Summer training & races to come

Posted in Running by hannahbryan91

Well hello there! It’s been a while since I properly posted a training update – or anything for that matter – so here goes!

I’ve had a little break but I’ve since been quietly working away, trying to improve my running and strength and slowly build back up towards marathon training.

I’m running the York Marathon in October which will be my 5th marathon! York was actually my first marathon as well so I’m super excited to go back and run it again. Not only that, but it’s home turf so I’m hoping the family (including my 1-year-old niece!) can all come and cheer me on which would be amazing.

Aside from that, York is flat – yipeeee! My current marathon PB is at 3.25, which I achieved in London earlier this year. I’m not expecting to beat that at York but what I am aiming for is a strong finish. My goal is to be able to run that last 10k as strongly as I ran the first 10k. I realise I’m not going to be finishing the race as gazelle like as when I started it, but I want to be able to maintain a consistent speed, without seeing those mile splits climb.

So basically, that’s what I’m training towards. As always I’m doing my three gym sessions a week. This is made up of 2 strength sessions and a third focusing more on conditioning rather than lifting big numbers – I do love a bro sesh though as demonstrated below, ha!

At the minute I’m running three times a week. Before anyone tells me that you need to be running every day to run a marathon, you definitely don’t need to. For me, it’s about getting in the quality sessions and finding out what works for me. I’ve tried running 6 days a week and for me, that just doesn’t work – particularly for my mental health! If you want me to do a post on training for a marathon on three runs a week – just let me know by commenting below or Tweeting me (@hannahbryan91).

This week I did a speed session on Tuesday, an easy run on Wednesday and a long run on Friday. I’ve got one more gym session to do (my conditioning one), which I’ll do tomorrow (Sunday). This might increase as the marathon nears but this depends on a number of factors i.e. time and my body! I’m currently getting some help with my nutrition which I’m hoping is going to benefit my performance and aid recovery so I might end up running more within the next few months, but I’m going to tell you more about the nutrition side of things in a different post!

Here’s a list of what I’ve got coming up:

August – Askern 10 miler
September – Great North Run
October – York Marathon, Sheffield 10k
November – exciting challenge to be announced soon!

I’ll try and get some other races in but at the minute that’s what I’ve got booked in.

The only other thing to mention is that I decided not to accept my Good For Age place for London next year. I hope I don’t regret it! My plan is to focus on Boston – providing I get a place! If I don’t get a place…then the Great Wall Marathon is on my list…!

That’s all for now training wise, I’ll keep you updated as the marathon nears. I’m ready to work hard for this one!

🙂

23Jun2016

Race review: Nottingham 10 mile road race

Posted in Running by hannahbryan91

Woah, it’s been a long time since I’ve blogged – apologies for that! I’m back now though and thought I’d share a race review from the Nottingham 10 mile road race with you.
nottingham 10 mile race
I ran this on a very wet Friday evening last week. Luckily the sun did come out for most of it though!

The race kicked off from Nottingham’s National Watersports Centre at 7pm. I got there at about 6.15pm and parking was super easy. It was a short walk to the registration area and luckily we could wait inside before going to the start line. There was no defined start line but it was pretty easy to figure it out – I just followed the other runners!

The course is essentially two-and-a-half laps around the lake. I was worried the route would be boring but it really wasn’t at all! If you need a huge crowd when you race then I wouldn’t recommend this, although where people were watching they did some great cheering!

I didn’t have a plan going into the race; in fact I didn’t actually want to do it at all after a long week at work – and it was chucking it down! I decided to just make sure I ran under 1.15 and use it as a great training run.

I felt strong the whole way round and came in at 1.13 – happy with that 🙂

There’s no medal at the end which I was gutted about as I love a good medal haha. When you pay to enter (I think it was around £20 maybe) you can also pay for a finishers t-shirt though.

Every finisher also gets a goodie bag which had a mug and a banana in.

