New Trainers

In 2011, I bought myself a pair of pink trainers to run my very first 5K Race for Life. 

Since then, I think it would not be unreasonable to say that I have well and truly caught the running bug. Last year, I recorded 95 runs on the Garmin Running Watch that was my 2012 Xmas present. Ninety five runs that equate to 289.49 miles or 57hours 54 min and 19 secs of running. Of course there were other runs where I forgot to put my watch on or the battery ran out or it completely failed to connect to the satellite to find my location. Even without those extra miles, my stats make me proud and happy. I still can't quite believe that I am a regular runner but I am certainly enjoying the very positive impact it is having on my life.

All of those miles, both on and off road and in all sorts of weather conditions, have taken their toll on my trusty pink trainers. They definitely weren't looking very pink any more but more worryingly, the wear on the soles was becoming difficult to ignore.  Reluctantly, I had to admit that it was time to replace them.

I had some Christmas money to spend, thanks to the generosity of my lovely father in law, so I went along to the sports shop to see what I could find. The variety of running shoes available was quite mind boggling. I threw myself at the mercy of a shopfloor assistant who had me running on a treadmill to measure my gait. He didn't tell me anything I didn't already know - I run slightly flat footed and slightly out of central alignment. He recommended shoes that would offer support where I needed it and made me feel that if I didn't buy the £25 corrective insoles as well, I would probably break. I tried on the shoes. I did a little jog around the fixtures and fittings. I didn't like them at all.

I was full of indecision. My body was saying NO but my logic was saying You'll get used to them and they will benefit you ultimately. I thought the best thing was to give myself time - time for my body and logic to argue it out and come back to me with the right choice.

I did a few more runs in my old trainers. These trainers were like old friends - tired old friends admittedly but old friends nontheless. In all the time I had been running in them, I had never suffered an injury or any discomfort other than the usual aches and pains that you would expect. The solution became suddenly clear.

I went back to the sports shop (actually it was a different sports shop because I was a bit embarrassed to go back to the first one). I asked the assistant for the closest thing he had to my current pair. I was impressed that despite the wear and the mud (and the sogginess - we had just completed a rather wet Parkrun) he knew exactly what make and model they were and what features they had once possessed. He supplied me with a mid priced replacement pair that felt instantly familiar (but a whole lot bouncier) to my grateful feet. And they were PINK! The deal was done.

I went out in them last night. I love them.

I still can't quite bring myself to bin the old pair. We have journeyed far together and they have been good to me. I am hoping that this post, as a tribute to my constant companions mile after mile, will be the first step towards letting go!

ChillFactor Ice Cream Maker

There is a little shop in our town that sells Slushies. They are not my idea of a treat at all but my kids love them - the more tongue staining the better! I can understand why the ChillFactor Slushy Maker from Character, which enables you to make your own Slushies at home in seconds,  has been a huge success. Using the same 'Rapid Freeze Technology' a new product has been added to the ChillFactor range - the Ice Cream Maker - with the tag line Freeze, Squeeze, Enjoy!

I may not get excited at the thought of Slushies but I do love ice cream so I was intrigued to try out this new 'cool' gadget when I was sent one to review.

The ChillFactor Ice Cream Maker is designed to look like a larger than life ice cream cone complete with sauce topping in Vanilla Pink or Choc Delight - very cute. It consists of a number of components, some of which are dishwasher safe. The cornet part is made from a soft, flexible material  into which slots a thick inner sleeve that contains the magic 'freeze technology' compound. This needs to be placed in the freezer for 4-6 hours before use.

There is a recipe guide included but it encourages you to experiment with different flavours and quantities to suit your personal taste. It suggests using single cream because double cream gives a very rich result. I only had double cream in my fridge and  I was keen to try out the gadget so I went for it.

Following the instructions, I measured 100mls of cream (without stopping to think how many calories that was!), poured it into the lid of the Ice Cream Maker, added a good couple of dollops of chocolate syrup and gave it a quick mix.  I then tipped this into the cornet part, fresh from the freezer, and attempted to screw on the lid. The box promises 'no mess' but I must be a bit clumsy because my hands became rather sticky which made this a more difficult task than it should have been. I cleaned myself  up, shook to make sure everything was well mixed and then squeeze, squeeze, squeezed. The squeezing is supposed to take a few minutes and be the fun part but it actually made my hands ache (touch of arthritis maybe - I am nearly 50). My husband came and finished the squeezing for me. It does say for a thicker ice cream to squeeze longer but we seemed to have got to the point where it wasn't making any difference any more. Taking the top part of the lid off enables you to get at the sweet treat with the long spoon provided.

The taste was much as you'd expect -  creamy, sweet, very sickly (perhaps single cream would have been a better option). The texture was more like melted ice cream than ice cream - very soft - but it certainly had an icy coldness to it.

It was quite awkward to get the ice cream out. The spoon was a little too flexible to stand up to the cushions of the inner liner that seemed to close in around the contents and deny access. I eventually slopped it out into a bowl but it looked a little pathetic compared with the Cornish Ice Cream that the rest of the family were tucking into for dessert.

The Ice Cream Maker was much easier to wash up than I feared it might be.

Even taking into account the novelty value of making your own ice cream, I actually think there is at least as much fun to be had from the ice cream sold by the litre from your supermarket once you start adding toppings and sprinkles. I do not feel particularly inspired to repeat the Ice Cream Maker experience.

However, I have a daughter who does not like ice cream - never has. She cannot help feeling a little left out when we are all getting excited about some mouthwatering variety of luxury ice cream. I am thinking that this ChillFactor Ice Cream Maker would be perfect for making alternative frozen yoghurt desserts for her on such occasions. Being able to create her own flavour combinations and having all the fun of magically 'squeezing' them into existence may just make her the envy of the rest of us. I can't wait for her to be home from Uni so we can put it to the test.

Sky Dancers

Yesterday, my 3 year old was delighted to receive a Peppa Pig Weebles Wind and Wobble Playhouse . If you read the review, you know that 5 year old Addy did not entirely share the  delight. She thought the parcel contained a Sky Dancer. It didn't. Outcome = Tears!

Today, her luck changed when a Sky Dancer was delivered to our door.

We received the lovely Camille, one of the range of four flying fairy dolls from Character.

I think the look on my daughter's face (in this slightly blurry photo) says it all.

The sky dancer doll slots into a base unit. You then simply pull the launch string and watch your fairy fly up to 3 metres in the air. To get an impressive launch you need a good clean, fast pull. However, even the most pathetic of pulls makes the Sky Dancer twirl beautifully in her base unit and it doesn't take much more energy to get her rising into the air (before crashing gracelessly to the ground).

Addy's pulling skills were leaning more towards the category of 'pathetic' but it didn't stop little brother giggling, clapping and jumping up and down with excitement at the very short flights. Addy was determined to keep practising until she got better... and to her credit, she did get the hang of it.

There are Safety Instructions printed on the Sky Dancer box to avoid injury but they do seem to be mostly common sense.

Addy is still practising her launch technique. She just shouted from the other room "MUM!!!! I GOT IT REALLY HIGH!!!" I'm wondering if I should be worried!