Author: Maria Runs

My Sunday run- anti-clockwise and then back through town

As I hadn’t run too far on the Sunday (8 miles) I decided to do a longer run on the Monday. I had completed some of the 20/20 route and then come back through town, so I retraced those steps through town and re-joined the route, completing it over the 2 days. It was a beautiful day, but actually not too hot which was perfect for running.

Monday run- up through town to where I had stopped, and then carrying on anti-clockwise

Once home I decided to treat myself to a hair hot oil treatment- they are a bit of a faff because you have to wet your hair, put the oil in and then leave it for a bit of time before washing, so I sat in the garden and had breakfast while it worked it’s magic.

I had a list of jobs to start working through (booking my MOT, doing some gardening, general cleaning and washing) but I made sure to have time to sit in the garden in the afternoon too.

One spider plant looked a bit big so I tipped it out, divided it into 2 and re-potted, so now I have 2.

On Tuesday I headed back into work to sort out my classroom- trying to move the furniture around to make it fit the September guidance. I had ordered a click and collect from The Pudding Stop as we have been craving a dessert from there recently, so after finishing at work I parked out of town and walked in.

That was a really bad experience. St Albans town centre was rammed. There were some “keep left” signs but there were so many people it was impossible to do, and they have not shut the main road to cars, just a small side road, so you could not easily avoid people. My order wasn’t ready until 3.30, so I went and sat in the park for a bit. Thankfully the park was quiet. I put my mask on to wear when picking up my order (someone asked the other day why I did that when they weren’t compulsory at that point- this was the Tuesday before the Friday that we had to)- but this just seemed such a weird question. If something is good manners (I wear a mask to protect others) and is deemed a sensible precaution, why not do it as soon as soon as you are able to (eg once you have a mask) ? This article (which is about masks in schools) had some interesting points about how it can help stop the spread and also change behaviour.

Our freezer is now very well stocked including biscoff baked cookie dough desserts- although we did share the doughnut that day because it wouldn’t freeze I don’t think.

The click and collect was fine (you can see into the shop from outside so you know it is OK to enter, you pop in, say your name and they put your bag on the counter shaped like a big cartoon mouth, and that’s it) and as I walked back through town I kept my mask on. This seemed to make others give me a wider berth. Perhaps they are being considerate, or perhaps it’s a subconscious signal that things are not back to normal. I also wanted to see what it was like to keep it on for a bit, as we are hoping to go to Disneyland Paris but you have to wear a mask the whole time which could get uncomfortable. I think when I first put it on I did feel a bit claustrophobic, but I got used to it after a bit of time. I wasn’t sure how it would work with my glasses, but if I tuck it under the glasses then they don’t steam up.

We did a bit more on our Disney castle, although the Florida one has now had a paint job so it won’t match. It’s coming together, and it’s been really enjoyable to put on a podcast and work together on building it.

On Wednesday I was planning on going out for a run first thing, but Bird&Blend were having a Christmas in July sale launching at 9am, so in the end I decided to order a few bit first before going out. Poor them, their site crashed (they were very apologetic as they had been working with their developers to get it ready)- so it took a bit longer to check out. It was really warm by the time I set out and I was glad of the shade in the woods. Once home I could at least sit in the garden and cool down.

Our tomato plants are doing so well, so I had some with my lunch (mini pitta- I don’t like using the toaster at work so I am making the most of lunch at home) and also joined in with the butterfly count in the afternoon.

We of course had to eat some of the Pudding Stop treats- this is a biscoff cronut and was really tasty (and sticky).

On Thursday I fancied running a 10k, and hoped I’d worked out a route. In the end when I got home I was over 6.2 miles, so I ran around the corner to make it 6.5- I like full or half miles unless it’s a 5 or 10k…

From Vitality we use to get Starbucks drink each week, but that switched to Caffe Nero in the lockdown, so they had replaced it with ordering coffee beans online (which we would not use as we don’t drink coffee). As more of their shops are open now, they have started the reward up again, so we ventured into town (WGC not St Albans) to see how busy it would be. It was actually fine- again I put my mask on before I got to town as I think that made people give a wider berth, but it was not too busy. In the cafe you could see inside, see the floor markers, and it was all contactless (eg the voucher is on the app). I was surprised that some people were actually sitting inside (with many rules including only sharing tables with people in your bubble, which I don’t think people are adhering to?) and the tables were spaced apart, but that is a step too far for me at the moment.

