Running - Maria Runs

Perfect hot chocolate and a giveaway

So when I got home from work on Friday I was super tired, but I went out on a run for two reasons- I needed my third Jantastic run of the week, and I like a run after body pump as it helps loads with reducing stiffness. I did a short and fairly quick 2 miles, and that was enough for me!

The temperature had really dropped though, it really was very cold! I think I underestimated how cold I would get, and got quite chilly in the evening after dinner. Hot chocolate was the solution, and I have now the perfect method for it.

Yum, so frothy! I heat the milk in a little jug in the microwave (I use some kind of alpro light stuff), and then put the chocolate in the bottom of a mug (I use Montezuma’s hot chocolate, which is chocolate shavings, but small chocolate chips would work just as well) and pour a little of the warm milk on top. Then whisk it up with an aerolatte (or a mini whisk) until the chocolate melts and the milk froths up. Then pour over the rest of the warm milk.

Perfection.

This morning I went out on an 11 mile run. I did it in just over 2 hours, and I felt OK and a few times decided to go a bit faster for half a mile or so.

My legs were a little stiff when I got home, so post shower I tried out the Deep Freeze gel I was sent. It felt cool at first, but after a couple of minutes the iciness came through- a lot! It had quite a clinical smell, but not as strong as the Deep Heat. Hopefully it will help with the stiffness a little.

Right, on to the giveaway. I was sent a little parcel of goodies for my blog a while ago, from Jamie, to help with fitness and motivation and goals.

So, I have a little giveaway with a couple of the items from the parcel. The Hairy Dieters Cookbook, and some Clipper Green Tea (I love the range of Clipper Teas- my favourites being their Earl grey and their Apple and Ginger).

I love watching the Bakers/ Bikers, and they lost a lot of weight by making sensible swaps and cutting down on portion sizes etc. The book is jam packed with healthier versions of meals; breakfasts, soups, curries, casseroles, tagines, lunch ideas, and even a little sample meal plan. A lot of them are meaty ideas, but you could easily sub them for a substitute and keep the sauce/ flavours the same I would think. It has some fab reviews on amazon, so if you fancy winning it, all you need to do is leave me a comment, saying what meal/ food you would love to be healthified. Mine would be caramel shortcake.

UK people only please, and you can get an extra entry by liking my page on facebook, or by linking to this on your blog. Leave me a comment to say if you have done these things too (or put it all in one comment- I will just write your name on more than one piece of paper, as I am all technical like that).

Over to you!

It will close next Friday, and I will pick a winner next weekend.

Compliments

Hey everyone.

So, what has been going on this week? On Monday I was still a bit stiff after the near 10 mile run on Sunday, and it was lashing down with rain after work, so I was pretty pleased to have a planned rest day!

On Tuesday I only had time for a short run after work (in the wind)- 3 miles done but at a pretty gentle pace. Never mind, I was saving it for Wednesday!

When I left to run up to the shop, it was so windy, and I did think that I could just run around the block- as long as it was over a mile I could count it towards Jantastic, and no-one would know! But as usual I am glad I went. We did the route known as “the hill” (because basically around here it is flat as a pancake, and this route has one short hill at the start)- this is a pretty good one, although there is one very dark patch, so I have to slow down loads. Plus there is an underpass which I hate (because I am a scaredy cat) but this time each time we got to a roundabout the people at the front had to run to the back, so we were together as a group for most of the way. Half a mile from the shop I tried to speed up a bit as I could see some of the fast ones still, and realised they were adding a little loop on! Urgh. In the wind. But I did it, and when I got back I was nearly last, as the people at the actual back had not added on the extra bit, and the guy from the shop said they were saying about how much faster I was getting. That was nice to hear, as I know I am a bit of a plodder. I am terrible at receiving compliments (isn’t everyone?) but I do feel that trying to keep up with the faster people is what has helped me (and I did say that to them).

Cannot work out how to rotate it…

Anyway, I kept my watch going for the run home (but it does not count the run up there as I don’t turn it on then), and I was super pleased to get the 4.5 miles under 10 min mile pacing. So good to be under the double figures 🙂 And good to have another 5+mile run midweek.

And then, look at what came in the post! The pack for the Brighton half! How exciting! I hope the wind dies down a bit though.

Tonight I got to try out the Ultimate Gym Bra, when I went to body pump.

I was kindly sent one to review, but I will at a later date as my brain is a bit tired now.

