General ramblings - Maria Runs

Linford Wood parkrun (number 99!)

First up- after saying how tired I felt last week, I ended up with a bit of a sniffly cold earlier in the week so maybe that was it. I took the week very easily, with a gentle 3 miles after work on Monday, and yoga on Tuesday (it’s normally Wednesdays but the hall was booked). Actually, that wasn’t so gentle- we did some (well I attempted) handstands and headstands- normally we do the tripod headstand but we tried a different (and apparently easier) one, but my shoulders were not strong enough and I didn’t make it. At one point one of the other people asked “is it blanket time yet?”- it was enjoyable and relaxing in the end, but my shoulders ached a lot afterwards. I had a late meeting on Wednesday so we had a walk before dinner, and on Thursday I visited my sister and my niece. I was planning on running on Friday after work but my back had stiffened up so I opted for a walk instead. I certainly had fresh legs for parkun on Saturday.

We were up early- I picked my parents and brother up before 8am, as it was around 50 minutes to an hour to drive up to Milton Keynes. I decided to have a little bit of breakfast as I would normally be up a bit later, so I had a little bit of granola.

We were meeting my dad’s cousin at Linford Wood parkrun- he has done a lot of running in the past (the GNR something like 15 times) and we thought that he had done a parkrun in Milton Keynes before (which is why we had arranged to go up there) but it turned out that last week was his first one- he did a sort of recce to find out where the parking was and what the course was like. The description of where it was on the page was a little confusing (MK is confusing generally with a million roundabouts, road numbers instead of names, and it all looks the same) and the satnav postcode didn’t quite take us the right way at the end- luckily we had read the instructions that said to follow signs for Linford Wood West, which we did, and reached the car park at around 8.45, to see Brian and his wife Maureen (Maureen is my dad’s real cousin, but Brian has always been known as “cousin Brian” as he is a bit older than my dad so as he grew up Brian was already in the family).

We followed the other runners along the path to the start, and had a new runner’s briefing more or less straight away. The guy giving the talk asked where people had come from, as there was a big group of tourists from various places (including Cornwall and Brighton). I said we were from Ellenbrook in Hatfield, but then realised I was wearing my Panshanger apricot t-shirt (I have an Ellenbrook vest). Someone else commented that they had been to Panshanger and loved it- it is a very beautiful course.

The main briefing warned us to give way on the paths- apparently there is often a horse on the course. I was very impressed with how silent everyone was during the briefing- sometimes people at the back chat and you can’t hear what is being said (you just join in with the clapping and guess “that’s for the volunteers, that’s for a milestone run” etc.). I think having everyone penned in (we were behind tape so as not to obstruct the path for others) must have helped. We then walked the short distance to the start, heading to nearer the back. The start was the direction of the way we had just come, so at first (without realising) we were right at the front, but once we noticed we headed back.

The course was lovely- one lap through woodland along the redways/ underpasses. At times it was close to traffic (we could hear the busy roads) but at other times we could hear birds singing and it didn’t feel like we were in the middle of a town. The start was very busy as the paths were narrow, and they had put out cones to keep the runners to the left, away from other park users. If I was aiming for a pb I would start further forwards as I was stuck behind quite a few people- as I wasn’t bothered about time it was fine for me, and when it’s a new (to me) event it’s hard to know where to place yourself. They get a similar number of runners to Ellenbrook it seems (120+ ish) so I would need to picture whereabouts I start for that parkrun. There were lots of houses nearby, hidden in the woods, and at around the half way point we ran around some playing fields- here we could see runners across the road, but that was the only point on the course that you could see anyone else. Dad was going to run with Brian, but Brian was using a heart rate monitor and wanted to go at his own pace without feeling pressure, so Dad soon sped past me and Tony, who spent the run mainly chatting.

