Author: Maria Runs

Alibi winner and a speedy run!

Hey all, I hope you are all having a lovely weekend.

First up, the winner of the month’s supply of Alibi drinks.

I was a bit more high tech this time; I used a random number generator on the internet (and had to work out which number matched which comment as some people put their facebook entry in the same comment- which is fine), and got number 2, which was Lara! Congratulations! If you can just email me the address you would like it sent to, then I will let them know.

Right, on with the weekend.

I was planning on having a run on Saturday morning, but Andy said that he would go with me if I waited until Sunday (he was off to football on Saturday) and I am really glad that I did. Saturday did not turn out as planned as I ended up visiting my Mum in hospital (she has been in and out recently), so I had to put back my work to Sunday afternoon too.  I did manage a bit of baking- I made some pecan crumble bars using this recipe.

I added in some coconut too- they are ready for Sunday tea in a bit. Andy had something similar in the tearoom in Stratford last weekend, and I fancied having a go at making something similar.

My shoulder has been loads better too- I feel like I have to be careful doing certain things (eg opening the garage door) but generally it is fine now. Still no idea how I did it (or what I did) but at least it is nearly normal again now.

Right, onto the run. We did the usual 8.3 mile loop- Andy knows that I have been getting faster, and also am prone to plodding when left to my own devices. He promised to slow down a bit, and although parts were tough, it was really great- we chatted most of the way (he had to chat on the hills!)- it does mean I am getting behind with my marathon talk listening! We did the loop in 80 mins, and usually my average for that loop is around 90 mins! Look, I can post my stats from the Garmin website: (split, average speed, distance, time)

1 9:59.4 1.00 10:00
2 9:47.2 1.00 9:47
3 10:00.5 1.00 10:01
4 9:53.4 1.00 9:54
5 9:37.0 1.00 9:37
6 9:30.4 1.00 9:30
7 9:45.7 1.00 9:46
8 9:32.0 1.00 9:32
9 2:42.2 0.29 9:16
Summary 1:20:47.8 8.29 9:45

I did find some of the hills tough, but no more than usual (probably)- it proves to me that the Brighton half was not a freak incident, and I really am starting to speed up a bit.

I sure needed breakfast when I got home!

I made the batter the night before (20g peanut flour, 20g w’g spelt flour, baking powder, 40g pumpkin, 60ml soya milk) and then cooked a chopped apple and pear in some coconut oil and sugar, and then stirred in some meridian mincemeat (my last jar). Plus teapigs chocolate flake tea.

Delicious.

Plus, the sun came out! I treated myself to some tulips yesterday as they are one of my favourite flowers, and they looked so pretty in the sunlight. I really hope Spring is around the corner now.

Have you seen any signs of Spring recently? We saw loads of snowdrops and crocus flowers out, and I saw a rabbit too!

Wonky Weights

Hey peeps

It’s Friday! Hooray! I am sat here enjoying a cup of tea (“real” tea too, eg loose leaf black tea from The Quilliam Brothers) and some Lord Poppington’s Popcorn, and warming up after a 3 mile post work run.

My sweatshop run on Wednesday was ace! We did “the hill” route (it is really flat around here, and the hill is not even half a mile long, but it is fairly steep) and each time we reached a roundabout the front runners had to run back to the back runners, which worked really well as we didn’t get too spread out. They added a loop on at the end, so we did over 4 miles (it is meant to be a 5k-ish) which I did in about 38 mins 🙂 With the run there and back it was nearly 6 miles in all- a good midweek run.

I mentioned in my last post that my shoulder has been sore this week. I have no idea why, and I can’t quite remember when it started, but it was some time last week. Anyway, I could not decide about pump, as I didn’t want to make it worse. In the end I went, but made a deal with myself that I would use lighter weights for all the tracks. I know that otherwise I would be tempted once I was there to load up, but things like holding the bar on my shoulders for the squats could have been quite sore.

I was quite conscious of my shoulder, but it was fine during the warm up, squats and chest track. During the triceps I used a lower dumbbell for my right arm (as it is my right shoulder), and I lowered the weights quite a lot for the back track as we have to do the lift (the clean and press?) where we push the bar above our heads, and it is when I lift my arm right up that it is more sore.

