The long run - Friday Photo #38

A round up of Crandon Runs in one weekly photo

Triathlon training is all go this week. All my spare time currently consists of swimming, biking and running, and sometimes, like twice this week, all three in one day. Which is great! But the extra sports for me seems to mean shorter runs and I've found I'm missing my long run fun. Running makes me do this...

Disco run!

...and not only when there is a giant glitter ball around (although obviously it helps). When my brother in law suggested we run to and from parkrun last weekend whilst he and my sister were visiting I was so happy. A 9 mile run! With long working hours and tri training I haven't been able to get above 6 miles for weeks.

So off we went. I remembered how much I like longer distances, and so did what anyone would do while training for a triathlon: signed up for my next half marathon in a couple of weeks. That should get me back into double digits where I belong whilst also attempting to become a triathlete.

Do you prefer short runs or are you more of a longer distance runner?

Buxton Half Marathon - Race Report

Buxton Half on Sunday was the third Club Championship race I'd run in a week and a half with my running club. What I've learnt in that short time is that club races, as opposed to big commercial road races, like to include hills. I don't mean 'an incline' I mean a bloody long steep hill that makes your quads cry just looking at it, but that people refer to as 'a little bit hilly'.

Concentrating on the uphill (Bryan Dale Race Photos)

I was a little apprehensive about Buxton half when I saw the course elevation on last years t-shirt. *gulp* Still, I signed up (hello £10 bargain) and just thought I'd figure it out nearer the time. And then nearer the time came and I realised I'd not done any of the hill training runs I had momentarily and fleetingly planned to do.

Elevation of the Buxton Half

Set in the rolling countryside, this has to be one of the most scenic half marathons I've ever done - or so I was told. I can't quite confirm this statement as due to the heavy drizzle we spent most of the race running through mist and clouds. But they did lift a little for me to catch a glimpse of the lush green countryside.

The first three miles are all uphill, (you may refer to the pic above) and it's hard going. But you're prepared for this and what goes up, must come down. Weeeeee! The downhills were so much fun! I certainly took advantage of them, and literally threw myself down them. I felt like a cartoon Crandon with wheelie legs...

Cartoon Crandon!

Throughout the whole run I just let my legs do what they wanted to do. They seemed to want to go a bit slow and heavy on the inclines, and hard and fast on the downhills and it felt good to let them. Add this to the country setting, through fields full of cows, donkeys, horses and sheep and Buxton  is basically the most fun I've had running a half marathon. Yes the hills are hard, but the effort just makes it all the more rewarding, and the ups and downs make for a very fun and interesting ride and stops you thinking about the miles. If you're in the area and have a spare tenner, definitely give it a go. For your money you'll get a well organised route, lovely scenary if the weather plays ball, nice cheery marshals, a lovely (actual sized) t-shirt and a big huge grin at the end of it.


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Making a splash - a Tricurious post

‘Countdown to Rio – 497 days’ was the unexpected sign that greeted me at my local pool on Sunday.  Surely intended to instill motivation and inspiration to the pro swimmers that frequent the Manchester Aquatics Centre, to me it screamed, ‘YOU DON’T BELONG HERE CRANDON!’. Still, I was pool side by this point; too far gone to back out now.

Having spent three weeks dutifully heading to the pool alone to try and remind myself how to front crawl, I was told about a local swimming group who offer coaching sessions. I knew I was in need of some tips and help from someone in the know and was looking forward to rounding off my weekend with a Sunday night swim. Despite the unnerving Olympic countdown, it wasn’t as scary as I thought. Put in a newbies group, I had lots of fun doing all different types of swimming strokes including an attempt at one armed butterfly – thankfully not a requirement in the forthcoming London triathlon – as well as various team relays. On my cycle home (is this a brick session then?!), I realised I’d swum way more than I had when swimming alone, and tried out lots of new techniques. So, all in all, a very minor swimming success.

