Maria Runs - Maria Runs

Maple syrup, smoothies and protein powder

(Not all at once, don’t worry!)

Over the last few weeks I have been sent a few bits to try out- some I have already mentioned, but here they all are.

Neat Nutrition vegan protein powder

They sell a range of protein powders, and I was sent the vegan one, made with pea and hemp protein, plus xylitol, xanthan gum and stevia.

This was sent to me in two flavours- chocolate and vanilla (but they also sell a plain and berry flavoured one). I did try one as a shake, and although it blended better than some other protein powders, it was still lumpy. The taste was fine though. It does contain stevia as a sweetener, which often I find tastes very metallic, but there does not seem to be too much in here. I tried mixing a spoonful into porridge (after it was cooked- not sure if you should cook it?) and that was better. Probably the best protein powder I have tried, although I am not convinced that I would buy some for myself as I just forget to use it, and find porridge pretty filling anyway.

Maple Syrup from We Love Maple (I certainly do).

Mmmmm, all the maple syrup! I was sent four grades of syrup. From their website:

Extra Light maple syrup

Primarily produced from the syrup collected at the very beginning of the season. Recognisable by its light colour and sweet, delicate flavour.

Light maple syrup

Harvested after the Extra Light syrup and relatively light in colour. It has a pure, delicate taste. Ideal in vinaigrettes or drizzled over sweet and savoury dishes.

Medium maple syrup

The most commonly used syrup, harvested after Light syrup. Its more pronounced maple flavour is perfect for cooking, desserts and sauces.

Amber maple syrup

Darker in colour. Rich, distinctive flavour that is more pronounced than that of Medium syrup. Recommended for sauces and glazes.

I used the Amber syrup to roast some nuts with, which I gave away as Christmas presents- they were very well received and smelled amazing as they were baking.

French toast made with panettone (so good, and such a good way to use it up) covered in Medium maple syrup. So delicious.

Their website also has a lot of recipes on there, plus information about sports nutrition (maple syrup contains zinc, potassium and antioxidants- much better than sugar or sweeteners) so it makes me feel even better about including some in my post-long run brunches. They also have a section on maple water (which I tried in the US in the summer and loved) so I shall be looking out for that in the shops.

4 SOME (seeds of mother earth) Vegan smoothie:

I also loved the red shiny jiffy bag it was sent in!

I was sent one smoothie from a range of four vegan, dairy free, gluten free, wheat free smoothies that contain no added sugar. The four seeds (flax, poppy, hemp and pumpkin) are combined with superfoods, such as oats and quinoa, and fruit and vegetables, which are cold pressed to retain all of their goodness and nutrients. The end result is a smoothie that is a great source of protein (20g per 500ml), iron, magnesium and potassium, while also being packed with vitamins.

The Berry Boom one contained pressed apple, water, blueberries, oats, beetroot, raspberries, pea protein, pumpkin seeds, poppy seeds, flax seeds and hemp seeds. It had a lovely berry flavour- I could not taste the beetroot (although I love beetroot in a salad, or cooked, I don’t like the idea of it in a smoothie particularly), and although the seeds and oats gave it a bit of texture, it wasn’t gritty like a protein powder drink can be. I was impressed with the amount of protein in one bottle (10g) and I can imagine that when the weather is hot it would be even more refreshing to drink after a long run.

4 S.O.M.E smoothies are available in 4 flavours – Strawberry Slam (4 super seeds, strawberries, quinoa and beets); Mango Passion (4 super seeds, quinoa, mango, carrot and pressed passion fruit); Power Greens (4 super seeds, crushed pineapple, spinach and oats) and Berry Boom (4 super seeds, blueberries, oats, beets and raspberries).

Have you tried any of these products? What is your favourite way to eat maple syrup?

*Products sent in exchange for a mention on my blog. All opinions are my own.

