Running - Maria Runs

Summer starts here!

Hey peeps!
How are you all doing?

My summer is officially starting today! I have been off work for a couple of weeks now, but I spent the first week back in school, and have been doing work at home (and popping back in a couple of times too) since then. But today, no work, only packing, because tomorrow we are off on holiday!

I have managed a few runs this week- on Tuesday I went out for a run before breakfast- I listened to an audiofuel intervals podcast and tried to keep up. It starts off with a warm up, then you do 3 minutes at a fast pace, 3 min recovery, 3 mins even faster, 3 min recovery, and then 3 mins at the fastest pace. I did the whole thing 3 times- I went around the lake and across the park behind the lake which was a nice change- saw loads of rabbits! My best pace was 7.23 but that would have been for a 3 minute burst and not a whole mile of course. My actual average pace was much lower but I suppose that is because the recovery part is very slow. I do like them, but I find that the slow parts are very slow and I find myself doing comedy leaps to try to keep in time.

I wasn’t hungry at all when I got home, but I had been out for an hour so I had a few almonds and some water before I went for my shower. Then I had some fresh pineapple with a passion-fruit Danio (see the seeds?).

Then it was time for a bit of work before I went to see my Mum (3 weeks since she finally had her op and she is doing so well 🙂 ).

On the way back I stopped at Aldi for some washing tabs and things, and noticed pumpkin purée on offer for £1.29 per can- this is the cheapest I have seen it anywhere. The sign said limited stock, so I bought as many cans as I think I can fit in my cupboard!

Later after lunch (I treated myself to caramelised onion hummus- yum) I had some delicious raw chocolate fudge (thanks to Oh She Glows).

Yum! In the afternoon I did some weeding at the allotment, before coming home for some dinner.

Wholewheat pasta with cherry tomatoes, avocado, lime juice and a little salt. Summery perfection.

We spent some time in the evening getting out clothes and other things that we need, although we have searched everywhere and cannot find our adaptor plug- where is it???

Today is generally a “use up what we have in the fridge/ cupboards” day, so for breakfast I had the last cherry/ almond scone (topped with almond butter and home-made blackcurrant jam), along with a peach, some watermelon and some pineapple. I need to do some weeding in our garden, and do some cleaning at home too (does anyone else clean before a holiday? I hope that it means I won’t have to as soon as we get back home), as well as sorting out the packing.

We are off to the North/West USA to visit some of the National Parks that are there, so we will be doing plenty of walking, although I won’t be taking my running things this time.

Also, I just came across this article (linked to by Hungry Runner Girl) and it is very funny- I was looking at the St Albans Parkrun photos from last weekend and yes, there was a guy running the 5k run wearing a tri suit- why??? And also, I can’t understand how people can do any exercise without their hair tied back! I usually do a french plait with my fringe now to make sure that no strands ever break free!

What are you up to this summer?

Do you clean before you go away on holiday?

Do you commit any of those runner fashion faux pas?

PS I have written some posts and I am hoping that I have set it up right and they will come up while I am away. Fingers crossed!

Pancakes making an appearance!

For ages now our weekend breakfasts have been lovely acai bowls- frozen fruit (usually banana, cherries/ blueberries) mixed with some soya/ almond milk and acai powder.

Then top it with a little muesli (or some granola) and some fruit- last Sunday I had mine with a sliced peach and a few blueberries. That was perfect fuel for a walk together around the lakes in the summery weather.

Anyway, I have been missing my weekend pancakes, so on Monday morning I decided to have them for breakfast. I was going on a run first, so I made the batter the night before- peanut flour, wholegrain spelt flour, chia seeds, almond milk, almond extract, baking powder- and then after a shower all I had to do was wait for them to cook. Easier said than done!