Having fun in the pool was all well and good, but how would I fare in the open water? I was keen, and anxious, to find out. Although I’d once swam in Hampstead Heath on a hot summers day, this was something totally new. I wasn’t sure what I was more scared of: the wetsuit or the freezing temperatures of the water in Salford Quays. I spent my lunch break reading up on the open water section in ‘Tricurious‘ and tried to remember the tips for getting into my wetsuit like a pro. It turns out, these were a success. I slathered my wrists and neck with baby oil to prevent rubbing and popped a plastic bag over my arms and feet to get the wetsuit on with ease. Thankfully, I had my friend Sheila with me to show me the ways of the open water and I was glad to have her there to chat to whilst we swam. Like running, I’m learning that swimming is way more fun with friends.

Pre-dip - nervous anticipation

The temperature outside was cold, little waves were lapping in the quays, and there was a breeze in the air. The sky was a greyish blue and the walk to the quays was cold enough without being in the actual water. But I knew I had to get on with it. For about 5 minutes, my face was one of shock as I ducked into the cold water and filled my wetsuit with water before pressing it out again (*proud Tricurious student face*). My arms and feet were pretty numb and I had a little brain freeze, but I soon forgot about these. What I noticed more than anything was the fun that I was having.

I must admit, I mostly did breaststroke while I got used to my new environment, and having Sheila there to laugh with when we got freaked out by the ‘things’ in the water (possibly a leaf, possibly a pre-historic creature) made it all the more enjoyable. We did a short lap of 300m followed by the longer course of 500m, and I changed between front crawl and breaststroke as much as I could.

Open water - DONE!

Finally taking the, literal, plunge has put my fears of being in the open water to rest. How would I cope in a wetsuit? Would I freeze in the cold? Would I be able to actually swim with that distance? Would I need to be rescued? These were all genuine concerns. I wasn’t at all fast, the other triathletes have nothing to worry about here, but I did it and I loved it. As my wise friend Sheila said, “it’s nice to do something ‘real': not be in a boring gym or running a treadmill, but outside in the elements reallydoing something” and she’s right. I’m looking forward to going back next week.

This post first appeared on the team Tricurious blog - where you can follow the journeys of my team mates, as we venture into the world of triathlon.

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Running kicks and politics - Crandon Runs Friday Photo #32

A round up of Crandon Runs in one weekly photo

Whilst the country was gripped by election fever this week, I also had to make time to get some running in yesterday in the midst of navigating swimming and cycling triathlon training. The voting gods were very nice to me this year and put my polling station at my running club HQ - cheers guys.

Running kicks and politics

I cycled to and from work, ran to poll, queued, cast my vote and then got out on a very lovely spring evening 9 miler down the canals with the harriers. It was a long run but so good to be off the roads and on some summer routes. All in the safe knowledge I had exercised my right to vote. 

Spectating at the London Marathon - Crandon Runs Friday Photo #31

A round up of Crandon Runs in one weekly photo

On Sunday, like lots of people waking up in London that day I got up early, dressed in the clothes I'd laid out the night before, ate a carb heavy breakfast and felt nervous and excited about the hysteria and stresses of the day. That's right, I was going to spectate at the London Marathon.

I absolutely love the marathon and can't help but get caught up in the excitement of it all. The emotions, the happiness, the trials and tribulations, I just love it all and am guaranteed to shed a tear, whether I'm running running or watching. We'd traveled down to London for the weekend to watch my brother in law, Gavin run his fourth marathon whilst also keeping a beady eye out for many many others we knew running, and hopefully to catch a glimpse of Paula doing her thing one last time.

I was also looking forward to watching a marathon with my pro-supporter boyfriend and my sister, who are experts at watching and cheering me and Gavin on when we run. This is definitely their domain in the marathon and I felt like an impostor as Jamie negotiated the crowds, the trains and knew all the best spots, while I followed in his trail.

Paula Radcliffe whizzes by - she's in there!

Paula didn't disappoint and we managed to catch a glimpse of her at both Greenwich and around the 17 mile mark, surrounded by a little pack of runners and looking like she was having a leisurely Sunday morning jog whilst getting a 2.36 marathon time!

