Running - Maria Runs

5 miles + waffles

= a pretty good Sunday indeed!

I am so excited by all the comments on my Parkrun post- I really think it is great- for beginners or the super speedy runners too. I hope some of you decide to give it a go- and think about it, if you don’t like it you can stop half way and not take a chip at the end- and it is less time than going to a new fitness class or something.

This morning I woke up early and headed out for a 5 mile run. I have a 10k in a couple of weeks and I really want an official sub 60 min time (I think the closest I have got is 61 mins, and I have managed it on a training run but there is something official about the chip timing) so I am trying to make my weekend runs that sort of distance so I can go a bit faster. I ran up to the local lake, around in a loop, and when I got to 2.5 miles I turned around and re-traced my steps. The sun was shining, there was a cool breeze, but once I got going I was fine in my vest. There were rabbits to be seen, herons on the lake, and quite a few people out jogging and walking.

I kept up a pretty good pace, around 10 min miles (I was trying to take a photo of the time but it was not that clear, and also trying to multi-task as I keep the nuun tabs with the camera)- just over 5 miles done in 50.29. I know I need to go a bit faster as of course a 10k is 6.2 miles, but I ran hard yesterday so I think with some rest beforehand I should manage it (and of course there was stopping to cross roads).

Like my new socks? I love the Hilly twinskin socks, and when I bought myself a couple of new pairs before Easter I was most excited to see they now have left and right foot shaping. What I really wanted to do after that run was lay on the sofa, but I had to get showered and changed (and dry my hair- takes sooooooo long) as we were meeting friends for brunch at The Waffle House. I had a lovely breakfast one with dried fruits in the waffle, topped with bananas and cinnamon sugar. Delicious.

We have spent the rest of the day pottering around and are going to head out to the cinema later.

Last night I made a chickpea stew- I love meals like this as they cook away while I can get on with other things. First I chopped and roasted a red onion, an orange pepper, some butternut squash, half an aubergine and a courgette- I added a little olive oil and some paprika. I think I roasted them for about 35 mins. Then I put them in a pan with a tin of tomatoes, half a tin of water (swish it around to get all the tomato juice), a drained tin of chickpeas, a little lazy chilli and a tablespoon of ground almonds. I just left it cooking for ages. Then I served it with some avocado- delicious. Also I have 2 more portions of it for the freezer now- you can’t beat meals like that!

Happy Sunday everyone 🙂

Persuading you to Parkrun!

Hey! Now I may have only been to Parkrun twice, but I love it! And I hope that other people might share my enthusiasm.

I love the fact that Parkruns are free- compared to a lot of timed runs/ races which can be really expensive (they are not officially races, just timed runs), and they have a great community feel. To join all you have to do it go to the Parkrun website, register, and print out your personal barcode. Then you turn up at whichever one you want to go to (they mostly seem to be 9am on a Saturday), making sure you bring your barcode with you (you need it after you have finished so if someone comes to watch they can hold it for you, but it is only small so fits in a pocket). This morning I picked up my brother, and parked up at about ten to 9. We walked up to the start line (along with nearly 200 other runners!) and the person starting the race went through the route, congratulated people who had anniversaries (it was hard to hear as I was near the back)- we all gave them a round of applause anyway. The bells on the local church began to chime for 9 o’clock, and then we were off!

