Good evening lovemuffins! I did my third competitive half marathon today (my 7th overall though..I think…)! Recap very soon to follow; I’ll just whiz through the delights that was X Factor day Saturday.
Actually – Friday night – part of my intuitive eating plan! I wasn’t hungry but I was craving something dense and chocolatey….
….and so I satisfied that craving 
Love!
—-
Saturday
I woke up to two tsps wheatgerm and a brazil nut, and then went on a nice little 1/2hr power walk 
although it was a running day off, I do like to do something! Breakfast was an EGM:
Is it me, or does that face look a little creepy…?
So cute/creepy!
For lunch – post very-fast-Chika-gallop, I pretended to be semi-raw – I made a ‘soup’, which was a blend of raw squash, an apple, apple cider vinegar, water, salt (lots n lots of salt…one must salt-load!), mixed spice, cinnamon, 1 tsp date syrup, and 50g cereal, topped with a tiny bit of granola:
On the side, for added carbs, I had some extra cereal:
Oohh the soup thing was so so so lovely! I wasn’t sure how I’d like a non-hot soup on a cold day, but it actually worked tremendously well!! I was happy
For dinner, I decided to play it safe and have a very similar meal as last Saturday. After all, my 13miles last week went so well, so whatever I did obviously worked! I had a mix type thing of lentils, aubergine, kabocha and parsnip, all mixed with cinnamon and mixed spice and other seasonings, and topped with tempeh (marinated in soy sauce, maple syrup, stock, cinnamon and apple cider vinegar):
I ate that meal in front of a roaring fire, under a blanket..that’s how cold it was!
For ‘dessert’, I had a Trek bar (for a carb hit ).
—–
Sunday
Half mary day!
I was up at 6.45am to get everything together for the day – I had a very light snack before I left, consisting of my usual brazil nut, 2 Food Doctor crackers, a date and 2 tsps of wheatgerm.
It only took about a 1/2hr to get to the venue which was a relief, cos the walk from the car park to the start was a good 10mins. It was times like today when I am SO glad I get tetchy about time, and always want to be early!!!
Before we started, I had a carrot cake Clif bar (unpictured I’m afraid..) – it was good, but I think the mint chocolate is still my favourite flavour :p
And then we were off! It as SO cold and windy when we started (and throughout the whole thing) – I had my jacket on right up until the start bleep went off :s
I set off pretty quickly – on more than one occasion, I glanced at the Garmin and saw a 7.30 pace :s BUT – the HILLS! Ohmydays, the hills….they were BIG! I was totally not expecting them to be that big, and was equally not prepared!! I seemed to go really fast up some of them though, in comparison to my usual up-hill pace…but mile 6 – HELL! It was sooo hard and steep…!! And I was bursting for a bathroom break which didn’t help :p
Anyways – the first 7 miles or so went pretty quick. At mile 7, I had some kendall mint cake (and a quick walk while I ate it):
(It’s basically made from sugar, and I know a lot of walkers eat it on long walks…plus it only cost 60p :p)
It gave me a super sugar rush for about a mile..but it also sent my blood sugar crashing. I saw my mum about mile 10, but mile 11ish was AWFUL. I had to stop for a minute or so because I actually thought I was going to be sick – I felt very very nauseous and my breathing was shallow and horrible and difficult. Every time I tried to run, I felt worse, hence the slow split!! I just wanted to cry..but instead I just took deep breaths and willed the feeling to pass, which it did; and before I knew it mile 12 had arrived, I had 1mile left, so I made up my mind to not do any more walking and get on with it!! Despite having a huge dustbin blow about 2feet ahead of me across my path, I finished in one piece 
With my t-shirt
Official chip time – 2hr2. Official Garmin time – 1hr58, 13.2 miles. I believe the Garmin, cos the chips all started at the same time (despite me not starting at the front), and it didn’t account for the 2 bathroom breaks I took :p
My official splits:
Mile 1 – 8.46
2- 8.37
3 – 8.16 (way too fast!)
