lissy
Friday’s Fact File
Things that I have discovered or just loved this week …
Music!
Julio Bashmore – Rhythm of Auld
Jack Ü ft Kezia – Take U There – I love it when the beat breaks on this track!
Uptown X.O. and Rob Low – Through The Night – Sadly no link yet but will add soon! I promise it’s a good ‘un!
Eats!
After an glorious 15km run and then a wander round some galleries Sunday was spent enjoy all the FOOD from Franze and Evans! I discovered this little place when walking back from a trip to Columbia Road Flower Market! So, the salads look incredible, the tarts extremely tasty but let’s cut to it – the cakes are AMAZING!
Awesome creations like courgette cake, croissant cake and of course chocolate bomb cake?!? Now personally I was desparate to try the courgette cake but my partner in cake crime was drooling over the cherry chocolate cake and well I have to admit she made a fantastic choice! Firstly the slab was bigger than my face(WINNING) and then secondly the chocolate cake was perfect! Not too dry, not too sickly and then all the cream instead of icing! I don’t think it will be long before I’m back … you have to make sure the other cakes taste as good right ?
Stuff, things, bits and pieces!
This bag makes me smile! Thanks Stylist for bringing it to my attention.
Click here to buy buy buy! And if you do photos please!
Friday’s Fact File
Things that I have discovered or just loved this week …
Music!
Instead of listing my three favourite tracks this week I thought I would give a little shout out to the awesome man that is Ronnie Herel. Ronnie has kindly put together a little R&B mixtape for us over on Mixcloud so go on, treat your ears to some serious R&B classics!
Ronnie Herel – Back in the Day 2 “It’s Been a While”
Eats!
After watching the awesome GBBO on European Cake Week I discovered my new, potentially all time favourite, cake! Ladies and gentleman I introduce you to Princess Cake.
Layers of whipped cream, sponge, creme patisserie, jam, more sponge, more creme patisserie and then a layer of marzipan icing this, for me, is heaven! So of course the next day I googled places in London that served such a thing and then asked (I didn’t really need to ask ;D) Lissy to join me in sampling!
OH MY!!!! I have already put in the request that this be my birthday cake!
On a side note we tried it at Bageriet, Covent Garden! A gorgeous little Swedish bakery which I would definitely recommend for cinnamon rolls, rye bread and of course Princess cake!!!
Stuff, things, bits and pieces!
Ok so … Rita Ora … I don’t know … but the pieces Adidas have linked to her name are actually pretty lust worthy …
Warm, cosy black hoody with a bit of sheer detailing … yes please!
Friday’s Fact File
Things that I have discovered or just loved this week …
Music!
Stylo G – Call Mi A Leader Sampling Bob Marley I love this, definitely gets you bouncing around…
KOF ft Terri Walker – Name in Blood – UK talent sounding oh so good!
Chris Brown Ft Jhene Aiko – Drunk Texting – A new track form his new 21 SONG (!?!) album!
Eats!
I actually don’t think I need to say much more ….
Stuff, things, bits and pieces!
Bitch please my ride is a unicorn!!!!
This was shown to me my by a friend on Instagram … You know it is going to get bought come pay day!!!
Race Recap: Bacchus Half Marathon
A unicorn, 2 tumbles and whole lotta wine
Date/Time: Sunday 14th September 2014
Location: Denbies Wine Estate
Distance: 13.1 miles
Before I knew my incredible friends from TNR I used to read their blog posts and always enjoyed hearing about the crazy races they were involved in. One in particular stood out, Laura‘s post about the Bacchus Half Marathon! Fancy dress, wine stops, all the food and in glorious countryside. This year there was no way I wasn’t going to get involved.
So firstly the fancy dress, after a few ideas inspiration came … I was going to run like this ….
To get to the race venue it was a quick journey to Waterloo and then onto a 50 minute train to Dorking which as the stops went by slowly filled up with people in fancy dress … and trainers! Off the train and a little 10 minute walk to the “vineyard” we were quickly surrounded by where’s wallys, brides, soldiers, wedding presents (?!), bumble bees, cheer leaders, minions … I could go on. The sun was shining, the music was pumping and everyone was in such good spirits!