I didn’t think I would be as fast as last time, as my Dad was a pretty great pacer, plus I have missed 2 weeks due to going on holiday so don’t think I am quite back to normal. But after the first half a mile I glanced down and noticed the pace began with an 8. What??? The weather was perfect- cool and overcast. I had opted for capris and a vest, although a lot of people had jumpers or jackets. A little later the sun came out and it suddenly got very warm. I glanced down again and saw I was still going at 8 something minute miles. A little later (running into the wind, which was not that strong) I noticed a 9 which was what I expected more- I knew I was slowing. After 2 miles my brother caught up with me, and I told him I was slowing down whereas he told me he was speeding up! I told him I would see him at the finish line, and off he went. The St Albans route goes along a path, around a small lake 3 times, and then back along the path again. It is pretty flat, but when you leave the lake there is a short but quite steep section to get back up to the path, and I found that tough. My brother told me he tries to speed up on the final lap of the lake and then take the hill a little slower. Anyway, at that point I saw my watch was on 24 mins, and the first time I ran it, my time was 27.12. I could see the finish but I was not sure how far it was. I decided to go flat out to try and get as close to my last time as possible. My brother was just ahead of me and I went past him, and then I heard someone thundering past me- I thought it was him but it was a girl who got there a split second ahead of me! When you reach the finish you go through a little “chute”, someone has a timer, and someone else hands you a little plastic chip with a barcode on it. It is a very clever system. My brother was seconds behind me, and I think the first thing I said was “I feel sick”- I really did, although as I wait until after for breakfast I told myself I would not be. I had pushed myself hard though. Anyway, after a minute I was fine. Then we joined the queue, and this is when you need your paper barcode. You hand that and the little plastic chip to some other volunteers, and they scan them. By then it was raining a little, and I was getting cold, so we headed back to the car (I had left my jumper in there), but there were lots of people cheering in the runners- it is all very encouraging.

The other thing that I love is the email (although mine doesn’t seem to come through, which does not matter as you also get sent your links which you can click on to see the results, in fact I think you can just look for them for any Parkrun if you know people running them/ just feel nosy!)- it lists all the people who took part, their time, their pb, age grading, overall position and gender position. I could go on for hours about that! Today there were 197 people running (crazy!)- the first person finished in 17.34, and the last finisher was 40.16. There were children, serious club runners, older people; a huge mixture really. I was the 130th person to finish, and the 26th girl out of 71. Not bad really!

Also I love it that they are all over the place. Next weekend we are going to Dorset for the weekend, and I was quite tempted by the idea of going to Poole Parkrun, although we are staying in a different hotel on the Friday night so I am not sure if it will be practical. But my Dad did the Wimbledon one when he was working there for the tennis and I am sure a lot of people go to different ones. I think you would have to look on a map at the route just to check you know it, but there are marshals (volunteers- they do ask you do help out at a couple of runs per year if you can) on the routes too.

So, if you are tempted I say go for it! I probably won’t go every week as I do prefer to do my long run on Saturday morning, and it is too far for me to run there and combine it with a long run. But I think once a month or so will be good. I think I got really into the plodding along on longer runs, and I think a short sharp run is good for me too.

I looked on my Garmin when I got home and my miles were 8.46, 8.54, 8.56 (slowing all the way!) and then 8.08 for the last little bit- I did try to sprint! Not bad, but I looked back at my last one and I sped up each mile for that one- I think that is the better way to go.

After that I dropped my brother off and headed home for shower and breakfast.

Yummy! Mango coconut water, some mango, pineapple and melon, and a bowl of muesli and puffins (we bought them on holiday- we tried them in the summer and both loved them!). Delicious (and I have just found they are on i-herb too, I might be tempted…).

I have a lot of work to do this weekend, so I did some of that (partly why the Parkrun is so good is because I was home and out the shower by 10am so had a lot of the morning left), did some cleaning, had some lunch and then popped out to the shops for a break.

I needed a few bits in Boots, and saw the Naked hair conditioner (I think I have seen this on a couple of blogs) so decided to give it a go. Debenhams were having a sale so I picked up a bargain top (£6!) and that summery peachy/ pink cardi.I treated myself to an ice chai latte (in my cup- saved 25p!!) and then got myself and my Mum some flowers in Waitrose. Also, the free paper this weekend has a voucher for the posh Twinings tea- I have had my eye on the Gingersnap peach tea for ages, so I am going to use the voucher for that- I love a good freebie!