On Friday I decided to have a go at the not parkrun, as my Saturday morning runs are chatty ones with no worries about time. I did a warm up, 5k and then around a half a mile cool down, and got my fastest not parkrun of 29:29. I spent the rest of the day pottering around at home, watching a bit of TV in the afternoon and having a go at making some signs for our outdoor area at work using my wood burning pen and the wood from an old pallet. On Fridays we’ve been watching a new episode of Queer Eye (we can’t burn through them too quickly)- feelgood TV at its best.

We were chatting the other day about the queues for things that have reopened, (eg McDonalds having 2 hour queues and traffic jams, the queues for gyms reopening) and I could not think of anything that I missed that much that I would have to be there right away. Andy mentioned parkrun, and I suppose that would be the only thing, although when they re-start there won’t be 2 hour queues. Although I can’t see that happening for many months to come.

What have you really missed going to or doing during lockdown? What would you queue 2 hours for? I don’t think I would even queue 2 hours for the best Disney ride!

Last week was the final week before the holidays and as with all the weeks before, it was pretty much the same, although I didn’t do yoga on Monday morning and I have no idea why (I think I had to be in work earlier for a meeting, but I can’t remember).

Red Velvet tea and TV one evening, and a really tasty noodle recipe from the Fearne Cotton book (a peanut butter sauce with smoked tofu, broccoli and courgettes)

Anyway, early morning runs on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and our final yoga class on Wednesday evening. Some people talked about possibly re-starting in the actual yoga venue in September, but I can’t imagine that at the moment. Also some people seem to interpret the “1 metre plus” as being 1 metre, and forgetting the plus part (which means additional measures like masks, windows open, additional cleaning etc)- I can’t imagine doing yoga in a mask, and I also don’t think it would be that responsible of me to go as once back at work in September I’ll be exposed to all of the germs that come with being in a room with 30 children all day. I am hoping the online classes continue.

Early morning run weather/ waffle/ iced tea matching my nail varnish

I had planned a trip to the Waffle House on Friday with some colleagues, and after chatting about it Andy decided he fancied waffles for dinner (on Thursday) so we made the hummus and avocado ones- so tasty.

And then we reached the end of term- and it felt very strange indeed. A couple of us had arranged to head to the Waffle House for a late lunch (we finish early on the last day of term, and Friday pm’s has been our planning time so we could head off once everything was sorted)- they were doing takeaway only, with a smaller menu, and you had to order online. I was a bit apprehensive about it, having still not been anywhere like that (no takeaway, no coffee shop, certainly no supermarket or anything) since March, but it was actually quite good to see how well it worked and how everyone managed to keep at a distance when collecting. We then went and sat in the park and had a catch up. Although there was a huge group of people (at least 30 adults plus loads of kids) and that was a bit frustrating to see as the limit is still 6 people outside meeting up.

It was good to mark the end of term (and year) in some way, because so many of the other events (like sports day) have not happened so it has felt rather strange and a bit of an anticlimax. I was given some lovely gifts from colleagues and children/ parents, including these gorgeous cakes- the penguin was a particular favourite of mine of course!

In the evening I watched a live podcast of a teaching related comedy one (Two Mr P’s) and that helped make it feel a bit more like the end of term too.

Saturday was standard with a run with my dad and brother, breakfast in their garden, and then relaxing at home. Our tomatoes have finally started turning red so it’s been good to eat them after tending them for so long.

