Running - Maria Runs

Multi-tasking

Hey peeps

How is it Wednesday already???

I shall re-wind to the weekend. When we landed I went to get us some lunch while Andy waited for our bag, and whilst browsing the M&S sandwiches I realised I didn’t have anything for lunch the next day. We were going to go to the shops on the way home but we landed too late for that.

So I picked up a lovely salad- lentils, cous cous, sundried tomatoes and goats cheese, and had that (along with an apple in my owl box) for lunch on Monday.

On Monday evening I got home and realised I had nothing for dinner. Dearie me. We had booked a shop for Tuesday evening but in my mind that was Tuesday’s food sorted and I had forgotten about Monday. I was going to go on a run anyway and Andy jokingly said I should run to the shops. Well, why not? I stuck my card in my pocket and headed out. I had really stiff calves- perhaps sitting down on the plane on Sunday was not too good for them, so I took it easy, and it was nice to have a wander around the shop half way through my run (in my cool high viz vest of course).

I was just going to get some salad and hummus as I had some falafels in the fridge, but I saw this tea (chocolate orange rooibos tea) and could not resist- I had to buy light things so they would not bother me while I was running, and so these fit the bill perfectly!

I also remembered my love for dried mango. I posted about some gorgeous dried mango infused with lime oil (from Sainsbury’s) before, but it contained sulphur dioxide as a preservative, which gives me tummy ache. I bought some from Pret the other day to take with me on holiday, and found a pack in the bottom of my bag today which was very exciting as I thought I ate all the packs. I ordered some Forest feast mango as they also produce it without preservative so I shall look forward to some of these as afternoon snacks.

Tonight I went to Sweatshop- it has been too long! I went perhaps a month ago, but then I missed several weeks due to work, work, and then a holiday. It wasn’t my fastest time, but I didn’t want to push too hard before Sunday, plus it was nice to run and catch up with some of the regulars there.

Body pump might not be on tomorrow so I am pondering on what to do for the rest of the week, although I did realise that it has been off (or I have missed it) before my two fastest half marathons, so it might not be a bad thing to give my legs a rest this week. Yoga and a walk might be in order instead.

How is your week going?

Jantastic week 7 (first joker played)

Hey folks

This might be my quickest review yet.

Monday- Rest day (recovering from the 12 miles the day before). I did yoga when I first woke up to help with the stiffness, and then did a lot of cleaning and jobs at home. In the evening we went into London to see The Book of Mormen (Andy got it for us for Christmas)- it was very funny.

Tuesday- 5 mile run (recap here).

Wednesday- We went to Italy. We flew to Naples and then got a bus to Sorrento, where we stayed. By the time we arrived it was late afternoon so we just walked around the town a bit.

Thursday- Went to Pompei- walked for hours. Literally I think 5 hours. But no running.

Friday- Went to Herculanium. Had a little detour on the way as we forgot the instructions ( they said walk downhill from the train station, we walked uphill), and more walking around the site.

Saturday- got a bus to Amalfi- further along the coast. Not much walking here.

Sunday- Came home. I did have to run a bit here, because we had to catch the airport bus at 8.30, and so we checked out at around 8.15, only there was no-one on the desk, so Andy went with the case to the station, and I waited, then ended up running up 4 flights of stairs (big marble stairs) to the breakfast room where I knew a member of staff would be, and then I had to run from our hotel to the station. But this was not a mile so it does not count! I was going to have a run when we got home, but our flight was late (we had to get a bus out to the plane, and they were in no hurry organising them)- we had to circle over Brighton for a while. Also we were going to buy lunch at the airport, but had no cash left and no-where took cards. Never mind, we will buy something on the plane, we thought. But the only veggie option was an egg sandwich (not appealing to me at all) so that was a no. In the end Andy waited for the bag while I went to M&S in the airport to get us a late lunch (this was about 4pm- which I think it 5pm CET?) After landing late, the bags took ages and so in the end we got home just before 6, and the last thing I fancied was going out on a run.

So I played my joker. That is worth 50% of your runs, but as I have chosen 3 I was not sure if I would get 1 or 2, but it seems like it counted for 2.

I am looking forward to this week though, especially the Bath half on Sunday.

Back to the fields (stuck between a cow and a wet place)!