After a super quick bag drop and registration (NO QUEUES and smiling helpers) we had a quick group shot
And then headed over to the start line…
This race was SURREAL! I would say about 90% of people were dressed up, varying levels of effort but still everyone was a little different and after about a mile and a half of running through beautiful rows of grapes we came to the first wine stop ….
These “fuelling” stations were incredible! A shot glass of wine, roast chicken crisps, haribo, raisins, dried apricots, jaffa cakes, borbon biscuits, fig rolls, nice biscuits, digestives, oranges, bananas, water, squash and energy gels. It was really hard not to just grab everything, in fact we are sure someone people had little bags so they could stock up for later!
So after enjoying the first stop we then carried on to the next, through a little village which is where I took my first of two tumbles…. I tripped on the pavement … no idea why … I’m a light weight but there is no way a shot of wine would do that! Anyway I picked myself up and carried on to the next stop where we came across a group of farmyard animals (in trainers) singing “wine wine dehlia”, again this race really was surreal. Stop two was also where a very kind first Aider dressed my knee, after a had to rip my tights off … apparently things had got a little bloody …
Through stop three and onto stop four we tried some glorious wine, I particularly enjoyed the rose, and the continued on a relaxed run through fields, among cows, horses, up woodland tracks, past beautiful country houses and on what would certainly make glorious Sunday walking routes.
At stop four we were greeted by bagpipers which actually seemed to be particularly fitting and after enjoying a very nice red wine Jen and I decided to carry on … Unbeknown to us, up a LONG hill!!
We were about half way through by this point and though it had been an extremely relaxed run I found the stopping and starting hard, plus I don’t really drink or eat whilst running so this was a totally different experience for me! So as the hill continued up and up this was definitely a test for the legs but of course I wanted to see if I could run the whole thing, just because I am crazy like that. I managed it but at the top I couldn’t see a wine stop (surely there should have been one by now) I was by myself and well, shattered, so I decided to walk for a little bit but of course as I ventured round the corner there it was, the wine stop! Typical ha!
This stop was one of my favourites! The volunteers were fantastic, dressed in Hawaiian gear, there were sweets all over the place, a steel band playing in the background and well the views were pretty incredible too!
From here it was back through the woods and onto my SECOND TUMBLE! Yes I fell again and this time really shredded my leg! I still cannot believe I fell…twice! Anyway, I dusted myself off and carried on through the beautiful woodland where I heard someone shout “love the unicorn costume” where I responded “it’s not a costume… Oh wait STEPH!” My incredible, crazy, friend was actually running the race as a marathon! Yes if you wanted to (?!) you could run the Bacchus Marathon and she was! Looking so incredible strong and going at a great pace it was absolutely amazing to run a couple of miles with my dear friend and I was extremely pleased to wave her off at the penultimate wine stop looking so fresh!
By this point we were onto a very dry white wine which was perfect for me as I really didn’t like it so didn’t feel too guilty at not finishing my shot glass. Seriously all the liquid and food isn’t easy to run with! The final stop had promised fizz so you imagine our absolute dismay to find out that by the time we got there it had all gone!!!!
The last two miles were, as Steph promised, down hill and gave us the most incredible views! And coming back onto the estate smiles were all around!!!!
On crossing the finish line I had Steph screaming my name and then proceeded to cry in her arms upon hearing she had absolutely smashed her marathon times! SERIOUSLY PROUD FRIEND MOMENT!
From here things got really exciting, the medal was a beast! And around the corner … ALL THE CAKE, chocolate tray cake, lemon cake, chocolate Swiss roll, vanilla Swiss roll and my favourite fruit cake with a marzipan layer! They also had loads of yummy fruit laid out too! These organisers know how to make a runner happy! This was then followed by what we had all been looking forward to! The hog roast! So as we all came across the finish line we sat and enjoyed our free HUGE hog bap in the sunshine and of course a glass of complimentary wine ;D …. I may have found the self serve ice cream too ….
All in all Bacchus Half Marathon is a fantastically fun race. Personally for me I’m not great at stopping and starting as my legs get a little achy but this race is definitely one to be experienced and enjoyed! BOOK YOUR PLACE FOR 2015 NOW…
…whilst I sit in unicorn socks icing my knee ;D
Friday’s Fact File
Things that I have discovered or just loved this week …
Music!
George the Poet – “Georgie Porgie” No official link but you can hear his live session for Huw Stevens here and it’s about 15 minutes in!
