A Waffle House trip, fudge-making and my ultimate dinner!

On Thursday after work I went out on my only mid-week run of the week. It was really mild- I only needed a t-shirt and it wasn’t even too windy. Andy was out and so I got to treat myself to my favourite dinner- ultimate beans on toast. Sourdough toast, with a little marmite spread on, a sprinkle of cheese (I am loving the violife vegan cheese as it melts well and actually tastes nice) and then beans on top.

We’d had a busy week at work so I decided to make some fudge to help everyone get through Friday.

Peanut butter and white chocolate fudge- always goes down well!

On Friday it was time to meet my friend at The Waffle House (we try and meet once a half term)- I went for the pecan and butterscotch waffle, with added banana. They cook pecans into the batter as well as sprinkling more on top – so tasty. I’d ordered a few treats when payday came around, and they had arrived- some Tropic eye cream and a nice reusable bottle (as my 5 year old bottle may need retiring). It wasn’t that cold so we had a walk, chatting about holiday plans, including this:

(Yay, another race at Walt Disney World in October-Just the 5k this time as then I may even manage the parkrun on the Saturday before we fly home…).

On Saturday I’d volunteered to tail walk at Panshanger because I didn’t want to run the day before the half marathon. I was stood in the car park (where the start is) with my volunteer top on, and I was approached by a couple of people who started to ask me about how parkrun worked. They were planning on walking it, and wanted reassurance that it was OK. I also explained how to barcode worked, and a bit of the course description.

Then I saw Dad as he’d come over to run at Panshanger- as he had a slight injury he was wanting to take it slowly, so he walked with me for the first km or so before heading off to run the rest. He didn’t wait around as he was heading into London for the march in the afternoon.

As I walked around the route, a few marshals joined me towards the end, so we all had a good chat about all things running. As we approached the finish I jogged a little to catch up with the last few people (as I had to also collect signs and close the gates behind me, so I tend to be a bit further back anyway). Once I’d finished the pair of people came to ask me where they went next, so I pointed out the scanners to them, and asked how they’d enjoyed it. They said they had loved it and would be back, and that made me so happy. I think parkrun would benefit so many people, but it’s hard to get people to really believe that you can literally walk the whole course and it doesn’t matter, the marshals etc expect to be there until 10am.

I rushed home once I was finished (56:12- my 190th parkrun), as we were also heading into London for the afternoon.

Above- some of my favourite signs (We love access to medicines/Even IKEA has better cabinets/OMG U OK HUN? which was my ultimate favourite/ Never gonna give EU up). I saw loads more- Fromage not Farage being another favourite, and one with a photo of Tommy Wiseau (from The Room) with “You’re tearing us apart” which properly made me laugh out loud. I mean, I don’t want to go on about it because I feel rather a lot of despair (watching a documentary about the European parliament the other week actually made me cry for so many reasons) so you have to laugh otherwise you’d have a breakdown.

And a selfie with Angela (well, a cardboard cut out of her, because of course someone has one of those…).

As a treat we had decided to head to the amazing Swedish bakery afterwards, and bought one of their Easter specials (a bit like the amazing school bread from the Norway bakery in Epcot- a cardamom spiced bun filled with almond paste) which we enjoyed with a pot of tea once home. Not sure that traipsing around London the day before a half marathon is the best idea, but it was important.

Do you head into London much? How much rest do you have in the week leading up to a race?  I think it varies for me quite a bit- having a busy week at work meant it forced me to have more rest than usual.