All in all, this was an enjoyable race and I’d recommend it to anyone who lives near Nottingham. A great way to spend a Friday night!

My next race was supposed to be Sunday however I’m now going to be watching the athletics in Birmingham which I’m incredibly excited for!

Training is going well though and I’ll have a full blog post on what I’m up to and what I’m training for at the moment up at the weekend!

🙂

27May2016

Neighbourhood – Copenhagen

Posted in Travel by hannahbryan91

If you want effortlessly cool and edgy, go to Copenhagen’s Meat Packing District.

If you want one of the best pizzas in the city, organic cocktails and a buzzing atmosphere, go to Neighbourhood.

In the heart of the Meat Packing District, Neighbourhood ticks both boxes. Remarkably discreet, the numerous sex and erotica shops on the street caught our eye when our taxi pulled up before we spotted the restaurant!

You can’t book at Neighbourhood, and it’s incredibly popular, so don’t go if you’re beside yourself with hunger!

On arrival we were told there would be about an hours wait, which was fine with me and we chose to grab a table in the bar area and order a couple of drinks and some bar snacks.

I went for the Peas and Beas cocktail, which was made up or organic vodka, fresh muddled sugar snap peas, honey, lemon and egg white, shaken and served over ice – delicious and hands down the tastiest cocktail I’d ever had – I wanted a pint of it!

Everything at Neighbourhood is organic and freshly made, even down to the beer Dane was drinking. We gulped down our drinks, well, I did, and promptly ordered another as our snacks arrived. We went for the olives and root vegetable crisps, the perfect snack to put us on before we went through to the restaurant.

Speaking of the restaurant, it’s made up of large, sharing tables and is the epitome of no fuss yet chic dining, with unpainted, stone walls and unique decorations.

The pizzas are their own take on the Italian classic yet the base is thinner, crispier and totally organic. Each pizza is also topped with a heap of rocket of fresh green salad.

I went for the Chili Salami pizza which was topped with spicy Italian sausage, picked chilies, roasted beetroot, tomato Passata, buffalo mozzarella, fresh spinach and Røde Kristian cheese.

Dane ordered the Kimchi Pork pizza. This was topped with braised pork neck, Korean BBQ sauce, kimchi, Bibb lettuce and ginger scallion vinaigrette and topped with fresh coriander.

Mine was unbelievable and I’d say Danes was the same judging by how quickly he ate it and didn’t offer me any!!

A word of warning about the oils available though…the chili oil is pretty spicy as Dane found out, much to my amusement!!

Dessert for me was just as good. I had the organic orange chocolate mousse. On the menu it’s described as chocolate, chili, orange & cacao, topped with flakes of chocolate.

Dane had the organic ginger carrot cake as they’d ran out of the tossed cheesecake – seriously, the menu is worth checking out for the sound of that cheesecake alone!

Our total meal, drinks and snacks included, was pretty reasonable for Copenhagen in my opinion and worth every penny – I’d have gone back the following evening!

29Apr2016

London Marathon 2016

Posted in Running by hannahbryan91

Well, where do I even start with this post!? Another World Major Marathon ticked off and 26.2 glorious miles around the streets of London shared with some of the most inspirational people I’ve ever had the pleasure of running with!

London, you were truly amazing…but before I get in to all of that, here’s a little run down of my entire race weekend.

Friday night was spent doing the essential final preparations, packing, updating my Ipod and ensuring I had a lovely, even fake tan glow – ha! I hit the hay early Friday night as I was up pretty early Saturday morning to have my hair done…priorities!

I arrived in London just after 1pm on Saturday and headed straight to the expo at the Excel centre. This is when the excitement really started to kick in! Signing the wall was such a surreal moment and it hit me that this was the LONDON MARATHON; people enter the ballot year after year and are unsuccessful, and here I was about to run it – I felt very lucky to say the least.

