Running - Maria Runs

First week of the holidays

The week has gone by fast! I am going to work backwards.

This morning I was up and off to parkrun. Still the off road course (I know- crazy!), I picked up my brother and we ran together for a bit although I ended up slightly ahead of him. Just got my text through- 29.01, 145th out of 234 runners (although I got number 144 token so not sure why that is?), 29th female and 6th in my age category.

Of course I then made pancakes, and this time put some figs on them after flipping so they heated up a bit.

Yesterday I was up early for a 5 mile run- I wanted to try out the longer fields route as the last time I did it it was rather boggy. Thankfully it was drier, but hard going as it was so rutted, and the paths are so narrow. I got half way through the cow fields and then noticed one cow with massive horns sat near the fence. By that point it was too late to go back so I just had to run as fast as I could and hope that the cow stayed where it was.

Later in my run I saw a woodpecker, and a massive red kite sat on the grass, and a little rabbit run out in front of me! Love seeing all the nature.

Then I was off to a friends house for a get together with lots of lovely food- I made some lemon squares (from Hummingbird), and one friend made the most amazing salted caramel cupcakes. When I got home I persuaded Andy to have a walk as the weather was so lovely.

Thursday morning I was up doing some work, before meeting some friends for a waffle. How I love The Waffle House. Freshly made, organic milk, free range eggs, loads of vegetarian options….

Hummus and avocado might be the best one ever! They make their hummus with organic chickpeas- it is so good. The little blobs are sort of spicy sundried tomato paste, although they look like raisins!

I popped in to see my Mum on the way back home, and as Andy was working at home I went out on a walk to enjoy the sunshine- I saw a pair of jays fly past and land on a branch right by the path.

Then after dinner I was off to pump. It was good but hot in there.

On Wednesday I did some work in the morning, and then at lunch time we walked up to the shops, and were so hot we got an iced chai from Caffe Nero to have on the walk home- not sure what syrup they use but it tasted very american (in a good way)- more cinnamon I think.

In the afternoon I got my bake on! I made the not cross buns, and a cake for Jemma’s baking competition, before going to Sweatshop in the evening. We did the fields loop but backwards, which is tougher. I ran with my brother at the start and then started trying to catch up the people in front- I managed it with about half a mile to go (partly because the girl in front had to stop because she got a bug in her eye)- it was nice to run the final bit together. I had taken a jacket with me as the last few weeks I have got quite chilly on the way home, but I was very hot then!

On Tuesday I did a 6.7 mile run- my old loop which I don’t think I have run since doing the Bath half- it was good to get out there in the morning even though the wind was quite cold at times. Then I spent the day doing work before having a little walk in the evening to get away from the computer screen!

This week has been great- afternoon tea, Waffle House, seeing friends, lots of walks in the fresh air and lots of running too. Hooray!

Tomorrow I shall be watching the TV in the morning- the elite field looks to be amazing, and of course I shall be cheering on Mo for his marathon debut, but I am just excited for a proper race.

Will you be watching London tomorrow? How has your week been?

Chilling out

So, the Easter holidays are finally here. Hooray.

I did bring home a boot full of work, but I decided to have today totally off.

I was tempted by parkrun, but my brother was not going, and so I decided to not set the alarm and just head out on a run when I woke up- in the end I was out at about 9am anyway.

I saw these on offer in Waitrose the other week and thought they might be good for a pre run energy boost (or for taking along to half marathons with me). I had the blackcurrant one before I set off as I felt a little hungry. I headed into the fields and did just over 5 miles. It was pretty chilly to begin with and at first I was regretting my t-shirt, but of course after a couple of miles I was warm. It was windy out there though.

Earlier in the week Sainsbury’s sent me a lovely Easter picnic selection, including some hot cross buns. The Taste the Difference ones went into the freezer as their date was imminent (shows they are fresh), so this morning we had a gluten free one for breakfast.

I had one half with coconut butter and (home-made) blackcurrant jam, and lemon curd on the other. It was very tasty, although the glaze was very sticky!

I spent the day pottering about at home- doing the usual Saturday cleaning jobs, plus finally getting around to jobs like sorting out my drawer of running clothes- my clothes are back into neat piles although I am not sure how long it will last! I had to pop to town to get Andy a few bits, and had a chai latte to warm me up- my hands were so cold they had gone all red and itchy.

