Through the Postbox

It's that time of the month, not that time, but the time where I share what I have been spending my money on that is vaguely related to running.

First up is some new BIC bands. If you read my review you will know that I seriously love these things and thought that it was only appropriate that I get a Christmas themed one so I opted for the candy cane one, a green glittery one that matches my Macmillan top so I intend to wear it for the Brighton half, and one of their gorgeous new frost bands in a mint green colour.

These Sweaty Betty blister proof run socks are not cheap at all at £12 a pair, but they are by far my favourite running socks, they are the thickness I like, fit well, don't move around and like it says on the packaging I have yet to suffer with a blister when wearing them.
I've slowly built up my collection and  after getting this grey pair I now have one pair in every colour!

I'm trying out this Cherry Active Concentrate, which is full of antioxidents and is meant to help with joints, keeping a healthy cardiovascular system and muscle recovery, all things that are great for runners! Apparently it even helps with regulating sleep patterns, but I haven't tried it long enough yet to make a proper comment. Expect a full review in the future but for now all I can say is it tastes pretty delicious.

After seeing these Christmas tree crumpets from Asda being advertised I have been obsessed with trying to get my hands on them. Sadly I don't have any Asda's near me, but after expressing my need for them on Twitter Asda kindly sent me a packet.
I've included these in today's post because crumpets are part of carb loading right?
I promptly loaded these bad boys in the toaster and coated them in peanut butter. Great pre run, or whenever and I know liking something because it's Christmas tree shaped is pretty simple, but come on it's a Christmas tree shaped crumpet!

Lastly we have some fuel and a running belt from Sweat Shop.
I opted for some Gu gels because they don't seem to upset my stomach and they are the best tasting of the bunch (that's not saying much though, gels bleurgh).
I also picked up some Clif Shot Bloks to try because I don't like gels so much, and these look pretty tasty, a bit like raw jelly!
The iFitness belt is to stash my gels in on the longer runs because putting them in my running tights keeps pulling them down, it's also handy to stick my oyster card in for times when I get lost, or eat Greek food the night before and want to get the bus home after vomiting a bush, so attractive.

What's everyone else been buying this month?

Christmas Coffee Series – Starbucks Gingerbread Latte

As part of my routine to make Monday’s a little bit more bearable, I treat myself to a nice coffee before going for a long run.

I spent all day thinking about what coffee I should go for, my heart was telling me a toffee nut latte but my head was telling me get the Starbucks gingerbread latte so you can review it and start finishing up your Christmas Coffee series. My head made some good points and the Costa gingerbread latte was quite pleasant enough so after work I strolled down to my local Starbucks and ordered a small skimmed gingerbread latte.

[caption id="attachment_862" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The closest they have ever got to getting my name right...[/caption]

I did not like this coffee at all, I might go as far as to say I bloody hated it.

It had a very strong ginger taste, not gingerbread, just straight up ginger which I felt didn’t blend with the coffee at all, it was like there was two very distinct flavors, coffee and ginger, and they really didn’t go well together at all.

To add insult to injury they even top the coffee with some sprinkles of ginger, just the sort of thing you want to be chewing on when you get to the bottom of a coffee.

Unlike the Costa gingerbread latte where it’s a sweet ginger that enhances the flavor of the coffee, this just tasted too strong and almost medicinal, definitely not what I look for in my coffee.

I actually got to taste this coffee all over again as it didn’t seem to want to digest properly, meaning my long run was full of embarrassing belches that tasted of gingerbread latte which only cemented my dislike of the coffee.

Score 1/5 – A bitter coffee that is overpowered by the taste of ginger and bits to chew on. I really disliked this coffee but if you don’t like sweet coffee or prefer more herbal tasting drinks this may be for you.

My first Parkrun

Parkruns are fabulous. For those who don't know about them they are free timed 5ks that happen weekly, normally on a Saturday at 9am.

