Cool news Cookies & Buff's to test .

Well chuffed to now be part of the original power cookie family / team .

Back at the conti lightning run i met up with one of my fellow Team Buff uk team mates Al Pepper & I was handed a bag of these lovely original power cookies to try and review and being a fussy eater( as some would say ) was rather looking forward to trying them .

I'm not a fan of gels they make me sick & upset my stomach and was really interested to see how these would compare to other energy bars / products.

I was very impressed with the taste not too sweet & a great consistency not to soft so u could carry in ultras & not too hard to break your teeth or swallow easily while running. My first thoughts were I was very impressed they worked well & I contacted Al with my feedback & suggested that maybe he needed a female on the team & being cheeky it worked lol . 

So now I'm helping to spread the original power cookie love. 

So what is an original power cookie I here you all say well 

The Original Power Cookie

A nutritious snack for active people on the go. It’s unlike other sports bars. It’s delicious and easy to digest. For pre,during or post activity or part of a healthy diet. Fuel your needs with The Original Power Cookie. A mixture of slow release carbs from the rolled oats and some quicker release carbs from the brown sugar to keep you fuelled. They are also packed full of other natural ingredients to give you maximum benefit when you need it.

Here’s a few -

• Chia Seeds - Used for Hundreds of years by the Tarahumara Indians in Mexico. A great source of Omega 3, Fibre, Minerals, Antioxidants
• Goji Berries- These little super fruits are the most nutritionally dense fruit on earth and contain a natural anti-inflammatory! Loaded with Vitamin C, Calcium, Zinc, Iron and many other trace minerals.
• Electrolytes - The four key electrolytes to help with reduced cramping, dehydration and aid recovery by way of electrolyte replacement - magnesium, potassium, chloride and sodium
• Dried Cranberries - A source of Vitamin C, Fibre and Vitamin E
• Whey Protein - We only use high quality Whey Protein in our Cookies.

The Original Power Cookies are hand baked from real ingredients and contain no artificial preservatives or colouring.

I'm currently testing the power cookie pro 

These are designed when you need that little bit of extra power , c/w a shot of guarana & a pinch of sea salt .

I will do a full review on these after this weekends endure24.

For more info please check out the original power cookie Facebook page for details.

A massive thanks to Al & Liz for having me on your  team .

So as I just mentioned this weekend I'm running solo in the endure24 ultra race & if your there please come and say hi I will be in my Team Buff uk kit 

I will also be doing some testing of a new brilliant idea of a Buff®

UV Insect Shield Buff

Nobody likes being pestered, or worse still, stung or bitten by insects which is why the boffins at Original Buff SA have invented High UV with Insect Shield BUFF®. Based on High UV Protection Buff® (so it offers at least 93% protection from harmful UV rays NEW Insect Shield Buff® has been impregnated with a special long lasting, effective, odourless and convenient form of insect repellent. Effective for at least 50 washes against mosquitoes, ticks, ants, flies, fleas, chiggers and midges Insect Shield technology is a man-made version of the active ingredient found in some chrysanthemums but only the bugs will know its there - not you. 

So please look out for my race blog and review soon on these awesome new Buffs.

Thanks to all at Buff for all your continued help and support it's much appreciated .

www.Buffwear.co.uk 

A massive good luck to my fellow Team Buff uk team mates also running solo this weekend at Endure 24 & good luck to all my other ultra running friends too also a massive thank you to all my friends who are sending me good luck messages for this weekend it means an awful lot to have your support . 

Original Power Cookie Pro

This is the ‘Daddy’ of the Original Power Cookies. It’s designed for when you need that little bit extra with a shot of Guarana, a pinch of Sea Salt it still has all of the Original Power Cookie ingredients. A favourite for when the going gets tough giving you that little extra zip and some more electrolytes.

Coming Soon

Original Power Cookie Pro

This is the ‘Daddy’ of the Original Power Cookies. It’s designed for when you need that little bit extra with a shot of Guarana, a pinch of Sea Salt it still has all of the Original Power Cookie ingredients. A favourite for when the going gets tough giving you that little extra zip and some more electrolytes.

