Ride London 100 (well, 50 for me)

On Sunday 2 August, I arrived at the Olympic Park in Stratford along with 25,000 other cyclists, to take on the challenge of riding 100 miles. Having discovered I had a place in February, and having started training in May, this event had loomed large on the horizon for some time. When my alarm went off at the ungodly hour of 4.30am that morning, it was hard to believe that THE BIG DAY had finally arrived. Before I talk about the day itself, I'm going to say a few things about my training (because I never got around to posting a training update - oops!).

Beautiful rides in Richmond Park

Going on some long rides in this beautiful Royal Park was definitely a highlight of my training. Richmond Park is heaven for cyclists (and indeed runners). One loop of the park is about 7 miles and there are enough undulations and hills (and deer!) to keep things interesting.

Wattbike classes at Cadence Performance

I made sure to regularly attend wattbike sessions during my training. They proved a great way to have a high intensity session on the bike without having to worry about navigating, bike handling and all the other annoying things you have to think about when riding on the road. I'm lucky to have Cadence Performance a stone's throw away from my house. It's a brilliant hub for cyclists, offering everything from bike fitting and servicing/repairs to coaching, lactate threshold testing, yoga lessons and more: even a (very practical) inner tube vending machine for those passing by with a puncture.

Indoor cycling classes on wattbikes are available at Cadence every day, and I tried to go once a week during training. Wattbikes are different to your regular spin studio bike in a number of ways... they allow you to check your pedal technique, and have a combination of air and magnetic braking which means they feel more like a real bike. The instructors at Cadence were also brilliant, making every lesson challenging and different to the last.

Indoor cycling studio at Cadence Performance

Training Nutrition

I like to use a mixture of 'real' food and sports supplements when training. A special thanks to Thanks For Frank's for providing me with some of their top notch granola bars to see me through my training. This is the sort of real food that I like to eat to keep me going on a long ride... oats are a great low GI food so they release the energy slowly over time; plus the sugar in the bars gives you the instant pick-me-up you need to prevent bonking. These also come in a number of different flavours so I could mix it up a bit and not get bored... but Salted Caramel was the best!

I also used High5 zero tabs to replenish my electrolytes whilst hydrating, and Clif Shot Blocks (these are a brilliant alternative to sports gels, and much tastier!). On the day itself, I used all of the above, plus the old classic: fig rolls.

OK, now on to THE BIG DAY.

As said BIG DAY approached, I began to worry less about finishing 100 miles (I was sure that I had the stamina and endurance to do this), and more about being able to cycle fast enough to make it to each of the hubs before their respective cut-off times. Unfortunately, my worry proved to be justified. My mountain bike frame was just too heavy to go as fast as required (on average, just under 12mph) and so I ended up missing the cut-off time at the half way point of Newlands Corner.

However, my Ride London 50 was an incredible experience nonetheless. Riding through the closed streets of London was an amazing opportunity - it felt so liberating, and it really was as if cyclists were reclaiming the streets! There was a brilliant atmosphere throughout, especially in some of the Surrey towns where they'd made a proper day of it, creating a festival/fair for the spectators to enjoy whilst watching the race. It was great to cycle through Surrey, especially parts that I didn't know as well... it has some truly beautiful parts - I just wish I'd had the time to stop and admire some of the views!

Even though I was immensely disappointed to not finish, I figure there are many things I should be grateful for:

• I didn't have a mechanical failure or puncture (plenty of others did... I saw people every mile or so crouched by the side of the road trying to fix their bikes)
• I didn't have an accident, either in training or on the day (there were a couple of nasty crashes on the day, mainly at tight corners. My friend's dad also had a horrible accident during his last training ride before the event, but luckily he's going to be ok)
• It was a beautiful and warm day, with enough wind to keep cool (conditions were the polar opposite of the 2014 event's post - Hurricane Bertha conditions, which were so bad that the route had to be cut short)
• I had a wicked time, and the organisers and volunteers took care of me and the other cyclists extremely well - I felt safe and looked after the whole time

The 4.5 hours or so I spent in the saddle where brilliant, and it was a shame to cut the day short - but at least I have lots of positives to look back on!

The ballot for Ride London 2016 opens on Monday 10 August. If you enjoy cycling even in the slightest I definitely recommend entering - just make sure you use a road bike if you get a place!!