I did a 5 mile run, some of it on the fields. I wanted to push the pace a bit, as often when I am on my own I plod along (don’t get me wrong, sometimes all you fancy is a run in the fresh air and the speed does not matter), and so I decided to do a little bit of intervals- really I chose a point ahead and ran faster towards that, and then slowed down again for a bit. Very unstructured, but it was enjoyable (and tough at times). I was expecting rain, but surprisingly it stayed dry even when I got home. All in all it was 5 miles in 50 minutes, with 10.15 being the average pace, but my best pace being 7.24 (not for long though I am sure!).On the way back I had finished all my podcasts so I skipped through to an audiofuel podcast (which is basically a podcast where you run in time with the music, and it is a bit like an interval session as it makes you run faster for a bit, then slower to recover)- I only did one of the intervals as then I got home, but I decided that the next run will be an entire audiofuel podcast. I used to do them quite a lot a couple of years ago, and I quite enjoyed them, so think I might get back into them again. Although I did find that the slowest beats per minute were a bit too slow- I think my stride is too short or something!

Delicious pancakes! I added blueberries while they were cooking, and had them with a big dollop of coconut peanut butter, a peach and some watermelon, plus a Tea India vanilla chai.

I felt a bit nauseous when I first got back from my run- not sure if the fast bursts were tiring me, or I was just thirsty (I did drink water before I went out but it was very muggy)- I waited a while before breakfast and just had a nuun tab in some water- that seemed to help.

Have you ever used podcasts to help with running?

Helping and baking

Saturday started out by me picking up my Dad and brother and heading to Parkrun. I had been on a lot of runs in the week, and they needed volunteers so I had signed up in the week. This time I was barcode scanning- pretty simple you would think …

For those of you that don’t go to Parkrun, it is such a clever system- on the finishers line is someone with a timer device- they press a button each time someone finishes so it records the time, then at the same time when you finish you are handed a numbered chip, 1 for the 1st finisher and so on, and then you queue up and have your personal barcode- from the Parkrun website– scanned along with the chip so they link your barcode with the time that you finished- later on they must upload the scanners and calibrate them with the timer– it is so clever!

Anyway, they started off by announcing that last week there was a new record for fastest female at any UK Parkrun! Hannah Walker came first in the St Albans one last week, finishing in an amazing 15.55! We gave her a clap even though I don’t think she was there, although with around 200 runners it would be hard to spot everyone.

Then they headed off- the course heads off and then is 3 laps of the lake, so you can’t see most of the runners from the start/finish area, but it was not long before the first person (I keep wanting to say winner, but it is not a race!) was heading back. I liked scanning as it was good to congratulate all the runners- a few first timers asked about how it worked, and one lady pointed out that her friend had “never done anything like this in her life before” which is one of the reasons why it is so great- there are loads of children but also older people giving exercise a go.

My scanner was not very sensitive (it had trouble with laminated barcodes or sweaty ones!)- one lady handed me her barcode and it was wet (I hope from water, but possibly from sweat!)- I tried about 4 times to scan it, but it wouldn’t beep, so I tried stretching it as it was a bit wrinkly, and it ripped totally in half! I was mortified! They can take down the barcode number and link them up later, but luckily the other scanner worked! Phew!

My Dad managed a new pb (23.14- I can only dream of that time!) and my brother did well too.

After that it was a bit of pottering around town, and then some baking.

While wandering around the internet the other day I came across a recipe for Nutella cookies which looked like the easiest thing ever! All you needed was nutella, flour, an egg and some fudge pieces (which I still had from Dr Oetker).

I thought they would spread more when I baked them, but they didn’t.

They are tasty (we shared one just to check quality control purposes of course) but I am not sure they were as gooey as I expected- perhaps I should have made them bigger as then the centres would have been softer.

I also made some more scones- I used the gluten free recipe from the other day, but added in a tsp almond extract (again from my Dr Oetker parcel) and some dried cherries.

They smell wonderful!

As they were cooling all I kept getting was wafts of almond- if only Andy would let me have scones instead of a proper dinner!

