Running shoes

I hope everyone in the UK is enjoying the wonderful weather today, is so nice to not wear multiple layers to leave the house in, and be able to get some vitamin D I always feel so much happier in the summer!!

This is the 3^rd pair of running shoes I have bought in around 6 months!!! And its not because they have been overused. The first pair I got was bought at the end of last summer when I was first starting to take up running, I went to a sports shop. They put me on this machine and told me I over pronanted so needed a stability shoe. After having a brief relapse and stopping running I started again around November time, started to get ITB problem. Few months later  I visited a specialist running shop they didn’t do a proper gait analayis just looked at the way I walked said no way I was an over pronator so got a neutral shoe. Then had a stress fracture. I don’t know if it was the shoe that caused it, more like an overuse injury, or perhaps a mixture  of the both. But I didn’t want to start running properly until I had a proper gait analysis done. 

So I visited this specialist running shop after doing some googling, they did a gait analysis. And OMG the guy who I spoke to was seriously amazing, even if I went away I would come back to the same shop to see him. He firstly “chatted” to me asking me about the injuries, past history. I told him that I used to dance, and about my issues with osteoporosis and anorexia. He said that the shoe I had was too heavy for  me, he made reference to my frame size and said I needed a shoe that gave me flexibility in my feet. 

We did a few squat tests and he did pick up that I have fairly weak hips, I do have osteoporosis in my hips so this may be the reason. Then was running on the treadmill barefoot, it felt strange at first, this was also videoed so he could see my running style. I am apparently a forefoot striker. When I was running on the treadmill it showed that I didn’t over pronate, however when I ran on the treadmill with shoes on I did. After trying pair of pair of trainers on where the guy could tell straight away if the shoe wasn’t right. We settled for a neutral shoe, as many of the stability shoes were too heavy for me and I didn’t have any flexibility when running in them. Because I am a fore foot striker I need a shoe that have excellent forefoot cushioning, flexibility, and stability.  I knew when I was running in these

Adidas Supernova glide 4

That they felt right, I could move my feet freely and just felt so light in them. I must have spent nearly two hours chatting to the guy and finding the right shoes!!! And I am so glad I did. I feel more confident when I am running too. It also didn't cost me anything to have the gait analysis done, they charge £10 but if you buy a pair of shoes it costs you nothing. 

On Wednesday was my first little run in them. As I’m training for a triathlon I did a 20 mile bike ride followed by a 1 mile run. It was also the first time running straight of the bike, it felt strange for the first minute or two. But once I was running it felt so good, I can’t describe how wonderful it felt to run. I came back downed some strawberry soya milk followed by one of my paellas.

This week has been a pretty good week, had a nice catch up with a friend in nandos,  had a good swim lesson, managed a rest day yesterday, had a trip to waitrose with my boyfriend and treated myself to some food doctor granola its so good!!!, especially over porridge and banana:

I am actually quite relieved their isn’t a Waitrose too close by as I would seriously spend far too much money!!! I've also been doing some baking,  these 

Peanut butter protein bombs. 

And these

Taste just like the banana bread nakd bars

I’m looking forward to the weekend too as have my Boyfriend over and tonight we are making bellini cocktails. These are my favourite kind, I have expensive taste:p  although not too many as we are going on a ride together tomorrow morning. I've just come back from a 57 mile cycle ride over many hills, my laps were around 16mph, it just shows how strong my body is getting, and will hopefully continue to get strong. I am trying to use this as motivation, as my body image is starting to get difficult again, I'm looking in the mirror an not liking what I see. Determined to plod on though, despite what the ed tells me. 

Have you ever had a gait analysis? 

any plans for the weekend?

Are you  a cocktail drinker? 

WIAW-Mothers day

This WIAW is based on mothers day. For those of us in the UK last Sunday was mothers day; where we celebrate our love for our mummies:) I love my Mum so much and don't know what I would do without her. I will really miss her when I go away to Bournemouth. I treated her to a michael Jackson top, a photo with a picture of me and her in it:

I also got her this journal, called from you to me. My mum has quite bad memory problems, it has gotten worse over the past year to the point where she has sent money to people and not even realised what she was doing. She's still having tests to get a proper diagnosis its not dementia, but is most likely caused by previous overdoses, as a recent scan showed a decrease in her brain matter. So I am always trying to find things that can help with her memory and this seemed ideal; its basically something for her to fill in to tell me all about her life,and what I was like as a child. Their is more info here if anyone wanted to check it out. gifts. 

After I had exchanged gifts. I had my breakfast; I tried the Philadelphia cream cheese and cadburys chocolate and it was so so nice!!!, the other side was honey

Then had a pressing date with my lovely boyfriend. This involved a cycle ride with a tea stop. We usually stop halfway through the ride, the place we planned to go to was actually closed!!! But knowing the area fairly well we cycled to the Cranks Resturant in Totnes. Its a quite famous vegetarian resturant.  Andy had his usual cream tea  which I had a piece off, and I had some wholemeal toast and jam. after the stop we did a loop, overall I think we did 25 miles. Was a fairly easy ride for me, as I seem to climb like a goat in my new bike:p 

Came home showered, and turned from a sweaty cyclist to a less sweaty cyclist. I love wearing red. Think it looks quite nice with blonde hair. 