The boys from my running club were all too speedy for me to see, but we did manage to catch Gav storming through both of our cheer points looking strong, which was both amazing and a relief. We also saw Lindsey at mile 17 who we were keeping an eye out for. She looked a little shocked as we both yelled our heads of at her, but she came over for a quick high 5 and went on her way, looking good! 

The pressure as a spectator to see the people you're there to support is huge! And it's especially hard in London where the crowds are three deep, but it's such a high when you see them running, looking strong and you're able to give them a little boost in their brilliant challenge.

I was worried that I'd really hate not being a runner on the day, but I didn't. I loved supporting the runners we knew, and seeing the lift it gave them, as well as cheering on all the runners passing us. I did however, feel mighty jealous once the race was over and seeing everyone's medals but mostly, seeing the pride and relief on everyone's faces having finished the marathon and achieved their amazing goal. All in all, I'm all set to do the marathon again next year.

If you ran, huge congrats! You are amazing. I hope you loved every second.

I am Tricurious - Crandon Runs Friday Photo #30

A round up of Crandon Runs in one weekly photo

Big news this week, I am pleased (and just a little bit scared) to announce that I will be undertaking my first triathlon this August. Yes, a mere 105 days away - eek!

I am really excited as I've been lucky enough to be selected by Laura and Katie to be part of their 'Team Tricurious' - featuring six novice triathletes who will be taking part in different distances at the London Triathlon. 

I have opted for the Sprint distance - 750m open water swim, 20k bike and 5k run. 

You can meet the whole team here, and follow our journeys to triumph (I hope) over on the blog. It's going to be a very exciting few months. 

As I don't know my tri-suit from my wetsuit I think I'd better get reading the Tricurious book, which will basically become my new bible to lead the way on this journey...I think I'm going to need it! 

Manchester Marathon Half & Half Relay

My mate Sheila ran her first half marathon at the Great North Run last year and was keen to do another. In my year of non-marathon running we spotted that the Manchester Marathon allowed teams of two (or four) to run the marathon as a relay. We thought this would be just the ticket for us both, and so signed up and booked an amazing brunch as our post-run reward. Priorities set.

Waiting for someone to run a half marathon before you can start your leg is a strange experience. I woke up at the normal time for a race feeling the usual excitement and nerves, but didn't know what to do with myself. I felt like I was missing something, worried I would miss Sheila - what if she did run it in 20 mins and I wasn't there?! I felt like all the fun was happening without me. I did what any normal runner would do; paced the house, went to the loo about 20 times just in case, then arrived way too early.

MCR Marathon Relay changeover

At the halfway mark the route had a small section cordoned off for the relay teams. You needed to wait here, spot your partner then run over the halfway timing mats together - ending their run and starting yours. This was all told to us on the day by volunteers and not before hand which would have been helpful. I would say the communication and info about the relay teams before the race could have been much better. But hey ho! 

The atmosphere here at the halfway mark was brilliant. A great band kept everyone entertained and it was fun cheering on all the marathon runners knowing you were soon going to be a part of it. 
After spotting and chatting to Jayne from the brilliant Veggie Runners, I spotted Sheila coming down the hill. She did AMAZINGLY and we were full of excitement as we ran down the chute together, gabbling and holding hands all the way over the mats. And then I was off. 

Running like a lunatic
(photo thanks to Chris March on route)

The 30 minute later start for the relay teams meant that I started my run with people who were on for about a 5 hour 30 marathon finish. I felt a bit like an impostor picking all these full marathon runners off with my fresh legs and towards the end of the run at miles 22 -24 it was difficult to keep my speed up amid walkers who were having a tough time. But I soon caught up with the 4.5 hour marathoners and the crowd on course was amazing. It was a good route with a mix of countryside in parts and little villages as well as the huge support heading back in to Old Trafford and the finish. I was spotted and cheered on by a few of the harriers which was a huge boost, along with some blogger friends which was a lovely and unexpected surprise. Jamie was waiting for me at about mile 25 so after a quick kiss I dug deep and kept up the pace to mile 26, turned the corner into the final funnel, cheered on by Sheila and Steve in the final stretch and thankfully over the finish line. 