Despite having seen plenty of runners rave about them I've never actually tried one myself because I tend to do my long runs on a Saturday, but this weekend I had a two hour splits workshop scheduled for the afternoon so I thought that the Parkrun would be a great way to get in a short fast run.

I was a bit wary of my local Parkrun, a couple of people who have been to it have said that it is slightly cliquey, but I went ahead because although it would be nice to make some local running friends, at the end of the day I run for myself. I needn't have worried though, I turned up quite nervous so headed to a group of people which included a volunteer who explained the course to me and how it all worked. Everyone was very friendly and introduced themselves.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="520"] I wish I took better race photos...[/caption]

The course itself was 3 and a bit laps of a playing field which was quite muddy but not enough to be slippery. One side has a slight elevation to it that was fine on the first lap but I was cursing it by the third lap, despite the fact that it was only a very small incline....

Walthamstow is one of the smaller Parkruns, only seeing around 60 people a week so once everyone was settled into their pace there was plenty of room for everyone and it didn't feel crowded at all.

Another one of my concerns is that you sometimes hear of runners who are aiming for their personal best and often don't have any courtesy to other runners, luckily this wasn't the case for this Parkrun at all. Sure I got lapped by a couple of the super fast runners, but there was plenty of room and they made sure to give everyone a wide birth when overtaking.

I am a slow runner but thought to myself that this is only a 5k so I should push myself. On my second lap one of the volunteers informed me if I kept up the pace I was at then I would be looking at finishing around 31 minutes, I found this very encouraging because my best time was 32 minutes 50 seconds, so despite the burning in my chest I pushed on.

I actually ended up finishing with a time of 30 minutes 38 seconds which I am ecstatic about! One of my new fitness goals is to complete a 5k in less than 30 minutes and I thought I was a long way off but I guess not!

Generally I prefer running alone, but I really liked fitting in some speed work for a change, and the encouragement from the other runners, volunteers and even just people using the park was really motivating and lovely.

I think Parkruns are a fantastic idea. The Walthamstow one I went to was very welcoming and there was a few walkers too. They are great for serious runners looking to do a bit of speed work, the casual runner, the beginners or even just the people who would like to have a sociable saturday morning walk. Did I mention they are free too? Fantastic.

I'm not going to lie though, I'm not a huge fan of the whole 5k race thing. It takes me a good 20 minutes to get into my runs and I was running at a pace I'm not used to which I found quite challenging, I felt like I was going to keel over and die at the end of it which isn't a feeling I've had after running in a very long time. You know what they say they, no pain no gain and hopefully this will help me with my half marathon training.

Trying out Barre class at Frame Shoreditch

If you haven’t heard of Frame in Shoreditch by now you are sorely missing out. They offer gym classes with bit of a difference, cardio rave classes or stretch classes inspired by Barbie anyone?

I decided I needed to try one of the classes for myself, so after lots of deliberation, my work colleague and I decided to try out the Frame Signature Barre class, here is what I thought of the class.

First off, the Frame gym itself is very easy to walk past, so be wary of it because the entrance is down the side of the building and if you’re like me and walk around with your head in the clouds it’s very easy to miss the signage, luckily the thumping music is a tell tale sign of Frame’s location.

All the staff are very friendly and explained where everything was, and when we entered the class the instructor, who is was a very lovely lady in amazing shape (I always feel more motivated when the trainer looks like they are in great shape) asked if anyone was new and explained about what would happen in the class.

Image Source

For those of you who don't know about barre classes, it’s a cardio/toning/ballet fusion class that uses weights and the ballet bar, think Pliés with a bicep curl and leg kicks with ankle weights.

Luckily the music isn’t inspired by classical ballet. The tracks are upbeat and current, and you work out a different part of the body to each different track , core, triceps, glutes etc until you have had a whole body workout.