Coming Soon

Original Power Cookie Pro

This is the ‘Daddy’ of the Original Power Cookies. It’s designed for when you need that little bit extra with a shot of Guarana, a pinch of Sea Salt it still has all of the Original Power Cookie ingredients. A favourite for when the going gets tough giving you that little extra zip and some more electrolytes.

Coming Soon

The Conti 12 hour lightning run

Well what a brilliant weekend once again!

As most of my friends know I'm a massive fan of Patrick's & Chris's Thunder & Lightning 24 & 12 hour events & the atmosphere is always brilliant & this weekend lived up to expectation.

I had originally entered this as a solo runner but due to having a few rubbish weeks & Dnf'ing at the London marathon & been taken to hospital ( twice ) I made the sensible ( yes I know when am I sensible ) to run with my best mate Heather in the pair category.

We arrived at Saturday Lunch time & got the best pitch in the solo field ( yes I was allowed to camp here ) as I was sharing a tent with my dad who was solo & saved a big area for the rest of my mad ultra buddies. I soon got the area taped off with my Buff tape and before we knew it Tony & Nat wallbank ( part of team buff uk ) arrived & Jayne who was part of the support crew. ( Jayne is now addicted to buying Buff's & Bloc sunglasses lol ) 

Next to arrive was Heather & Harry & later in the day Chris arrived & last but not least Louise . 

I must say our little ultra running family are brilliant & the banter & general good laughs before the race even started was brilliant.

It was great to meet up with fellow Team Buff athlete Al Pepper too who was running solo & who had some rather nice new original power cookies for me to test & try !! 

Please like there new Facebook page & if you get the chance I highly recommend them as an alternative to gels & power bars. More about these in my next blog.

Back to the race :-)

The race started at 6am on the Sunday morning and after a freezing cold night in our little tent I woke up at 4am ready and alert for the 12 hours ahead I love the buzz and excitement before a race .

This is the dynamic duo of me and Heather just before the start .

I was really looking forward to giving my new Team Buff uk 2014 kit a good try & I'm honoured to be part of the amazing team for the 3rd year running www.Buffwear.co.uk.

So 6 am and off we went I was running the 1st lap and I quickly got into a nice pace . 

The course is 10k route and it's made up  of ups and downhills and through the most gorgeous bluebell wood .

My 1st lap was run just over 54mins and I was pleased with that and I handed over to Heather & went and re-fueled this seemed very strange as I'm so used to running solo and not having much rest .

Just over an hour later Heather returned and she had a great lap and looked good but a slight injury to her leg was worrying us both fingers crossed it holds out I thought . 

My 2nd lap I had the pleasure or should I say Duane had the pleasure of me running with him ( he was running solo) & we chatted the whole way round I hope I didn't drag u ;-) I think it was the other way round to be honest but it was a very enjoyable lap and once again it was run around 55mins & I handed over to Heather for her 2nd lap .

More refueling for me also known as chatting to Harry & Henry on the Buff stall lol .

As time went on I was starting to get a bit concerned as Heather was taking longer than expected :-( & I was hoping her leg had held out unfortunately my fears had been come true & I could see her in the distance limping really bad gutted was a understatement and I could see from her face that she was in pain . 

I had left instructions with Harry her hubby to send her straight to the physio to get checked out & off I went on my 3rd lap . 

I was getting into a nice steady pace now & was feeling good & when I approached the end of my 3rd lap I could see that Heather was standing at the side and not looking happy , over I ran to be told she had torn a muscle in her leg and the physio had told her not to run any more laps :-( she was gutted & kept apologising for letting me down . 

Heather we were team and team mates look after each other so gave her a best buddy hug and told her not to worry and I would do my best for our team & now she had to be my support crew each lap lol .

I carried on and eventually I ended up doing 6 laps we still had 2 hours + left when I finished and our team ran 8 laps .

My dad did awesome to run 7 laps solo go Buff daddy go.

The main aim for me this weekend was to feel ok & not to push myself after been ill & I feel this was achieved .

Thank you to all my family & friends who supported me this weekend & have been asking about me and generally keeping an eye on me since not been 100 percent your all stars & it's much appreciated .

I feel confident now that with some good training over the coming weeks & some training in the sun next week , I can look forward to some good races .