I love running through the fields. I discovered the route with Sweatshop last summer, and revisit the route frequently when it is light.

In the summer some of the route looks like this:

Some of the route has no path- we follow tracks or just run around the edge of fields. But what’s not to like? In the autumn I picked blackberries from huge brambles as a little breather during runs.

I love seeing the flowers in the summer, I love being away from the traffic, being in some green space, seeing birds and rabbits. <3 it.

On Tuesday morning I was off out on a run and wanted to do 5 miles- this was perfect because I can loop around the fields and make it exactly that distance. (The weather was not quite the beautiful blue skies of summer)

Well, I got up there and there is a part where you go through some gates and through a cow field. Normally you can’t even see the cows. Today they were very close to the path. And their horns looked even bigger.

I actually stood there for a few minutes looking at them and deciding whether to carry on or whether to retrace my footsteps. I mean, I have heard that people get killed by cows stampeding, and I think if they see someone running they are likely to join in? Or have I made that up? Anyway, I proceeded cautiously through- you can just about see on the left of the path was a smaller cow and I was worried that if the parent cow was about she might not like me running between her and the calf. Anyway, as soon as I got to the calf I sprinted like crazy- seriously I don’t think I have ever run that fast!

Of course the cows just stood about staring, but they do make me very nervous so I was very glad to get to the other gate in one piece!

Then this greeted me. I had my trail shoes on, so puddles and mud was fine, but this was ankle deep. The path was meant to go from top left to the bottom right corner of the photo, but in places it looked like pond weed was floating about. There were logs at one point that I think someone had moved, but they didn’t seem in a great place so I just got wet. Of course I could have turned back but that would have meant the cows…

Later on I had to climb on a gate- at the end of the tarmac path the entire path was deeper than ankle deep in water right up to the edge. There are huge metal gates that are opened, and the one on my side had a big metal lop at the bottom so I ended up clambering along that and hoping that the gate would not start to close with me on it!

Then I got within half a mile of home and misjudged yet more water logged ground- I ended up in freezing cold water up to my ankles so the water filled my shoes and I squelched the last half a mile back home.

I had mud all up my running tights, my socks were very brown too.

But it was fun. I was slow (partly because I kept stopping to look at the cows/ take photos/ decide which path across the puddles I should take) but I loved it. Andy thinks I am mad but the mud is quite fun really. I am also glad on another point that my hip is behaving itself- I was worried that the movement would aggravate it but so far it has been fine (and yes I did stretch when I got home).

Are you a fan of road running or cross country? I feel safer running by roads at night- I would not be going out alone on the fields (there have been some attacks on the old railway line near me for example) and of course for races road running is faster. But nature is so much prettier, and it is more exhilarating to be fighting through mud too. I have done two cross country races (here and here – the second one also included a cow!) and I did love them both- I think I would love them more now I have trail shoes.

Jantastic week 6

I am sure I say this every week, but the time is flying by!

This week was not that easy for me to get my 100% score, but I managed it, just.

I made some little chocolate pb cups for Andy (we don’t do Valentine’s but he bought me some popchips tp celebrate half term)- they are not really a recipe just something to do- melt chocolate, spoon into cases, melt some chocolate and pb together and use as the filling= delicious.

Back to the running:

Monday was a rest day as I had run 11 miles on Sunday and wanted to make sure I was recovered. I also got home late from work, and although I actually felt OK I didn’t want to push anything too much, especially as I had run on the Saturday too.

Tuesday I went out after work- I didn’t think I would go too far but in the end did 4.1 miles.

Wednesday and Thursday were both rest days due to being at work both evenings, and by the time Friday appeared I was crawling towards the weekend so decided to just chill out and watch some of the Olympics with a cup of tea.

Saturday I went out for a run- our parkrun was cancelled due to the council not liking them using the off road route too much, but that suited me fine as I went out for a little run by myself. After all the crazy wind I decided to run by the allotments and saw that our shed has blown over again. I tried to lift it but could only get it about 6 inches off the ground. We shall have to go at some point together. Anyway, I told myself I would just have to go out and run 1 mile (the minimum for a Jantastic run) but I felt OK and in the end did 3.6 miles- half a mile more than a parkrun.

Then I mostly relaxed (and did a little work)- we walked up to Aldi later in the day for some washing bits, and I was very excited to see these:

Chocolate marzipan hearts! They sell them at Christmas (in a different box) but I have never seen them at any other time of year.

