Maria Runs - Maria Runs

Groupon Winner!

Hello!

Just a quick post for me to announce the winner of the £20 Groupon voucher giveaway from last week.

Names on paper, folded up, and Andy picked…

How exciting! If you can email me with your email, then I can email you the voucher. That is a lot of the word email in one sentence.

In other news, I have been eating a lot of watermelon. Yum. I bought one because it has been so hot and I find them so refreshing- like eating sorbet.

I also went on a run on Monday when I got home from work – that was not a good idea. I was baking when I got home from work, so decided to take it slow. I did manage 15 min run, 1 min walk, but the next 15 min run was so hard and I felt quite sick. Yuck. For the last few minutes I was basically thinking about how I didn’t want to have to admit to not managing it on my blog! Plus I knew I did it last week at the Sweatshop club, so I knew I was capable. But when I got home I was so hot- dripping in sweat- it was even coming out of between my fingers. I should have gone later in the evening, but because we are having stuff done to the bathroom it was then or never (and I think I should have chosen a walk instead). And after I thought I had sorted out my shoes, my foot went numb again right at the end. I am sure I am still tying the laces up too tightly, as I used to get it occasionally in my old shoes, but it is getting annoying now. I think I might have to undo the laces and start all over again.

A super Sunday

Well after the boring-ness of Saturday, it was good to have a lovely Sunday.

I woke up bright and early, and went out for a run before it got too hot. I was in two minds over what to do (whether to follow my plan or to run it all, seeing as I managed to run on Wednesday without walking at all) but in the end I kept the walk breaks in. I need to be increasing the distance of these weekend runs especially, as I am doing the GNR (a half marathon) in September and I am sure it will come around quickly! So I went for a longer route- 3.5 miles, and had a few minute breaks after each ten min run. I think from now on I am going to add a little more to the weekend run, and if I need them keep the walk breaks in for the next few weeks at least, so that I am used to covering longer distances before I get rid of them. My midweek runs I will keep a bit shorter, and the Wednesday one especially will be a little faster which I think will be good for me. That is the plan for now anyway.

I had put some nuun in the fridge before I left, and boy did I need it when I got home! Despite drinking a glass of water before I went out I was super thirsty when I got home.

Although not quite as red as I thought I would be! (this was no-where near my colour on Wednesday evening!). Loving my Thoosa vest and my Bondi band.

After a cold bath (although hopefully later this week I will be able to use our new shower) I had a very summery breakfast.

Fresh mango, blueberries and some tropical alpro yoghurt. So delicious.

I had some housework to do (I don’t mind doing that) but no actual work! And also made some cookies for Andy’s parents- I used the trusted recipe but added in 50g chopped dried mango, 50g chopped brazil nuts and 20g dessicated coconut. I then sprinkled them with coconut before they went in the oven. I also used coconut sugar in place of regular sugar and that seemed to work well.

Totally tropical 🙂

We were planning on watching the Grand Prix a bit later, but Andy was busy painting the bathroom, so I went to sit in the garden. It was bliss.

I had made myself a jug of iced mint tea, so I took some out there with me. It was so easy to make- boil the kettle, pour over a teabag in a small cup, let it sit for ages (the longer it steeps, the stronger the tea), then remove the teabag, pour into a jug and top with water. You could add lemon/fresh mint leaves etc. I made it on Saturday night and so by Sunday it was lovely and cool, and really refreshing too.

I sat out there in the shade, reading magazines, drinking the tea, and eating a gourmet raw brownie (a coconut/banana one).

Everything was just coming to life in the garden- there are loads of tiny apples on the tree, and the blackcurrant bush is leaving with green berries 🙂

It was such a wonderful way to totally relax and chill out.

The rest of the day was spent watching the race, and then sitting in Andy’s parents garden- so relaxing to be outside 🙂

How are you all planning on spending the 4 day weekend later this week? Fingers crossed for the weather staying this good!

And don’t forget to enter my Groupon voucher giveaway. 🙂

Pushing myself

Hello all! I hope everyone had a lovely week- I have been very busy but doing lots of fab things.