My next race is the endure24 where I am running solo & my main aim for 2014 is the Buff epic race in Spain in Aug 

Where I will be running for Team Buff uk .

Please get liking Team Buff uk on Facebook & keep an eye out for competitions on the page as I'm the Buff competition angel too & love sharing the Buff love .

Catch u all soon & hopefully I will have some good news about some new products which I'm testing and reviewing.

Enjoy your running .

This goes out to all my running friends 

Goretex Transapline race kit review

I've had quite a few fellow runners asking me about my kit for this race so here goes , obviously for a 8 day race u need to make sure you have enough kit to cover all eventualities as you never know how quickly the weather can change in the Alps at altitude.

So this is the kit which I used and can highly recommend.

Clothing

As most of my friends know I'm very lucky to be sponsored by Buff www.buffwear.co.uk and this is the Buff kit I ran in .

The great thing about all Buff's kit is that it's so lightweight, quick drying & ultra breathable and this is a brilliant asset to have especially as you are very limited how to dry your kit after each day's race.


Buffs used.
Some people would say that I'm obsessed with Buff's but I'm not I just love them and without a doubt they are the best piece of kit u can spend your money on , especially in this race as everyday I would start with a original uv Buff  around my neck and a Buff cap.

Original Buff

Neckwarmer pro was a god send as not only was it useful to run in but I wore mine to sleep in on my head at night as it got really cold in some of the accommodation we were camping in and it was also good to use over your eyes as a eye shield this soon catched on around camp & it was a funny site to see .

Neckwarmer pro Buff

The Buff cap was perfect to run in on some of the warmer days as along the route there was fresh water streams available and many a time this would get dunked into the water to cool me down & I don't think there was a time I didn't wear mine . ( I am a massive fan of the cap as it's uv properties are great too)

Leki micro poles

I was very lucky to be sent a pair of Leki micro vario poles to test out on this race & my god how good were these. www.uk.leki.com
I had never used any poles at all before this race and was a bit apprehensive on if I would need them but they were amazing and with the terrain of the alps they were brilliant and took so much shock off my back on the mountain sections, In hindsight I should of practised before with them but with limited time only finding out about the race 6 weeks before & only receiving the poles a couple of weeks before hand I had no choice but to just get on with it and learn as I went along.
As the race got harder tougher steeper and scarier I would say without a doubt that the poles became like a comfort blanket to me & when I was scared to death on the edge of the mountains I don't think I would of stayed upright without these and they are truly a amazing piece of kit to have and I'm most definitely converted and would recommend these poles, they are really lightweight and very easy to quickly snap into place .
These poles also come into there own on the steep down hill sections & the time u can save when u use them probably is amazing.
If any of my friends are thinking about doing any race in the mountains these are the Leki poles to get 10/10 .

Shoes
I ran the whole 8 days in my trusty Salomon goretex speedcross 3 trainers, quite simply brilliant, excellent traction up & down the mountains & my feet didn't get wet once & unbelievably I didn't get a single blister the whole event.
It was a very sad day when I got home as I had to throw them away due to the wear on them not due to this race they had lasted me 10 months .

Socks
I ran in a selection of socks over the 8 days but they were all Feetures socks , www.feeturesbrand.com

Either the Elite

Or
The Elite Merino wool ones these are some of the best socks money can buy in my opinion and as I said earlier I didn't get one blister the whole 8 days and I find that hard to believe especially after how my feet got trashed in the ocean floor race desert ( or my feet prefer mountains to sand )

Back pack
U had to have a back pack as there was some kit which was compulsory , but it didn't need to be too large the innov8 one I had for the desert was too large & to be honest I really didn't want to spend a fortune on another one so I decided to use my Quechua one from Decathlon I had used this on the race to the stones 100k and had no problems with it at all and it only cost £24.95 from decathlon
It's a superb little back big enough to store a waterproof coat , emergency supply, maps, first aid kit & 2ltr bladder & room for my poles on the outside too.

A great little bag which is very popular in Europe & at this race just goes to show u don't need to spend £100 + on a race bag .
It did a great job & was very comfortable & didn't rub me at all.