After strolling around the expo my feet were starting to hurt, not to mention I was hungry and bordering on grumpy! With that in mind, we headed to our hotel in Peckham (oh hey Del Boy!) and then got an Uber to Vapianos (my favourite place!) for ALL of the carbs and all of the chocolate pudding.

Saturday evening was pretty uneventful after that. I had a final pre-race debrief with my friend Liv who was also running, (her first marathon!) and we arranged for me to go to hers (also in Peckham) Sunday morning so we could eat and then travel down to the start line together.

Me and Liv post race – VICTORY!

I barely slept on Saturday night but it was nothing a coffee couldn’t sort on Sunday morning. 7am was when I started to get stressed about getting taped up and getting to Livs house in time so that I could eat! We actually got to the start line in good time and after queuing for the loo it was time for some photos and a quick warm-up before heading to our separate start pens.

I was actually really surprised that when the gun went off at 10am I was over the line by 2 minutes past! I was a bit worried as the first few miles were spent trying not to trip over people and were slower than what I was aiming for – although really I’d only just decided on a whim and positive encouragement to try and average 7.45min/mi! The race soon thinned out though and it was time to take it all in!

The first 10 miles seemed to fly by and everything felt comfortable. Despite the fact I was comfortably hitting under 7.45min/miles I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep it up for the whole way round, but part of me thought what the hell, throw everything you’ve got at it!

My support crew were at mile 9 and 14 but I never spotted them which was a bit disheartening, but I just kept on turning the legs and ticking off the miles. At about mile 18 I thought the race was never going to end and I knew I’d be in for a tough fight from mile 20.

At mile 20.5 I saw the team and started to cry and shouted “I’m done” at them…nothing like being dramatic hey Han! Had I ran over to high five them though, I’d have genuinely found it hard to get going again! Thankfully, I’d spotted Faye (who I follow on Instagram and who had run Boston on Monday) and we’d been back and forth in front and behind each other for the whole way round. I knew she was a strong runner and was faster than me so I decided to try and stick with her.

Faye, along with the beautiful folk of London cheering on the masses, is what got me through those last six miles. Turning the corner and onto the mall was surreal and I knew I’d managed a PB. I crossed the line in 3.25.05 and promptly hugged Faye. What a run. A PB at London…London! It’s still sinking in to be honest. My training was average at best and I battled through more mental struggles during this marathon training than any of the previous ones, but I’m so pleased with that run. London, you were truly amazing.

For now though, it’s time to rest, eat and enjoy some time training without the pressures of a marathon. It’s also back to the drawing board to get some autumn goals nailed down…watch this space.

3Apr2016

Post workout green pancakes

Posted in Recipes by hannahbryan91

Don’t let the colour put you off; looks can be deceiving because these pancakes are delicious!

They are also the perfect post workout second breakfast, providing all you need to recover after a tough session. Add a scoop of protein powder for extra gains!

You will need:
– Couple of handfuls of spinach
– 1 cup oats
– 2 eggs
– 1 banana
– 1 tbsp honey
– 1 tsp coconut oil

To make:
– Put everything (apart from the coconut oil) into a blender and blitz until well mixed/similar to that of a thick pancake consistency.
– In your best, non-stick frying pan, heat the coconut oil on a medium-high heat. Using a ladle, or something similar, pour a spoonful into the pan and cook like normal pancakes. Flip halfway through as they begin to darken. Once cooked, start the next one and so on until the mixture is all gone!

That’s it, post workout green pancakes, it’s as simple as that! Top with whatever you fancy – my favourite is another banana and some Meridian’s smooth peanut butter – delicious!

Let me know if you give these a go! Enjoy 🙂

27Mar2016

My favourite breakfast spot in Sheffield

Posted in Travel by hannahbryan91

Ok, so I’ve put this under the travel section because basically, if you don’t live in Sheffield you need to come here just for this breakfast spot!