On Wednesday I went to the Sweatshop running club! The lady in the shop mentioned it to me on Saturday when I bought my new shoes. I had to register on the website and check when my local shop did them. It said on the website that it was a 5k run/walk for beginners, so it seemed perfect for me (this week I did 10 min run, 1 min walk). By the time I got there I was a little flustered (I had a course in the afternoon and then had to do some work when I got home, so left it a little late) because I ended up half running half walking up. Anyway, I needn’t have worried because everyone took a while to congregate. There were about 15 people doing it. The guy did ask me my pace (slow) and he said not to worry as he stays with the back person. We set off at about 11 min miles, which is fast for me at the moment (not that I get much faster than that although I could get under 10 min miles for 5K’s), and we were right at the back! The route was good- although it was so hot. I could really feel myself speeding up once I got into the shade. The guy at the front (who is a member but does not work for them or anything) kept running back to check we were OK and that we knew the route. Anyway, the only time we stopped was to cross roads- which was not very often! By the end we even caught someone else up, and I ended up a little ahead of her (although when we got right to the shop she did a sprint finish to overtake me which I found a little odd!), and was so pleased to finish. The route was 3.5 miles, so the furthest I have run this year!

They even gave out cold water (or squash) which was very welcome after a run in the heat of the evening. The walk home was good as it gave me a chance to cool down, although my face was still bright red when I got home! Anyway, I will be going back again. I think running with the faster people will be really good for me, and will hopefully make me speed up a bit. When I went on my run on Friday after work (and admittidly my muscles were sore) I did the 10 min run, 1 min walk again. I think I will carry on with my plan, and have the Sweatshop run as a bit of a tempo session almost. I was worried about aching on Thursday, but I felt like I had had a good workout, but not sore like after a race or anything, so I think it was just right for me really.

I got to re-fuel with my fave dinner- some roasted sweet potato, squash, peppers, courgettes, with some lentils, spinach, hummus, balsamic and some red peppers from a jar (you know those sort of deli ones?). Yum.

On Thursday it was on to more good things! I went to body pump!

I have not been for 6 months! Crazy! I was recommended to keep the weights low, and I am glad I did. I think I went for 7.5kg as a warm up, back and lunges, 10kg for the squats, 5kg for chest/triceps/biceps/shoulders, and not sure what else is left! I had to modify the abs track too, but I did manage to finish it and I was feeling so happy- it really feels like I can put these last few months behind me now and get back to normal.

Then on Thursday night I realised that I needed to make bread for our dinner on Friday, so with my aching arms I kneaded the bread!

It was worth it though! I had a slice toasted today with some sunflower seed butter-mmm.

On Friday I was feeling fairly stiff, and half way through the day my stomach (I would say abs but I don’t have any haha- just where they would be) started aching (which worried me for a bit, before I remembered that there are muscles there), and today I have felt more stiff too. I had a run after work on Friday to shake out the muscles, and that helped my legs, but my arms were still sore. Ah well, I know the first week back is always the hardest.

Iced mint tea, and boring work!

Today I was up early because our bathroom is finally being started on- it was meant to be right after the Easter holidays but for one reason and another has been put back. They were coming this morning at 8.30am to rip out the bathroom, and I had an enormous pile of work to do, so the plan was to do the work in the morning while they did the bathroom things. Well they only left at 5pm! I had made some iced tea to have while I worked, which was lucky because it has been so hot!

Anyway, I am off on a walk now, to enjoy some of the sunshine, and to rest my eyes and brain, and I will be doing no work tomorrow!

(By the way, this is not really a moan, because I normally have work to do at the weekends and that is fine, but I have spent 8 hours today doing work which seems like a lot, especially when the weather is so lovely).

What did you all get up to during the beautiful weather?

Do you prefer exercising alone or in groups? I like exercise classes as I feel they push me, but then I love running alone as I find it more de-stressing, so I suppose I like a mixture really.

Groupon Giveaway!

Hello all

I hope you are all having a lovely day. I have some exciting news (in case you didn’t guess by the title). I have been sent a Groupon voucher to try (which I will review later) and also a £20 voucher to give away to one lovely (UK-based) reader.

In case you didn’t know, Groupon is a website which provides discounted deals. You can sign up to receive emails, and they will email deals local to your area. When I went on my cupcake decorating course, it was through a Groupon deal.

They have a wide variety of deals, from hair cuts, beauty treatments, getaways, and goods. You can see some of their previous deals here.