Did you participate in or watch Ride London? Have you ever DNF'd (did not finish) in a race?

London Health Week: My Top Picks

Did you eat one too many chocolate eggs over the Easter weekend? Don't worry, London Health Week is just around the corner to help you get back on track. Taking place from 20 - 26 April, London Health Week gives wristband holders access to discounts at a number of health-related shops, studios and cafes.

There's a crazy amount going on for London Health Week; so I've selected the highlights below, giving you an idea of what's happening at a glance:


HEALTHY CAFES

Daylesford

Their organic farm shop and cafe, with locations in Notting Hill and Pimlico, will be offering 50% off their chilli bean bowl with seasonal vegetables, and 50% off organic chocolate, chia and cashew energy balls.

Vital Ingredient

Is offering 50% off their five grain porridge, and 50% off their create your own breakfast bowls.

Wild Food Cafe

This Covent Garden institution will be offering 50% off a London Health Week signature dish and smoothie.


JUICE BARS

Raw Press

50% off signature juice Uprooted, and 20% off online orders.

FASHION

Active in Style

Need to update your workout wardrobe? Active in Style are offering 20% off online orders.

Fashercise

If boutique fitness apparel is your thing, you'll love 20% off all non-sale items at Fashercise, which stocks brands such as Charli Cohen, Zoe Karssen and Olympia Activewear. Personally, I'm looking forward to getting my hands on this Charli Cohen tee, which has been on my wish list for a while:

Charli Cohen Dressed To Kale Tee

HEALTH FOODS

MOMA!

Are offering a 20% off voucher for their healthy breakfast range, redeemable at Waitrose and Amazon.

Arctic Power Berries

This company sells incredible-looking cranberry, blueberry and seabuckthorn powders to jazz up your porridge in the morning. They're offering 10% off individual purchases or you can get all three varieties for £18.

FOOD DELIVERY

Superfoodio

These monthly subscription boxes deliver a selection of exciting superfoods for you to discover. They are offering 20% off their classic and deluxe boxes.

EatFirst

EatFirst delivers healthy meals to your house or workplace in 15 minutes, and is offering 50% off your first meal.


GYMS & STUDIOS

Lomax

This Chelsea health hub is offering 50% off Lomax Signature Classes and Lomax Super Series classes.

Frame

This super cool fitness studio is offering 15% off any fitness class.

Boom Cycle

This is one of my favourite spin studios in London, and is offering 50% off spin and a free shake at lunch time classes.

London Insaniacs

If you haven't tried Insanity yet, now's your chance: they're offering 50% off classes.

With wristbands costing just £10, entry to London Health Week is a bit of a bargain. The full list of offers is available to read here. There will also be talks, tasting sessions and demos held at the the two LHW hubs, Raw Press and Madd Hatter's Cafe.

I'm looking forward to hitting a fitness class, trying some new food and doing a bit of shopping!

Are you going to try something new for London Health Week? Or will you be enjoying a discount on some of your favourite brands and studios?

Richmond Half Marathon // Jackson + Rye

I like to think that training and eating go hand in hand. Which is just as well really, as they are the two things that I enjoy doing most. When I've got a race scheduled, my race-day prep not only includes running through a mental checklist of essentials (race number, face wipes, safety pins) but also involves taking into consideration post-race refueling (aka stuffing your face). Running a race is generally a pretty good way to justify having a slap up meal. Last Sunday, I ran Richmond Half Marathon and then headed to Jackson + Rye for a meal.

I arrived at Old Deer Park at around 8.15am to run the Salomon Citytrail Richmond Half Marathon. The race was much bigger than I expected, with hundreds of people already milling around the event village when I got there, and queuing for the substantial number of portaloos (one of the most important utilities at any race, as fellow runners will appreciate). I watched the 10k race set off at 8.30am, which was quite a small field. Then I went to drop my bag off (the bag drop was self-service so no queuing necessary - thumbs up!), after which I lined up for the half marathon, which was setting off in waves from 9am. I followed the 2 hour pacer into their pen as I was planning on taking it fairly easy. Then I noticed that the pacer went over to another pen and that the 1.50 pacer had appeared ahead of me. I knew I wouldn't be going at that pace but I couldn't be bothered to change pens at the last minute, so stayed put!