Some musing about pacing

So my fastest parkrun time on my local course in 2015 was 27.44

On Saturday (2nd January) I had volunteered to do token sorting, and after a day of rest (well, travelling home from Spain) I was itching to get out there. I had not been running fast, but I had kept my running up during the holidays. I put in 27.30 in a pace calculator as an optimal time (to make a course pb with a bit of leeway) and it said 8.52 per mile. Miles with an 8 at the start sound way too fast for me, but actually I know I am capable of it now (in fact, on Tuesday on the club run we did a 4 and a bit mile run, and the last 3 miles began with 8). I could not remember my exact Brighton 10K time, but I knew it was under 55 minutes, so I put in 55 for a 10K, and it came up with 8.52 per mile.

So this is interesting to me. Firstly, it reiterates that I am not a sprinter! I much prefer to get into a race. I can tolerate some discomfort because that speed over a 10K is way faster than my normal running, but I just can’t tolerate that feeling sick feeling for very long in a 5k. Jess mentioned something similar in one of her posts, about not being able to move her legs faster, but having some energy left at the end of a 5K.

Anyway, I was going to give it a shot (for a course pb and not an overall parkrun, as there are far flatter courses), but I had my sore hip thing in the night (I managed all of 2015 without it being an issue and it came back-grr) and it had been pouring with rain so it was going to be boggy. My new trail shoes had arrived! Love them! Although I got them from SportsShoes.com (normally good service) but I was sent an email that said “free delivery if you spend over £75”, so I added a few bits (another Light Spur and a headband) to push it over, but it wasn’t free. I have emailed them, and they claim that the offer ran out the day before I placed my order, but there was no date in the email, and I have even sent the entire email back to them for them to tell me where it says that, and they can’t. So I am a bit annoyed. (Today I finally received an email saying that the postage would be refunded because they could see there was no date in the email- I know it’s not much but it’s the principle of it that annoyed me so much).

I had set my alarm a bit earlier as I thought I would try some food first, so I had a nakd bar (they worked for me in Spain), and I did some warm ups at home before my dad picked me up. One glance at the footpath and I knew it was silly to attempt a pb (I would need spikes and not trail shoes), but I have been aiming for under 30 minutes, and decided to try to be faster in the middle mile, as that is often my slowest (even though it has the most downhill).

The start ended up being really congested and I had to stop for a bit. Plus the big puddles meant that sometimes the person in front would stop to avoid a puddle, and then that would mean you would have to stop too, to avoid bumping into them. But once everyone thinned out a a bit I tried to push a bit harder. Then came the mud! Normally it is muddy, but not too bad, and mainly in the final mile. This time the middle mile (on a grassy field) was so slippery and slick- it was hard to grip the ground and at times my trainers were nearly sucked off my feet!

It had held 4 parkruns over 8 days, so no wonder it was bad- it needs a break now! The final mile was again very slippery and I ended up wading through a few huge puddles as I didn’t want to waste time stopping and inching around the edge- plus my feet were wet through by that time.

My new shoes at the end! The laces aren’t too bad as they have a little pouch in the tongue to tuck the laces into.

Anyway, my final time was 29.05, so under the 30 minutes but not close to a pb! I think I need the mud to dry out a bit before I attempt it. The nakd bar was good though- I didn’t get hunger pangs and although I got a little stitch near the end that could have been from anything.

Strava says I got a pb for a section in the middle, plus my second mile was 8.45, so I am sure I can work towards that this year.

After we finished, we put on our coats and then started the token sorting (as I had volunteered, and my dad of course agreed to help). I have never done this job before, but luckily the team had a sort of tool box with sections for 20 tokens (1-20, 21-40 etc), so we sorted them into the sections before ordering each section. What was strange was that for ages we had a token missing from the first section- they must have been one of the last to be scanned (probably waiting for someone else running)- I thought they would be more in order than they ended up being. Even though I had my coat on (and a jumper) I got really cold, and I was glad it wasn’t raining. We were finished by just after 10am, so we were sorting for a good half an hour. It was quite a long job even with two of us, and really opened my eyes even more to how hard the core teams work each week to do all of these things.

