**Disclaimer: Now that I’m able to run again, I’m feeling quite chirpy so the raves should outnumber the rants. As always, all rants, raves and opinions represent my own views. Other (far superior) less opinionated and negative running blogs are available**
Happy Thursday! I hope that everyone has had a great week so far. It’s nearly the weekend.
Rave: Lululemon Sole training shorts
A slightly indulgent rave to start with but I have fallen in love with my Lululemon Sole training shorts. Yes they were expensive and yes I could have bought several cheaper pairs of shorts for the same price. They were a birthday present and I do think it’s important to occasionally treat yourself…
The shorts feel really, really comfortable (hopefully I don’t lose too much weight too soon…), have loads of pockets to stash stuff and most importantly don’t ride up or cause the dreaded ‘chub rub’.
Rant: Sudden calf cramps
Picture the scene. You’re lying on the top of your bed, chilling out reading a book and relaxing when suddenly your calf goes into spasm. You know that the second you move the pain will intensify a bazillion times so you are kind of stuck in a painful predicament. It’s definitely a no-win situation.
This was me on Tuesday evening. One minute I was chilling reading the last chapter of Keep on Running the next I was rolling around clutching my left calf. I guess it was some sort of karma for me being lazy and lying on my bed reading rather than doing the washing-up.
My calf still feels a bit bruised now.
Rave: Chocolate éclairs
Now that I’m able to run again I’m trying to eat less rubbish and more ‘real’ food, I’m also trying to lose weight. Unfortunately, I’ve developed a bit of a soft spot for chocolate éclairs.
I’ve tried a few different éclairs, but my favourites are the £1.00 éclairs from the fresh cake/bakery section in Sainsbury’s. Luckily for my waist and wallet they have usually sold out by the time I get to Sainsbury’s, but the other day I managed to snaffle the last one.
Rant: Noisy birds
I like the lighter mornings and the warmer weather. I dislike the birds – I think they are starlings but I’m not sure – currently living directly above my bedroom window. The baby starlings are seriously noisy and start demanding food the second it gets light. I actually feel sorry for the parents, talk about constant pressure.
To add insult to injury, the starlings somehow managed to activate my house alarm at 05:30 on Sunday. I rarely get to sleep before midnight, so these early morning mini feathered alarm clocks are making me even crankier than usual.
Maybe I should borrow one of my mother’s cats…
Rave: Hydrologists cartoon thingy
When people discover that I’m a hydrologist, they usually know that my research has something to do with water, but don’t understand what I actually do. Neither do I 😉
One of my hydrologist friends sent me this hydrologists cartoon thingy. The hammock picture needs swapping to a picture of a riverside pub, the rest is pretty accurate.
My research is actually quite tedious and involves a lot of reading, a lot of number crunching and some drought modelling. I very rarely get to go near an actual river.
Rant: DNS’ing races
I know that I’ve had this one before but the DNS’ing of races continues. I missed the Market Drayton 10k on Sunday and suspect that the Vitality London 10,000 will be another DNS.
Hopefully *fingers crossed* Great Run will allow me to ‘downgrade’ from the Birmingham International Marathon to the Great Birmingham Run.
[Update]: this seems a slightly long-winded way of doing things…
“Yes you can change to another distance if you wish, all you need to do is register and pay to secure your place in that new preferred event and let us know when you have done so. We can then withdraw/refund your original entry…”
Once again, if you’ve reached the end of my latest random selection of moans and groans and rants and raves, then thank-you.
How much sleep do you get during the week? I’m thinking that my 5-6 hours a night isn’t enough.
If you were given £100 would you spend it on a couple of items from Lululemon, or on loads of bits and pieces from somewhere like TK Maxx? I think I’d spend my £100 on a couple of more expensive pairs of shorts.
Hi I'm Emma. A 44 year old Brummie who loves running. I'm a runner, medal collector, race number hoarder, and hydrologist. Join me as I try out new things and take on new running challenges.
Great raves. Reasonable rants.
I tend to get 7 hours a night, though 8 is preferred. Lately though, as you may recall, there’s construction being done on my building, so I set my alarm at 6:30 so as not to be woken up by them. Unfortunately, I still like to be up late so…
Glad you’re running again! I’m going to look into those CEP plantar socks for myself, they look great.
Thanks! It’s always good to know my rants are reasonable; I almost added train delays but decided I’d already moaned enough…
What time do they start working on your building? The Council are building new houses just down the road from me but they aren’t allowed to start work in a residential area until 8:00. It’s the same in London. No building noise until 8:00 which is great until you want to work from home. I tend to be wide-awake at 22:00 and then struggle to sleep which isn’t ideal.
The CEP plantar socks have really helped my heel. It still niggles occasionally but at least I can run. They were made in Germany so I’d hope you’d be able to track down a pair!
I know! CEP is popular here…but not as many different kinds as in some US stores, surprisingly.
They’re allowed to start at 7 here, :/
7 is far too early! To be honest we don’t have as much choice in CEP gear as they do over in the US.
Oh, and better quality trumps quantity, duh!
I agree. Quality over quantity!
I have to say £100 would not get me very far in Lululemon as I’d want a pair of leggings! Hehe. But if I had lots of money I’d be leggings, a sports bra and shorts. Maybe a long-sleeved top as well 😉
I really can’t stand eclairs. I’m really not a big cream cake fan (clotted cream scones are different though…). Now show me a slice of cake and I’m sold!
I looked at some leggings before Christmas but put them back because they looked far too fragile (mesh panels) for me. I do love their leggings and their sports bras. I tried on a long-sleeved top in the sale and had to put it back because the sleeves were far too short. Sometimes I hate having long arms and legs!
The éclair in the photo actually left me feeling a bit peaky so I’m having an éclair break at the moment. Luckily, I’m not a huge fan of cake. Probably because I don’t know when to stop eating cake and inevitably end up having to lie down in order to recover.
I like those shorts and they look like they’d be long enough to prevent my thighs from eating them!
Starlings are annoying. We had one sitting IN our bedroom once. Smug little evil thing…
The shorts really are really comfortable and my thighs haven’t eaten them yet! Hopefully I can avoid the dreaded chub-rub this summer.
Due to working from home, I’m unable to escape from the starlings. I can hear the bloody things now. I wouldn’t mind but they seem to scare off all the nicer birds and crap all over the place.
I would go for quality for sure. I love their leggings- I have bought a few pairs on sale (and one I think full price, but it was in Canada and the exchange rate made it slightly cheaper…)- I’ve bought cheap ones before (Karrimor) and hated them, so I am trying to not be tempted by those ones and save up for nicer ones instead.
I’m not a cream fan. But a cinnamon roll or almond croissant- now I am tempted!
I know I don’t get enough sleep, although I had read recently that 7-8 is OK, not the 8 that used to be quoted. I think I tend to get around 7 hours, but I am still tired so I know it isn’t quite enough. I can’t lie in though (gives me a headache) so I never really catch up.
[…] on from my last rants and raves post I had to fork out £35 to enter the Great Birmingham Run In order to get my £55 Birmingham […]