Running - Maria Runs

Marathon cheering

And some pondering too.

So over the last few weeks I have been absolutely loving all the marathon recaps that have been popping up in the blog world. Well done to everyone!!! Here are some links in case you missed them:

Jess ran the Greater Manchester marathon.

Anna ran the Paris marathon.

Lauren ran the Greater Manchester marathon.

Tess ran the Brighton marathon.

Lara linked to her London marathon recap from last year.

The marathon talk boys took on Manchester too- you can hear them chat about it on episode 222 (good number for a show too).

Mary is about to take on London (here is her expo trip).

I also came across this article about whether to sign up for a marathon or not.

I spent time on Saturday listening to a radio show that was on radio 5 on Thursday evening- they were previewing London, had an interview with Mo as well as general marathon chat.

And of course I had a look at my marathon recap (which actually made me cry when I read it back- not sure if that is weird?). At the time I had a suspected UTI (I kept getting them at that point), so was on antibiotics, but luckily I felt OK in the morning- I had promised Andy that if I felt bad I would not run it, but it being my first marathon I think I would have had to feel pretty awful not to attempt it. A few months later I was hospitalised, and it turned out that I had a huge cyst on my ovary that had to be surgically removed- so in fact I was not 100% healthy when I took on my first marathon. I was immensely proud of myself for finishing it, and running the whole way (very slowly, but I still ran every single step) but at the time I knew that before I attempted another marathon I would need to speed up. Seriously running for nearly five and a half hours is very tough, mentally and physically.

So since then I have been focusing on half marathons (minus the set back when I could not run at all due to my op). Here is my theory:

When I ran the marathon I had only run 2 half marathons- a hilly one the previous year in 2.32, and then a slightly less hilly one in 2.19. Of course a marathon is more than twice as hard as a half marathon, and your speed will be less, so I think the rule of thumb is double your half time and add 10% (or something). Anyway using my half marathon times from then, (and the runners world predictor) my time should have been between 5.16 and 4.49 (although I think that was rather optimistic). I suppose my time was only 5 minutes off, so not bad really.

I had in my mind a time for my half marathon to get to, and I am getting closer to that goal, but if I take my most recent two of 2.16 and 2.06 the calculator gives me a prediction of between 4.43 and 4.22, or if I use my last 10 mile time it says 4.37. Again there is no way I could keep up the pace I did the Bath half in for double the distance (and I know it does not assume this, but it is pretty close I think), but it means that the slower of the two times is sub 5, which is a bit better I think.

Going off on a tangent, if I submit my best 10K time it predicts my half would be 2.03, so again close, but I am not quite there. And of course it shows that this is a predictor to give you a ballpark figure.

Anyway, I have not signed up for another marathon just yet, but I am really considering it now. I have started looking, even though my half marathon time is not quite at my goal yet. I would like one in the school holidays as I would not want to have to be at work the next day, and I have been looking closer to home as possibly the flight the night before was not the best preparation. I also much prefer smaller races- the crowds get my adrenaline going too much, so I won’t be putting my name in for the London ballot! So 2015 might be the year of my next one, who knows.

So if you have a race to recommend to me, then feel free.

Anyone else running a marathon? Good luck!

I am off to watch London!

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?