Then I popped to see my Mum, and then came home for more cleaning, and more work. I am making a chickpea stew for dinner, which can cook while I do my work (ahem, this is a little brain break for me!).

I feel like it has been a productive and enjoyable Saturday 🙂

Would you be tempted to go to a Parkrun? Or if you go already what do you love about it? Did you have a good Saturday?

Bringing up the rear

Hey everyone, I hope you are all making the most of the glorious spring sunshine before we are back to overnight frosts!

I treated myself this week to an order of the new Trek flapjacks.

When I saw they were doing a flavour with coconut I could not wait to try one, and I was not disappointed. The bars have big flakes of coconuts in them, so the flavour really comes through. Delicious! The ingredients list is not as natural as a nakd bar (the chocolate coating has some sugar in it etc) but it probably compares to a Clif bar in the end, and I love those too. I had half at break time and half in the afternoon to keep me going. They have some other flavours but I imagine that the coconut is the best one! (Also if you want a 10% off code then leave a comment and I will email you).

Last night I went to the Sweatshop run. My brother has come along for the last few weeks, which has been great as we don’t see each other that much normally. We run at a pretty similar speed, and that has turned out even better as all the slower people seem to not come any more. I had worked my way to the middle of the pack (sometimes even keeping the group leaders in sight) but now I am right back to the back of the pack again. I don’t really mind because in the end you just measure against yourself, but I was finding it tough (the first mile was done in something like 8.48, so very fast for me) and those doubts starting creeping in. Not for long though. It was so hot though- I wore my Sweatshop t-shirt but I think it is time for vests now really- a few people asked me if I was OK as I had such a red face by the time we got back! Nope, that is just the colour I go in the heat!

I am off to pump tonight and am going to use the lesson I learnt last week and go slightly lighter on some of the weights as I massively struggled last week (I know it should be tough, but I had to stop a few times which shows the weights were too much).

I am hoping to go to Parkrun on Saturday morning, so I don’t want really achy legs for that.

Do you ever get that back of the pack feeling?

Back to baking!

Ah baking, how I have missed you. But yesterday I got back in to it, with a lime, coconut and ginger cake.

I used the same basic recipe for the Lemon and Blueberry traybake I made a while back, but I swapped in lime zest and juice for lemons, left out the blueberries, added 50g coconut, and a few chunks of chopped crystallised ginger.

I was sent some Bake Even cake strips to try out, from the Cake Decorating Store website, and I used them for the first time in this recipe.

You have to soak the strips before you use them (only for a bit), and then you wrap them around the cake tin. I had to secure them with pins- for some reason I had thought they would have velcro or something, but I suppose they are completely adjustable so that would not work. I used two to go around my brownie pan, as one did not quite reach, but overlapping them is fine (according to the instructions).

I was worried it would slide off, so I put the tin on a tray too. The idea is that they help to distribute the heat evenly, so you get an even rise, and the cake is cooked the same all the way through (no cracked tops, uneven rising etc).

I was very impressed when it came out of the oven- the cake was perfectly even in colour and in height. I think these would be great to use when baking fruit cakes as they need so much longer in the oven so can become more uneven. Although next time I will use safety pins to hold the strips on.

I made up the syrup (lime juice+zest+sugar) and poured it over the warm cake.

Mmmm delicious zingy lime cake. I left it to cool overnight before I sliced it today so that the icing would set and sink in.

On to some random food photos from the week. Yesterday Andy made a lovely sweet potato chilli (he has made it before for us and it is delicious)- I decided to make some guacamole. I have been reading a book by Scott Jurek- it is half autobiography and half recipes (I think it is called Eat and Run) and the other evening I read his guacamole recipe. On holiday we treated ourselves to a Cheesecake Factory guacamole (they make it up fresh when you order it) and so I attempted to re-create this as I have been dreaming about it ever since. It contained avocado, sea salt, freshly squeezed lime juice and chopped cherry tomatoes. I did consider adding a little bit of chilli but as we were having that in the sweet potato chilli I thought a cooler guacamole would be better. It was wonderful. Mmm. And Andy even said it tasted like the Cheesecake Factory one 🙂 I had it with some iced tea as I had just spent the last hour and a bit planting out onions in the allotment.