At the end you have a nice slow stretch using the bar. This part I especially enjoyed, I do a lot of classes but thought the use of the bar really helped you to get deep in the stretch and the instructor got us doing some challenging stretches that left me feeling pretty awesome and bendy after the class, so many classes will just end with the half hearted calf stretch and toe touches.

My friend and I really enjoyed barre and have decided to keep it up weekly. It is fun, original and I left afterwards feeling like I had a great workout but I hadn’t overdone myself. It’s also easy to scale it to different level of fitness, just increase or decrease the weights.

I do have a couple of slight niggles though. Whilst the instructor was fantastic and great at explaining everything, at times it was quite hard to hear her over the music. She was going through the moves as we was doing them, but for things like the ab track when you are on the floor with your feet behind the bar against the wall it’s quite hard to know what is going on and I had to pause a few times to turn and check that what I was doing was right.

Probably my biggest complaint is that there wasn’t enough ankle weights for the whole class. Myself and my friend both didn’t have ankle weights and things like that really annoy me. If you are going to have a class you should have enough equipment to cater for everyone who attends, I probably would’ve felt a lot more sore the day after if I was using ankle weights.

These issues aside I can’t recommend this class enough for if you want a great full body workout that is fun and a bit different.
I really like Frame as a gym and can’t wait to try out more of their classes. I’m actually attending a two hour splits workshop this weekend which I am very excited to try! Expect a report of that soon.

Christmas Coffee Series - Starbucks Toffee Nut Latte

Finally we have the first Starbucks coffee in the Christmas coffee series!

After much careful deliberation, and asking on twitter, I decided on the toffee nut latte because I was having the coffee pre run and thought that the eggnog latte might be a bit too creamy and heavy to have before running.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="520"] Costa definitely win's in the best takeaway cups category[/caption]

So how was it? Pretty delicious!

I have said before that I think Costa coffee tastes stronger, but the coffee taste in the toffee nut latte was nice and strong, like the gingerbread latte the syrup in this drink helps enhance the flavour of the coffee, although it is a tiny bit bitter tasting.

It definitely tastes nutty and sweet, but I didn't get any strong toffee flavour.

As I was drinking the coffee I kept thinking to myself how much I was enjoying it and how nice it tasted, which is always a good thing!

Score - 4/5 A very tasty and enjoyable coffee with a nice strong nutty coffee taste. It's also quite sweet, more so than the gingerbread latte, less so than the salted caramel latte.

How I make Monday's a little more bearable

Despite the fact that I love my job, like most of the population I still can't help but dread Monday's. Recently I have been adding a few things to my routine to help make Monday's a little more bearable, and dare I even say it, enjoyable!

Firstly, on Monday morning I change my bed sheets, there is nothing nicer than fresh clean sheets to start the week off right.

After work I treat myself to a nice skinny coffee from Costa or Starbucks. I don't visit coffee shops that often so I can still think of it as a treat when I do. Normally I will get a skinny iced hazelnut latte, but at the moment the salted caramel latte is definitely appealing to me. I drink this coffee on the train journey home.

When I get to my overground station I skip the overground train and run from it instead (I change into my running gear before I leave work). It's 3.5km from the overground station to my house but I like to tack on a few more km to make my run at least 9km, this is also where the caffeine from the coffee comes in handy!

The last step in my Monday morning routine is to apply a face mask and have a nice relaxing bath. I like to pretend the bath is helping relax my muscles and I like to use a deep cleansing face mask after a run to declog my pores, I get paranoid that sweating opens them up and lets them get clogged by all the gunk in the environment.



I then like to slip into some clean flannel PJs, preferably Christmas themed at this time of the year but this step is optional.



So that's my Monday routine. I start my week by getting a nice long run out of the way so I go to bed feeling virtuous from the run, relaxed from the bath and super snuggly from the clean sheets. Not only is this something to look forward to but it also helps me have a great night's sleep.  Is there anything you do to help get through Monday's?

