Posts Tagged by Running Team
When Cold, Eat Ice Cream
| October 20, 2011 | Posted by Sweet Tooth Runner under Uncategorized |
Firstly I just want to thank you all SO MUCH for the responses I got to yesterday’s post! Although I haven’t yet had a chance to respond to all the comments, emails, etc., I have read them all and will respond to them all as soon as I can! Words can’t describe how much it means, to me, so thank you <3
It has been FREEZING here in London-town today! Ok, when I say freezing I am just exaggerating as usual, but it HAS been very cold, and in my defence I really feel the cold… I think it is even colder in my house than outside though, because the heating is broken. Great. So I have been living in leggings and warm socks.
I’m pretty sure that is a serious fashion faux-pas. But hey, you can’t go wrong with those socks 
The only thing that got me out of my warm, cosy bed into the deep freeze that was my room was knowing that my current favourite breakfast was just ten minutes away…
Pumpkin Bread in a Bowl, topped with crunchy PB and warmed up in the microwave. If you make this, use sultana bran cereal and thank me later 
I have been all about the warm foods now! Bye bye salads, hello soup and pizza tortillas…
My current favourite snack!
And nothing beats warm, freshly baked muffins
These are Nicky’s Dark Chocolate Pudding Peanut Flour muffins. I am in love. With both her AND the muffins 
For my running workout in the evening, I knew it was finally time to put away the tempo shorts. Yes, I did shed a few tears. I tried running in them on Tuesday but my legs went completely numb for the entire workout…so running tights it was today!
Looking cool as always I took off my scarf and hoody to run, and I was still FREEZING! I guess that spurred me on to go faster…
4 miles of approx 800m-1000m intervals+jog recoveries, and 2 miles warm-up and cool-down. I hit that sub-5 pace interval on the last repeat- I didn’t think I’d be able to do it but I pushed and focused and did it!! I got given chocolate at the end by the coach for being the most improved wahoo!
Well scrap what I said about eating only warm foods, because ice cream can and should be eaten all year round.
One serving wasn’t great recovery food…only 0.2g protein and not very carby, so I took care of that by having about a thousand servings. Right there is why I should totally become a sports nutritionist
Do you prefer hot weather or cold weather? I am a hot weather person all the way. Although I run better when it’s cold…probably because my body is trying to run to Florida or something.
What are your ultimate cold weather foods? Hot oatmeal and freshly baked muffins. Ok, so I have those all year round anyway! 
What job are you good at, or what job WOULD you be good at? I would be the best peanut butter taster in the world.
Have a great day friends! <3
Life Updates
| October 13, 2011 | Posted by Sweet Tooth Runner under Uncategorized |
Update 1:
I am officially so confused!! Basically, yesterday someone left a comment for me on Formspring to let me know they had found a website with my race result from Saturday, and it’s COMPLETELY different from what I had heard! Time, placing, EVERYTHING was different!! Has anyone ever had this with races before with different sets of results? I’m going to ask my coach when I see him next week (he wasn’t at practice today), but I don’t understand at all!! It really upset me at first, cos these results are much worse!! But I’ll wait to see what Coach says about it all 
(P.S. If the person who Formspringed me reading this, thank you for letting me know!)
All I know is that next race (two weeks on Saturday) I will be wearing Garmy so there will be no confusion! 
Looking good post-run 
Update 2:
I went back to see the sports doctor about my tibial bone stress.
He said that it is healing, and that I definitely should not do any more than I am doing (I’m only running twice a week during team training) and he said that I should not really be racing. I explained to him that if possible I need to run the next few races to be in with a chance of qualifying for Nationals and stuff, so he said that it should be fine as long as I treat them more like tempo runs than actual races, and hopefully it should be totally healed within the next two months! I’ll take it! 
Now onto slightly more trivial updates…
Update 3:
I have been LOVING autumnal (yes ‘autumn’ not ‘fall’ cos I’m a Brit thank you anonymous commenter! ) oatmeal lately…
Apple-cinnamon oatmeal, with cashew butter stirred in
Caramel-Pumpkin oatmeal! Pumpkin oatmeal with caramel pudding and a pumpkin scuffin. Baked goods as an oatmeal topping is the best thing ever!!
The scuffins by the way are from Oh She Glows (recipe found here), and I make a few minor changes (e.g. no chia seeds) but they are my all-time FAVOURITE pumpkin recipe, and one of my general favourites too!!