The course was undulating in the correct meaning, (not the way race directors call hilly courses “undulating”)- the first mile must have been gently uphill but it felt flat. There were some short down and then ups as you ran under roads, and there was a lovely long downhill bit just after 2 miles. We even joked that we were worried about having to run back up again, but it seemed fairly flat at the end. We saw a little “250m to go” sign and Tony sped up, but I was happy going along at normal speed (I was conscious of having eaten a few hours earlier…)- I managed 30.24 (with the congestion at the start making for a nice negative split), Tony was just ahead with 30.15 and my dad was super speedy finishing in 25.03! We were all there to cheer Brian over the finish line, and he got himself a new pb- he may be a parkrun convert!

We did some stretching and looked out for Mum and Maureen- we thought they had headed to the cafe so we walked there, but they weren’t inside. We then thought they had headed to the car, but as we were going we heard them coming up the path (where the runners finish)- they had gone for a wander in the woods and missed us all finish! We had joked about Mum meeting someone with a dog (she always seems to) and when we met her she had mud on her trousers from where a dog had jumped up on her.

We then had a quick photo to commemorate (this also is very funny as the battery on my mum’s camera was going, so she used my phone and was not 100% sure how to take one- the first picture was just me and Brian).

We then headed back to the car, and visited Brian and Maureen’s house for a well-earned breakfast of croissants and tea. (And although we didn’t see a horse on the parkrun course, we saw one as we were pulling into their road). It was such a great start to the weekend- a really enjoyable course (I really do like the one lap courses and there don’t seem to be that many) and a lovely time spent with family.

So that was my 16th UK parkrun, and my 99th time of running one (although in fact, the first time I was tail runner I didn’t take a finish token!). Next weekend I am marshaling – I was originally going to run, but then Dad and Tony are away (they are going to watch a match in London so have booked a hotel so they can parkrun in London first), plus I am running a half marathon on the Sunday, so I swapped over and will run my 100th all being well on the 25th March.

What did you get up to this weekend? Do you have family living close by to you?

Spring means less porridge

Even though we have still had wind and rain (and frost), spring is on the way. I love having porridge for breakfast but once it starts to get warmer I tend to move over to muesli instead.

I was sent some Lizi’s Granola and have been enjoying them for the past couple of weeks.

All Lizi’s Granolas are:

100% Natural Ingredients
No GMO’s
No added salt
Dairy-free, wheat-free recipes*
Suitable for vegetarians and vegans (no honey)
Low glycaemic – GL labelled – good for blood sugar control.

Also (I didn’t realise this) you can order from their website if you can’t get them in your local shop.

High protein granola with papaya, passion fruit and coconut yoghurt.

I was sent two varieties; High Protein and Low Sugar.

High protein granola with blueberries and almond milk.

I really love the high protein granola- it is made with oats, soya protein flakes/ crispies, plus almonds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts and coconut. It had 27g protein per 100g, which seems a lot for a cereal. It is lovely and crunchy, like granola should be, and it does have some sweetness (there is apple juice and treacle in the ingredients too). I have loved it with yoghurt or almond milk with various fresh fruit toppings.

Andy really likes the low sugar granola (and it only has 3.8g per 100g)- I have tried it a few times and while I like it, it is less granola-like to me, and more like toasted oat cereal- maybe more like toasted muesli? It has a similar mix of nuts and seeds to the other cereal, and again I’ve had it with either milk or yoghurt, plus some fruit. I think it would be good in bircher muesli (and they have some lovely recipes on their website) so that will be my next try I think. (This one is made with the high protein one but I am sure it would work just as well with the low sugar one).

I have loved all the signs of spring over the last few weeks- there are daffodils everywhere, and then I saw this lovely patch of flowers on a run through town last week. Our garden is starting to come to life a bit too- the willow tree has lots of buds, and there are a few flower buds appearing (no idea what they are). I thought there might be some bulbs but it seems that the previous owners didn’t have any, as nothing has popped up yet. I feel a trip to a garden centre coming on.

I have also loved leaving work in the light- there is a robin that is always in the car park and I managed to get a picture of it sitting on the fence. It makes such a huge difference and makes the day feel so much longer too.

What signs of spring have you seen? How have you been enjoying the longer days? Do you like cereal or granola for breakfast?