It was pretty chilly to start, but the sun decided to come out just as we headed across the starting line. After a quick loop around Old Deer Park we were off onto the streets of Richmond and followed a course that took us along mixed terrain including pavements, tow paths, and across fields, in a loop that passed Kew Gardens, Richmond bridge, Teddington lock and Ham. It's a lovely, scenic and flat route, parts of which will be familiar to those who have run races such as the Towpath 10, Cabbage Patch 10 and Richmond Running Festival. About 6.5 miles in, I saw the lead runner racing back, covering the last couple of miles to the finish. When I reached that point myself later on, I saw a girl running in the opposite direction, just about to reach the half way point. I felt fer her - she must have been the last person in the race. I hope she made it in the end!

Course map

About 2 hours and 7 minutes after crossing the start line, I made it to the finish. Finishers were awarded with a load of goodies - I could barely carry it all! The medal was pretty cool, the goody bag, sponsored by Whole Foods, was top notch, and we also got a finisher's t-shirt and a number of drinks to quench our thirst (water, Vita Coco and juice). 

Once I'd collected my bag, I walked (rather gingerly) towards Richmond town centre where I was meeting my parents, who were in London for the weekend. We had a booking at Jackson + Rye for lunch and, having run past it earlier, I knew exactly where it was: in a lovely spot right on the waterfront.

Jackson + Rye has an American diner-style menu with a Southern twist, and cool New York style interior decor to boot. When choosing this restaurant, I'd initially made my decision based on the brunch offerings on the menu, including American style pancakes and a number of appealing egg dishes. However, once I'd sat down and realised I quite fancied a post-race beer, the lunch options began to look more attractive. I ended up ordering crab cakes with radish slaw & chipotle mayo with a side of what was probably the most Southern-sounding dish on the menu, creamed corn grits & parmesan. And a Brooklyn lager to drink.

Will run for beer.

I really enjoyed the food - it was wholesome but had enough of a twist to ensure it steered clear of boring. The chipotle mayo really brought the crab cakes to life, and the radish slaw had a pleasantly surprising pickled tang to it. I loved the texture of the grits, they were beautifully creamy, with a handful of sweetcorn kernels thrown in for a textural contrast and extra sweetness. However, I couldn't really taste the parmesan and the grits were quite bland in flavour. I think with some extra seasoning and a generous sprinkling of parmesan these would have been divine.

Crab cakes & creamed corn grits

As it was a beautiful, sunny day, we decided to go for a wander on the hunt for dessert rather than stay in the restaurant (even though the dessert options looked tempting - peanut butter cookies with grape jelly, yum!). We went to the well-established Italian ice cream shop, Gelateria Danieli which is now in its tenth year. The ice cream is the great traditional Italian style you know and love - rich and creamy - but they also have some rather unusual and innovative flavours, including walnut & maple syrup, strawberry cheesecake and banana & salted peanut. I decided to go for one relatively traditional flavour (tiramisu) and one more unusual one (bakewell tart).

Beautifully thick, creamy ice cream!

The bakewell tart flavour was sensational - the perfect balance of sweet marzipan and tart cherries. I think the tiramisu flavour suffered next to these big flavours, as it tasted fairly bland in comparison. It probably would have been delicious on its own but it couldn't stand up to its bold partner. I should have chosen a more compatible pair of flavours! The prices here are incredibly reasonable given the location and the quality of the ice cream: 2 scoops cost £3.50. Gelatria Danieli also have a shop on Shaftesbury Avenue, and one in Kingston. Go and give them a try on a sunny day!

Having savoured the last bite of my ice cream, I realised that I was probably no longer in a calorie deficit and so called it a day.

What's your favourite post-race or post-workout indulgence?

1Rebel // Porridge Cafe

1Rebel made a pretty majestic entrance onto the London fitness scene earlier this year, with an opening party in the form of a ride at the top of the Gherkin - that must have been spectacular! Although you'll have to do without the stunning view, you can now grab yourself a complimentary spot (first class free) in one of their two signature classes (Ride and Reshape). As I'm about to start training for Ride London, it seemed like the perfect time to check out the spin class, Ride.