As the weather has been getting warmer I have been making salads for my lunch. I do love them, and they fill me up so much, but they take so long to eat! Which is OK I suppose if you have a normal lunch break, but I am usually in a meeting/ doing marking/ getting resources ready for the afternoon etc, so a long lunch is not so good! Anyway, these contained spinach, balsamic, grated carrot, courgette and beetroot (all stained by the beetroot though), roasted pepper, artichoke, chickpeas, hummus, extra carrot sticks for dipping, and pine nuts. I had then with a couple of pumpkin seed ryvitas, and some fruit (although mostly I ran out of time to eat the fruit)- very summery.

This afternoon I spent some time cooking in the kitchen, as in the week I ate the last of my freezer stash of these Mexican casseroles (they were loosely based on a recipe from Oh She Glows, but I am not sure they are really a casserole at all). It is one of my favourite meals- roasted celery, peppers, red onion, quinoa, tomato, sweetcorn, some kind of beans (?), spinach, a little chilli, and then served with salad and avocado. Mmmm. I know I have mentioned it before but I think I am getting a slight avocado addiction (quite a few times on holiday I would pay to have it added to a sandwich or meal). How did I think I didn’t like them for so long?

After pottering around this morning (or watching the elite races on the TV) I went out for a run in the sunshine. It was great, but I was so hot! I only wore a vest and capris, and I wasn’t expecting it to be that tough. I suppose when it gradually warms up you have time to get used to it. I did a 6.6ish mile loop, slower than recently but it was good to be outside getting some fresh air. I made pancakes for when I got home- I added some chia seeds to the batter, and used apple and blueberry puree in them which made a nice change, and the last of my lovely Meridian mincemeat.

Well done all you marathon runners too! I loved watching it on the TV, and each year I find it so inspiring.

Another lemon cake recipe, this time with blueberries

So, at the moment I am having a real obsession with lemon cake.

Last week I bought some blueberries with the plan of adding them to my weekend pancakes, but then I didn’t end up having any. After I made the lemon cake with the Seedburst, I still had some lemons left, so I decided to make a lemon and blueberry cake for Sunday tea.

I found this recipe for lemon traybake, and I was just going to add the blueberries to it, but the batter seemed very thick and almost dry, so I added the juice of one lemon, and a good splash of soya milk to it. I then added 150g blueberries to the mix, and once I had poured it into the brownie pan, I sprinkled some more over the top.

I love how the blueberries burst when they cook and go all jammy.

Once it was cool I poured over the icing (juice and zest of one lemon, plus icing sugar). Then I left that to set before I sliced it.

The cake seems to be super moist as I think a lot of the lemon juice from the icing has soaked in to it- when I opened the tin to take the photo I was hit by a burst of the tangy lemon smell- I am really looking forward to a piece later!

This morning I pottered about for ages while the snow was still coming down (I really thought when I first looked out the window that I had imagined the snow from yesterday), but after an hour or so I headed outside.

I think the snow was still drifting, as when I headed home my footprints were covered, plus some patches were clear, but then where there was a break in the trees the path would be snowy again. I found this patch of clear-ish pavement about half a mile from home and so ran up and down about 6 times I think. Once I got going it was OK- I took it slowly with small gentle steps, (really don’t want to injure myself) and in the end did just over 3 miles. When I turned to head into the wind it was horrible as the snow was coming down in those tiny balls that are more like hail- they really stung my face.

Pancakes for a warming breakfast! I used up the last of the blueberries, some in the pancakes and some with a chopped apple and fig cooked on the hob.

Yum cooked blueberries are just fabulous!

Pancakes plus tea while watching the Grand Prix= a good start to Sunday.