Going for the Burn(s)

In which the Mersea Hash House Harriers get all poetic

Sometimes it makes a change to run in an urban environment and this just what we did on Saturday (24 January). Although there were a surprising number of historical elements to this outing. 

Thro' bloody flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!
But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread.

It also happened to co-incide with Burns Night the following evening and there was much talk of Haggis with most of the emphasis being on the accompanying whisky.

Such a clean and sober looking young man - I don't
think, somehow, he was a hasher!

Matilda lies in wait outside 'The Live and Let Live' pub
where the hash started and finished

How about this for a sneak peek through the fence
that is actually a garden pond whose origins were a river.

The Hare sets us a challenge before we set off
they obviously found it amusing!

Despite the cold it was a bright enough day and there were
surprisingly plenty of open green spaces to be enjoyed

There's got to be a pile of sawdust round here somewhere!

I told you it was full of history - a, muddy, jaunt along
Gryme's Dyke which is part of an iron-age fortification -
it was devilish too

Climbing up out of the ditch

Who Wears showing how to get your leg over on a hash

And there were lots of opportunities to have a go at
getting your leg over on this outing

Of course the challenge that the Hare set was to take note of how many roads we'd passed which were named after poets. I wish I had taken more notice when he was giving out the instructions! You will have to have an outing there yourselves to count how many!

The Usual Stats:

It was an interesting area, full of history and it has been fun looking up and researching Iron Age Colchester.

See you on the next hash and until then happy running!

Together We Can Fly: Week-in-review-linkup

“If you hang out with chickens, you’re going to cluck, and if you hang out with eagles, you’re going to fly.”

There you have it according to Dr. Steve Maraboli, bestselling author and behavioral science academic and also according to Jesica of the wonderful running blog: rUnladylike (please feel free to click on this link and have a look at all her great inspiration for us runners).

I have decided to join in when I can and try to meet my goals for 2015 with Jesica's help. To start with I am going to review my goals and then set out my achievements each week here on this blog. I'll make no apologies for following Jesica's blog post here for this initial week so that I can refer back and keep to the aims she has set. So every week I will post:

a recap of my exercise routine for the week. This will help me see if I am actually working towards my 2015 goals. I will share something that has made me proud of myself for that week and also tell you about something that I have found challenging and if I have any plans for sorting the problem out.

Jesica will have a place to share a link at the end of her weekly review and that will be where anyone who wants to join in can share a link to their own posts and where we can offer each other help and encouragement. As well as the victory for the week we can also set out a challenge for the week ahead if we wish. Being realistic I know this will not be possible for me every week but I am going to attempt to join in as often as I can. You can join in too if you are inspired by Jesica's idea.

I am going to use Jesica's quote as my mantra for the blog posts relating to this group project: "We are a community and we’re in this together. Big changes don’t happen overnight, but a series of small changes and consistent behaviors over time lead to big breakthroughs."

Let's get a bit more detailed

One of the interesting things I have discovered is that Jesica's goals are very similar to mine and staying in half marathon shape year-round (15 - 20 miles of running per week, for me, as well as long runs of 8 - 10 miles) was one Becci, my running buddy, and I had set for ourselves. I posted on my Facebook running group page that I wanted to get stronger and this is also Jesica's aim. I cross train twice a week with a spinning class and a supple strength class which incorporates Tai Chi, Yoga and Pilates.

I use a Garmin which allows me to record my runs and spinning class but I also use a running diary which was gifted to me by an Etsy seller. 

• Monday - four miles with the Monday night social walkers and runners - taken very slowly because of knee injury - foam rolling afterwards
• Tuesday - forty-five minute spinning class 
• Wednesday - an hour of supple strength - quite an intense programme which is new and needed a lot of concentration. Found muscles I'd forgotten about and was a bit sore afterwards but in a healthy way!
• Thursday - went out for a five mile run on my own (see photos) and mixed up the terrain to help build strength and stamina. My knee injury felt  better but did some foam rolling.
• Friday - rest day - some walking.
• Saturday - 5 miles (including hash running)
• Sunday - rest day

Plugged in and ready to go

Nice even route through holiday caravan site to beach

Only me and a bait digger far off on mud flats

You can see the angle of the beach to horizon which
made running very difficult

I don't think I would get away with this task as
my challenge of the week!