Marmadukes Cafe Deli in the city centre is my all-time favourite breakfast spot in the city. It’s where I always take friends, family, dates, (basically anyone) when I get the chance.

Located down a side street from the city centre, Marmadukes offers the best of British, in a wholesome, healthy way! Everything they serve is locally sourced and mostly made from scratch right in the cafe. They also have Artisan bread handmade and delivered on a daily basis – FRESHLY BAKED BREAD – need I say more!?

It gets even better though, if you’re a coffee lover like me, then you’ll be right at home at Marmadukes. Their house coffee beans come from Workshop Coffee, who source some of the tastiest coffee from around the world. Combine that taste with the fresh milk they serve from local company Our Cow Molly and you’re in cappuccino heaven!

The love of good food and coffee is evident as soon as you walk through the door as you’re greeted with inventive salads lined up in the chiller cabinet and freshly baked treats (you need to see them to believe them!). The staff are all incredibly passionate about the food and drinks they’re serving too, which in my opinion makes all the difference.

Have a look at the menu here, to get an idea for yourself as to what Marmadukes can rustle up for you!

My personal favourite however has to be poached eggs (hello perfect runny yolks!), on toasted Welbeck bread with large field mushrooms and homemade beans! Oh god, the homemade beans are something else!! I don’t even like baked beans (sorry Heinz!), but I could eat these every day!

My stomachs rumbling now so I’m going to try and find someone to come for brunch with me this morning – that’s another great thing about Marmadukes, they serve breakfast all day on Sunday!

Enjoy 🙂

7Mar2016

My week in training 29 Feb – 6 March

Posted in Fitness & well-being by hannahbryan91

Monday:
Rest day! If I do a long run on a Sunday I’ll usually always have Monday as a rest day. Sunday’s run was a mix of fast paces for 14miles in the lovely Yorkshire sunshine. My legs felt fine on Monday but it’s always nice to have a sleep in rather than a 5.30am gym start isn’t it!?

Tuesday:
I trained at the gym this morning and got to try out my new lifters! They were an absolute bargain by the way, £29 from £90 – how could I resist!
At the minute, I lift twice a week minimum and follow a programme which changes every three weeks. On each three week programme, the sets and reps change every week but the session remains the same. Today’s session was made up of back squats, front foot elevated split squats and single leg deadlifts, with some supersets, core, calf and glute work thrown in, too. This was actually one of the best sessions I’d had in ages, legs felt strong and I had a lot of energy.
The energy was still there after work which was good as I had a run planned. I had to do a 10k made up of 5mins at 10k pace with 1 minute recovery jogs in between. I finished in 43minutes and 21 seconds which I was thrilled with after a heavy strength session.

Wednesday:
Another early morning gym session, this time made up of sumo deadlifts, bench press, bent over rows, step ups and then a serious booty blaster, but more on that in another blog post! I was literally shaking afterwards – what a sesh! My second breakfast was definitely needed after that!

Thursday:
Track Thursday this evening! Headed back to the gym to do my speed session which was a mix of paces held for either 2 minutes, 1 minute or 30 seconds, with the rest periods getting shorter each time. I was sweatttyyyy afterwards and beyond ready for my dinner but it was a good session although in all honesty I probably didn’t work as hard as I could’ve done.

Friday:
Rest day! Woohooo! I started work at 7.30am this morning so no early gym session. I also had a long run planned for Saturday and a friend from uni coming over so my workout was basically cleaning the house quickly before she arrived!

Friday night dinner & drinks!

Saturday:
After a delicious meal out on Friday, my friend Liv (who is also training for London) and I got up to run out to the peaks. Huge bowls of porridge later and backpacks (well, for me) at the ready and we were off. Well, I think it’s safe to say we experienced every weather possible on this run from snow at mile 3 to wind rain, sunshine and finally hailstones at mile 15! 16.63 miles later and we were done. The route was stunning and even though I thought I was actually going to get trench foot from the mud and water at one point, I felt like I was Bear Grylls’ sidekick! Check out these pictures below!