Anyway, it was going fine. I did think I would be fine to do my usual biceps weight, but my shoulder was feeling it a bit, so I had my usual one for my left arm, and a lighter one for my right. I felt like I stood out as they are different colours, but the great thing about pump is that everyone just focuses on their own form etc, and no-one is bothered by what anyone else is doing. The wonkiest one was the shoulders track, as by that point I was struggling with even a lighter dumbbell, so I finished the track with my right hand empty (but doing the moves as I think movement helps, plus I find it hard to do one thing on only one side of my body). The abs track was tough too, as we have to go on to one side (I have no idea what it is called, maybe a side plank?) so I only managed it properly on my good side. I still enjoyed the class, and the lunges were still tough, and I felt I got a workout, but it was not as challenging as usual, and I wasn’t really that sweaty compared to normal. I do like the fact that we all do the same moves, but can vary the challenge by using different weights, and I think doing that was better than just sitting around at home.

Today my shoulder has been much better, so hopefully whatever it was will be fine by next week.

This weekend I am looking forward to doing a lot of relaxing. I have a long run planned- I thought I was going to do 6 miles, but when I looked on marathon talk I have pledged 8 miles, and I feel pretty good (plus no rain forecast) so I think I’ll go for that. I have some work to do, but I am also going to do some baking- hooray! Oh, and car insurance shopping- the joy!

Have a lovely weekend – any plans?

Fresh air!

I love fresh air. I think that is one of the reasons why I love running so much. I think I would struggle to run for 10 minutes on a treadmill, but I could run for hours outside.

Anyway, this weekend was filled with fresh air! Freezing cold fresh air. As the weather looked OK we booked a B&B in the Cotswolds, and headed up there on Friday afternoon. We stopped off somewhere (all the little towns have lovely names but I can’t remember them!) for tea and cake, and after leaving our things at the B&B we walled to a nearby pub (with a fire) for a cosy dinner.

On Saturday we headed to Charlecote Park (making the most of National Trust membership) where I found this gingerbread house! Well, it’s made of wood, but it looks just like one!

We spent the afternoon wandering around Stratford upon Avon, where we had tea and cake in The Real Tea Cafe (they use the cool loose leaf tea container things too) and then had a lovely (cold) walk by the river, and in the evening we went for another walk in another little town before dinner. It was so nice to be out and about so much, even though it was very chilly.

On Sunday we went to Oxford. I bought some new lunch tubs:

Owls are super cute!

Then we went to Giraffe for lunch and had a walk around, before heading back home for the afternoon. I was considering a run on Sunday evening, but it was so cold, and by then I just wanted to warm up. So I made some tiffin for work.

This was based on a Hummingbird fridge cake recipe 150g butter, 50g coconut oil, 50g golden syrup, 50g cocoa all melted in a pan. Then add in a packet of chocolate biscuits (left over from Christmas), some dried cherries, and some trail mix. I sprinkled it with coconut and a little more trail mix to make it look pretty.

I did have a run on Monday, but I missed aerobics on Tuesday as I have had a really sore shoulder. It is much better today, but the last few days it feels like I have pulled something, or strained a muscle or something, so I thought a day of rest would be better. I tried the Deep Freeze one day, but that didn’t seem to help, so for the last couple of days I have been using Deep Heat, which helps more, but also smells so much stronger!

I had a training course this afternoon, and walked back as it was close by (more fresh air)- I am just enjoying some lovely teapigs lemongrass tea before I head out on my Sweatshop run. It is lovely out there today- the sun came out this afternoon, and the air is crisp and cool, so a good night for running I feel.

Are you a fresh air fan?

Red Nose Day Cookies

Hey everyone, can you believe that February is nearly over? It seems to have flown by!

It is coming up to Comic Relief day, and I was asked by the people at Sainsbury’s to come up with a cookie design to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Red Nose Day. Well, I could not resist, as I love baking cookies.

The Sainsbury’s site has loads of recipes for bake sales (to raise money) but I adapted a recipe from an old book called “Cookies Galore”, as I wanted to make jam sandwich style cookies. Mine were peanut butter and jam sandwich cookies.