Eating Clean

This was the next section on Jesica's post and I am happy to include it as it co-incides with a new recipe book I am excited to have pre-ordered by Ella Woodward which you can find here. I will try some of the recipes and record them when I receive the book. I am so relieved to have finally got rid of the Christmas sugar damage which I think was a contributory factor in my injuring my knee and feeling pretty rough for most of this month. Still keeping yourself as fit as you can means you can usually bounce back more quickly. 

As you may have read on a previous post I am currently trying out the Fuelify boxes and this week I tried the Pulsin protein bar as I was stuck because of a high tide and could not get home to eat lunch after my spinning class and it seemed a good snack for after exercise. It was edible and chocolatey and felt like it ought to be doing you good but it still had that health bar odd texture and slightly weird tang but I would not rule out buying it again.

Worth a try - a sampling box allows you to
experience a range of sports foods

What I'm Most Proud Of

This will be a regular part of the link-up review and this week I was most proud of my effort at my supple strength class. It is so easy when something is new to 'do at it' instead of trying to get to grips with the exercise and to make it mean something to you. I struggle now to maintain suppleness and flexibility and this class allows you to maintain and sometimes improve especially if you understand the movement and stretch yourself safely.

Where I Struggled

Well there was no doubt of that this week: my knee injury had made me very wary, even if it was mostly in my head, so keeping up with the front runners on my Monday night outing was not going to happen. Thankfully, they are a group of runners with different goals and I was able to keep to a pace I could manage even if it was a struggle to stop worrying that I would damage my knee again. I managed to keep a steady pace and finished without feeling I had done too much after an injury.

Goal for the week ahead

The obvious one is to make sure that I keep up my intention to join Jessica in her wonderful aim as expressed in this quote she finished with:

“To accomplish great things, we must not only act but also dream. Not only plan but also believe.”

~Anatole France

Thank you Jesica for giving us the chance to work together and for all your inspiration over on your blog.

Little Horkesley Hash

High winds and torrential rain - it must be time for a run

This was my first outing with the Mersea Island Hash House Harriers for 2015 and it didn't feel like a good decision as the heavens opened on my arrival at The Beehive Pub on an extremely windy Saturday morning.

There was only one other empty car in the car park and I munched on my beetroot energy bar contemplating the sanity of a middle aged matriarch coming out for a run instead of staying in the warm and getting on with my knitting.

The gloomy view from Matilda (the mini clubman) as
I wondered if anyone else would turn up

As is always the way with a Hashing outing, suddenly the car park was busy with runners arriving and getting on with the job of changing into running shoes and greeting each other.

Archie the Springer definitely the keenest amongst us this morning

Thankfully the rain stopped just as we set off. I was finding it difficult to believe the Hare when he told us he had tried to find the driest route as there was so much surface water everywhere.

Not the kind of puddle you want to find yourself wading through
on a run - the farmyard smell was anything but healthy-seeming!

Oh boy did I struggle at the start of the run today. However, thanks to the usual interesting chatter my mind was taken off my poor physical state. The scenery was really outstanding even on this bleak day and I, personally, had not been to Little Horkesley before and was enjoying it very much.

That's Helen looking very smart despite the conditions

There are certain elements that need to be included on all hashes and one is the more lazy runners amongst us keeping an eye on the Hare, whilst others shoot off in all directions, to see if he will start towards the correct route. Our Hare today was far too clever to be outwitted like that and seemed genuinely surprised by someone's correct choice of direction so we were forced to start following one route or another until hearing the call 'on on'.