I had booked us in a local resturant, that is always so hard to get booked in too. At xmas they get fully booked by AUGUST!!!!! They do a really great carvery, and it also pleases me as they do my favourite veggie nut roast:

I had it with a huge side of vegetables:

 Okay this is where I felt the ed was starting to annoy me. I do love the nut roast, but I kind of wanted something different, but wasn't sure how it would turn up, what would be in it etc.  Sometimes the internal battle can be so tormenting,  I just wish I could go out for a meal and choose what I wanted not what the ed wanted. Although it was a really nice meal, and the nut roast is one of the most nicest things that I have tried. It was also really nice to spend some time with my Mum as we don't often get to do, as she never goes out.

Dinner was a butternut squash rissoto that I had made previously, I accidently forgot to take it out the lid, well I did think it would be oven proof clearnly not haha

It was edible though once I had transfered it to a plate, had it with  some goats cheese on top, a veggie sausage and a load of vegetables. 

Before bed I had one of my favourite breakfasts:

Dorset cereals gingerbread oats with peanut butter

I have finally been able to run again!!! I went to a running shop on Monday, and got some amazing advice. I have been in the wrong trainers I am going to do a post about this soon, but I spent nearly two hours trying to find the right shoe. 

Do you have a snack before bed? Whats your favourite? I think mine is usually some form of cereal. 

Did you do anything nice for mothers day? 

WIAW-cooking togeather

. Thanks to Jen @peasandcrayons for this fab idea. Their is some great blog giveaways at the moment laura giving away some hemp protein shake, and Gemma at celery and cupcakes is giving away some fab Sharpham Park cereals.  

For this weeks WIAW, I thought I would share a little task me and my boyfriend did togeather one evening. I usually always do the cooking, its not that I don't like his cooking. He does cook me very nice things:) But I guess my eating disorder likes to stay in control, likes to know what is in what I am cooking, likes to portion it up so I know what is in it. I think I did find it enjoyable to cook togeather, but I guess also challenging. But overall it was enjoyable. 

We cooked a paella, I always thought of a paella as quite a challenging thing to cook but this was actually really easy. You can even make it veggie too. We used prawns and quorn chicken style pieces, but tofu would also work well or even some chickpeas. 

This was the recipe I adapted from the BBC good food website. Although the recipe didn't call for it we used a pinch of saffron thread, and this really made it taste so nice. Strange fact about saffron its more expensive gram for gram than gold!!!!  The rice was really creamy, we used peppers, mushrooms, and red onion; Andy's task was the chopper!! Which he very much enjoyed. 

Of course I added extra greens to my plate:), this was some kale. I've been having it with every meal as its such a great source of calcium, and its also so cheap for a huge bag. 

Well this day of eats is in a bit of a strange order:

. Snacks: 

 Banana with almond butter

Soya nuts

Breakfast

 Protein oats with almond butter and banoffee flavoured protein powder

stuffed aubergines with my chickstew, side of kale and cottage cheese

I think protein oats is probably my favourite post workout meal. It took me ages to work out how to use protein powder in my oats lol, I used to add it at the start. But now I add it right at the end as it tends to mix best that way. 

Do you cook alone or with others? 

How do you use protein powders? 

Listening to my body

I think the comment from my Dad has limited its impact on me, and am not feeling quite so bad. I think men in general can be quite insensitive.

The weather this weekend has really been so nice, and is defiantly the perfect weather for cycling!!! On Saturday I went on a nice cycle with my boyfriend to Totnes, which was around 22 miles. We stopped off half way at a cafe, which catered both of our needs. Scones with jam and clotted cream for Andy and some wholemeal toast and jam with a soya latte for me. The toast was so thick though that I saved half and  I took it home with me and had it for my lunch later on. It actually tasted just as nice, pressed reheat on my toast and alas

random plate of roasted kabocha squash, aspargus, kale, red onion and chickpeas, with blobs of cottage cheese. 

Yesterday I went to a body pump class, I haven't been for about 4-5 months. The arm workouts nearly killed me, but I did enjoy it and am going to try and go once a week, as strength training has really been helping my cycling.However today have a bad case of DOMS. 

In view of my March Goals, I have been trying to listen to my body more which is a hard task, but feel I am sloly getting better at this. I have realised that my body still isn't strong enough to run, as I was getting the pain again in my knee. So am going to rest it for another 2 weeks, which includes no running:( I guess I can focus more on cycling and swimming. Although I still really suck at swimming. However I am really loving cycling at the moment, and love getting stronger on my bike. In April time I will be doing a 10 mile time trial with a cycling club I was member of and my goal for that is for a 20mph average, which depending on how hilly the course is I think is achievable. After I've got used to my bike for a bit will be having some tri bars fitted. 

Exercise plan this week is 4x cycle rides, 4x Swims, and two strength sessions. Today was my easy day where I swam for 1000 metres and did some walking. I've also been using the foam roller daily which has been killing me, but guess good pain. 