*I was sent the granola in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

Manning the water station in Cambridge

On Sunday morning, my alarm was set for 5.20am- ouch! The reason? Our running club were heading to Cambridge- some were running the half marathon, and the rest of us were manning a water station. The coach was leaving the station at 6am.

There was a bit of a mix up at the start- our leader (is she our manager? I don’t know- the head of our club anyway) had organised it, and we had a parking permit for the coach, but when we arrived (well before the 7.30am cut off) we were sent away again- I did feel sorry for our driver as he had already done some spectacular moves to inch the coach past metal barriers and down a right angled turn to get to the car park. Anyway, the volunteers headed off and left the runners on the coach- at least they had somewhere dry to wait as they had two hours before the race began.

We walked to our spot- we were at a water station by a bridge- it would be just after 2 miles and then at 10.8 miles as the runners headed back in the opposite direction. When we arrived they were not ready for us, as the water was just arriving by van, so the guy sent us off to get coffee (for him and us)- we wandered for ages as none of the cafes we passed were open that early on a Sunday. Eventually we found a Caffe Nero but being the only one open was very busy. By the time we walked back (maybe 20 minutes later) other people had arrived and it turned out, taken our jackets (we had to request the right sized crew jacket, and our labelled OH Lady box (with the number of each sizes on it)- was empty)- we were all given XL (unisex) which caused some hilarity- one of our runners who is very tiny looked like an American football player when she filled the space full of air.

We busied ourselves moving the wheelie bins up the street, setting out the water tables and gel tables, and popping the lids off the bottles. They had big yellow signs saying “Water” and “High 5” which I thought for a second meant a sort of cheering high five station, but then realised it was the type of gel…

We had tables on either side of the road, with water, gels and then more water.

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Ready to go (in our gigantic jackets)! We were then told that somehow a guy had found some medium ones so we swapped them over- it still fit easily over my coat which was lucky as it was very cold and raining quite hard.

We even got “training” (we got shown how to hold the water bottles properly) and then were given those blue disposable gloves which turned out to be a brilliant idea. I was feeling very sorry for the runners as it was cold and raining- it’s never good to start running in the rain.

As the water station was fairly early on, for the people going through at the start we didn’t get that many people having water, or gels, although it surprised me the number of people who did have the gels. That’s a debate for another day but I am not a fan of gels at all, and I can’t see why you would need one after running for 2 miles. But anyway…

The rain eased off, and we spotted a lot of our OH ladies coming through- it was hard to spot everyone as we were constantly turning back to the table to get more water. The squeezy bottles were not that great for us because as the runners took them, they would squeeze them and squirt a load of water all over the next person- you were constantly getting splashed in the face from the person in front. There was a drumming band set up on the bridge so we sort of jiggled in time to keep a bit warm- my toes and fingers were going numb after a few minutes.

It didn’t seem like long before the back runners had gone through, but we only had about 5 minutes before the front runners were due to come back in the other direction, so we quickly re-stocked the tables and then turned to face the other way. The drumming band stopped during this bit which was a bit of a shame! Our voices had a bit of a rest as we were constantly shouting “well done runners/ great job guys” etc.

Then the runners were heading back. This time a bit more spread out, but around the 2 hour pacers there was a huge crowd. People would run past and when trying to take a water bottle, would swipe it out of your hand. We then had to try and kick the bottles under the table so no-one would slip on them. The head guy told us to start emptying the tables, so when the front table was empty we moved back, gradually condensing the water to a smaller amount of tables. We saw lots of our OH runners head through, and it was even better as we had an idea of how well they were all doing as we were just over 2 miles from the finish.

Once most of the runners had passed, we helped with some litter picking (although some volunteers had been filling the bins during the race- I think a lot of runners had aimed for the giant wheelie bins but of course accuracy with aiming is not great when running along), and then we had a bit of a lull, so after being given our lunch (I had a hummus roll) I popped into a cafe to use their toilets (I really would only use a port-a-loo in an emergency) and then bought a very expensive and tiny (£2.90…..!!!) cup of tea to warm up as I was shivering and freezing. We saw the final runner head through and gave her a big cheer, before heading back to the coach to find our runners.