4 – 8.50
5 – 8.41
6 – 8.44
7- 9.03
8- 9.24 (eating the mint cake!)
9- 8.49
10 – 9.27
11 – 9.39
12 – 9.57 (Mile from Hell!)
13 – 9.19
+ 1min.44 for the final 350metres.
Despite being much much slower than my previous two half marathons (1hr43 and 1hr50) I was really, really pleased I definitely did the best I could’ve done. The hills were so tough, and I think it did my fitness a lot of good. Plus, I think I’ve learnt some lessons!! I was thinking about why I hit that odd wall-type thing at mile 12 -
1) I didn’t eat enough before the race
2) I didn’t eat enough during the race (I only had about 1/2 my coconut water cos they were handing water out on the course, as well as the mint cake)
3) I drank too much water with not enough salt and electrolytes, meaning I had that weird too-much-water thing going on…I forget the name!
4) I went much too fast in the first half. Although my splits weren’t crazy, the max. speed in the first 4miles or so was a good 2.5k faster than later on, so I was obviously not pacing properly.
What do you guys think? I’m going to email my nutritionist later and see what she says.
Post-mary, I had a very delayed breakfast (which I was STARVING for – my mum declared ‘you ARE normal, after all!’ as usually I lose my appetite after a run :p) overnight oats! Last night, I mixed up 1/2 c. oats, with 1tbsp chia seeds and a load of carob powder:
Mixed with 1c. milk and about a 1/4c. yogurt, in my Salad Pod -
- kindly sent to me by America’s Nutrition to try out. I love it! It’s the perfect bowl size, and it most definitely does NOT leak, which is obvs highly important..!! I didn’t use the removable ice pack that fits in the lid, but I can imagine that’d be super useful too Thank you A.N.!
I mixed the oats with blackberries and a banana given in my race goodie bag:
So good! PERFECT post run food!!
I also had some watermelon, ideal for hydration – 
An apple that my mum didn’t like, and later on, my oat toppings which I forgot to add – granola and dates:
We didn’t go home after that though; instead, my mum and I drove to my uni house (we were basically already halfway there) to move out the rest of my stuff. As of now, I no longer live there AT ALL! Hoorrrrraaaayyyy!!!! We also stopped at Waitrose on the way home, where I nabbed 3 big kabocha squashes :p
When we did eventually get home, I had a very late lunch (3.30pm!) – 1/2 c. oats, 1/2c. milk, 3/4c, water, banana, mixed spice, salt – topped with cinnamon raisin PB and cereal:
So wonderful. Hot oats on a cold day = bliss. I may or may not have finished off my yogurt pot too….
….my body was obviously craving protein!
My mum and I took the dog for a walk after that, but now I’m going to reellaaax and cook one of my favourite dinners and just…be!
Have a good evening
(PS – I would love to know your thoughts on why I had that strange mile towards the end of the race!)
Hey! My thoughts on your ugly mile? Reaching from past experience and horror stories i have heard, it must have been that bar you ate! Pure sugar can often cause your stomach to turn on it self especially when your engaged in high-intensity activity… Next time i would make sure that there was a little something more in your stomach before the race so your not pouring sugar into an empty stomach come mile 11 or 12. That could have been the problem, as this happened to me last October during my marathon having eaten small bits of banana the whole race but barely anything before.
Ooh I like your advice – that makes a lot of sense! I’ve got a 15miler next week, so I might try and mix it up and do your suggestion and see what happens…thank you!
Congratulations on the half marathon. No idea about the strange mile towards the end though sorry!
I agree with you the EGM looks a bit like a creepy face. I am sure it tasted great though! :p
Your raw-ish soup sounds interesting as well.
Hope you have a great evening.