Did you have a good weekend?

Afternoon teas (running and scones)

Hey peeps- hope you are all doing well.

This week I have mainly been running and eating scones- not a bad combination if you ask me (as long as it is in that order).

On Monday morning I went out for a quick 3 miles before getting ready and heading into London. I was meeting a couple of friends for afternoon tea (at lunch time, as you do)- before we met I had time for a trip to Wholefoods.

I actually only wanted to get some pesto (we ran out of our Brighton stash and have been having some pesto we picked up at Bill’s, but it is not as good)-anyway I think I didn’t end up with too many impulse purchases- some peanut popcorn, chocolate pumpkin seeds, chocolate pb, lovely coconut bounce balls, a raw brownie and a couple of Seed & Bean mini chocolate bars.

Luckily I was getting a tube when there was a torrential downpour, and when I came out it was sunny, so I walked through to Covent Garden instead of going back to the underground.

We had a lovely time catching up (and the afternoon tea was pretty good too- they gave me a plate of veggie sandwiches, we had lovely scones and some pretty cakes- we couldn’t even finish them all- plus we could have one lot of loose leaf tea but unlimited teabag tea, so I think I had 3 pots- Earl Grey to begin with, then two of strawberry and mango)- the time flew by and it was so relaxed- compared to when you go out for lunch and the waiter hovers by hoping you will clear off.

I walked back from the station but then the rain poured and the thunder rumbled, so Andy came to pick me up half way home. To counteract all the sugar from lunch time I had a lovely salad with spinach, beetroot, tomatoes and basil tofu.

Tuesday started in a similar way- this time I went on a longer run around the lake, and even saw some little ginger rabbits!

So cute! As my run went on the rain got harder and harder- I did 5 miles and about 2 minutes after I got home it was bucketing down.

Then, after breakfast and a shower I made some scones.

As I was off to another afternoon tea later that day- this time it was at a friend’s house and we were all bringing different items. I was in charge of gluten free scones (as one of my friends has coeliacs) – I was going to order some but the date was not good, went to Tesco’s to get some but couldn’t find them (or even a label), so decided to brave it myself! I used this recipe, and I think they turned out really well. I did have some Dove’s Farm baking powder (which is g-f) but I was worried that some flour might have got in, so I bought a couple of those Dr Oetker packs to use instead.

Previously (I think on Sunday) I made some caramel shortbread, also with a gluten free base.

I used a gluten free recipe (which was basically g-f flour, butter, sugar in the base, a tin of caramel, and then g-f chocolate for the topping)- now I usually make my own caramel and I wished I had, because this stuff was far too gloopy (which is why I put it in the cake cases)! Finding g-f chocolate was hard work too- in the end I used Dr Oetker chocolate chips but so many of them were made in a factory also processing gluten.

I had bought some strawberry jam, and made some blackcurrant jam (with our very own home-grown blackcurrants!) so I had rather a lot to take around.

Again it was a lovely relaxing afternoon- tea and scones, what’s not to like?

After popping to see my Mum on the way home, we went out on a walk in the evening as the weather had really brightened up.

Today we might be going to the cinema later, and my brother is away (so he won’t be running with Sweatshop), and the weather was forecast to be wet for a lot of the day, so I decided to run first thing. I went on the fields, as I have not done that route for a while. It was drizzling a bit after the first mile, and then it got heavier and windier (I had my tennis visor on but the wind was blowing the rain onto my glasses still)- I decided to finish on the tough bit of the field instead of going back to the road, and I am not sure if it was a good idea. The knee length grass was wet, so within a few steps my socks and shoes were soaked and squelching around. I did 5 miles and I feel like running on the fields is a different kind of run to pavements (tougher)- that was enough for me!

I had some strawberries that were going a bit squishy, so I cooked them in a pan with a tsp of Sainsbury’s vanilla sugar, and then when they had thickened a bit I added a tsp of chia seeds- I had this on top of a warmed cherry scone and a black cherry tea.