Christmas Coffee Series - Costa Gingerbread Latte

The second seasonal coffee I decided to try was the gingerbread and cream latte from Costa.

As usual I asked for a small skinny without cream, but if you go for the full fat version you will find a little gingerbread man nestled in the cream. Gingerbread is a flavour they offer all year round so I think the gingerbread man is the only thing that makes it special for Christmas.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="520"] Bagels and coffee, the breakfast of champions[/caption]

The flavour of coffee is a lot stronger in this latte than it is in the salted caramel latte. The gingerbread syrup is lovely, not overly spicy but enough to be warming and give the coffee a very festive taste, it's quite a subtle flavour and as I mentioned this only helps enhance the strong coffee flavour.

Once again this coffee isn't overly sweet, but I definitely wouldn't add any sugar to it.

Score - 3.5/5 A pleasant enough coffee with a nice gingerbread warming flavour, but the fact that this coffee is available all year round makes it feel a lot less special and quite average. If you are getting the coffee with cream and the gingerbread man on top I'm sure it would bump it up to a 4/5.

Choosing and entering my second half marathon

I’m not sure what came over me but last week I thought it would be clever to enter my second half marathon, without having actually completed my first one....

After seeing how quickly some half marathons sell out I decided that I wanted to try and get a couple more booked in for Spring next year before I miss my chance.

I did quite a bit of research and the 3 that took my fancy the most where Surrey, Reading and Cambridge.

Unfortunately Cambridge was sold out (what I’m trying to avoid!). Cambridge looks like a gorgeous picturesque city which is why I wanted to run it but you know, being sold out and all that means it’s not the one for me!

My second choice was Reading. I’ve heard that it’s a good one to get a PB on because it’s a flat easy course, but then I read Be Pretty Fit’s review of it which put me right off. Basically it just sounds very grey with the route going through lots of residential areas. I don’t think I can deal with a boring run, which put the Reading half on the “maybe but probably not” list.

I then saw someone on twitter mention the Surrey half, which piqued my interest. I was a tiny bit worried because I lived in Guildford for a year and thought the course might be a bit hilly, but the lovely Stephanie assured me it’s not.
It’s also the  inaugural half marathon which definitely tempted me into signing, I think it will be great to be part of the first half marathon.
I know the area is pretty too, and my boyfriend would enjoy visiting Surrey for the day as he still has lots of friends there so I signed up!

The Surrey half is three weeks after the Brighton half. Considering Brighton is the first half marathon I will be running, signing up for one so soon after probably wasn’t my best idea ever, but I’m sure I’ll survive. Maybe. Hopefully, because I fly to Japan for my holiday the next week...

Is anyone else doing the Surrey half? What is on your criteria for picking races?



 

Half Marathon Training - Week 6

After last week's really successful training, obviously this week was doomed to be bad, and it was. Actually it was worse then bad, it was awful.
I managed to get out and run, wait for it..... ONCE! Brilliant. I was sick as a dog all week, so sick that I ended up missing pole dancing and aerial hoop which is my favourite thing in the world, that's how you know I'm not well. The one run I did manage though, I made sure counted!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="390"] Disgusting, but true.[/caption]

Monday - Sick day

Tuesday - Crossfit. WOD was 10 man makers, 10 sit ups, 8 man maker, 15 sit ups, 6 man makers, 20 sit ups, 4 man makers, 25 sit ups, 2 man makers, 30 sit ups for time. I don't even want to talk about how hard it was/how sore it made me for days!

Wednesday - Sick day, so sick I couldn't even make it to work.

Thursday - Sick day

Friday - Sick day

Saturday - Run 1. Distance - 15.02km Time - 1:38:58 Pace - 6:35
My only run, a seriously pleasant one and my furthest distance so far! I had a lovely pre run breakfast of half a cinnamon and raison bagel topped with peanut butter and the seriously delicious salted caramel latte which I think definitely helped get me in the right frame of mind for the run.
Despite planning my route beforehand on map my run, I managed to get a little bit lost and see someone get arrested which definitely helped spice things up a bit!
The run itself felt pretty amazing until the last couple of KM, I had been running in the rain for the most part and realised at 13k that my lips where going numb because of the cold and rain so the last couple of km where bit of a struggle as I had started to get a bit sore, but apart from that a great run that has left me feeling like yes, I can do this half marathon!