Mary J. Blige – “Right Now” (again no official link to the song) but this is Mary J. Blige produced by Disclosure you know its gonna be good!
Eats!
Within a lovely goodie bag from the wonderful Fashercise Launch I was lucky enough to find one of these little protein packed balls of yumminess. A few weeks it got me through an interesting run at 4am so I thought it was only right I mention them here!! Bearing in mind I had had 50mins sleep max, irregular food the day before oh, and already run 18miles, munching on this before my next 6miles worked perfectly! These little balls are high in protein, high in fibre, gluten free and come in eight different flavours! They are perfectly travel size, caused me no stomach issues whatsoever (I sometimes find these things are very heavy on the tummy) and well really tasty! They are also quite dense and so it took me some time to munch through, perfect because it felt like it was lots of food = WINNING
Stuff, things, bits and pieces!
Everyone loves a Rolex right? So who wouldn’t love a Rolex with my pal SNOOPY on the face! I love every thing Rodnik put out right now!! Wish list for days!!!!
Race Recap: Spitfire Scramble
Date/Time: Saturday 30th – Sunday 31st August
Location: Hornchurch Country Park
Distance: As many 10km laps as possible in 24hours
When Leah asked whether anyone would be interested in entering a competition to win a place in a 24 hour race weekend I, of course, jumped at the chance and put my name down and then forgot about it. Then a couple of weeks ago we got an extremely surprising email confirming that we had won! Team Naturally Run would be the VIP team at the first Spitfire Scramble, 2014!
The Spitfire Scramble is a multi-terrain race where, as a team or as a solo runner (!?), you attempt to complete as many (roughly 10km) laps as possible over 24-hours! So on what started out as a very rainy Saturday morning (thankfully the weather got a lot better the further East we went) Jen, Leah, Katy, Becs, Becki, Emma Nikki and I made our way, along with roughly 200 other runners, to Hornchurch, Essex to set up camp!
Kitted out in predominately BLACK (personally the brighter the better for me when it comes to kit), BUT extremely comfortable Crewroom kit we had a quick photo shoot (and a costume change) and then got down to business deciding the order in which we would run … roughly thinking that each lap would be around an hour …
First out was Becs, a tactical move as she is easily one of the fastest women I know and so would put us in a good place for the race!
Following Becs, Nikki headed out and then before I knew it I was being called up!
When my first lap came around I have to admit I was pretty nervous. Hearing that I was going to have to climb over things was definitely going to be a new experience for me during a run, and well this obviously wasn’t your typical race, start – run – finish and then go out for celebratory food, but I wanted to do well for my team so I set off and settled into a relatively steady pace.
The route took you through various terrains, uneven field track, gravel paths, muddy paths, around lovely lakes and then my favourite, woodland paths!
I was loving the off road route! It was definitely a little different for my legs who had a few wobbles, but it was just so much fun, though having to stop to climb over things and then start running again is not the easiest! On seeing the finish line I sprinted to the finish, passing on the illumious slapband! Yes a slapband! Checking my watch I was over the moon and ridiculously surprised, my first lap was sub 50!!! Literally beaming!
Whilst all the other girls one by one went out for their laps the rest of us just chilled out around our tents, eating, catching up, eating more and just enjoying spending some time together.
We were extremely lucky to have some of the other TNR girls pop by for support too. A huge thank you to Lucy and Glen who made this gorgeous sign …
The lovely Laura who brought homemade cheese straws! Err amazing! And then of course …. LISSY!!!! The most amazing friend in the world for bringing my favourite thing ever, her DARK CHOCOLATE BANANA BREAD (if you want to make someone’s day head to her site for the recipe! (Seriously it’s a game changer)
My second lap came at 21:30. At this point I was nervous, it was dark, and I mean reallydark. I am super conscious about walking alone at night due to boring events when I first same to London and now I was about to run for 6miles by myself with just a headtorch through fields, parkland and woods!!!!! WTF! This is where I have to give a HUGE mention Lissy (again) and the RDC team who gave me an amazing pep talk and assured me all would be fine!
