Cinema trips, feeling more festive, and tea

Following on from the Brighton 10K, I was home on Monday not too late so did a lovely 4 mile run.

On Tuesday we had booked cinema tickets (for the first time in ages) to see the film about the Le Mans 24 hour race. I hadn’t got my free Starbucks drink yet, so popped in after work to pick one up. I’d been awake in the night for a couple of hours with a really bad headache and I think I hadn’t had enough to drink (and worked until nearly 10pm on my laptop), so I made a cup of tea to take with me to the cinema to make sure it didn’t happen again.

I really enjoyed the film, not knowing anything about it (it was based on a true story) but it was so loud and so exhausting to watch- I felt like I’d been driving for 24 hours by the time it finished!

I also took in a pack of peanut butter cups- these Pip & Nut ones are so good and mean I don’t need to bring back a load of Justin’s ones from when I go to the USA- hooray!

On Wednesday at yoga we had a focus on properly moving from the plank into being on the floor, keeping our elbows over our wrists (instead of tracking back)- oh my goodness me this was so hard and by the end my arms were like jelly! It felt like awful tricep dips! It’s so interesting how the body is so clever at adapting and finding the easiest way to do something, instead of the correct way.

On Thursday after work I had a 3 and a bit mile run, and then came home to some salt and vinegar peanuts- anyone else love these? I really love them but the KP ones burn my lips a bit- not so good! Andy put the fire on for a cosy evening of watching The Crown.

I really liked this autumn self care guide that popped up in my feed- after having several evenings working late in front of the TV, it was a good reminder to take care of myself too.

Although I didn’t have time for breakfast on Friday and we were heading to Starbucks for lunch, so I ended up having an almond croissant instead (brunch?)- they heated it up and it went a bit soft! (Still tasty though)

My tea club for November arrived and I loved the gorgeous packaging- such pretty drawings. Each month the postcard is designed by a different artist so it’s lovely to see the different styles.

On Friday evening I met Andy in town as we had to get a few bits from the shops, and we walked around to Caffe Nero to try a festive hot chocolate (I think a hazelnut one?) and a little look around John Lewis as I wanted to get some boots with my vouchers. As we will be making Christmas cakes with the children at work I tried out the recipe and it seemed to go down pretty well.

On Saturday I drove to my parents and then walked to Jersey Farm parkrun with Dad (my 6th run there- working on the p index).

It’s a fun course to do in the autumn/winter as it’s a bit muddy and a bit up and down, so it feels a little like cross country (compared to running on a tarmac path). One of the marshals shouted that she was spotting everyone’s leggings- I did see a few funky ones and even some festive ones. Dad ran ahead as he is working on breaking his pb, so I had an enjoyable run on my own, finishing in 30:24

We then walked back home where I had a shower and then Mum cooked us pancakes. They are planning a trip to Canada next year so we had a lovely long chat about the places they should visit and how long to spend in each place.

Once home we walked into town while it was still light (not much of that about at the moment)- I was feeling festive with my candy cane jumper and “Mince pies before guys” t-shirt which never fails to make me laugh (I took some pics in the changing room as some of my friends were at a Christmas market and the whatsapp group got a bit carried away with festive things!).

I also got the sparkly boots, and a really cosy jumper (pretty much the only one in the shop that didn’t contain wool, as I find that so scratchy).

I had some work to do so did that once home (it was dark by then anyway).

On Sunday morning I had a rather horrible experience- I was running along a track that leads past some houses and fields into the back of the park, when I heard barking, turned around and saw 4 dogs hurtling towards me, all growling and barking. I stopped (as I have been told that standing still is better than running) and screamed “oh my god!” at them and the guy walking them. He called something along the lines of “it’s OK, they are just chasing each other”- well it didn’t feel like that. He called them back, and once they were back at him I turned around and started running again, but the same thing happened.  I felt so panicked as a couple of them were really big dogs. He called them back and walked across to the field by the side of the road, but didn’t put any of them on leads. I watched them for ages, not wanting to run again in case they ran back across the field and chased me again. Once I couldn’t see them any more, I burst into tears which was very unexpected, and I couldn’t get my breathing to work. I walked for ages, and just could not calm down. I considered ringing Andy but it’s a private road (public footpath) so he wouldn’t be able to drive along there anyway. Once back in the park I had calmed down and could run again, but it made me really cross  that it had affected me that much. I think I’ll be avoiding that place from now on too.

In the afternoon we went to Andy’s parents house for a bit of a catch up, then once home I made the Christmas cakes, and in the evening we were off to see Frozen 2! (I didn’t wear my ears in the cinema in the end…)

I loved it! It was so beautiful- amazing autumnal colours in the woods, and the ice palaces just looked so bright. I liked a few of the songs but they didn’t all jump out at me (unlike Moana where I pretty much loved every song straight away) but I’ve been listening to it since then and there are some growers (including the song by Weezer- anyone else remember them? I used to love their Buddy Holly song and Island in the Sun). I was also glad to see it before any kids at work tell me any spoilers!