X-bionic arm warmer.
Thanks to Simon at x-bionic I was sent a pair of these to wear and test out & Im never disappointed with x-bionic the arm warmers did a great job of obviously keeping my arms warm but these also keep your arms cool in the heat & with the constant change of temperature in the alps they were perfect.
10/10 I highly recommend these. www.x-bionic.co.uk

Compression calf guards
Last year one of my lovely American running friends sent me a brilliant pair of compression guards from a USA company called ink & burn & these were really popular with fellow runners & everyone kept asking me where I got them from .

As washing was a problem I purchased a pair of Salomon calf guards & was mighty impressed I had no calf or cramp issues at all & I would recommend these with out a doubt.

Sunglasses
I love sunglasses and always run in a pair , even when the suns not out I will have my clear lenses in them & I have a great selection of Bloc sunglasses which I had been sent for the ocean floor race & I was asked to test them out and they are brilliant , u can't even tell you are wearing them , they are very lightweight comfortable and I never have issues with them steaming up which I have in the past with other makes , you will not see me racing in any other sunglasses these days.
www.bloceyewear.com

Food
Food was supplied in the package with camping and was a bit hit & miss & that was mainly due to me been vegi.

On the course it was brill there was cake , cheese, tomatoes, nuts, bananas, energy gel , soup ,

I took with me 9bars and always had one of these in my emergency rations and to be fair most days I would put a extra one in to keep me going , I swear by 9 bars as they have just the right balance for me and I can digest them quite well in ultra races and they fill u up and keep u going.

I also carried the little bags of mixed fruit & nuts which worked brilliantly on the really long tough stages.

Recovery food
After each stage I would mix up a for goodness shakes drink and this became a ritual which I had to do and worked perfectly as I never had a issue with running out of fuel the whole time we were there and it was amazing to see how well my legs coped after each stage and I honestly think the for goodness shakes helped enormously . www.forgoodnessshakes.com

After race / chilling out gear
Obviously you need to be comfy after the race and the perfect gear for this is SueMe sportswear
www.sueme.com
You would always see me wondering around our camp in the Ladies shorties & a sueme tshirt.
I personally don't think you will find a more comfortable pair of shorties/pants.

SueMe Ladies Shorties

Before the race In my SueMe Buff & Sueme t shirt .

A massive thank you to www.buffwear.co.uk & buff spain for all your help with this race & it was a pleasure to represent you in the alps, Also thank you to all Sueme,Feetures socks, Bloc sunglasses, Leki uk , X-bionic & For goodness shakes for all the kit & support it is much appreciated.

End of 2013 a superb year.

Well what can I say about 2013 apart from it been a amazing year !!!

Running wise I've done quite possibly 2 of the biggest races yet for me with the ocean floor race in Feb & the Gore-tex  transalpine race in August , these two races have both opened my eyes to loving the spirit for adventure & also showing me what you can overcome when things get tough in a race, both races have also made me appreciate my family & my true friends as the support I have received this year has been 2nd to none & I truly appreciate it more than you probably realise.

I must thank Buff  www.buffwear.co.uk

for been behind me 100 percent in everything I have done this year & the support you have given me has been above what I would expect from a company & I'm honoured to be part of a amazing team & look forward to spreading the Buff love in 2014 which hopefully will be my 3rd year of been sponsored ,

Thanks also to SueMe www.sueme.com for all your help too & I look forward to wearing some of your cool new gear in 2014.

So what have I planned for 2014 ??? & how can you top an amazing year of running , fun times & friendship !!!!! ??

Well l have quite a few 24 hour races already entered for next year & my weekends are filling up quickly so keep checking my blog for some of my adventures & new exciting challenges inc something a bit different for me as I'm starting a sports nutrition course in Jan , so hopefully that will have some positive benefits to my ultra training too .

I also promise to upload my transalpine race blog which is taking me forever to get my head around.

But for now I wish all my family  & friends a happy & laughter filled new year & to keep doing all the crazy things you enjoy as life is too short not too.

Trailplus Adventure Race Cannock Chase 7th Dec 2013

This race was my first adventure race & I must say I think I have caught the bug. 

I really didn't know what to expect & I really didn't think I would be laughing so much about it. 