On Sunday I had a run around some of the WGC 20/20 route, and then did a bit of pottering in the garden. We had been working our way through Mrs America which I really enjoyed. I thought I would find it annoying (I gave up on Mad Men after a few episodes because the sexism was so frustrating) but I found it so interesting to see how the movement developed, although you could also see how the scaremongering worked and how that it still used today by some political parties. Worth a look on i-player anyway.

We had seen on a Queer Eye episode a recipe using pickled grapes, so we adapted it a bit (pesto pasta veggies, some quorn and then pickled grapes). To make them you basically soak them in red wine vinegar for a few hours and they are so tasty. I love pickled anything so this was a win for me.

Do you like pickled foods? Have you been out to eat yet? I definitely don’t feel like going to a restaurant any time soon, although we would not tend to do that regularly anyway. I think it was good for me, mentally, because I have built a lot of things up in my head to be bigger than they actually are.

Last Saturday I headed over for a run with my dad and brother. Dad had mapped out a new route, partly through woods and taking in a small section of the Jersey Farm route- we are very conscious that we don’t want to be running on the parkrun route on a Saturday morning. We had lovely views across the valley at one point, and again really enjoyed running together. My brother had stopped off at Simmons (a bakers) and picked up croissants for breakfast. I’d still taken my water and tea with me, and we had a lovely breakfast in the garden.

When I got home Andy had been digging up more of the concrete lumps that are hiding in our garden- we have a big pile of junk now! I made some fudge for end of year gifts, using condensed coconut milk (partly as an experiment, but also Ocado didn’t have any normal condensed milk)- it turned out pretty well.

I also did some pottering in the garden and of course had tea sat out there. I kept seeing loads of butterflies feeding on the flowers.

On Sunday morning we had some family coming over, so I postponed my run to the afternoon because I didn’t want to set an alarm. Oh how I wished I had done that! It was so hot! I went through the woods (lovely) but then ended up on the golf course and of course there is no shade there!

I did find a penguin pebble which I just loved!

When I got home I had a peach, and the peach was perfect and juicy and sweet and just what I needed.

I decided to do a lush hair treatment because the ends of my hair are getting quite dry now. I usually get it cut maybe 3 times a year, and as it had been cut at Christmas I would have gone in the Easter holidays. When it became apparent that I would not be having it cut any time soon, I took a “before” photo, and this week decided to do the “part way through” (because I am not braving the hairdressers yet- it’s now been 4 months since I went to a shop and from what I hear they are worse now as loads of people are relaxing and not keeping their distance any more…).  Anyway, I couldn’t see much difference at first but then looking at where my hair is against the lettering on the t-shirt it shows it has grown a bit.

End of March:

Beginning of July:

These lockdown locks are here to stay a bit longer. When I’ve been running in the morning I’ve washed it and blow dried it for a bit but it takes ages to dry, so I’ve been plaiting it and going to work with it damp- it will still be damp when I take the plait out when I get home. I sometimes use straighteners to tidy it up a bit, but I have probably used them a handful of times since March. I’ve got this lovely hair oil from The Body Shop which I leave on as an overnight treatment every now and then. I think I just need to make sure I do a deep condition each week to stop it drying out any more.

How do you look after your hair? Have you braved the hairdressers yet? 

Last week was the penultimate week of term and as always things start to feel even busier as all of the extra end of term/year admin has to fit in around a regular week. Tea (particularly Bird&Blend tea) has been getting me through! After watching Frozen 2, I started watching the behind the scenes series on Disney + which is so interesting as you can see how the various creative people (songwriters, animators, story creators) work together to develop the story.

I really appreciated doing some yoga (Day 17- I’m slowly getting there!) on Monday morning to set myself off in the right frame of mind before a fraught week (I had meetings/ training before or after school every day and sometimes at both ends of the day).

On Tuesday I did a warm up and then the 3.1 miles to have a go at not-parkrun. I didn’t need to stop at all when crossing roads (I mean, I slowed to check, but there were no cars coming) and I was pleased to get home in just under 30 mins (29:46). I only remembered to log my time on Sunday though!

I got rather wet on my Wednesday morning run, and then really enjoyed yoga in the evening. I will miss these classes in the holidays (they are term time only). The final Pret style cookie and some cherries was a very good post-yoga snack.