I really enjoyed it! So many of the runners said “thanks” on their way past, and time really flew by- we were at the station for about 4 and a half hours but it didn’t feel anywhere near that.

We had a slight hitch when we got back to the coach- the driver had been told to park along the finish straight (by the 13 mile marker) and had been penned in with the metal fences. We were told we would not be allowed to move until 4pm (and this was around 1) but as the final runner headed past, one of the runner’s husbands did some sensible talking to one of the marshals who let us move the fences and let the coach go. The coach even drove under the inflatable finish arch which was quite funny- the driver really did deserve a medal as he had some very tough maneuvering to do.

By the time I got home I was really tired (not as tired as last Sunday though)- I changed into lounge pants and thermal socks, and had a cup of tea, and it was a good hour before my fingers properly started to warm up again. But it was great- our runners did so well- one of them knocked 20 minutes off her pb, another one paced someone to her first half bringing her in perfectly just under 2hr30, a couple of them had run it last year and both beat their times by quite a few minutes, so it was a great club success.

I did hear somewhere that volunteers get automatic entry into the race next year, so I may see it from the other side in 2018! The medal was pretty nice too.

Does your running club have outings like this? We did pass a spa and wondered about a non-running day trip for next time! Do you drink or take gels during races?

Half marathon recovery attempt

After last weekends half, I slept so badly on Sunday night. I didn’t feel too bad afterwards- we walked (slowly) around the town to the station, and because of the train not running through London, we had to get off, walk, get the tube, walk and then get the train back, so I wasn’t still for too long. But at some point during the night my legs cramped up and I barely slept as they were so sore. The stairs were not my friend on Monday!

I had booked a back massage for after work (more apologies from the lovely masseuse as she tried to get the knots out) and then Andy’s parents were coming over, so although it was relaxing, I didn’t have time to foam roll or anything.

Last week yoga has moved to Tuesday, so when I got home I had a quick bath before heading out (it doesn’t start until 7.45)- the stretching helped loads. We did some downward dogs with a partner, and the extra pressure when holding the poses really helped to loosen my muscles.

This has been the entry to our driveway for weeks now- the water pipes are being replaced along our road and they told us this week they may have to dig up our driveway too. The road is narrow and the width between the two lots of fences is only just as wide as my car, and so I have to reverse onto the pavement to get out because you can’t even begin to turn until you are clear of the fences. The other week I (gently) bumped into two wheelie bins on the pavement. I look forward to when they have finished.

On Wednesday I managed just over 3 miles. We also went to the cinema to see Hidden Figures which was just a brilliant film. When things are based on real events it makes it even more fascinating I think, although some of the segregation was just shocking- it is hard to think that this sort of thing went on not that long ago.

After work on Thursday I had a short run, again 3 miles, but it was so slow and my legs just felt so tired. Work had been busy with a couple of extra meetings and a sort of assessment day, but I think it was just that the half marathon tired me out so much. On Friday I was meant to be meeting some friends in Starbucks after work, but it was cancelled so I went to Kwik fit (which was not in any way quick/ kwik)- my tyre pressure light keeps coming on, I keep putting more air in, and then it comes on again, so I had guessed I had a slow puncture but was risking it (mainly because the garage is not open before I start work and often by the time I get home I need to be out somewhere soon..)- I think I was there about 90 minutes in the end- they found a nail and patched the hole so that was good to get it sorted at least.

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I met my dad and brother at parkrun on Saturday- we went to Ellenbrook and they cycled there and home again. It was fairly muddy in places (it poured with rain on Friday night) and I just felt like I had no energy. Dad did a great job of chatting to me and distracting me- I just felt like I had such heavy legs still. It was annoying me as I look forward to parkrun during the week but it felt more like a battle- we finished in 28.58- I like going under 30 minutes but it is crazy that a few weeks ago I was around 2 minutes quicker. It’s just so weird- in December I ran there, did a parkrun and ran home, and then this Saturday I could not even entertain running back to my car. I also forgot to look out for the new permanent km markers- they were unveiled last week, so I’ve seen photos but I wanted to look out for them- next time!