Sunday - Show rehearsals

Week total distance - 15.02km
Weeks until half marathon - 14

Feeling very confident about being able to run the full half now, maybe I should actually start to do some speed work? Or not... Fingers crossed I feel better this week so I can get back on track with my workouts.

Setting New Targets

At the start of 2013 I set myself the goal to lose 4 stone (56 pounds) and a month ago I managed to achieve that goal. Having a target that I was working towards really kept me on track and motivated, although it was a long hard slog every time I lost another half stone I felt such a sense of achievement and when I finally reached my goal I was so proud of myself.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Left - January Right - November[/caption]

Since the goal of losing 4 stone has been reached, I have decided to make some new goals to try and achieve which I am going to share because if I write it in a blog it makes it more serious than if I just tell my cat.

So the goals:

1. Squat 50kg for 3 reps


2. Deadlift 70kg for 3 reps


3. Be able to do a pull up and a chin up unassisted


4. Complete my first half marathon


5. Run a sub 30 minute 5k


6. Get visible abs!

So as you can see, apart from the visible abs all the other goals are fitness based and a direct result of the first goal I set myself because if I hadn't decided to lose the weight I wouldn't have started working out and I wouldn't know the amazing endorphin rush that exercise gives you.

I think it's always important to have something to work towards outside of our jobs too. Work takes up so much time in our life it's nice to have something to work towards outside of it to stop us from just sitting on the sofa watching Eastenders when we get home, which there is nothing wrong with and I still enjoy doing on rest days, but it won't help me reach my new goals!

Have you achieved any goals or set any recently?

Christmas Coffee Series - Costa Salted Caramel Latte

The good thing about having a blog with coffee in the title means that I feel like I can get away with trying lots of different coffees as long as I blog about them.

Christmas brings about lots of new festive drinks from the likes of Costa and Starbucks so I am going to try them all out and let you know my thoughts on them.

Just a note before we get started, I take my coffee skinny with no cream.

First up we have the salted caramel latte from Costa.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="520"] Bonus points to Costa for having such cute cups![/caption]

I am a massive fan of salted caramel so naturally this was my first choice and it was definitely the right one to start with!

I generally prefer Costa to Starbucks because I find the coffee to be stronger, although sometimes it can be a bit bitter, not the case in this coffee at all. It was very smooth and mellow, I even want to describe it as being buttery because it was so easy to drink, but didn't taste of butter if that makes any sense?

I tried a tiny bit of the syrup that was on the lid of the coffee cup and was surprised to find it tasted a lot like salted caramel, I was very impressed because I've tried a salted caramel hot chocolate before and thought it tasted no different to a normal hot chocolate.

Despite it being caramel, the salt in it stops it from being too sickly sweet, although you definitely don't need to add any sugar to this drink.

It also tastes a lot different to the caramel latte which I'm impressed with, I feel like sometimes they just rebrand regular drinks as new limited edition festive drinks.

After drinking this coffee I managed to run my furthest distance so far, although that may not be a direct result of the coffee, it will definitely make me associate good runs with this latte,

Score: 4.5/5 - A really enjoyable mellow coffee which I think can easily be enjoyed at any time of the day.