Team mates extraordinaire 

After achieving my new PB in Wilmslow a few weeks ago, I was happy to not try and beat my time and really wanted to just do a good run and enjoy it. And I did. There is a lot to be said for running in your adopted town - it's so much fun. Great atmosphere, great support and so lovely to see so many people on the route. And running with your mate as part of a team is just brilliant. We were so happy and chuffed afterwards and so proud of each other. We are already plotting our team for next year.

13.1 miles each followed by 4 plates of brunch plus one amazing medal. This is my favourite running maths. 

Manchester Marathon Relay Medal

Birthday Running (or not) - Crandon Runs Friday Photo #22

This week I celebrated my birthday! Sadly I didn't have the genius to organise a Birthday Beer Run like the brilliant Laura Fountain aka Lazy Girl Running -  birthday, beer and running, er yes please! Instead I celebrated with a parkrun PB on the Saturday and shunned running altogether on the big day, opting instead to celebrate with lots of food, wine and well, more food. It was amazing.

I did however get some delightful running gifts, including this rather appropriate gift from one of my sisters.

I love running food

I also received some wonderful running books which I can't wait to get stuck into... 

Which brings me nicely onto this article which I found last week from Runners World about a group of runners who set up a running book club. Add this to Lazy Girl Running's beer run and I would be basically in running book beer heaven. That's next year's celebrations sorted then.

Running with a podcast - Crandon Runs Friday Photo #19

Unlike Sarah, I'm not a natural runner. Although I recognise the benefits (it's free, it's a great way of getting outside and I always feel fab afterwards) but like many people I find it hard to motivate myself.

I ran a half marathon many years ago (in 2hours30 - no I'm not fast, but hey, I bloomin' did it!) but talking myself into actually getting out and running is often the hardest part for me.

That's why I love podcasts.

Podcasts are a good way of getting you motivated, while also helping to improve your running technique, speed, stamina, or whatever you want to work on. There's bound to be one that suits your needs.

I first started using the free NHS choices Couch to 5k programme last summer. I had been going to the gym and doing yoga, but hadn't run properly for ages and thought it would be a good way to get back into it. The podcast was a little too easy to be honest (it's aimed at people who have literally never even been for a jog) but knowing I had to do three set runs every week as part of the programme was excellent motivation.

Now I've graduated to the 5k Plus podcasts, which are also free and focus on improving your speed, stamina and running technique. The music is also pretty good, the songs are completely unknown to me (I think they've used royalty-free tracks) but the tunes have a good beat so it's easy to ensure you're keeping up the pace.

Simply search 'running podcasts' in iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts from and you'll see there are plenty to choose from. Give it a try!

This is a guest blog from me (Katie Chappelle) while Sarah AKA Crandon Runs is on holiday.

If you're in Cardiff, you might want to follow my blog cardiffgirl.wordpress.com 

Cardiff Parkrun

Parkrun is an amazingly simple concept; Weekly, free, timed 5k runs around parks across the UK. Perfect for people who want to beat their PB, are looking for a social run with like-minded people or just need a reason to get out of bed and get their trainers on at the weekend.

Parkrun is a not for profit event, run by fantastic volunteers and it's completely free to take part, just register online. Print off a barcode (you have to print it, they can't scan smart phones) and they'll log your time and email it to you. Simple. 

Cardiff Parkrun takes place every Saturday at 9am, starting on the Taff Trail at Blackweir (next to the giant Tesco on Western Avenue) and running along the River Taff, looping back through Bute Park.

Cardiff Parkrun along the beautiful River Taff

After eating my homemade energy ball and downing a smoothie, I turned up ready to race alone with a podcast to keep me company. But while standing at the start line, trying my best to keep warm, I bumped into two of my old work colleagues, Nicola and Beth and Beth's sister. 

Hooray! It meant that my solo run became a lot more sociable and we jogged round the course in 34 mins, while managing to catch up on a good bit of gossip. And that's really what Park Run is about. Not gossiping (unless that helps motivate you, in which case gossip away) But Parkrun is about taking on a challenge with other runners, feeling that comraderie, with perhaps a dash of competitiveness thrown in. It would've been a huge mistake to do it alone with my iPod!