But here goes this is what happened.

Once again I was very lucky to be competing for Team Buff Uk & originally we were competing in a ladies team of 3 but due to circumstances out of our control we were down to a Duo or as Team Buff uk called us a lovely dynamic duo . So who am I competing with ??

My best buddy Heather & it was a great pairing I mayhave the strength in the running stages , but we are both very similar on the mountain bikes & Heather is a super kayaker so we make a great pair & we are both mad & both tough as hell.

The race was been held at Cannock Chase which is a lovely beautiful venue only 10 mins car ride from my house.

 The morning of the race was quite damp under foot & we were both looking forward to the muddy bike course & trying out our new HOPE F20 pedals www.hopetech.com & I'm sure nobody else has team pedals like ours .

Just in case you can't see we both have one pink Pedal & one Blue pedal ( team kit ) 

So what's the adventure race then ? 

Well it's off road running , mountain biking , kayaking & a mini assault course.

I'm not brilliant in water so I wasn't really looking forward to that stage but we will come back to that later.

The race started at 10 am & the first section was a 5 k run , we started at a good speed & relaxed into the first leg making sure we didn't go to fast for the other stages.The course was a good mixture of tracks ,mud & a few hills too.

Next was the Long section MTb stage approx 20/25k & I knew we would enjoy this stage as we are both pretty mad when it comes to mountain biking & we do tend to go quite fast , I'm not convinced the other mountain bikers were expecting a rendition of I'm the king of the jungle through the tree section ( but I blame Heather ) as she started it & before anyone says were we taking this race serious (hell yes we were ) but you can still enjoy yourselves correct !!

I'm happy to say we passed a good few mens teams on the biking stage & we knew we were up there in the women's teams too . 

Next was a 3k run down to the kayaking stage.

Now this was the stage I was least looking forward too , but in all fairness I think we did brilliant , 

Each team was given a inflatable kayak & 2 paddles & the all important life jackets !!!

Of course on this stage Heather was in charge & I was told to sit behind & leave her to it !! No that was never going to happen & we worked really well together with me copying the paddle strokes until about half way into the lake where I had cramp develop in my hips & I decided to lie in the kayak for a moment in pain ( Heather  told me I sounded like a squawking tropical bird ) charming hey but come on it was painful lol. 

A stretch & a few seconds later I was back paddling away , we were doing really well & we couldn't help laughing at a Team of 3 women who hadn't got a clue going around in circles. ( I'm sure they would still be there now if the rescue kayak hadn't gone out to them.

Anyhow I really must thank Heather with the kayaking and her steering was spot on and we passed quite a few teams on this section & mainly because I didn't fall in .

So once we were  out of the water we had a 3k run back to the transition area for the last MTb section .

We literally had time for a quick drink and then it was back around a 5k technical biking section before we had the little assault course section which consisted of the following 

Wooden Ski's these were great fun & between me muttering left right left and basically driving Heather mad we got into a great rthymn. 

Then it was a very short 50metre sprint to the cargo net 

I really wasn't liking the look of this so sent Heather in first lol,

The net was really heavy & I'm not too keen in been in enclosed spaces so I was really pleased to be following & luckily Heather held it up for me at the end. 

This was also where my Buff got turned into a bizarre shape & I resembled a smurf for the last obstacle.

The only thing I can say about the greased up A frame is I've never laughed so much in all my life.

I think it took me four attempts to get to the top as it was so slippy & then trying to pull Heather up well it was like a comedy double act .( please note everyone struggled up this but when there are only 2 of you it's very difficult) 

One of my attempts !!

Me desperately trying to drag Heather up the greasy A frame .

Finally getting on the top .

All we had left to do now was slide down the other side to the finish.

Job done & our first Adventure race completed & we actually came in as 1st Female pair & 2nd Female team in a great time of 2hours 42 mins.

Yes okay I do look a little bit like a smurf in this photo & Heather your hair is fetching too lol, but all in all we had a brilliant entertaining race & it was great to race and represent Team Buff uk.

Once again I must thank www.buffwear.com & www.Sueme.com for all your amazing support in 2013 & I look forward to been part of a amazing team hopefully in 2014.