On Thursday I did another run in the morning (thankfully not quite so wet as the day before). I’ve been getting into a good sourdough routine at the end of the week- on Thursday I get the starter out of the fridge and feed it, and then later on in the evening I mix up the dough (in a mixer with a dough hook)  and leave it to rise overnight. On Friday morning I knead the dough (by hand) and then put it in the basket. Once home I heat up the oven, tip the loaf into the tray and slice the top before baking it. We then have delicious bread on Friday (and freeze any leftover slices).

We decided to do another Choose your own adventure with Kimmy on Friday- it’s good fun and as we tried to choose differently from last time we got to see various new clips. It is so clever the way it works.

I’ve said before that I have enjoyed my early morning runs at this time of year, and one bonus is that when I get home we can have a pot of tea together, and then maybe have a walk (or I’ll get on with some work before dinner). The drawback is that I only have time for a certain length of run- I did quite like doing a 10k on a Tuesday when I was working from home, but I would have to get up way before 5am for that and it just does not seem worth it. I am thinking that once the holidays are here I will get back to a slightly longer run on Tuesdays at least.

Do you like behind the scenes things? On a tangent the podcast Soundtracking with Edith Bowman was really good- each week she would discuss a different film soundtrack, and have a guest on there who worked on it (director/ musician and so on).

What is your favourite type of tea? Usually I would choose Earl Grey (B&B do Earl Grey Creme which has vanilla which is lovely) but I have been loving some of their other special blends such as Peach Cobbler (black tea with peach). I’ve nearly run out of Red Velvet tea and it’s not on sale all year so I am keeping my fingers crossed that it’s in their Christmas in July sale…

Last week was again a standard week- yoga on Monday, a run on Tuesday morning, Wednesday morning and Thursday morning, online yoga class on Wednesday evening, and a few walks in the evenings too.

I did some more fence painting. My mum had made caramel shortbread so when we popped over for my dad’s birthday she gave us some to take away- delicious with freshly picked raspberries too.

On Tuesday morning I decided to have a go at another (not) parkrun, as for the last couple of weeks I’ve logged my Saturday time but we have been running together and chatting, so I thought I’d see if I could go a bit faster.  My runs on my own are enjoyable headspace time, and I tend to plod along at between 10 and 11 min miles- perfectly good but I do miss the push I get from parkrun to give me a little bit of (relative) speed. I did a mile warm up, saved the run and then started a new run.  I had to slow down a couple of times when crossing roads as there were cars coming, and I got to 3.1 miles just over 30 minutes (30:11). Much quicker than the 34 ish mins we’ve been running recently. I am not particularly motivated by time, but I fancied a different focus. I tend to do the same route in the mornings because it’s fairly quiet, so having something else to think about is quite nice.

Our new pond plants arrived so we put them in- literally the easiest gardening ever! They came in special baskets with special aqua compost, and you just read the label to see how deep they needed to be, and popped them in. Done! (The digging and lining of the pond was not so easy!)

I often hear the foxes at night (and see the “presents” they leave for us) but on Wednesday morning when I was getting changed for my run I saw a couple in the garden. There were some beautiful clouds on my runs too- different shapes and patterns each day.

Thursday morning the clouds were similar in shape but much finer. Also one of my sunflowers bloomed- it reminds me of marmalade!

On Friday I was very exited because Hamilton was going to be launched  on Disney + ( a recording of the Broadway version).  I was up early making bread so we could have a fairly early dinner, and then we settled down to watch it, with some iced tea and sweets. I really enjoyed it- I wasn’t sure how well the energy and music would come across, but it was as gripping and enjoyable as the stage show. Although I did not appreciate the close up of King George III with the spit going down his chin! I also really liked that they had an intermission (although only one minute- we had to pause it!).