Sunday:
My legs felt fine and I floated the idea of an easy paced run or going to the gym but in all honesty I think I was still drunk from the night before!! Had a fantastic night out on Saturday with Liv and my friend Hannah with a solid 3 hours of dancing and plenty of drinks. It’s alllll about balance…so here’s a picture of Sunday brunch at my favourite spot in Sheffield.

Ready to take on next week now! Only 7 weeks to go…!

🙂

21Feb2016

Butternut squash curry

Posted in Recipes by hannahbryan91

When someone mentions curry to me I often think of a big pot simmering for hours, full of complex spices and hard-to-make sauces. This butternut squash curry is the exact opposite of that…yes, you’ll need a large pot, but there’s nothing complex about this recipe.

You will need:
– 1 large butternut squash (peeled and diced)
– 2 chicken breasts (diced)
– 1 x red onion (chopped)
– 1 x pepper (chopped)
– Baby corn
– Courgette
– Aubergine
– Handful of coriander
– 1 x tin of coconut milk (full fat!)
– 1 red chili (chopped)
– 2 tsp madras curry paste
– 1 tsp cumin seeds

To make:
– Start by placing your diced butternut squash into a microwaveable container with a little water in. Put the container into the microwave and microwave for a few minutes until it starts to soften.
– In a large wok or frying pan, add a little coconut oil and fry off the onion, cumin seeds, chili and madras curry paste before adding the diced chicken breast.
– Once the chicken is cooked, add the vegetables and the butternut squash before pouring in the coconut milk.
– Allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes. Stir in some fresh coriander before serving and remember to save a little bit to garnish the dish with!
– Serve piping hot with either plain rice or cauliflower rice.

There you have it, a super simple, cheap and easy to make curry that takes less than 30 minutes. Of course, it’s healthy too.

Enjoy 🙂

31Jan2016

Glute & core conditioning circuit for runners

Posted in Fitness & well-being by hannahbryan91

It’s a well-known fact that runners need a strong core and solid glutes to help maximise running economy. Most physiotherapists and strength and conditioning coaches will advise doing various exercises to help keep your core and glutes strong in order to help prevent injuries as well. Not only that, but these areas of the body, particularly in running, support your every move.

When we run, our glutes keep our pelvis level and propel us forward as we drive one foot in front of the other. Strong glutes will help you to generate a more powerful stride though a strong hip extension.

If your hips are wobbly or your core is weak, you’re wasting valuable running energy through those areas. That wasted energy should be put into getting a greater stride which can ultimately help you get faster!

As part of my strength sessions I do a core and a glute circuit as accessory work to compliment the rest of my strength work and running sessions. I like to think of it as part of my general body maintenance.

I do 3 sets of each circuit and between 12-15 reps for each exercise.

I’ve detailed them below, give them a try and let me know what you think!

Glute circuit:3 sets of 12-15 reps each leg. Do all of the exercises on one leg before switching to the other leg.

Side lying clams:

Lie on your side and bend your knees to a 90 degree angle/just under. Keeping your feet together, hinge and lift your knee up as far as you can. Squeeze the glute to keep it engaged and try to keep your hips facing forwards as much as possible.

Side lying straight leg raise:

Lie on one side with your legs out straight. Rotating the foot slightly to engage the glutes, lift the top leg up as high as you can until you feel it in your glute. Lower it back down slowly and that’s one rep.

Prone hip extensions:

Lying on your front, place either a rolled up towel or rolled up yoga mat underneath your hips. Bend one leg to a 90 degree angle and leading through your heel, lift your leg up and squeeze your glute at the top before lowering back down slowly.

Side lying recovery position leg lifts:

Lie on your side once again and put your leg across your body in a 90 degree angle, similar to the recovery position. Lift your leg up so it’s level with your hip again before lowering back down. That’s one rep.