After Dad dropped me home, I had a shower and then we headed around to my parents as my mum was cooking us pancakes! Parkrun + pancakes= an awesome Saturday, I think you will all agree!

So the aim for 2016 is to chip away at that parkrun time a bit. I don’t do resolutions, but I like things to aim for. I am trying to volunteer a bit more- around once a month, and in fact that would mean I would earn my volunteer t-shirt this year. There is a new one starting up near me, which will be much flatter, so potentially I could go quite a bit faster, but I would still like to bring my course pb down a bit this year too.

12 months of running

I love looking back over the past year, and so I thought I would choose a photo or two for each month to sum it all up.

Not all of the races had medals- some had t-shirts, or a chocolate santa, but this is I think the 2015 collection!

Last year the big race for me was the Brighton marathon, but the “10 miles before Christmas” prep didn’t go well, as I had an awful cough and chest infection, and so hardly ran at all in December. But probably the rest did me good as the training went very well (with a little extra motivation from Jantastic).

January

2015-01-18 12.19.00

Marathon training kicked off after about a month of rest, with the freezing cold Fred Hughes 10 mile race.

February

Brighton half! Pb! I didn’t want to push myself as I needed fresh enough legs for my longer midweek runs, so I was amazed that I managed a pb and felt pretty strong throughout. If I had been training for just that race, I feel confident that I could have managed a sub 2 hour half. I will keep dreaming!

March

My highest mileage of 132 miles in March as marathon training ramped up.

April

Brighton marathon!!!! I loved it! I was so nervous, but I kept an eye on my pacing, didn’t start off too quickly, enjoyed seeing Andy and my parents in the crowd, and was so proud to get that sub 5 hour goal.

May

(We can’t have a post without any cake)

Birthday course pb at panshanger parkrun!

June

Whipsnade 10K- hot!

St Albans half- fairly hilly!

July

This photo is from tail running at Panshanger parkrun. I marshalled, tail ran and did the new runner briefing that month, and won the Sweatshop monthly prize of new trainers too! Awesome!

These are identical to my current trainers, so are still in the box for when my old ones die.

Me very excited before the Ware 10 miles! There were other runners from the club doing the 10K, and it was so lovely to have some company pre and post race.

August

Many runs in Hawaii, including a 5K race.

parkrun tourism at the Crissy Fields parkrun in San Francisco! 4th women! 1st in my age category!!! Yes there were only 31 runners (all very friendly) but you have to be in it to win it! Or come 4th!

September

One early morning run, sunrise looking like a fire.

October

Bournemouth 10k. The afternoon time wasn’t the best but I managed a pretty speedy run, giving me confidence to aim for a pb in Brighton later in the autumn.

Brighton 10 mile- another pb in Brighton!

November

My 50th parkrun, and Panshanger’s first birthday!

10K in Sherwood Pines (I was drenched in those picture, before it even started!)

10K pb in Brighton! I love Brighton! My 4th Brighton pb of the year! Is that a pb full house?

December

Running club run to brunch (why don’t we do this every Sunday?)

Christmas day parkrun with my brother (and jingly antlers- I found out that if I wedged them into my buff they stay put during running).

December 5K series for Virtual Runner UK.

There have been more races this year (the full list I keep on my Race Calendar page), but that’s plenty to be getting on with.

To sum up:

Brighton pb’s for 10K, 10 mile, half marathon and full marathon (full house?).

parkrun = awesome

Being in a running club= brilliant

I still love running.

December 5k Virtual Run series

Went like this!

Week 1- parkrun.

I can’t edit the image to flip it- no idea why as it normally works but it keeps freezing.

28.25. 4th in my age category. 20th female out of 78. 113th place/201 overall.