Update 4:
I am having the best time training with my team! I’m so glad that for the time being at least, I can still run with them twice a week! And NEWS FLASH I am no longer the slowest person yaay!
3 miles of warm-up/cooldown+drills, and then repeats and stuff! I was pretty frustrated by my 5.01 min/mile split! I was trying so hard to break 5 min/mile!!
NEXT TIME I will for sure!
I refuelled afterwards by crumbling a pumpkin scuffin (obsessed!) into a half empty soy yoghurt pot:
Keeping it cool and classy as always
Update 5:
I have early morning spin class tomorrow, with my fave instructor (super-hardcore ex-military, ultra-marathoner man- he ‘mentions’ that every time haha!). And if I’m going to be able to crawl out of bed at some crazy hour, I need to get some sleep! I am NOT a super-early morning person normally!
So I’m off to get some shut-eye! And yes I will be wearing my workout clothes to bed…always classy
Help me out here runners: have you ever had any confusion over race times? I’ve never had this before! Obviously your Garmin always says something different to the actual results, but I’ve never seen two completely different sets of official results before!
What is one thing you are aiming for in your next few workouts/runs? To break the 5 min/mile in my next set of repeats! Although next session is hills…hmmm!
How much sleep do you get on average? Ok, I’ll admit it now…currently about 6 hours. I know I know, it’s bad!! I’m working on it haha!
Have a great end to the week friends! <3
What I Ate (and worked) Wednesday!
| October 12, 2011 | Posted by Sweet Tooth Runner under What I...Wednesday |
It’s that time of week again! WIAW time!!
What I Ate
Today I thought I’d share my meals of the day! I tend to show breakfasts, snacks and desserts because I love them most, so I thought I’d change things up a bit…
I started my day with my all-time FAVOURITE breakfast!
Oatmeal in a totally-not-very-empty peanut butter jar!! So sad to see my fave PB go, but it went out with a bang for sure!
Topped with granola of course 
I love OIAJ because you get PB with EVERY SPOONFUL and it is heaven!!
Lunch was a huge salad:
Broccoli, cucumber, tomato, romaine, and this amazing dip from WF:
I love this dip! I ended up putting about half of it on my salad 
Along with the salad, I had a PB&J and my fave bar:
This flavour is definitely one of my favourites! (And Brit friends they are now selling multipacks of this flavour in Tescos, so run there now and stock up!!)
Dinner was post-training. I get back from my team training at about 8.30pm, so I always try to make myself a quick dinner, and one that is good for recovery! Today’s took all of ten minutes to throw together:
The classic: jacket potato with beans and broccoli on the side. Did you know Runner’s World listed this as the best recovery meal? I know people are all about the sweet taters (me included!), but regular potatoes are actually better for post-exercise recovery 
No matter what Runner’s World says though, my optimal recovery foods are these two:
Mental recovery is just as important as physical in my book
What I Worked
Today’s run was awesome! We hit the roads (I checked first and was very cautious but had no pain!) and had such a great session! It was so hard though!
Plus 2.5 miles of warm-up/cool down and drills. By the last interval I felt SO nauseous (darn lactic acid!) but that was nothing some chocolate milk afterwards couldn’t cure!
Is there ANYTHING chocolate can’t cure?!
Best thing you’ve eaten recently? Definitely OIAJ!
What was your last workout? I love reading about other people’s workouts!
What are your best ‘mental’ recovery foods? Chocolate and PB. All baked goods. Pudding oatmeal…mmm…
HUGS and love! <3
Races and Running Buns
| October 10, 2011 | Posted by Sweet Tooth Runner under Races |
HEY friends!! Thanks for the good luck messages and advice about my race! It was SO GREAT!!
I started my morning with my usual pre-run fuel:
Banana oatmeal with chopped dates.
I then got dressed in my race stuff and ready to go! My race didn’t actually start until 1.20pm but the other age groups started from 11am so we went to cheer them on, and we needed to walk the course beforehand anyway. Race outfit:
My running team provided the top and shorts. These were the shortest shorts I have ever worn in my life!! Comfy yes, but too short for my liking!!
AND they rode up when I was running! Running buns are not my friend. Yet.
I also broke every rule in the book by wearing all NEW clothes. New team vest, new buns, and new shoes! I knew it wouldn’t matter much though for a short race, so I just rolled with it.