It will make around 8 large cookies, but of course it depends on the size of your cookie cutter.

Ingredients:

125g butter/spread

50g caster sugar

1 egg

200g plain flour

6 tbs cornflour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

Peanut butter and raspberry jam, to fill. Writing icing to decorate.

First up, preheat the oven to 180C, and line baking sheets.

Cream together the butter and sugar, then beat in the egg and vanilla. Sift in the flour, cornflour and baking powder, and mix gently to form a dough.

Roll it out gently, and then cut out the shapes. For each cookie you need a circle for the bottom, and then the same size circle for the top, with a hole cut out for the nose. I used a little cookie cutter for the centre, but you could use an apple corer for a smaller hole.

Place them on the baking sheet, and bake for around 15 mins, until the edges have started to brown. Then leave to cool.

To prepare, thinly spread the bottom with peanut butter, then cover with raspberry jam. Put the top on, and then use writing icing to draw on the eyes and mouth.

I think they look quite cute (and very home-made- some worked out better than others!)- they emphasise the red nose I suppose.

They also taste lovely- they reminded me of a cross between a shortbread and a scone, if you can imagine that? Plus the pb and j combination is always a winner in my book.

Are you doing anything for Comic Relief? Do you have a good cookie design?

Relaxing half term

Hey peeps, I hope you are all well and staying warm (how cold did it get yesterday???)

This week I have been on half term, and it has been fab as I have caught up with friends, spent time sorting things out at home etc. I have taken some random photos, so here goes:

Yes, I know I am about 2 months too late, but I made some chocolate peppermint bark! It was super easy, and so pretty too.

I melted 200g dark chocolate, stirred in 1 tsp peppermint extract, and spread it thinly on some baking paper. Then I melted a little white chocolate (80g I think), poured that over the top, and sprinkled on 2 crushed candy canes. I didn’t have to leave it too long to set (as it was so thin) and then I chopped it up with a sharp knife.

So pretty, and it went down rather well with my friends too.

I also made an orange and almond cake for a meet up (but there was some left over for me to enjoy another day).

Although it did not taste very orangey to me, compared to when I have made it before. Maybe the oranges were not as ripe or something?

I was sent some popcorn from Lord Poppington’s (fantastic name) to try- we shared the sweet and salty last night and it was lovely- soft popcorn, like you would get if you popped it yourself, and not covered in a crunchy tooth-destroying coating like a lot of the sweet ones are. I look forward to sampling the other flavours.

I have also been drinking lots of tea.

The Twinings everyday tea is a nice black tea, and not too strong (not a builders tea).

This morning I tried some of the black tea with echinacea (10%)- it had a rather fruity delicate fragrance, and I really liked the flavour. I can’t quite put my finger on what it reminds me of, but it is more gentle than a normal black tea. I don’t drink that much plain black tea any more- I love Earl Grey, or something with another flavour in there, and this tea was great because it was not too strong, and had a hint of something else. It is probably not something I would have chosen to buy had I seen it in the shops, so I am really glad I have tried it.

The tea went very well with some lovely pancakes (made with peanut and wholegrain spelt flour- my fave combination)- I needed these after my run this morning.

I have not done that much exercise this week (compared to other weeks off where I would be out walking more, and running further too), as I felt I needed to recover from the half marathon, but I have kept up most of my usual routine. I went to Body pump on Thursday, and kept the same weights, but that turned out to be a bad idea, as I struggled for some of it. I had been out for lunch so I did think I would be full of energy, but then afterwards I realised that for one, I missed last week due to being at work, and then the rule of thumb with running is one day recovery per mile run, so I won’t be back to normal for another week. My legs found the squats and lunges especially tough, but that is no surprise really. This morning I went on a 6 mile run- that will be my longest of the week, and actually it was OK. I quite like that distance as I can run that before breakfast, so I don’t have to wait around for ages (and then delay going out)- although after 5 miles I suddenly got awful hunger pangs and actually felt really sick.

I have also been using my new oven (hooray, we finally got around to having it installed after our old one packed up before Christmas) to make some Red Nose day cookies, but I think I shall save them for a separate post!

Have a lovely weekend! What will you be up to?