I've also been trying to increase my fat intake, I probably eat minimal fat. I know its a really great anti-inflammatory,  so been adding nut butter to my oats and in my cereal snack bowls: 

Oats, banoffee flavour protein powder,and almond butter

Bran flakes with yogurt, cottage cheese, and almond butter. 

I think nut butter is  defiantly my favourite fat. 

Favourite fat? 

Ever done a body pump class? 

are you good at listening to your body? 

Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me

So, the week is nearly over, and I am feeling a  little bit wobbly emotionally at the moment. Stresses of my job, waiting for my CRB, dealing with weight gain, thinking over people whom I have lost is turning my head in to world spin. 

Anyway, my ever so lovely Dad whom has a very bad habit of saying the wrong things to me, has done it again!!! We went out for lunch today with my mum, at this carvery place. I love it because you get so much free veg, if anyone is wondering what a carvery is, its basically where they give you meat or veggie alternatives I had two yorkshire puddings and you get to have as much fresh veg, stuffing, potatoes etc as you like. So I piled my plate high with veggies, and some stuffing. Roast potatoes aren't a safe option for me. Well to cut a long story short, my mum said she would like to go sainsburys and I said I wouldn't mind picking myself up some things from sainsburys as was cooking me and andy something tonight. My Dad then tried to make a "joke" that surely I wouldn't need anything tonight with "all that I have ate", this made me feel awful, greedy, fat, huge. He knows my issues around food, I am trying to rationalise the comment in my head and not let it effect me, but it has. I remember when I as younger he would make silly comments like "eating again" geez its no wonder I developed issues with food. My mum was very supportive and we spent some time in sainsburys and I got some things for this evening. 

I guess the moral of this tale, is it is just that words. Even though I know rationally what I ate was more calorie dense than my Dad's which was piled high with roast potatoes,  I know reading this seems a bit silly to an outsider but I am fairly over sensitive, and do take things personally. I just I guess have to learn to deal with comments. So instead of wallowing thought I would blog instead.

On to more positive news, I am loving my new bike. Managed to understand the gearing, and not have any clipless moments. Oh boy I am going so fast though, one lap I did was an average of 17.9mph, I did 12 miles in 40 minutes. This is good as I have found a route that I can practise for my triathlon as this happens to be 12 miles. Going up hills is also a breeze. My power food this morning was:

Oats cooked with soya milk, chocolate powder, and a banana

Defiantly rocket fuel!! Was comparing a ride from back at the end of January, check out the difference in my lap times 

Laps

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Speed	Time	Distance	Avg Speed
1	1:01:09	16.76	16.4	1:09:27	17.56	15.2
2	40:21	12.03	17.9	41:17	10.93	15.9
3	22:28	4.90	13.1	24:27	4.80	11.8

I did some foam rolling this morning which hurt like a buggery, but guess its good pain. 

How do you deal with unhelpful comments? 

Do you love seeing your times improve? 

Favourite rocket fuel? 

13.1 mile run, sickness, and new shoes!

Sunday was my long run, and I wanted to try the distance that was a half marathon to see if I can actually do it, well yes I can.

Summary

Distance:	13.10 mi
Time:	2:01:10
Avg Pace:	9:14 min/mi
Elevation Gain:	284 ft
Calories:	933 C

I fuelled up propery before with some oats and a large banana, and for during the race I took some of these:

I was proud that I was able to complete the run, however my legs felt really exhausted after mile 8 and by mile 10 I didn't think I could do it as my knee's were starting to ache and was getting some thigh pain so I stretched for a bit and this gave me the get up and go again.

HOWEVER, after I came back from the run. I had SIS re-go recovery shake, showered stretched. Then I started to feel incredible sick, queasy, dizzy. Then 10 minutes later I was sick. I wasn't sure what was going on was it the gels, the drinks? I posted on a running forum that I am a member of and they said it sounds like dehydration.  I thought I was drinking enough, so now am making sure I drink at least 2 litres a day. I had some dry crackers and sips of water and did feel much better. The next day I called my dietician up, had to ring her as I have made a menu plan increase but my weight has dropped. Spoke to her and she said it may be my glycogen levels and low blood sugar. But I was properly fueled before I set up, I don't think the cliff shot blocks agreed with me as I did feel my stomach getting quite queasy. I think I may try a carb drink to have after an hour next time.

Shoes

Because of the pain I was getting in my knees, I went to a reputable run shop and asked their advice also took my old shoes incase it was something with the shoes. They said to me that I don't over-pronate but am a neutral runner!!! So now have a new pair of shoes,expensive day cost me £100 but shoes are the post important thing in running:

I had a rest day yesterday and boy did I need it could barely walk after running yesterday!! I did plenty of stretches and strengthening exercises. My legs are feeling so much stronger and can really see the improvement in doing stretches everyday.  Found this good video on youtube:

runners knee stretches

Also if you get chance check out this girlies blog has a great giveaway and great blog on fitness.

Has anyone else experienced sickness after a long run? 
Do you stretch after running?