A change is as good as a rest

Today finally felt like summer had arrived - I woke up at 7am to the sun shining and bright blue skies. I couldn't wait to pull on my trainers and just get out there for a quiet sunday morning canal run.

Unfortunately, my body had other ideas. I was aiming for a leisurely 10miler but by mile 3 I was struggling, hot, tired and running low on water (which is unlike me as I tend to run for an hour before needing a drink) I was close to quitting and getting the bus home.

Taking a detour through Mile End Park in order to make my way home I saw the stepped hill and opted for three sets of squat jumps to the top with walking lunges back down. Then some leg strength exercises. I then did three Kenyan Hill sprints before making the 1.5mile run home.

Instead of being disappointed that I didn't get the miles under my belt I was feeling tired and had that pleasant aching in my thighs.

So, my new philosophy is that when I feel like I can't do the length of run planned I can only cut it short with a good workout in the middle then, and only then, will I have earnt the right to bail.

Afterall, a change is as good as a rest!

Book Love: Running Like a Girl

I have made no secret of the fact that I don't think there are enough positive female role models for the "average" woman looking to get into running. A lot of what I see around keeping fit and running created for women is focused on cutting corners and quick fixes. Which led me to pick up Alexandra Heminsley's "Running Like a Girl".

Alexandra begins the book as a normal girl going through a bit of a break up, dissatisfied by her weight and bored of gyms and yoga she decides to start running. Like many of us, her first run doesn't go well neither do some of her subsequent runs. She experiences cripplingly embarrassing moments attempting to purchase trainers and falling over during the London Marathon. She has trials and tribulations, relapses and successes.

What I really like about this book is that it is brutally honest. She doesn't struggle in her training then complete the London Marathon without a bead of sweat ruining her make up. She does it, she is emotional, she cries and she falls over but importantly she does all this and completes her goal.

Ideal for the first time runner or even those of us who are considering running as the second part of the book is full of handy tips and advice all aimed at women. I appreciate some of the tips like buying a sports bra (continual bug bear of mine as you can see here) but the tips about wearing nail varnish and what sort of make up stays on during a marathon I found a little bit unnecessary. But then I am not too concerned about sweating off my eyeliner. 

Overall, I do suggest any lady thinking of starting their running journey should read this book but so should their significant others as it demonstrates really well the emotional pressure it can put you under, the self doubt you can experience after a particularly rubbish run and the importance of people there who will support you when you have to get up at 6am in the winter to bash out that 10mile run...

Some of my favourite quotes from the book are:

"The secret that all runners keep is that they don't do it for their bodies, but for their minds. Slim legs can get boring, but a clear mind never does"

"[Running] is the discipline to stick to what you need to do to get where you need to go. It is the courage to leave someone you love in a warm bed, hoping that they will still love you when you return an hour later, sweating and cross"

My dirty little secret...

At the end of the week Rosie wrote a post for the High Tea Cast: "Running out of patience - why twitter hates runners". And it made me think about the reactions I have had from the world of twitter since beginning running and posting about this on social media.

I love twitter. I love baking. I love eating. I love vintage clothes. I love running. And I also tweet about all of these things... a lot. However, I am, increasingly feeling guilty about posting about running and the increasing frequency I tweet about running. But the truth is that as running becomes a larger part of my life it is inevitable that this will come across on social media.

I have lost followers and I have gained followers, none of this matters to me. What has surprised me though are some of the comments I get from some of my real life friends to these posts - a lot of them are supportive whilst others openly ridicule my tweets about running. This saddens me. I actively keep running posts, on the whole, off of my Facebook page as I don't feel that is a space where people want to be bombarded but twitter is designed for stream of consciousness, regular updates on the minutiae of life.

However, for all of the horrible comments and lost followers I get for every running post I put up there are more positive comments and new, better followers. Just this week I put out a post looking for recommendations on running arm bands for phones and within seconds I got lots of people offering suggestions and their thoughts, suggesting websites and where to get the best deal. There are some great ladies that I have met through twitter who post congratulatory comments on running posts, who ask me how its going, who empathise with me when an injury is getting me down and who share the guilt of a missed run.

For all of those friendships I happily accept the horrible comments and that is why I won't let running become my dirty little secret.

Shout out to the wonderful @AmIReallyRunnin and @ChiltonDiva who both spread twitter love by being truly fantastic and supportive women!