I was off to my parents for breakfast after, and then in the afternoon headed out to meet a friend for a walk in the countryside- we got back to the cars just as it started to rain so it was perfect timing.

I’v got another half marathon in 2 weeks time, so I am hoping that this week my energy returns to normal and I can do some slightly longer runs again.

Have you seen any good films recently? I feel like I have seen loads although a lot of them have been tough watches (apart from La La Land which was fun, although the love story reminded me of Benjamin Button)- Lion was just amazing (but so sad- again being based on real events makes it even harder). Moonlight was really good, and we just watched Once (which was by the guy that did Whiplash)- that had some great music in it, and a bittersweet story. How do you recover from a hard race?

Brighton half 2017- what no t-shirt??

So Sunday morning came, and despite the weather telling me it would be dry on Sunday morning, it most definitely wasn’t.

Despite having slight vest regret, I had my clif bar and some water, and then we walked down to the start together. The hotel was booked was only a 5 minute walk away, so that was very handy indeed. At the pier Andy took my jumper and then left me to find my start pen etc.

Now, I like the Brighton half, and I have completed it several times (this was my fourth time, and Andy did it once and I watched when I wasn’t well) but last year and again this year it was much more badly organised. Walking along to find the start pen, I could not actually find an entrance to the pens, and in the end someone else moved one of the metal fences so I went through the gap. In previous years they have had marshals manning the entrances, checking bib colours and so on.

FatBoy Slim (or should I call him Norman?) was starting the race off (I think I saw him warming up before the start), and I could hear his interview on the tannoy before they did the countdown. They also had their first wheelchair race, so they gave some instructions about letting them pass if they were behind you. As each wave went off, they let off cannons although they were filled with just smoke it seemed? Last year they were filled with coloured paper which all fluttered around- not sure because of the wind they could not have them filled? They played “Right here, Right now” at the start and so then of course I wondered for a while whether musicians listen to their own music or do they feel a bit weird when it’s playing?

I had no real plan for the race- I knew I would not beat my pb (set last year in Brighton), especially with the windy weather, but I was aiming for somewhere under 2.10- so long as I was under 10 minute miles I thought that would be tough but still enjoyable.

The start through the town and past the pavilion flew by, and before I realised we were heading up the coast (up a slight incline). The clouds were so low that they covered the tops of the buildings. I knew that Donna (my lovely run leader) was marshaling for the BOSH people, so I was keeping an eye out. As I was heading up the steeper hill, around mile 3, I spotted her and gave her a big shout- I was just thinking about using my arms going up the hill as she always tells us to on our club runs.

At this point the faster runners were on the other side of the road, heading back down, so I spent this section of the race looking out for Norman Cook/ FatBoy Slim. He said he was aiming for under 1.50, but I knew he would be a bit further back as he started the runners off before joining in. I didn’t spot him anyway.

There was a great drumming band near the top, and I thought we were about to turn around (someone behind me even said “here’s where we turn”) but we went past them and carried on going. It was fine but as we were high up it was quite exposed, and when we finally did turn (just after 4 miles) it got very tough as then the wind was blowing into my face, and it started to rain, so I couldn’t see through my glasses and had to keep taking them off and wiping them. I got fairly cold at this point and briefly wished I had bought a new jacket on Saturday. Heading back into town was good, but then slightly demoralising as I reached the half way point I passed the finish when the first racers were actually finishing.

The water stations were a bit of a pain- the first few were on the out and back section, but usually they are on one side so if you want to avoid it you can run into the middle of the road. This time they were handing them out in both directions so there were people running in both directions trying to avoid them. They were trialing these new pouches (which must be more environmentally friendly than bottles- I hate bottles they are such a waste of water and plastic) so all the volunteers were shouting “squeeze and suck” as people didn’t know how to use them. Of course the volunteers were brilliant- they must have been totally freezing out there.