Running and scones- pretty much a perfect combination!

What is your perfect combination?

Cinema trips and keeping cool

Hey guys, how are we all doing?

A few weeks ago Andy bought himself an unlimited cinema pass, and the great thing is that on Orange Wednesdays I count as the free one. Combining that with the fact that the cinema is air-conditioned and we have been going there quite a bit recently.

The only trouble is that I normally go running on a Wednesday evening, so it can be a bit rushed (especially as you don’t book a seat). Last week I still had my cough so I didn’t go running, so we headed up to see Despicable Me 2 after dinner. It was quite funny, but I enjoyed the first one more.

Blurry shot of my Wednesday night dinner; spinach, tomatoes, courgette, balsamic, pesto quinoa, hummus and ryvita- I needed something cold!

This Wednesday I went running, rushed home (well, I tried- the run was tough in the heat so I jogged home and then walked the very last corner), showered and had dinner before we headed up to the cinema. We were planning on seeing Monsters Inc, but by the time we got there it had sold out. The car park was totally rammed, I have never seen it that busy. I think the air-con was calling to many people!

So, instead we saw World’s End, which was quite funny too. The pubs were all in Welwyn, and some of the street shots were too (I think some others were Letchworth) so it was quite strange to see our local town on the big screen!

On Thursday I went to work in the morning, popped to see my Mum after lunch and then headed to the allotment to do some weeding. After an hour of weeding (yes it needed it badly) I was rewarded by finding these two courgettes on one of our plants.

We had one for dinner with some pasta and pesto before I went to pump- can’t get fresher than that!

Pump was tough- the studio felt so lovely and cool when I first arrived, but after the first track sweat was pouring off me. I really noticed that I had missed 2 weeks, and my legs are still stiff today.

On Friday morning I headed out for a long run- I wasn’t sure how far I would go, in the end I went out for just over 3 miles, then turned around and came home. It was not too warm at that point, although I was in need of a cold shower when I got home! I had to wait in for our new sofa, so just got on with work and pottering. It has been too hot for the hairdryer so I have just been sitting around with wet hair all day.

After it was delivered I walked across the fields to the allotment and did some picking (when I did the weeding I forgot to bring a tub)- loads of raspberries, gooseberries, a few blueberries and 450g (I weighed them) blackcurrants!

Not bad!

This morning I picked up my brother and Dad (who had just driven back from Switzerland and wanted some exercise to stretch his legs) and headed to Parkrun. I got all my things ready last night, but in the morning I realised my Garmin battery was flat. When I told my Dad he said “did you need it today then?” thinking I meant a car GPS! I wasn’t expecting much today, as my legs were stiff from pump and I ran yesterday, but as usual the start went and everyone rocketed from the line. My Dad was off ahead, and I managed to settle into a rhythm, although I could feel on my last lap of the lake I was slowing down. My brother overtook me with the end in sight, but I couldn’t muster the energy to even try for a smackdown!

I am still waiting for the results- I know it wasn’t a pb but I am interested to see how it went- I am guessing 28 or 29 minutes. I showered at my parents and then we enjoyed a croissant in the garden- what a lovely start to the day. I think the garden was the coolest place (in the shade) as there seems to be more of a breeze today.

On a side note, I have been loving watching the athletics in Lyon this week (all the athletes are amazing but watching the visually impaired runners doing the relay was something else), and now the Anniversary Games- so exciting! Plus, as I went out for a run this morning I feel I have earned my (new) sofa time!

My Dad and Andy took our old sofa to the tip, and so when they got home I made us smoothies to cool us all down; this contained frozen tropical fruits and blueberries, a little almond milk and some coconut water.

Have you seen any good films recently?

Have you been watching the athletics?

Edit- just got the email- 28.13 was my Parkrun time so pretty good (although that is my official worst time)- 29th out of 66 females.