Asics Hyper-Rocketgirl XC spikes. I originally bought Nike Waffles (purely because of the name 
) but they were too wide for my feet. Don’t tell anyone but I wore my spikes a bit around the house and made one huge scratch in the laminate flooring…oops! 
It was the PERFECT running conditions, and a beautiful course!
I walked the course twice before the start to make sure I knew the route:
It was two laps of the course (the red loop), plus a bit extra on the second lap (the blue wooded loop on the left hand side), and I decided I officially hate two lap courses! Going past the finish line knowing you’re less than halfway is tough!!
So I had two hours to kill before my race started, which I used to munch on my pre-race snack…
…and to cheer on the other age groups. I caught our youngest age group going off:
Our team did did AMAZING in this age group, finishing 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 7th!! Now that is TEAM running!! 
Aaaand then my camera died. Guess which idiot left the spare batteries at home? So instead of a photo of me finishing (definitely a good thing- I looked like I was dying), here is a visual representation:
I can see I have a future in graphic design for sure That person apparently squat-jogging up the hill is yours truly, closing down on a rival who I had been shadowing the whole race. I was closing the gap in the last 200m up that hill mountain and I could feel myself pulling a Mo Farah face with the effort:
And I BEAT HER by an inch!! I then almost passed out and had to be held up by the race marshals- trust me to be the drama queen! I recovered quickly (I had just pushed myself too hard-nothing major!) and did a little cooldown jog and stretching.
I didn’t wear my Garmin in the race (decided just to run by feel, which I later regretted!) and there was no race clock annoyingly, so I had no idea of my time until I saw the results come up on the website later! I came 12th out of the 98 runners in my age group with a time of 14.59 for approx 3600m (which I am very happy with considering the hills and that it’s the first race of the season!). I also broke my team’s record for the highest placing debut runner in this race! WIN!
When I got back, I had a hot/ice cold shower and downed a recovery smoothie:
1 frozen banana, 1 scoop vanilla protein powder, 3/4 cup vanilla soy milk, 3 dates.
I did some ‘active recovery’ later with a Whole Foods trip because I was dying for some canned pumpkin. All that walking up and down the aisles did me a lot of good, as did the taster table:
I think you can guess where I stood munching away for 5 minutes
Some of the highlights of my haul:
An new-to-me crunchy PB, refried black beans (which were buy one, get one free and they are TOTALLY addictive!), canned pumpkin x 10000 cans, my fave granola, a spicy pinto bean dip, and some vegan sea salt dark chocolate! I cried when I found out my fave chocolate- Lindt Sea Salt- wasn’t vegan, so I was unbelievably happy when I found this!!
The very best thing though was the slice of Peanut Butter cream tart I bought!
The photo does it no justice. It was beyond words. I am DEFINITELY going to recreate this!!
And today, despite the race, I had NO aches or pains, which was a first! Shows what good recovery (i.e. stretching, hot/cold showers, post-race nutrition, shopping, and cream tarts) can do for you!
This post is long enough already, so my Sunday shenanigans (we’re talking PANCAKES here obviously) are coming at you tomorrow!
What was the toughest race you’ve ever run? This one was tough- I think I’m more suited to slightly longer distances! And cross country was a bit of a shock since it is SO much tougher than running on roads!! But much more fun 
Are you a pumpkin fan? I LOVE IT!! Major obsession!!
What is your opinion on shorts length? Do you mind short shorts or not? I’ll get used to them I guess!! According to my coach, our race outfit for track season is crop tops and bikini-bottom style buns. I’m not sure if he was joking seeing my reaction to these shorts but I think he was serious…!
Hope you’ve all had a great weekend! <3
WIAW & WIWW!
| October 5, 2011 | Posted by Sweet Tooth Runner under Recipes, What I...Wednesday |
As always, I’m posting my What I Ate Tuesday, so let’s roll!
What I Ate
Weirdly, this morning I was craving simplicity. Normally I LOVE having all sorts of awesome toppings, but today I was feeling like having something plain and simple. It hit the spot!
Vanilla Protein Oatmeal! 1/2 cup oats, 1 cup soy milk, 1 cup water, 1 scoop vanilla protein powder, cinammon, and crunchy PB
For lunch, I met up with some family at an Indian buffet. Recently, I’ve been eating so much Indian food it’s practically coming out of my ears! Hey, I’m not complaining, especially when its in buffet form! 