With my amazingly strong headtorch (courtesy of LED Lenser) switched on, blinding everyone in the process, I plugged my headphones in and got going. It was dark, the route was empty and my headtorch was my only source of light but this my friends was one of the most amazing running experiences I have EVER had. There is something quite incredible about being alone in the countryside with just a headtorch and the stars, plus running in the dark meant that the hills, and there were a few sneaky ones along the route, were over before you knew it! I loved it, I absolutely loved it and I obviously had so much fun even the Marshall’s were laughing about how much of a runners high I was on as I bounded across the finish line!
My third lap however was tough. Orignally due to happen around 3:30 ish by about midnight I settled into my tent for a few hours sleep but at 1:30 I was woken up to hear the sad news that Jen was out due to a poorly leg and asked whether I could run sooner than planned … in 30 minutes! Now this race was all about the team and well there was no way I was going to let the team down so I quickly got dressed and joined Emma at the change over point and then with very little sleep and fuelled by half a Mars Bar – thank you so much Emma I still owe you for that – I ran from roughly 2:15-3:15 and I definitely felt my legs falling asleep whilst going down the hills!
When I got back Beki was there ready to go and explained that if I could would I be able to go again when she got back as both Jen and Leah were now officially out due to injury 😦 and Emma and Bex were catching up on some seriously well deserved zzz. I figured as I was up why not and it would mean I could get a solid couple of hours once I was done so I headed to the food tent for some slightly better post run / pre race fuelling, a Nuun and my Bounce Ball whilst enjoying late night ramblings with some of the other runners!
The fourth lap was a bit of a blur to be honest, somewhere around 4:30, the sun was definitely on it’s way and once again it was just me, my headtorch and Ronnie Herel’s old skool mix. I was pleased to see I got through it quicker than my third lap but by the time I crossed the line I was ready for sleep and so after a very sorry looking little bowl of oats and raisins I tucked myself in for a snooze.
Now originally we had all planned to do 3 – 4 laps each but due to some of the team being injured plans had gone a little awry. When I woke up after a couple of hours sleep the team incredibly were still running but had said that there was no pressure to so anymore. We had all gone way above expectations and we had all done each other proud but well … I wondered if my legs could do any more….
Doing a fifth lap would mean doing just shy of 30 miles, the furthest I have never run, it would mean getting another lap in for the team, and it would mean I could eat even more food! My team were incredible and without hesitation told me if my legs were up for it I could do it! So I did.
It was tough, I was tired, I was smelly, it was hot and the hills felt steeper in the daylight (hence the worn out face) BUT I did it and well I felt AMAZING! I would not have got through that lap without knowing I had my teams’ support so thank you so so much ladies!
Incredibly Nikki was there at the finish line ready to go! It was 11am ish and we had achieved our 24 laps but determined to get a 25th in Nikki set off to walk the final lap alongside Emma who on realising what she was up to ran to catch her up. (It’s worth noting here as long as you cross the start line before 12 the lap would count.)
On seeing the girls coming round the corner towards the finish line we of course joined them to cross the final line as a team …
This race was such an amazing experience for me. It was the Spitfire Scramble’s first year and I will definitely be signing up for next year! It attracted a really lovely mix of people and the atmosphere throughout was extremely supportive and friendly! The marshals along the route were smiley and the organiser himself, Danny, was extremely personable and made you feel very welcome! A word of warning the catering wasn’t exactly ideal (unless you love salty bacon (which will repeat on you whilst running) and jacket potatoes for every meal over 24 hours) but fueling for this sort of thing was always going to be tricky! Overall however it was fantastic and an experience I am so grateful to have shared with 7 other incredible running ladies :D. We even came in the top 50% out of all the teams that took part!
Oh and it’s worth mentioning that we actually came first in our division “All female team of 8”! That’s right we won trophies as well as medals!!!
So of course we used these to drink our celebratory fizz out of on the way home ;D!
A HUGE THANK YOU TO EVERYONE INVOLVED IN SPITFIRE SCRAMBLE! Us TNR ladies had a truly fantastic 24 hours!
Friday’s Fact File
Things that I have discovered or just loved this week …
Music!
Billon ft. Maxine Ashley – Special
Jacob Banks – Move With You – Try and listen to this without bouncing :D! Also the video makes quite nice viewing ;D!
Jennifer Hudson feat. R. Kelly – It’s Your World
Eats!
Ice cream!