On Saturday I drove over to home and my brother met us to have a run together. We ran on a farm loop that I’d run with Dad a few weeks ago. This time we had to wait because one of the paths goes through a field and there was a bit of an antsy horse- thankfully there was someone nearby who held the horse while we ran through. The path then goes through a barley field and it was very deep at times. Then it was home for breakfast in the garden, more fence painting and then watching the With Me Now pod link up to parkrun restarting in New Zealand. It was so enjoyable to watch, and I just love that wherever you are in the world, parkrun has the same template. It seems like it will be a long way off for us in the UK (we are still having more deaths than when the lockdown was introduced) but it will be ready for us when we are allowed.

On a side note, parkrun announced that the New Year Day Doubles would be no more, and predictably some people have taken the news very badly. I have loved taking part in them, but this year the attendance figures were so huge (some event had triple their normal numbers) and with that comes things like inconsiderate parking, which can jeopardise the future of the event.  We still get an extra one on that day, so although it’s sad to see the doubles go, we should all be happy that there can still be an extra one (and hopefully by 1st January 2021 parkrun might be back?).

I also made some of the Pret almond butter chocolate cookies (honestly, the best cookies ever) and we did a bit more of the lego Disney castle.

In the evening we watched the film Irresistible, which was a sort of comedy written by Jon Stewart about an election in a small town in the USA. It was quite good but a bit depressing about how much politics relies on money.

Then on Sunday I went off to run the final part of the 20/20 route. I thought that the path would still be flooded, so I tried to work out where it would meet the road. Handily someone in my running club has been completing the route fairly regularly, so I looked up her Strava map which helped me a lot.

After going through a lot of overgrown paths and around a little village, I was into the golf club at Brocket Hall. I’ve only been there for afternoon tea before, and the grounds always look so beautiful but I didn’t realise that there was a public footpath there until now.

I got a bit lost in the golf course as there were lots of public footpaths criss-crossing the course. Because the route is both clockwise and anticlockwise, there are always  two arrows, so it’s good to look and work out which direction you should be coming from to help work out the angle. Anyway, the last arrow I saw directed me up and to the right, and the road went this was for a bit before bending left, so I followed the road. I saw a few more footpath signs but no 20/20 signs, until eventually I reached the edge of the golf course and some woods. There was a map and when I looked I was on the bottom left when I should have been the top right. I think I added around a mile on! I retraced my steps to where I’d last seen the sign, and probably about 20m further up was a post on the floor, in the shade of a small tree. No wonder I hadn’t seen it. There wasn’t anyone around to tell though, as the post would need putting back up again.

The signs exiting the golf course weren’t great either, and I only found the right way because I knew I should be heading to Sherrardspark Wood across the road. Apart from that though it was all fairly easy to find (and that’s taking it from me- I do get lost a lot). In the summer holidays I am going to run the whole thing and I’m really looking forward to that as it’s lovely and varied.

Then we had waffles and finally finished painting the fence- hooray! The last couple of panels were a team effort with Andy holding back the big plants while I squeezed in the gap and painted while trying hard not to get covered in green paint myself!

Andy’s parents then came over and we walked down to the hospital, because as part of the celebrations for the NHS birthday a spitfire was going to be flying over several local hospitals. It was leaving Duxford at 4.20 and apparently would be over the QE2 at 4.28- it was pretty much bang on time. It had “thank u NHS” written on the bottom, and did a couple of loops before flying off to the next location. Lots of people had come out to watch (the most people I’ve seen in months) but I was very impressed with how everyone stayed apart. Once home I realised I was pretty hungry so had a little afternoon snack of biscuits topped with cheese and lingonberry jam, and cherries.

In the evening Andy was watching the football so I decided to watch Frozen 2 while painting my nails- I’ve not painted them since lockdown began because I’ve been doing decorating and gardening, and there doesn’t seem to be much point in doing that if they are going to get chipped. So in celebration of finally finishing painting the fence, I thought I would treat myself. Andy even brought me up a cup of tea and a cookie at half term- perfect.

Such a lovely end to the weekend.

Have you seen Hamilton? What did you think? 

Have you completed a NYDD before? And what do you think about them going?