If you fancy following my twitter and aren't turned off by the odd running update you can do so here: @x_JazzyM_x

There's more to running than running

Who would've thought it but it is true... there is more to running than just getting out there and, well, running.

As someone who hates any sort of strength and core work I have been trying to ignore the advice that I should in fact be squatting, lunging and planking my way to better running. But not anymore... I am going to get those abs of steel and thighs of iron... or at least try to!

I am rubbish at fitting this sort of exercise into my running schedule so when I saw Shock Absorber post their 30 Day Abs Challenge on Facebook it was like a god send - it gives me a structure to follow, which means that I don't have to think, and it increases in intensity. What more could I want?

I am only 15 days in and as yet I haven't noticed any huge aesthetic changes - but I am trying not to dwell on this as it isn't the main reason I am doing this (although it would be nice). Yes, I have taken a before photo and a during photo and hopefully by the end I will proudly display them alongside a finished photo of perfect abs!

I have however, started to think more about my abs when I am running - mostly because they are aching from the challenge. It is making me appreciate that in order to keep going during the Brighton Marathon I am going to need a strong core to keep me lifting my legs when they start to feel like lead!

Now I need to start on the arms and legs now... Does anyone have any top strength exercises? What other exercises do you do to compliment your running?

Fighting off the blues

This week I have mostly felt like this...

It has been one of those weeks that feels like it has lasted forever, that everything which could go wrong did and the things that normally cheer me up just weren't doing it for me.

I made a point of trying to stick to my usual running routine and made sure I was still doing my Shock Absorber 30 Day Ab Challenge because I was sure that this would get me out of my rut - post exercise endorphins and all of that... and when that failed I turned to chocolates and cake.

And then it dawned on me - what I needed was some time. Some time to myself. Some time in bed, some time to read and do some life admin. So after a weekend of no running and spending some time with the Mr and neighbours I feel ready for Monday.

What are your top tips for getting out of a slump?

Mojito Cupcakes - a Father's Day Treat

This Sunday is Father's Day but as I am a bad daughter I will be spending this Sunday recovering from a hangover after a Flat Crawl on Saturday night. So, to redeem myself, I visited my Dad last weekend and baked a batch of the Hummingbird Bakery's Mojito cupcakes.

My Dad is a massive fan of mojitos and the sun was shining on Saturday so these were the perfect treat enjoyed outside with a pot of tea. I was surprised I liked them - I am not usually a fan of alcoholic sweet treats but the zingy lime and fresh mint off set the rum really well.

And... they aren't too tricky to make either... although I did deviate slightly from the recipe choosing to cut my lemon and lime zest into small cubes instead of grated as I like to get that sharp taste of lemon or lime in a hit rather than dispersed throughout the cupcake. I also chose not to decorate the top with caster sugar coated mint leaves as suggested but instead opted for more cubed lime zest and a mint leaf - sometimes you can just have too much sugar!

Mojito Cupcakes!

Makes 12 medium sized cupcakes or 20-30 mini cakes

For the sponge:

100ml White rum
170g Caster sugar
40g Unsalted butter, softened
120g Plain flour
1/4 tsp Salt
1 1/2 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Grated lime zest
1 tsp Grated lemon zest
1 tbsp Finely chopped mint
1 large egg
120ml Milk
1/2 tsp Vanilla essence

Preheat oven to 170deg C and line a muffin tin with cases

In a saucepan bring the white rum and 30g of the sugar to the boil, reduce by half and set aside.
Beat together the butter, flour, salt, baking powder, lime and lemon zest, mint and remaining sugar. Mix until you have a crumb like consistency.
Mix together the egg milk and vanilla in a jug and gradually pour this into the dry mix mixing until you have a smooth batter.

Spoon cake batter into the cases up to 2/3 full. Place in the oven and bake for 12-15 min's for mini cupcakes or 15 to 20 for bigger or until the cakes are a light golden brown and springy to the touch.

While the cakes are still warm spoon the rum reduction over them (1/2 tsp for mini cakes 1tsp for bigger approx) Then leave to cool completely!

For the frosting

80g Unsalted butter
250g Icing sugar
1/4 tsp lemon zest
1/4 tsp lime zest
4 tsp milk
4 tsp White rum

1tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp chopped mint or lime zest

Using and electric whisk, beat together the butter, icing sugar, lemon and lime zest until combined in a sandy consistency. Stir together the milk and rum and pour this into the butter mixture while still beating, whisk until light and fluffy.
Divide the frosting between the cakes. To finish, mix together the caster sugar with either 1 tsp of mint or lime zest and sprinkle over the top.