I know that this is seriously vague but whilst on holiday Lissy, Harriet and I enjoyed a different ice cream every day and well, I just forgot how much I love ice cream! I definitely am a fan of a good crispy wafer and then a mountain of ice cream on too so cornettos are always my first choice, however in Valencia it appeared that there was an abundance of ice cream shops so I had to try a variety of flavours ;D! Top of the list … coconut!!!
Stuff, things, bits and pieces!
So you know I couldn’t resist buying this whilst on a naughty detour to Monki with Lissy …
Some of the best £4 I think I have ever spent!
Getting into a routine …
So I think I am finally getting into a nice little routine … almost … nearly
Monday
Bit of ab work but otherwise “cool down” after the seriously sweaty race that was “The British 10km”
Tuesday
Morning – Upper body stuff, kicking off with interval rowing! This was then followed by pull ups, skull crushers, curls and presses. As mentioned last week I went with my list of moves and also started to note down the weight I use so I can monitor my progress!
Evening – RUN DEM aka speed session! This week I decided to go to the next level after figuring that I really need to start pushing myself and so I opted for #CheetahElites but somehow got asked to lead! It was an AWESOME 5 mile run and absolutely amazing to have the opportunity to lead such strong crew of people! Down to City Hall, across to Blackfriars and along past St Paul’s this SPEEDY run left me buzzing for days!!!
Wednesday
A great 7 mile run to an awesome soundtrack. During all my races now I chose to go without music and just enjoy the sights and sounds around me but when I am running on my own I love being able to catch up with musics/mixes! It’s awesome running to some serious tunes and I would definitely recommend listening back to MistaJam’s show at 7pm on 1xtra, it’s a great mixed bag of beats!!
Thursday
BOOM Cycle and London Duathlon BRICK Training Event
On Thursday I was lucky enough to be invited to an intensive one hour BRICK training alongside London Duathlon 2014 ambassadors, ITUDuathlon Champion, Ryan Ostler and Junior Team GB silver medallist, Charlotte Harris, in a 30 minute spin class mimicking the hills of Richmond Park followed by a 5k run. It definitely provided that “jelly leg” feeling but I actually really enjoying pairing the two disciplines! So much so that I would definitely have signed up for the London Duathlon on 14th September but sadly I am already taking part in another event! However, if you fancy getting involved you can find out lots more on their website – http://www.londonduathlon.com
Friday
LEG DAY – I know I keep saying it but I am loving my strengthening sessions at the moment, I just love the idea of making my body stronger! During this session I tried something a little different. After a gentle warm up I did 3 minute bursts on the sweat inducing stepper machine following by squats, lunges and kick backs. I did this little sequence 4 times … and then collapsed! It was AWESOME!
Saturday
Gardening … lots of gardening! I volunteered through work to help a fix up a school as part of a surprise for the pupils. It was a great thing to be a part of and I definitely think it counted as a full body workout! Even just carrying the wheelbarrow was tough haha!
Sunday
An absolutely glorious 10 mile run in the sun and when I say glorious I 110% mean glorious! I went with my music, after sourcing a great mix by Kaytranada, and just ran, not for time, not for distance but just to run and it felt amazing!!!! Now I know I am shortly going to start working on my speed which means shorter, more intense runs but this confirmed I just love a long run! I love the feeling of racking up the miles and the glorious satisfaction of that. I could have carried on for hours but I had a brunch to get to…of course ;D
So there we are! Do you prefer a long, chilled run or are you the type that likes short bursts of intensive running?
Race Recap: The British 10km London
Date/Time: Sunday 13th July / 09:35
Location: Central London
Distance: 10 km chip-timed race
Now the British 10km is a pretty amazing route if you want to see some of the iconic landmarks of London but if like me you have spent many a weekend taking full advantage of being able to run throughout the city paying £50 for the pleasure does seem a little steep.
HOWEVER, me and a few of my buddies were lucky enough to win a place in the Tiger Balm #BorntoRun team. Only finding out a few days before I wasn’t sure what to expect but there were rumours of full tiger suits…I was a little excited! Ha!
Arriving at Whitehall we were greeted by the awesome Tiger Balm Team. I cannot say thanks enough to these guys they were brilliant! Super friendly, helpful and all appeared to be genuinely pleased to have us there! We quickly got given our race number and of course our FLUFFY tiger suits!