Review - SOLE Custom Footbeds

I have been interested in custom insoles ever since I read on Skinny Runners blog that she loves her custom fit pair, so when I was offered the chance to try some for myself I jumped at the opportunity.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="520"] Insoles from my Asics GT 2000, well used.[/caption]

Custom insoles are designed to help prevent injuries by adding support to where you need it. Despite having a higher than average foot arch I overpronate so if I don’t wear shoes with a bit of extra structure and support I end up with pain in my right ankle that quite often leaves me only being able to run once a week whilst I recover.
I now have shoes that fit that were properly fitted, Asics GT 2000, and I am very happy with them but I still get a tiny bit of ankle discomfort on longer runs which I hoped insoles would stop.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="520"] SOLE Thinsulate Custom Footbeds[/caption]

I have been trying out the SOLE Thinsulate footbeds for a couple of weeks. You can mould them to the shape of your feet by heating them up in the oven on the lowest heat for 2 minutes which is what I did or you can mould them to your feet just by wearing them running.

On my first run, a 5km commuter run, they made my shoes feel very tight and rigid, however when I first tried my Asics the extra structure made them feel quite similar too, especially compared to the Nike Frees I was wearing before! By the end of the run I could still feel there was extra support in my shoes, but they were very comfortable.

I’ve also tried the SOLE footbeds on one of my longer weekend runs and amazingly enough there were no ankle twinges! This may have been psychological but the shoes where very comfortable and I also felt they provided a bit more cushioning on the hard pavement making for a very comfortable run.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="520"] My SOLE Custom Footbeds after heat moulding[/caption]

The SOLE Thinsulate model are as the name suggests, insulated footbeds which is great for the upcoming cold months. They are also moisture wicking which is great for runners who suffer with sweaty feet.

I would definitely recommend trying out a pair of SOLE custom footbeds, everyones feet are different so it’s great that these can be moulded to the individuals feet to try and make your run as comfortable and injury free as possible.

Half Marathon Training - Week 5

This weeks half marathon training was a lot more successful, and I actually managed to increase my mileage, go me!

Monday – Rest day

Tuesday – Crossfit. WOD was 15 thrusters, 15 box jumps, 15 pull ups for 4 rounds as quick as you can.

Wednesday – Run 1.  Distance - 9.9km Time – 1:04:35 Pace – 6:31
This was my first run in seven days so I decided to grab a coffee after work and attempt a long run. I am so happy with how this run turned out, it felt easy and so enjoyable. I got through two missions of Zombies Run including the penultimate mission which almost encouraged me to keep running but I was pretty tired by the last km and my backpack was rubbing slightly. Commuter long runs for the win!

Thursday - 1 hour pole class, 1 hour aerial hoop class

Friday – Rest day, was planning to run, ended up having a bad day and sulking instead.

Saturday – Run 2. Distance - 12.65km Time – 1:24:72 Pace – 6:41
When I mapped this run using Map My Run it actually said 12.96km, I’ll stick to what Zombies Run has logged, either way this is still the furthest distance I have managed and I’m so happy with it.
When I started the run I felt like I was really slow and like I was plodding along, but I hit my first km at a good time. Half the time I felt slow and ploddy, the other half I felt bouncy and fast like I was made from elastic.
This was a lovely run in great weather that left me feeling a lot more confident about being able to complete the half marathon.

Sunday – Show Rehearsals. Run 3. Distance – 3.62km Time – 26:18 Pace – 7:15
Rehearsals for the Christmas show have already started, it’s never ending!
As for the run, it was pretty awful. I thought I would take my dog out for a nice slow jog, she was very reluctant and I was pretty much dragging her along. After cutting the run short I took her home and realised she was limping slightly, she is terrified of fireworks which has made her leg seize up a bit and made me feel terrible. She got lots of strokes to help make her feel better.

Week total distance – 26.17km
Weeks until half marathon – 15

This week has definitely made me feel like I might actually be able to do the half, and it’s nice to finally have a week where I have increased my mileage!
Once I hit 15km I think I will finally feel more confident in my training and stop stressing as much.

If you didn’t know, I am training for the Brighton half marathon in February and I am running it on behalf of Macmillan Cancer Support. If you would like to sponsor me you can do so here, it would mean the world to me!