Thank you!
congratulations on your 3rd half marathon!!! You’re soooo strong girl!! i’ll run my first one in two weeks and your recap is so useful for me. I dont’ know why you hit the wall in the last mile… I don’t know much about running science, how much water to drink and how much food to eat before. I usually eat something very small and have my usual coffee before the long run, and I don’t feel hungry during the run. I’d love to hear more about it if you find out the reason.
Perrrrrsonally, I’d recommend you eat a bit more before the run, or have a sports drink during it – it does make a difference
Was it as ridiculously windy where you are as it was in the North today? My run this morning invloved gale-force gusts…you’re superwoman if you pulled that time out of the bag in conditions like that. Great performance, despite the ‘odd’ mile. I can’t explain it, but sometimes these things do just ‘happen’ and you bonk for no good reason. However, I’m not a fan of sports gels or things like Kendal mint cake for runners. It sounds rather like a blood sugar spike, but then again during long runs (anything 12 miles plus) I usually get the odd wave of sickness too…comes from having a generally jippy tummy. But if this is a new thing then you really need to examine what elements of your training and diet are different from your previous two races. Then you’ll need to try to zone in and pinpoint the cause…it does seem that your body is a little unhappy about something, and I really hope you find out what it is. Don’t let this knock your confidence or get disheartened: you’re still a fantastic runner!
<3
~Jess~
P.S I adore those Pulsin Raw Choc Brownies too. Did you ever get to try the old version of the Coffee one before they discontinued it? Heaven in a bar (disc), I tells ya!
Weeel I had it once on a 7mile run before, which I believe was down to the lack of electrolytes/too much water thing, cos the symptoms fitted in perfectly for whatever that condition is called, which is why I’m slightly leaning towards that as the course…but I think lack of food played a roll too, cos my appetite has been massive this evening!
Ad yep, it was crazy windy!!
I did suspect that lack of food might have been a problem but didn’t like to say given your ED history…I wondered where your afternoon snack went on Saturday and overall you really didn’t eat much or enough that day at all! I appreciate how hard it must be though (though I’ve never had a problem with eating enough, quite the opposite in fact
) but even on rest days you’re an active girl and never let any disordered thoughts tell you that you don’t ‘deserve’ food.
Lastly, I wonder if that raw squash wasn’t a problem: it would certainly do a number on my stomach. Just a thought anyway.
I don’t think lack of food was a problem at all on Saturday – I was eating purely intuitively. Now I’ve reached my goal weight, I’m listening to my body and eating when I like. I didn’t need an afternoon snack so I didn’t have one, and I roughly totalled my calories to make sure I was getting enough calories. I would never deliberatly underfuel for such a long run!
Eek! Sorry, I hope I didn’t overstep the mark with that last comment. Apologies
proud of you!!!!! i like reading your lessons learned.. my first half is in january and im freaked! eeeeeeeeeek
keep up the great work!
Oh you’ll do ace girlie!! It’ll be a piece of cake :p
yaaay well done on your race!!! tbh i think you’re spot on with the reasons you went a but funny towards the end!
and also this just made me sooo soooo scared, i’m running the great north run as my first half marathon in THREE WEEKS! OMG :O
OH NO don’t let my race recap make you scared!! Learn from my lessons!! Eat lots, drink a sports drink, keep your pace – then you’ll be fine!!
OH NO, not the race recap in itself, i found it very inspiring buuuuut just the general reminder that oh crap i’m running my first half marathon in three weeks!!!! Thanks for the advice
You probably didn’t eat enough before the race and the pure sugar probably left you crashing, especially since judging from the eats you post you normally don’t consume that much sugar and it shocked your system
Very good point! I reckon you’re right
Oh girl… congrats on your half mary!! It might have been a challenge but you GOT THROUGH IT! And you rocked it!!! Woohoo! And as for the tough mile, I think you are right in your reasonings.. not enough fuel before and during and too much water. You live, you learn
You still kicked butt 
‘You live, you learn’ – so true! This knowledge will benefit my real marathon no end
I think that face isn’t too creepy. It’s not cute, but definitely not creepy! Well done on the half marathon – amazing! I have no advice for you I’m afraid as I can only dream of running such a distance.