So, for the giveaway, please leave a comment stating what would your idea Groupon deal be. It could be an experience, a holiday deal or something else. I think mine would be afternoon tea somewhere!

To get a second entry you can like me on facebook (there is a button on the right) and leave another comment to let me know you have done this.

Or you can link to the giveaway from your blog (and again let me know that you have done this).

The giveaway will run until next Tuesday, where I will then choose a name at random (old school from a hat).

Good luck, and I look forward to hearing about your ideal deals!

Caramel nut chocolate squares (recipe)

Hey all

I mentioned the other day that I did some baking over the weekend. First up, a super easy recipe for caramel nut chocolate squares. The caramel mixture is based on a recipe that Montezuma’s posted on their recipe page, but I wanted a really nutty bar (although you could add dried fruits) and I wanted a softer topping so it was easier to cut.

Ingredients:

150g mixed nuts (I used peanuts and almonds)

50g dessicated coconut

1 small tin of condensed milk

1 tbs molasses

25g cornflakes

25g puffed oats (any cereal really)

100g dark chocolate

2 tsp nutella

Line a brownie pan with baking paper.

First up, preheat the oven to 180C. Spread the nuts and coconut on a tray and bake for about 5 mins, until lightly golden.

Meanwhile, heat the condensed milk in a large pan, and add the molasses, Stir together and heat gently- it will turn a deep caramel colour and thicken.

Add the toasted nuts and cereals to the condensed milk mixture, and stir to combine.

Pour this mixture into the brownie pan, and press down. Bake for 20 mins until deep golden in colour. Remove and leave to cool.

Then heat the chocolate (I do it in the microwave- in small bursts and keep stirring) and then stir in the nutella. Pour this over the nut mixture and spread out. (Optional, decorate with sprinkles/ chopped nuts/ coconut).

Leave to cool, and then to set in the fridge before slicing.

The nut mixture once baked.

Covered in the nutella/ chocolate mixture.

And after slicing- check out those chunky nuts.

Yum these were so good 🙂 (We had them for Sunday tea- a treat for the runners and watchers!). I am wondering about trying to make a similar caramel with brown rice syrup- I will post that recipe if it goes well too.

I also made some cookies as we were visiting friends on Saturday night- my friend who is quite picky anyway (no dried fruit, no nuts but she likes peanut butter, no fruit…) is now pregnant and her midwife has said no nuts. So chocolate was pretty much the only option!

I went for fudge cookies.

I chopped up a few bars of fudge (the cadburys ones) and then added them to the Millies Cookies recipe. Some I added in the mixture, and some I put on the top as I was not sure how they would react in the oven.

On the baking tray (the mats I have are looking a bit funny now- I do wash them honest! But the heat seems to make them change colour even though they are meant to be heat safe- it has happened to my loaf pans too).

And then cooling after. I was pretty impressed- the fudge did melt and so where it was close to the edge it had gone off the cookies and onto the tray, but only on a few cookies. I have found that with these mats it is better to leave the cookies to cool on the tray before moving them, otherwise the bottoms sort of fall down. I packed them up in the bunny bag (the pink one in the background) and they made a great gift, even if I do say so myself!

Anyway, two good recipes to remember for another time.

I went for another run today after work although things were conspiring against me- thinking about it now I was not really prepared. Anyway this week the plan is 10 min run, 1 min walk for the same 3 mile route. I managed the first 10 mins fine, but after about 15 mins my calves were getting so stiff (which never normally happens) and I had to stop and stretch. Then I managed the next ten mins (much slower but I felt no energy) but for the final bit my right foot went totally numb.

My problems were: a– Not enough fuel as I had such a busy day at work and all I had time for at lunch was 2 ryvita with hummus (plus grapes at break time and a pear at about half 4). b– Not enough fluid- again busy day meant I only had my 500ml bottle of water, whereas usually I re-fill it at lunch and have some rooibos tea while I mark or something at lunch time. c-Due to rushing home and wanting to be done with my run so I could finish my work I didn’t warm up at all, I just headed out the door. d– I did not sort out the laces on my right shoe (even though I mentioned it yesterday). So hopefully that won’t happen again! In any case sometimes the running fairy is just not with you.

Anyway, after a bath and some dinner I am feeling much better now- might get the foam roller out later and see if that helps my calves a bit too.

Have a lovely evening all 🙂