Sunday morning we were off on our longest run- 12 miles. I wanted to do it in under 2 hours as I have been trying to keep to a sub 10 minute mile pace for longer runs. Last week we had to add on some small loops to our usual route to get it up to 11 miles, so Andy had planned a different route that he used to run when we were marathon training. It was all new to me, which I am never sure if I like or not- ignorance can be bliss when I don’t realise a big hill is around the corner, but also it is harder to pace myself when I don’t know what is coming. Anyway, from the start I think I had decided it was a bit too much of a challenge, I was tired after such a busy week at work, I was regretting my Saturday run in case it had tired out my legs too much. At least the weather was beautiful and we saw plenty of spring flowers out- snowdrops, crocuses and daffodils all in bloom. I kept worrying that I would need to stop and walk too, but luckily I won that battle against my mind and kept going. There were some tough hills, both up and down, so all we kept saying to each other was that we hope Bath is flatter than this! Nearing home we weren’t quite close enough to 12 miles so we had to add on a small loop and then our front door was dead on 12, with a time of 1.59.50! Phew.

So, 3 runs out of 3 completed. 12 miles as my longest run (that was what I set for myself).

Next week won’t be as successful as I am resting today (I did some yoga first thing)- tomorrow I am hoping to get in a 5 mile run before a busy day, and then we are off to see Pompeii- I am not taking my running things with me so shall enjoy a lot of walking and sightseeing. At least I can play my joker.

What I am loving too are the motivational messages that appear when you log in to your Jantastic homepage- today it says “Even a little run is better than no run. Yes you can.” That was what got me out the door on Saturday and although during tough moments on Sunday I was wondering why I did it, actually I am very glad I did as I felt loads better for the rest of Saturday.

One day it just said “Love running“. Which is the most important statement of all. Of course when the weather is rubbish/ you are tired from work it can be hard to get out the door, and we can get a big bogged down with trying to get faster or run further, but actually the reason I run is because I love it, all the rest is the icing on the cake.

Jantastic week 5- Feeling Febulous!

I only just realised that it is now Tuesday and I have not reviewed my training from last week! At least on the Jantastic website you have until 8am Tuesday to log the runs from the previous week, so I am sort of in time with that!

But first, look at what came in the post!

Some super soft Thoosa t-shirts from their sale. They are cotton so not for running, but rather for relaxing in after my weekend runs 🙂

Back to the review:

Monday- 4.3 miles after work.

Tuesday- Rest day.

Wednesday- I gave Sweatshop a miss and headed out as soon as I got home. Partly because I will be missing the next 2 weeks (due to late meetings at work and then being away), partly because I knew I would be on my own at the back, and mostly because it was raining hard and I wanted to get it over with! In the end I did just under 4.5 miles- I was only going to do 3.5 but when I got close to home I felt OK and it wasn’t raining, so I carried on. Forgot about the headwind though so the last half mile was tough when I had to turn and run into it!

Thursday- Went to Pump. No luck missing the lunges this week, we had to do all the tracks!

Friday- Rest day

Saturday- Originally I was going to do 11 miles on my own, but then Andy suggested we go out on Sunday morning together. So then the idea of Parkrun crept into my head. It was the off-road route which I had not done before- people were talking (actually shouting to each other) during the run briefing, but it was also very windy so it was hard to hear. Once they started, I had to jog over to the run director and ask her the route, well more specifically how many laps I would have to do (3). It was much tougher than the normal flat route, fun, but also very tough as in parts the mud was very slippery.

My shoes were happy to get some real mud on them!

Sunday- 11 miles. Funny story. You can read about it here.

I was going to do some yoga on Sunday evening but I was really tired and just did not have the energy. After sitting for a while at Andy’s parents my legs really stiffened up, and I thought I would be really stiff and sore on Monday, but in fact I felt OK. I kept Monday as a rest day as I don’t want to push it and run 3 days in a row (well it would have been 4 as I was going out on Tuesday).

Anyway, the next stage of Jantastic is logging the length of your longest run- I had selected 11 miles so hit it right on the head. Next week optimistically I opted for 12 miles so we shall have to see how I manage that.

How is it going for any fellow Jantasticans?