultras this year. This involves running really, really slowly, eating snacks and by staying entertained by bushes. And not murdering chickens. I can’t expect to go from that to running like a mud-crazy-cheetah in spiky shoes. They’re opposite things but with running.

Like expecting to be good at bobsleigh because you’ve practised sitting.

I know I can’t EXPECT to be good. But I want to be. Dammit, Running Gods!!! (Howled)

So I take my sulky self and my over-expectations-of-cross-country-running over to spectate the mens’ race. Now this is where cross country makes up for all previous ills. This made up for the rain. This made up for the earthworms. This even made up for running up Massive-Stupid-Mountain-Beacon-Hill twice.

It was carnage.

There were men falling over in the ditch. There were men sliding into the ditch on their bottoms. There was even one poor man who lost his shoe in the ditch.

In fact, I felt so sorry for him, I videoed it. And I definitely don’t watch it when I’m sad just to laugh at this poor man and his hopeless eyes as he searches or his missing shoe.



Cross country running to watch this?

TOTALLY WORTH IT. 

Monday 24 November 2014

10 Reasons to Start Running You Never Considered ... Zombie Attacks & Moving Picnics ...

1. Zombie Apocalypse.
When the zombie apocalypse comes you’ll be glad you dragged your arse out for all those runs. You may not have any toenails, but you’re not going to be a snack for the groaning undead. Cardio, cardio, cardio. Oh and double-tap. Remember to practise your intervals though. They’ll eat the slow ones first.

Source

2. Party Preparation.
Should there be a last minute 80s party, you’ve already got all the lycra and neon you’ll ever need. And we know you listen to the Fame soundtrack while you’re running. Don’t deny it.

3. Concentration.
Running makes you really, really focused. Nothing focuses the mind more than the thought of a really cold pint at the end of a really hot marathon.

4. It hurts less when you stub your toe.
There are less toenails to actually knock off and quite frankly your toes have lost all sensitivity by the time you actually get around to kicking the doorframe. Likewise standing on Lego will never hurt quite the same again.

5. Stat Attack
You know how boring spreadsheets are? Well when they show your run in great details including cadence, heart rates and teeny tiny hills you won’t be able to get enough information. Trust me. AND you’ll be able to prove it was all the fault of that energy gel you had at 8.67 miles that you started feeling nauseous and had to stop running. And definitely not the bottle of wine the night before. Cough.

6. Open Season at Buffet Bar
People won’t judge when you go back for 4ths and 5ths at the buffet. They’ll just assume you ran a marathon the day before.

7. Recovery, Recovery
You can pass off drinking gallons of chocolate milkshake as ‘recovery fuel’.




8. Moving Picnic.
Ultra marathons have CAKE stops. And no-one judges you for eating an entire pizza en-route. And you walk up the hills. Basically they’re a massive buffet with a bit of jogging thrown in.

9. Maths Mastermind
Your maths becomes amazing. You know exactly what pace you have to do to hit that personal best and be able to calculate kilometres per hour into minute miles in seconds. It’s like being an idiot savant. Unable to add up the groceries in the trolley but with the ability to tell anyone your 5k pace when asked.

10. MI5? Pah ...
You can talk a whole new language with other runners. Negative splits? Yasso 800s? Kenyan Hills? It’s like being a secret agent. But one dressed entirely in neon lycra.
 

Wednesday 19 November 2014

Fuelify: Running Snacks! Through the Post!




 
When I first heard about Fuelify, I was intrigued. A monthly box of 6-8 different fitness goodies tailored to your requirements and sent through the post straight to your doormat. And for less than the price of a cup of coffee a week ... It sounded too good to be true.

There is an enormous variety of gels and bars and shakes and fitness goodies out there that I want to try ... but unless I fancy paying a fortune for postage for just one or two items or if I’m absolutely sure I’ll use an entire pack, I don’t really get to experiment.

So when Fuelify contacted me to ask if I’d review one of their boxes if they sent me one I immediately said YES! Snacks? Specifically fitness snacks? I can try for free? Hell yeah!

When the box hit my doormat, I immediately opened it carefully and gently. Well ... ripped it open and started ingesting running fuel at the speed of Usain Bolt.

 

When I came out of my sugar-induced coma, I sat back and considered.

The sports nutrition snacks were packed well and although there were some well known brands such as Clif Bar and High 5, there were some other products I hadn’t heard of such as the Mule Bar. And I certainly hadn’t known Lucozade made jelly beans.

I was also impressed that an Osmo ‘Active Hydration for Women’ product had been included. This was another aspect of the Fuelify box that was interesting. The boxes are tailored to YOU.

And not only to gender, but to the specific type of training that you do. You can choose from Cardio Training, Weight Training, High Intensity Circuits and Muscle Endurance packages.
 
There are also 3 options depending on how often you want to treat yourself: a one-off box, a fortnightly box or a monthly box.


Pros
  • Nice long expiry dates. Even if I don’t use all of the products in a specific cycle, thanks to the long expiry dates, they’ll keep.
  • Packed well. Well packed in shredded paper, everything was in perfect condition when it arrived - no squished gels!
  • Good value. For a monthly package, it will cost you less than a cup of coffee a week.
  • My treat to myself. Sports goodies every month? Yes please!
  • Compact package. The box is small enough to come through the letterbox. No traipsing to pick it up from the post office.

Downsides
  • Stockpile. I’m not sure that I’ll use each product I’ve been sent this month, so the treats might pile up a bit. But, thanks to the long expiry dates I can keep them for winter training.
  • Allergy Problems. There doesn’t appear to be an options to say if you have an allergy or intolerances e.g. gluten or if there are products you can’t or wouldn’t use.
 
I really enjoyed getting the box and suspect I’ll be signing myself up for one every month. Do you fancy some fitness treats every month? Sign up here: www.fuelify.com

And because I’m nice, here’s a 50% discount code for your first box: DOF50