There was PUMPKIN masala, which I OWNED!! I’m also a dal lover, so I went up about 10 more times for that 
Snack time included…
Cereal yoghurt messes with raspberry jam
A banana with Tara’s AMAZING chocolate walnut butter!
And THESE bad boys:
I love snack bars. I take them everywhere because I get hungry approximately every 10 minutes and they are healthy and convenient. Sadly, they are also expensive! So I made my own snack bars!
Protein Granola Bars
These make the perfect snack- high in protein, fibre and with the addition of chocolate chips, they’ll satisfy any sweet tooth!
- 1 cup vanilla protein powder
- 1/2 cup wholegrain spelt flour (any flour should work)
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1/2 cup oat bran
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2-2/3 cup brown sugar/sweetener (I used 1/4 cup Stevia blend and 1/4 cup brown sugar)
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1 cup plain/vanilla soy yogurt
- 1 package silken tofu (mashed well or blended) , or an extra 1 cup of yogurt if preferred
- 1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter, or nut butter/oil of choice
- Preheat oven to 350F/170C. Grease or line a 9×11 tin.
- In a large bowl, mix together all dry ingredients. In a separate bowl mix together wet. Add the wet to dry, stirring until combined. It will be VERY thick, like dough, so feel free to use your hands!
- Press evenly with your hands into the pan, then bake for 15 minutes. Remove, cut into bars, place on a baking tray, then bake for a further 10-15 minutes until they reach desired texture. (For extra crispy bars, turn off the oven and leave in for up to 45 mins more).
- ENJOY!!
Nutritional Info per bar: 200 calories, 12g protein, 4g fibre
I love these bars!
They are addictive! I blame the chocolate chips 
What I Worked
Running with the team today!! I can still run on grass a couple of times a week at the moment with my injury, so I’m making the most of it! 
I refuelled as soon as I got home with two favourites- broccoli and chocolate soy milk!
They go together so well…
What is the best thing you’ve eaten recently? Yummy homemade protein bars!
What are your fave recovery foods? Broccoli and choc soy milk!
Do you have a fave snack bar? Clif bars and Luna bars I think! And the Organic Food Bar is my ultimate fave!!
Have a GREAT day friends!! <3
Super Exciting Running News!
| September 30, 2011 | Posted by Sweet Tooth Runner under Running Talk |
HEY friends!! So happy you guys liked my recipe link post! There is SO MUCH amazing stuff out there, and I had such fun going through my bookmarked recipes!
I had an amazing breakfast to start my day:
Banana oatmeal topped with caramel pudding, chocolate pudding, and TJ’s crunchy PB. Not quite sure why but my pudding was super melty today and made a pudding puddle on my oatmeal! 
For lunch I had a PB&J sammie and a MASSIVE hummus topped salad…
Broccoli, romaine, cuke, tomatoes, spinach, and Sabra hummus
And one of my afternoon snacks was pretty awesome! A cereal yoghurt mess:
Vogel’s Ultra Bran cereal, soy yoghurt, unsweetened applesauce, and crunchy PB. This really hit the spot!
The weird thing was that today was SO FREAKIN HOT in England!! I went out with some friends during the day, and it was strange having to raid my summer clothes again! I’m not complaining though 
I loved it, but I think Buddy found it a little bit too hot!
It was so great after a crazy busy week just to lie back in the sun and relax.
In the evening, it was time for some run/walking again!! My friend made sure I didn’t overdo it, which I definitely would have done if she hadn’t stopped me! I love my running team so much. They are so supportive and awesome! Today’s workout (posted from my Dailymile):
I am only allowed to run/walk on grass a couple of times a week for the time being cos of the injury, so I am treasuring every moment! I LOVE RUNNING!! I’m sure you didn’t know that already or anything
Sweaty and endorphined is so attractive
And I’m not sure if I’ve told you my super exciting running news yet, but if I have, pretend you haven’t heard it, k? If I run fast times this coming year and qualify, I will get the chance to represent Great Britain in ITALY in a European Championship thingy!!! AAAAAH how awesome would that be?! I am going to work my butt off to give myself the best chance I can of qualifying! 
Got any exciting news you want to share with me?
What is your current fave snack? Today, it was a cereal yoghurt mess! I’m also loving protein oatmeal as a snack too!
Share with me one of your BIGGEST dreams! Qualifying and representing GB in the coming year! That would be a dream come true for sure!
Hugs and Love! <3