From the moment I walked in, I knew this was going to be a pretty special experience. Forget all the fitness studios you've been to - 1Rebel takes the boutique fitness concept to a new level. Both in terms of design and service this is as good as it gets. When checking in for your class you're given a complimentary bottle of water and shower towel. If you want a cold towel you can get one from the Smeg fridge in the changing rooms. You don't have to worry about having a pound coin or holding onto a key during your class, because the lockers work by code. You also don't need to stress about the fact that you forgot your deodorant again - because there are plenty of toiletries and cosmetics for you to use both in the showers and at the vanity desks. The showers are probably the most impressive area: they look like a part of some kind of industrial water works. And unlike many gyms, they're not strictly communal as there are panels between each to protect your modesty. Didn't bring a protein shake with you today? No problem, Roots & Bulbs have your post-workout shake covered. Lunch time classes even come with a complimentary juice or lunch box. Now, I've not even mentioned the class yet, but you already want to check this place out, don't you? I thought so!

The class itself was hard work. I could handle the spinning, but when we started using dumbbells the going got really tough! I'm not sure how heavy they were but it was a really good workout using them for a couple of intervals whilst cycling. You could feel it working your core, and also targeting your triceps and biceps. They lend you cycling shoes to use during the class (which were Specialized nonetheless - no scrimping here!) which means you can pedal more efficiently by both pushing and pulling. The soundtrack was flawless and the 45 minutes whizzed by.

Having worked up a serious appetite, I headed up the road to the Porridge Cafe, a pop up restaurant serving sweet and savoury porridge-style dishes (some of which could be called risotto, if we're being completely honest). But I love the concept, as whether it's porridge or risotto, these are all wholesome, filling and comforting foods that can play host to a range of different flavours, textures and ingredients, making for some pretty exciting results if you do it right. I'm also a big fan of breakfast in general - I think it's the most underrated of meals. I never understand how people can skip it or simply eat a couple of 'breakfast biscuits' on their walk to the bus stop. So the very name Porridge Cafe puts a smile on my face, as it pays breakfast the due respect it deserves!

Inside the Porridge Cafe. The framed prints are by East End Prints.

Every day the cafe serves three different sweet options, and two savoury: over the course of the week that's a pretty impressive selection. On the menu when I went, there were three different sweet porridges, each made with a different grain and milk:

Baked Apple, Raisin and Cinnamon (oats with semi skimmed milk)
Blueberry, Ginger and Cashew Butter (rye with almond milk)
Passionfruit, Coconut and Banana (barley flakes with coconut milk)

A selection of the grains used in their creations: oats, rye, rice, spelt, quinoa

I didn't see any savoury options on the menu, but I suppose these come out at lunchtime. I was initially planning on trying an unusual flavour option that I would probably never go to the effort to make at home... but then I was seduced by the classic apple, raisin and cinnamon option and got that to take away. The porridge pot was absolutely massive and really put those tiny porridge pots sold by other cafes/shops to shame.

Baked apples, raisins, cinnamon, and lots of porridge

The porridge looked and tasted home made. Which I mean in a good way - I felt like I'd gone around to a friend's house and been lovingly served breakfast by their grandma. The bowl had so much character and flavour that it bared no comparison to the aforementioned rather bland and gluey porridge pots. The apple and raisin topping provided just enough sweetness to run right through the porridge underneath. The only improvement I would make would be to add more cinnamon because I'm a cinnamon fiend! I ate my breakfast on the train to work, and I'm pretty sure I made my fellow commuters rather jealous with the sweet smell of cinnamon wafting through the carriage of the 8.57 to Strawberry Hill.

As well as the porridge, the customer service in the cafe was also great. I got in touch with the cafe on twitter before going, as I wanted to see if I could pick up a pot of Pip & Nut nut butter whilst I was there. Elly kindly put one aside for me and had it ready to go when I arrived. That was a nice touch that I really appreciated.

If you're as crazy about nut butter as I am, you really have to try Pip & Nut if you haven't already... they taste sensational, and are made without palm oil, added sugars or additives. I discovered the brand when Pip had a pop up shop in Boxpark Shoreditch a few years ago, and was hooked straight away (on the coconut almond butter in particular). After a successful crowdfunding campaign, the business has gone from strength to strength, and the nut butters are now available to buy in a number of places including Selfridges (swanky!) and Perfectly Paleo if you want to buy online.

Back to the Porridge Cafe: it's run by the aforementioned Elly, and Nick who together are Bow Street Kitchen.Their porridge pop-up is not only a great concept, but also executed really well: so I look forward to seeing whatever venture they have planned next. If you want to check out the Porridge Cafe, you'd better move fast, as it closes this Sunday!