Finish line selfie with my fellow Parkrunners!

So to the course itself. The Taff Trail is absolutely beautiful anyway so to run around there is always lovely, no matter the weather. With more than 650 runners taking part, the path is a bit tight at the start, but it soon opens up with plenty of room for all speeds and levels. I do think there's an opportunity here for another park run in Cardiff though - further along the Taff Trail at Forest Farm or around Pontcanna and Llandaff for example. The demand is certainly there. 

I didn't record a PB at this weeks race, but I wasn't far off and a surprise catch up with friends while enjoying a scenic run made for a lovely morning. 

Chuffed with my time of 34:33 at Cardiff Parkrun

The timing of Parkrun meant I was home by 10am, plenty of time to enjoy a well-deserved breakfast of spinach, avocado and poached eggs on toast with an Americano. Heaven! 

My well deserved post-run breakfast

You can find out more about Cardiff Parkrun on their website.

From 8 February, Cardiff Parkrun will also be holding a weekly junior event for 4-14 year olds.

Sarah AKA Crandon Runs is currently on holiday.

If you're in Cardiff, you might want to follow my blog cardiffgirl.wordpress.com 

Goodness, Gracious, Great Balls of....Energy?! - Crandon Runs Friday Photo #18

Hello there! Sarah is on holiday and she's asked me to take over her blog while she's away. The power. And the pressure - this is an award-winning blog you know.

So for the next few days you'll have my random thoughts on running instead. Let me introduce myself, I'm Katie, Sarah's biggest sister and I live in Cardiff.

Confession; I'm much more of a 'brisk walker' than a runner, particularly when you compare me with Sarah's marathon efforts. But I do love a gentle plod around the park and it was actually me who got Sarah running in the first place.

Yummy homemade energy balls- the prefect pre-run snack

So what have I decided to write my first post on? Balls of course! By that I mean energy balls. If you're a runner you've probably tried energy balls, or at least heard of them, but if not, let me explain. Energy balls are basically little snacks made from protein-heavy ingredients - to give you a quick hit of energy pre-run, or a protein boost following a workout.

I first tried the pre-packaged variety you can buy in shops last year and they weren't really to my taste. Although the first bite tasted OK, they were dry and left that awful cardboard-y taste in my mouth that I've only ever experienced with energy bars and baby food (it must be some sort of preserving agent - yuck).

However I did find that the energy ball was a really good mid-morning energy kick, which didn't lead to the afternoon crash I'd get from something less healthy like a chocolate bar. I also noticed that my legs were not aching as much as usual after my workout, which I'm putting down to the protein hit.

Since then my husband Gavin and I have been experimenting with making our own energy balls at home. Deliciously Ella has some great recipes if you're not sure where to start (the cinnamon and raisin bites are so, so easy).

After much testing, we've found a recipe that we really like, so here's a very loose idea if you want to try them. I'd encourage you to play around with the ingredients and see what works for you, which is why the measurements are not very technical.

Ingredients:
A large dollop of peanut butter
A large dollop of almond butter
Chia seeds
Flaxseeds
A couple of dates
Small handful of sultanas
Handful of chopped almonds and peanuts
Desiccated coconut.
Method:
Whizz all the ingredients except the coconut together in a food processor until combined, you may need to scoop up a handful and squidge it together to make sure it sticks. Then roll into balls.
Dip each ball in the desiccated coconut and leave them to chill in the fridge for a few hours.

Hey presto! Lovely, scrummy little balls of energy.

The balls should keep in the fridge for around a week or can be frozen for around a month. Eat them whenever you're craving a snack, with a smoothie for breakfast or for a pre-run boost.

Basically add whatever you fancy - oats, cinnamon, different nuts and seeds, a scoop of protein powder if that's your thing post run. Just give it a try.

I'm heading to Cardiff Park Run tomorrow so will definitely be having one before I head out.

Sarah AKA Crandon Runs is currently on holiday.

If you're in Cardiff, you might want to follow my blog cardiffgirl.wordpress.com