Andy is out and I had not really thought about dinner- we had some leftover sourdough so I mashed an avocado with some lime juice, basil infused oil and a little salt, and topped it on the toasted bread. That must be one of the best speedy meals ever!!! Could be improved by adding in some chopped tomato, but I didn’t have any (and didn’t think to buy any while I was out). Plus some tomato soup we had in the cupboard. I didn’t enjoy the soup much though- I used to love this soup so I am not sure why.

I then spent the evening re-purposing a Christmas cake for Andy’s birthday (he doesn’t read this!). Basically the other day I was tidying up and found a cake tin on the side- I thought it was empty but I picked it up to move it and it was heavy. Turns out there was a Christmas cake in there, complete with a Christmas tree decoration. I think I baked it to try out a recipe that Sainsbury’s sent me, but then I went ahead and made my normal batch of cakes, so forgot about it. Luckily he had requested a fruit cake for his birthday, so I just had to remove the Christmas tree and find a good way to hide the green stain on the white icing.

I found some cute minibeast cupcakes in the book I was sent, but thought they would look a little strange like that, so adapted them a bit. The ladybirds didn’t turn out too well, so they went in the bin.

But the bees look cute I think.

Well the eyes were very hard to make- the black icing warmed up so quickly and more of it stuck to my hands than the bees- one of them is wearing sunglasses I have decided.

At least now it looks like a birthday cake!

How do you like to spend your chill out days?

Jantastic week 12- the final countdown!

I can’t believe that Jantastic has come to an end! At the start I was just easing back into running after having to have time out due to my hip/ lower back problems.

This final week has been a bit quieter than some weeks.

Monday- Rest (quite sore after my 8.5 miles on Sunday).

Tuesday- Gentle 3 miles (which were faster than I thought).

Wednesday- Sweatshop short run- just over 4 miles in the end.

Thursday- Rest

Friday- Rest

Saturday- Parkrun plus a couple of laps of the lake= 5 miles overall. I had aimed for 10 miles for Jantastic, but I was too tired for that and had a lot of work, so decided to be sensible.

Sunday- Walking around Whipsnade Park – this was my treat from Andy for getting all my work done on Saturday (and apart from going to the shops to get something for dinner I worked until the end of Match of the Day so really felt I deserved it!). We walked quite a long way I think!

I did my time trial this week. In the end my sensible guess was 28.59, as my previous off road times had been 30.36 and 29.41, and I felt I could go a bit faster. Although I had such a tiring week with some very late nights (working until 10pm one night, gone midnight another) so I felt almost like I had jet lag by Friday evening. Anyway, I pushed hard and got around in 28.36 so I am pretty happy with that. The idea is to predict how fit you are, so I am pleased I was so close. I do love running on the grass but I am looking forward to the flat course again, although who knows when that will be as the paths are still flooded. Crazy.

Pancakes (lovely buckwheat ones) of course when I got home!

Because I am not working towards any races at the moment (thumbs down to the rock and roll series) it would be easy to think that I have had just a normal running week. But if I look back over the 12 weeks I am really pleased with what I have achieved. Some weeks I didn’t fancy a run, or the amount of miles, but the fact that I had to log my runs persuaded me to go out. I also managed a pb at the Bath half marathon- I found that race tough, but then probably I should find a pb tough? I have also been running slightly further midweek than I have for a while.

Now the clocks have gone forward we shall be going cross country with Sweatshop, which I just love (although have to watch my footing), and I am at the moment perusing race websites to try and find things to sign up for.

Any race recommendations? What races do you have planned at the moment? Jantasticans: what are you proud of achieving?

Cleaning out the freezer

Hey peeps

This has been a very busy week! At the moment we get our shopping delivered on a Tuesday evening, and I had ordered a few bits to go in the freezer. I often freeze things but I never label them (should be a resolution really)- there were questionable baked goods from ages ago, and rather sadly I found a stollen that I think I made 2 years ago. Yup. So we had a good clear out.

I knew I had a busy week ahead so bought some bean burgers- they had a spice rating (I am sure it was called that) of mild, so I thought they would be OK. Along with some sweet potato fries and a salad, this was lovely (and hooray, not too spicy). I had some melon as a starter (well it would not have gone well on the plate I don’t think).

We also found this ice cream buried under bags of frozen fruit so we finished it. A benefit of not organising the freezer is nice surprises like this.