Single leg hip lift:

Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat to the floor about hip width apart. Take one leg off the ground and straighten it completely before lifting your hips up, driving through the heel of your foot that’s still on the floor. Finish the movement at the top by squeezing the glutes before lowering down to start the next rep.

Donkey kick:

Start with your hands and knees about hip width apart and then lift one leg up, keeping it bent at a 90 degree angle. Push through your heel and squeeze your glutes at the top. Really concentrate on squeezing your glutes and using hip extension to lift the leg rather just swinging it up and down aimlessly.

Now on to the core circuit. Do 3 sets of between 12-15 reps. I use a Swiss ball for this circuit but you could also use valslides or a TRX.

Swiss ball pikes:

Start in a plank position with your feet on top of the Swiss ball. Using your core, keep your legs as straight as possible and try to pull your feet towards you as you bend at the hips, so that your hips are stacked over your shoulders.

Swiss ball knee tucks:

Start in the plank position with your feet on the ball once again. Similar to a pike, use your core to bring your knees in as close to your chest as possible before rolling back out to the plank position again. As you roll back out, try not to let your back arch, keep a hollow body position by tilting your pelvis.

Swiss ball mountain climbers:

These are harder than they look, trust me! You can do mountain climbers with or without a Swiss ball but add the Swiss ball for an extra challenge. When using the Swiss ball to do mountain climbers the key is to keep that hollow body position and bring your knees in slowly in a controlled manner until your knee touches the ball.

Swiss ball hamstring curls:

Lie on your back and straighten your legs out, putting your feet on top of the Swiss ball to lift your hips. Keep your hips lifted as high as possible and engaging your hamstrings and core, bring the ball in slowly towards your bum. Roll out until your legs are straight again, keeping your hips lifted for the whole rep.

24Jan2016

Cookie dough Twix cheesecake chunks

Posted in Recipes by hannahbryan91

Surely that title has got your mouth watering already?! Yes, these aren’t healthy but baking unhealthy treats and desserts is definitely part of my happy pace.

If you’ve got a real sweet tooth then you’re about to fall in love, as these chunks pretty much incorporate everything you could want in a dessert. I’ve called them chunks because despite the fact that these were meant to be ‘bites’, it’s just not possible to have one small bite, I need a big handful per portion!

You will need:
To make the cookie dough:
– 226g unsalted butter
– 220g brown sugar
– 2 eggs
– 1 tsp vanilla essence
– 260g plain flour
– 2 packets of chocolate chips
– 9 mini Twix bars (or another biscuit based chocolate bar of your choice)
To make the cheesecake layer:
– 225g soft cream cheese
– 65g granulated sugar
– 1 egg
– 1sp vanilla essence

To make:
-Start by lining a baking tin with foil so that there is an overhang on each side. Grease the foil with a little bit of butter and set the pan to one side. Preheat the oven to about 180 degrees.
– First, we need to make the cookie dough layer. Either in the microwave or over a pan of hot water, melt the butter in a bowl and then put to one side to cool slightly. Next, add the brown sugar to the melted butter and mix together. Add in the egg and vanilla before slowly adding the flour and then mix well to combine. To finish, add the chocolate chips and mix well. Take half of the mixture and spread a layer into the bottom of the foil lined baking tray. Leave the rest of the mixture in the bowl for later.

-Next, line your Twix bars on top of the cookie dough mixture that’s already in the baking tray.
– To make the cheesecake layer, grab a separate bowl and add all of the ingredients before mixing/beating well until it’s of a smooth consistency.
– Spoon the cheesecake mix on top of the Twix bars before adding the rest of cookie dough mixture on top.
– Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes and then leave in the dish on a wire wrack to cool. Once completely cool, use the foil overhang to get the cake out of the dish and then cut in to big, hearty chunks! Keep them in the fridge…if you don’t eat them all in one go!

Enjoy 🙂