We hashers love the downhills but we know that
 there is bound to be an uphill soon

There were some very smart farms in the area. I saw some interesting cattle in the fields and both they and the few sheep about must have been, like us, hoping for a brighter spell of weather soon.

What an amazing angle this old farmhouse has settled
into

Look at how hard it must be to plough this soggy landscape

This hash had everything - terrible jokes, a run through the woods
and thankfully some very high viz clothing for us slower
ones

Now 'Dad' there is no way you are going to
convince me it is ok to get in that stream

Some lively ponies were very interested in our tramping
through their field

A quick escape was needed

But not before taking a moment to admire this
centuries old tree

Someone had kindly left us Hashers a welcome
message in the pub - it will never happen though!

And here are Hashers doing what they do best and being
looked after by a very characterful Landlady 

I was just enjoying my liquid refreshment when a dish of
chips and a sausage roll arrived 

And here was our very generous host Gentleman John

There was a mince pie too

Gentleman John had not only treated us to a well earned lunch but he had been as good as his word and found us a route as dry as possible. Thanks to The Beehive for their hospitality - it was a very rural and old fashioned pub. I thoroughly enjoyed my morning with the MI Harriers and was so glad Matilda and I found our way to Little Horkesley. 

Overheard

• The dog is holding me back (yes we can see that!)
• Great I now smell of eau de cow (well you stepped in it!)
• Is he fit to serve you, he's not usually when he's been playing with his toys 

The usual stats

Fuelify

A little box of running goodies through the post

In December I decided to give Fuelify a try. They are a company which puts together a subscription box of exercise related food supplements, energy bars and gels.

I have to say, apparently, that I purchased these boxes and these are my own thoughts and opinions on what I have been sent. The subscription is £19.48 for two boxes a month which is what is suggested for people who regularly take cardio exercise as well as other types of exercise. Well I do fit this bill as I run three times a week, which is about ten to fifteen miles and I also take a spinning class and a supple strength class as well as lots of walking and the occasional cycle. The correct nutrition is vital for me so that I can maintain the energy and muscles needed for a fair amount of physical work.

Here is the first box which arrived:

Actually I am not sure if the teapigs teabag came in this box!

And a little over two weeks later (I am allowing for the Christmas holidays here) this one arrived:

Apparently you get between 6 - 8 products. First one had 8, the second
7 - mmm...hope that is not going to dwindle down to 6.

I've only been out twice so far this month so I need to get on top of organising myself to eat the appropriate product before or after my running. There is going to be quite a stockpile soon.

In no particular order these are the products I have. I will caption them where I have tried them so far (I will come back and edit each time I use some):

Yuk! Tasted like toilet cleaner - not sure what the purpose of flavouring
raisins is as they taste good just as they are. 

I don't ordinarily care for chamomile tea but I added a spoonful of
honey and this was quite pleasant

I did fuel up on this before my Monday night run as I don't
get to eat until a long time after. I found it very dry and crumbly to eat but
not too unpleasant and it did tide me over during and after my run.

Points in favour:

• Very handy to try different makes of product
• Gels will be good to try before longer races 
• Having them delivered by post and available on website to purchase individually (although they come in quite large packs so you have a lot to fork out for in one go)
• Good way of trying a product you haven't thought about using before
• Most bars are small enough to take on a run with you

Points about things I am not so keen on:

• A delivery twice a month means I am going to have a backlog of things to try
• Feels slightly limited in range of makes so not sure how many repeats there will eventually be

Minor niggles about Fuelify

• There is no leaflet giving you a list of the products supplied and a description so that you can keep a note of what was sent and how to use them without having to read each pack individually
• Some form of feedback so the company can make use of information about anything with which you are happy or unhappy  
• The blog is really out of date - not good for a professional business site 

So far I am at the beginning of my journey with Fuelify and so far the jury is out as to whether or not it will be something I will continue to use. I am happy with the service, the products and the packaging but not too happy about the lack of information on the products and advice in the form of a newsletter which most of the other subscription boxes (mostly beauty) to which I have subscribed.