Dreams can become reality…or something equally as cheesy :p
I would say for sure, as others have said, that you were having a “low” following on from the sugar high of the kendal mint cake.
When I did my half I had a glutrn free nakd bar as my mid-race snack, as I found I could eat it while running (although I am slower and my half PB is 2-19). But as that is slower releasing than simple sugars something like that may be worth a try?
Well done on finishing strong though and not ducking out near the end.
Plus what a cool goodie bag with fresh fruit
Yeah I think y’all are right! I’m going to experiement with making my own bars, out of oats and date and other stuff – oats for slow release, dates for the quick sugar hit
Yay!!!! Congrats!!! It sounds like the race was a success, even if your time was a little longer– the challenging races are the ones where you really prove it to yourself that you can do it, right?!
Completly! I see it as 100%a success
Congrats on your race
I agree with the others, I think it was the bar. Sugar crashes are no good!
I’m so glad I’ve learnt my lesson!
Wow!!! That’s a marathon day and a half!!! Well done!! You did do well, and all your food pics look great. And sat night is aaalllll about the. Xfactor! I loved the Dublin auditions
xx
Oh yes with Katy Perry!? She’s awesome!
Congratulations on your half mary! I think you did great! I remember those bars from a hiking trip I took in college in the Lake District. Our professor said a lot of hikers ate them on long trips. Maybe there was a bit too much sugar in it for you.
Yeah I reckons that was the case :s
hahaha I like the face on that EGM.
I agree – I don’t think you ate enough before the race. I guess it depends on the person, but I need a solid breakfast before I do longer runs – especially 13!!! I know EXACTLY hwat you mean about the “weird feeling from drinking too much water”!
I wasn’t sure how much to eat..normally a Clif bar is sufficient, but that’s when I run 45mins after I’ve woken…at least I’m learning!
Congrats Freya! You’re amazing, a real inspiration!!!
I’m sorry that you didn’t feel so well at the end of the race, but I guess it’s all part of the normal learning process of becoming an athlete and figuring out how to prepare and fuel your body for those types of challenges. I’m curious to know what your nutritionist will say about it!
Viviane
Exactly! You’re spot on
Congrats on your Half Mary! It’s a great accomplishment whether you whip right through it without struggle or not!! I am no racing expert so I’m afraid I’ve got no genius ideas to give you about the bum mile – though I’d suspect, like others, that sugar bomb bar. But no matter, you learn the tricks as you go!
Precisely
mistakes are there to learn from!
congrats on the half-mary, freya, and especially for pushing through the troubled spots! not only that, but…who in their right mind runs a mary and then moves?! haha. seriously – moving is awful, and i can only imagine doing it after running a marathon!! i hope you enjoyed your night
p.s. i will mess around with a “crazy” version of the banner soon!!
haha yeah, it was a tad weird! But we were half way there and I had to be out of the house by wednesday…it made sense at the time
and yay! I can’t wait to see the results!
Congrats on the run!!! I said it before and I say it again: YOU ROCK!!!
I’d blame the Kendal…sugar shock or something; maybe it wasn’t enough good energy for a long run like that, especially as you’re not really used to pure sugar like that? But that’s just a guess…I’ve never actually run that far yet!
I’d say your guess is right
Hmmm maybe you should have had something more sustainable in place of the mint cake?
But congrats on completing the run! I’m dang scared to try anything longer than a 10k!
I think the mint cake was a mistake, for sure!
Congrats on the half!! I feel like you probably just hit a wall, which is normal. There were still a few miles to go before the end, and you didn’t have the start-of-the-race rush, so that mile just got challenging. No worries though- you still did an incredible job!!
That mint cake actually sounds delicious…the ingredients look perfect for a long run!
Hope you have a wonderful Monday!
Haha, that’s what I thought when I first saw it too!