I do love running in Brighton because there is always great support, and this run was no different. Despite the miserable weather there were loads of people lined up along the streets, and the crowds seemed to get busier further along the route too. There were children holding big pots of jelly babies and jelly beans, and people had brought their own musical instruments along so there was always lots to look at.

I was still feeling OK as I ran out towards Hove- there were a couple more drumming bands along the way which are always good. Each time I looked at my watch it was showing 9-something, so I knew I was OK for 2.10. The bit to the final turn around point seemed to go on a bit more, and I was starting to feel a bit thirsty. The water station was as we turned, but I was distracted by an ambulance reversing (the marshals were making people move over more) and by the time I looked back there was only Lucozade- I think the water was further back. I did consider running back but with only 3 miles to go it seemed easier to just carry on (I would only have had a few sips anyway).

Miles 11 and 12 were fine and I enjoyed watching the huge waves crash onto the beach, but mile 13 was so tough- I felt like I had started to fade, and I just had no energy left- someone stopped and walked and I was so tempted but the people watching were all cheering so I carried on.

The finish line seemed so far away and I had no energy for a final sprint- even though it was my fastest mile I was still overtaken by loads of people in the final funnel- I was very glad to stop.

I was given a foil blanket (hurrah) straight away, and then someone had some Lucozade so I took a bottle as I felt like I needed some energy and fast- I felt a bit like this (but way worse) after the Bath half, and that was in cold wet weather- not sure if that affected me more than I realised.

I was given a medal (from the mayor- decked out in all his bling) and then joined queue after queue to get some cereal bars and other bits.

I might eat the cereal bar, but nothing else appeals.

Last year there was a big fuss because lots of people missed out on the very nice technical t-shirts as they were being handed out further back- some people only realised when they saw photo of them on social media. I wandered on for a bit but could not see them anywhere, and could see loads of people with medals and no-one was wearing them so I gave up looking. I the had to battle along the seafront to meet with Andy- it took me 25 minutes from finishing to getting back to the pier- only a 5 min walk if that. I was glad I hadn’t looked any longer because the front was so crowded I would have missed the check out time.

He had brought me a cup of tea (and a cinnamon swirl for later) and my jumper so I could swap out the foil blanket. At least it had stopped raining, and the sun did briefly come out.

We then rushed back to the hotel so I could have a shower and half dry my hair before we had to check out at 12. After my shower my skin was so sore (I knew this would happen and had bought some cream the day before)- when my skin gets cold and then warm it just goes bright red and burns- ouch! After checking out we sat in the lobby for a bit while I had the cinnamon roll and basically enjoyed sitting down for a bit.

My time was 2.03.23, so quite a bit faster than I had planned (and a clue as to why I was not feeling so great in the last half mile).

I saw later on their facebook page that lots of people were wondering about the t-shirts- they said it was a one- off last year, but it’s a shame as lots of the other Vitality events do t-shirts, and it makes it more value for money. Plus it’s such a great promotional tool- I wear my technical t-shirts a lot, and I like looking at them on other runners as I find out about other races that way too. It’s also a shame that it wasn’t clear because of the mess that happened last year.

We had just enough time to get some lunch to take on the train (and I got a lovely latte from Bluebird Tea co, plus some more tea- I didn’t like the sound of the peanut butter and banana one as I don’t generally like banana flavoured things, but this had little bits of dried banana in it and smelled pretty amazing so I treated myself) and then we had to get to the station. I had to re-wind my podcast to about 30 minutes in as it turned out I slept most of the way on the way down!

The peanut butter and banana rooibos tea was a lovely treat to have in the evening in front of the TV.

Another lovely weekend in Brighton, although I think next time I’ll do a parkrun on the Saturday and no race on the Sunday- much less stressful!

Do you like technical t-shirts from races? Do you look at technical t-shirts when you are out running? Do you wear them? I do if they are the right size (cough Oxford half not having enough small ones for the slower runners…).What sort of weather do you prefer to run in? I know I struggle in the heat but perhaps being cold and wet affects me more than I had previously realised.