So, these suits were definitely were not made of the technical racing fabric we were all used to ;). Almost instantly you could feel the heat rising but we decided to play along, with our Run Dem tops underneath, we would wear the suits for at least the first 3 miles. So, after a few photos with Born Free Ambassador Michaela Strachan, who was lovely by the way, we wandered to the start line!
It had to be said that walking to the start line felt like doing a 10km distance, it just seemed to go on forever?! The only thing that distracted us was the amount of attention our suits were giving us, it appeared that everyone loves a tiger. Everyone was in high spirits but all looked a little baffled about how far we were walking!
Once at the start (35 mins before we needed to be there) we got a few more quality photos in!
And worked out de- tiger suit strategy … seriously these suits had no ventilation … whatsoever!
Once the race finally kicked off we soon realised we actually needed to loop round … we were still quite a good distance away from the start!?! But when we finally got running (starting off past The Ritz) the amount of tiger calls and shouts of support we received was AWESOME! Now I have freely admitted before that as a runner I thrive off crowd support and this was brilliant, 6 tigers running together definitely got people’s attention. By mile 1 however the hoods came off and the temperature was rising, quickly!!!
Coming down along Victoria Embankment it was great to see so many people out to support the race. The crowds were seriously noisy spurring us all on with various banners and instruments which definitely kept us all going and the tiger love never seemed to stop.
However, going into the tunnel just before mile 4 things started to get a little tougher. Firstly it’s always disheartening when a race route loops back on itself as you see what’s waiting for you, an incline, and then secondly this was a tunnel. Imagine 1000s of hot runners, no air and oh and you are wearing a fluffy all in one tiger suit…
Even though there was just a tiny breeze when we came out the otherside it was ridiculously appreciated!!!
By mile 4 the boys had sped off and Harry and I pushed on still in the suits to try and finish in a reasonable time enjoying a different type of race. The crowds were still going strong and by this point I had committed to finishing in my suit … sprint finish with my hood up!
Coming up to the finish we passed Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey. Our sprint finish took us past Downing Street and the Cenotaph and yes I zipped my suit up hood and powered all the way to the end! Now no PB for me but a solid race and once again a fun one with friends. Once past the line cheery volunteers handed out water and we headed over to the special Tiger Balm tent to collect our bags & “race goodies”.
Now this is where things got interesting. Your medals were at the bag drop and if I’m going to be honest the bag drop was a shambles! Supposedly the bags had been placed in some sort of order however, the girls behind the barriers looked completely overwhelmed and well, it was painful to say the least! After playing what seemed like a crystal maze game, to the left, back a bit, no a little right, down, down there, back, back back … etc we finally found our bags and then your medal was handed to you with some GB coloured laces…mmmm.
Now it was an absolute pleasure to run for Tiger Balm and support the BorntoRun campaign! I cannot say thank you enough to the team for looking after us but the British 10km itself. The support along the route was fantastic, the runners were a good bunch and the sights along the route pretty wonderful. BUT for someone who loves running around London and is lucky enough to do this for free most weekends I think £50 is an awful lot for a 10km race … an awful lot!
BUT the post race celebrations after were pretty awesome ;D
Friday’s Fact File
Things that I have discovered or just loved this week …
Music!
Rag ‘N’ Bone Man – No Mother – EPIC! Play loud!
Fat Buddha Music – Brought to you by the amazing lady behind Fat Buddha Yoga these chillout mixes are perfect for easy listening sessions!
Eats!
So I’ll let you into a little secret … for the last 30 days … yep … you guessed it for the last 30 days I have been taken part in a “Whole30” experiment. Now I plan to write a completely separate blog post on this as I have quite a bit to say BUT back to eats … So Lissy & I decided one evening that we were craving nachos which are obviously not whole30 compliant so we adapted! I bring you sweet potato nachos! Slice up your sweet pot seriously thin and in a bowl massage them thoroughly with coconut oil and cinnamon (if you like a bit of cinnamon of course) then pop in the oven at 180-190 degrees for 15 minutes, flip and then pop them in for another 15 and BOOM! They become nice and crisp like, in fact crisp like enough to scoop some of the homemade guac you will obviously make to accompany them ;D!
YUM!
Stuff, things, bits and pieces!
I know we have probably all seen these but it would be rude not to mention Nike’s new kit ……. #lycralove!
Run Round Town 