There has been some running this week- my legs were so stiff on Monday so I had a rest, then on Tuesday went out for an out and back 3 miles. I felt like I was going so slow, but each time I looked at my watch I was doing sub 10 min miles so actually not as slow as I felt. I got home and wondered if I should have attempted my time trial.

On Wednesday I was off to Sweatshop- I started off trying to keep up with the speedy girl, but that didn’t last too long (until the first traffic light- she can really speed away from a standing start). I ran with someone else and we both kept saying it was a bit fast for us, but we kept going. We managed an 8.31 and 8.45 miles (the others I am not sure as I started it on the way up so they are skewed by me stopping it partway through)- phew. We even managed to keep another girl in sight, and normally I can’t see her after the first mile, so that was good.

Last night I didn’t go to pump as we had a family thing. My only strength workout was carrying the huge pile of books, work and folders to my car, up my stairs (and this morning back to work). Although I am not sure I would have managed as the last two nights I have had so much to do- was up til half 12 last night so I think I would have had to skip pump anyway.

Tonight I am off to The Waffle House after work with some friends, so no running today. I am off to parkrun tomorrow, so hopefully my legs will be rested and I can have a real go at the time. Although I have also put down that I will run 10 miles this weekend- not sure if that is going to happen.

Are you good at cleaning out your freezer/ labelling what is in there?

Had a good week?

Jantastic week 11

I can’t believe that I am in the final week of Jantastic!

So, how did last week go?

Well it was a busy one.

Monday- 3 miles after work-all I could fit in.

Tuesday- Rest

Wednesday- Sweatshop- 5 miles including 3 fast ones.

Thursday- Pump. It was the new release. Apparently some of the tracks are easier, which means you have to go heavier. I hate that. For example they now think that for squats you have to go 3 or 4 times your warm up weight. I can’t even lift that amount, let alone sit it on my shoulder, and you can forget lifting it off my head once the track ends. I did go heavier for biceps and paid for that the rest of the weekend. The back track is also weird, loads of rows (they must have heard me say how I hate the wide triple rows). The abs track had the hoover back which is good as I find all the ab crunches a bit boring and I am never sure how effective they are. The music wasn’t great (except for The Killers track) although I say this every time and usually the tracks grow on me.

Friday- 2 miles at school for Sport Relief, plus a walk around the lakes.

Saturday- Rest. Well, cleaning plus a few hours at the allotment (including finally using our new push along lawn mower to mow the paths. That was hard work- I have the bruises to prove it!).

Sunday- 6 miles for Sport Relief, plus run home=8.5 miles, and a walk around town.

18 miles for the week might not sound like much but it is a lot for me. I am really pleased with how it went.

I still have to sort out my predicted time. I did look to see if I could change the distance, but no, it will only let me change the time. I am going to attempt it tomorrow if my legs are feeling rested (they are sore today) and then probably go to Parkrun on Saturday, but of course it is the off road route so I will change the prediction a bit- maybe aim for 29 on the dot.

Now lets zoom in on Saturday.

I was super shattered after last week so had a lie in and very lazy morning- after reading in bed for ages I had a lovely breakfast of apple, granola and milk with a tea.

Andy went to the allotment earlier while I stayed at home to do some cleaning and stuff, and I also made a cake as my Dad was coming around to help with the gardening too. I was going to make an apple cake, but flicking through the Clandestine Cake Club book I found a recipe for Pumpkin cake, and as I have a surplus of tinned pumpkin I went for it. Plus the air was still cool with that almost autumnal feel so I thought it would go. I still had some of the lovely lemon infused oil so I used that instead of plain oil in the recipe and I think the lemon flavour went really well with the pumpkin and spices.

I didn’t have any brown sugar so used golden caster sugar and a tbs of treacle to give it that flavour. While it was baking I was so efficient and got on with loads of cleaning and tidying and filing away paperwork- such a good feeling to get that all sorted.

I was going to head up to the allotment later and so had one of these lovely Pulsin bars (I was so excited to find these last week in a local shop) for some energy before all the planting and mowing and weeding.

I made some icing for the cake which I left to set in the fridge while we worked, and then spread it over the top once we got back.

We got back at around 5pm, after a few hours of work, so we all enjoyed a slice with a cup of tea- I was so cold!

If you have done it, how do you find the new pump release? And do you ever manage the proportions of weights that they suggest?