This recipe is from the Hummingbird Bakery's Cake Days and one of my favourite cake recipe books. My only niggle is the typical over use of butter icing or frosting which seems to be typical of american cupcakes but that can be easily substituted for a cream cheese or yoghurt frosting.

Now to try the Pina Colada cupcakes...

Fitness Freak Rave Up

What happens when you mix 90's club classics, glow sticks and a dance routine? Well on Wednesday night I found out at the Fitness Freak Rave Up!

Fitness Freak is an amazing resource for finding your local exercise classes from yoga to hula. For two nights this week they hosted four Fitness Freak Rave Ups - dance workouts with a strength session to 90's classics for an hour in the tunnels under Waterloo.

I am not one for dance exercise classes - I am uncoordinated and have the memory of a goldfish. In fact I normally stay clear of them... for everyone else's sake as well as my own... but the lure of 90's music and glow sticks meant that I was signing up without a moments hesitation. And it was worth it!

The tunnels are known for hosting a variety of weird and wonderful pop up events and stood surrounded by graffiti and street art with groups of people dressed in their best neon I was beyond excited. On entering the tunnels the music was pumping and we were guided to a room full of boxes and after hesitantly relinquishing all of my worldly belongings I ventured, glowsticks in hand, into the main room.

Huge neon and UV prints decorated the walls and free UV body paint got everyone in a raving mood way before the class officially began. The class itself was fun, energetic and sweaty with a variety of moves repeated to different tracks increasing in speed. Even I was able to follow the routine and doing it with glowsticks in the dark meant that even when I didn't quite get it right no one was able to notice (apart from the poor soul whose foot I trampled!)

I was surprised by a good strength session in the middle with squats and lunges meaning that by the end my legs were feeling like lead and I felt like I had properly worked out which is something I haven't experienced in similar dance exercise classes.

The evening finished up with a good stretch and some Vita Coco which is fast becoming my favourite post workout treat!

All in all, I really enjoyed the class and am almost a dance exercise class convert... as long as it is in the dark... with UV... and I can sing "THERE'S NO LIMIT" at the top of my voice...

Happy National Running Day!

I would like to wish all of those people who pull on the lycra and head out to pound the pavements first thing in the morning, leaving a warm bed when it is raining outside, sweating their make up off in the height of summer and turning down large cold glasses of wine in the pub after work a very HAPPY NATIONAL RUNNING DAY!

If you visit www.runningday.org you can personalise a running badge explaining why you run which got me thinking about why I run...

I run to be free....

- from the stresses of work
- from the stresses at home
- from the thoughts in my head
- from others
- to eat what I want
- to appreciate what I can achieve when I put in the hard work
- to enjoy being outside whatever the weather
- to focus completely on me
- to wear lycra in public

Why do you run?

Park Life - My first Parkrun

I've heard a lot about parkruns. People rave about them all over twitter and on the recently launched Guardian Running Blog there was an article in praise of the parkrun.

So, up early on a Saturday I decided to give the Mile End parkrun a go and it didn't disappoint. I arrived  just before the 9am start outside Mile End Stadium and there was a crowd of runners warming up, stretching and chatting to each other. Usually, this sight would terrify me - walking into an established crowd and being the newbie but this was different. The runners were friendly and the volunteers called all first timers (a surprisingly large amount of us) and explained the course and the process.

The beauty of the parkrun is in the simplicity of the course - two laps to the canal and back. Simple... well a part from the 4 up hills this involved... I am not a fan of hills so it was great to blast some uphill running over a short fast 5k. And it certainly was a short fast 5k - the front runners were clear from the start as they raced ahead of the main group and could be seen heading back on their second lap before I had finished my first. I felt like I was running through treacle, my legs were heavy and I just wasn't feeling it. But, I surprised myself and managed to complete the 5k in 24mins. But what's an even nicer touch, especially for the competitive parkrunners is the email of results you get after telling you where you finished in the group and where you finished in relation to your age group and sex.

Overall, it was a fantastic experience and felt like a real community. Although I don't think I will go every week I will make sure I go every month.

And, even better - my run was done by 10am leaving the rest of a sunny Saturday free for baking and BBQs.