Love the tree medal!

Week 2:

Out and back on my own (no parkrun that week due to being in Bath).

31.33

I had a headache and I had to wait at the one set of traffic lights for ages! But anyway, medal still earned. No fun stats like you get from parkrun though.

Week 3:

A Santa medal! The medals were all labelled, but I feel like it should be for week 4, as the weeks run from Tuesday, so Christmas day will be in week 4. Anyway. Another parkrun.

28.50 (which I felt was further off week 1 than it actually was-25 seconds slower isn’t too bad). Felt fine but had been ill in the week so the end felt tough.

3rd in my age category! 23rd female/ 80, and 137/226 overall.

Week 4:

Christmas day parkrun!

Ran with my brother, and he managed to get himself a Christmas day pb!

My time- 29.10. 165/270 runners, 4th in my age category again! 37/98 women.

I ran with my antlers held in place with a buff, jingling all the way.

Here are all the medals. The reindeer is my favourite.

So all in all, fairly consistent. I was tempted by the other parkrun on boxing day, as it had a 9.30 start ( I woke up too late for my one) but its laps and I don’t like some of the really fast runners, so just went out on my own for fun. I will try that one in the new year at some point to see if I have sped up, as strava tells me I am trending faster with my course but I don’t believe it, but it will be good to test myself on a flat and mud-free course. I’m glad I joined the challenge, even if I didn’t finish with amazing times.

Winter walks and festive bakes

Although it has not been that cold recently, so more like walks in the winter.

Since discovering the new route through the fields close to my house, I have been there for both runs and walks. I love walking but when I am at work might only squeeze in a short walk a couple of evenings, so I have been making the most of time off this week.

I have also been trying to keep my step count up, as I tend to walk around a lot at work, but our house is tiny so I don’t clock up that many steps. After a weekend of parkrun, walking around the shops, then a 10K run on the Sunday, my step goal for Monday was fairly high (it increases if you meet your goal). I had been out early on Monday to visit a friend and pop to the shops to collect a few bits, and later in the afternoon realised I needed to post something. I set off (in the rain), but as I got there the rain eased off, so I walked up to the supermarket, a mile from the post office (as Andy needed some bananas), and then decided to walk the long route home, through the fields.

Thankfully the rain stopped, and although it was muddy, it was great.

Very muddy in places!

I had a Starbucks offer for a free bakery item, so I had my bit of the cinnamon roll when I got home.

In the evening I made some of Laura’s peanut butter chocolate dipped dates (while listening to episode 2 of Serial). They are delicious!

Instead of using the microwave, I used my school trick of using a bowl of warm water, with the chocolate in sealable sandwich bags, to melt them.

On Tuesday I walked up to the local shopping centre (got some tracksuit bottoms to wear for PE lessons), and then made some gingerbread in the afternoon. Then we had our regular Tuesday evening club run, although by then the rain and wind had set in and, despite us singing Jingle Bells (helping our breathing as well as making it festive) it was not the most festive of runs. We did an out and back route, and as we turned the wind hit us and the rain was fogging up my glasses. I was glad of the company, but I was soaked through by the time I got home. I then decorated the gingerbread.

They puffed up a bit in the oven so they are rather chubby!

And look at my gingerbread house! I was very pleased with it.

Today I was visiting friends, and then after lunch had a walk with Andy, but as I had no run planned and the weather was good, I had a walk on my own across the fields again.

This time I listened to some podcasts as I walked.

So relaxing.

Now I just need to finish decorating the Christmas cakes- I can’t decide on a design for our cake. I have made some little gingerbread men and trees (using icing) for our parents cakes, but I have seen reindeer ones, and little Christmas owls, but they all seem a bit complicated so we shall see what I manage!

Tomorrow I plan on making some Christmas pudding fudge to take around on Christmas day too, and maybe some maple roasted nuts- I love how the house smells when all these foods are cooking.