Tomorrow I plan to have a short run in the evening (after going to get some oil for my car, whoops) and then a long run on Saturday morning. I am aiming for about 11 miles, and then I think probably next weekend I will have a shorter one, maybe 8-10 miles. The week before the half I will be not able to run as much anyway because I have parent meetings one two evenings, so it will enforce a bit of a taper!

Oh, and all the members of Run Blog Bake! Make sure you log on and choose the length of your long runs for Febulous- I have done but I might edit them before the Monday deadline.

Hooray it is nearly Friday!

Snowy weekend, and less than 100%

Yep, I can’t not mention it I am afraid. So I will try to be brief.

Friday evening:

Keeping warm with a hot chocolate (swapped this mug with some smaller ones which are now at work instead). Got a bit of a cold.

Saturday morning:

Pumpkin Pancakes (made with peanut flour so they basically fell apart)-plus cooked apple and some meridian mincemeat- plus teapigs chocolate tea for a late breakfast.

Opening a parcel from the blogging team at confused.com for me to use for the blog- giveaways for some of the items will be coming up at some point.

Saturday afternoon:

Making chocolate covered mango with some yummy urban fruit mango.

Eating a lot of the mango while Andy cleared a lot of the parking area outside.

(This was Sunday morning, when the snow started and had begun to cover where he cleared- although you can see a lot of what he cleared...)

I also helped Andy for about half an hour with the sweeping of the snow- we ended up with 3 piles as the area is communal so we have to move it right to the edge so it is not in the way of any of the parking spaces.

Going on a snowy walk (mainly to see the state of the pavements).

Pavements near us were not good!

To be fair, neither was the road.

Frozen pond (usually has fountains running in it too).

Later Saturday afternoon:

Baking a carrot cake (used the recipe from the new Leon book- a pretty healthy recipe, using a little oil- I used hazelnut- plus agave nectar, wholegrain flour, carrots, coconut, spices…).

Saturday night:

Enjoying a slice of the carrot cake (topped with a little icing made with orange juice and icing sugar).

Sunday morning:

Went out on a snowy run. The pavements were OK on Saturday- they had been cleared and gritted, and my cold was loads better, so I decided to do a short run to get my third of the week (so not 100% for week too, boo)- instead of the 10 miles planned. Ah well. It was fun- the snow was coming down while I was running, and I ended up looping around the same bit several times- I ended up running next to my first lot of foot prints so it looked like someone had jumped along with their feet next to each other. It amused me, anyway. That photo was when I got back, and the bit that we cleared on Saturday was covered completely!

Cranberry pecan swirl for breakfast after a shower to warm up.(Yes, I did a lot of baking this weekend!). I used this recipe, but divided it into 9, so I made 2 generous ones.

Sunday evening:

Deep heat on my back- one side was really sore and I can only think it was from sweeping up all the snow on Saturday- pointless as it turned out to be!

Monday:

Spent the day working as my school was closed (I was very relieved as the roads around here were not gritted)- I usually have planning time on a Monday so I did that at home instead.

Late in the afternoon I needed some fresh air, so I went for a run. The pavements were awful! They seemed to be cleared in short places (the business park by me usually clears them as they have these little mini truck things), but then not in others. So I was jumping over piles of snow, running through inches of slush- my socks were wet through and my feet were freezing by the time I got home. 4 miles was quite enough! Luckily the deep heat can be used on chillblains too. The snow went past my ankles (I don’t think the picture shows it very well)- and more snow below that was compacted! Anyway, at least the roads were clear so driving tomorrow will be fine once I get off my road, as it still is covered in compacted snow and ice.

I also made some foccacia bread (from the Hairy Bakers book) and roasted up some butternut squash and sweet potato, for some soup.

Soup and warm bread = a perfect dinner after a run in the snow.

So, to sum up, my weekend was a bit like my Jantastic team (which are all awesome by the way)- filled with running, baking, and now a long blog!

Bye 🙂

Extra long workout

Hey peeps, I hope you are all staying warm.

I won’t go on about the snow (I wish I had taken some photos yesterday as it looked so pretty) but it did put a bit of a spanner in my plans. Anyway, let’s rewind. On Saturday I went out for a 9.3 mile run- I decided to do my usual loop but add a little on at the start- for some reason that is psychologically easier than adding on more at the end. Anyway, I really enjoyed it. I mean, loads more than usual. It was freezing, and I kept gloves and long sleeves on (whereas sometimes I take them off/ roll them up as I get warm), but I kept a steady pace, and felt pretty strong. I suppose I have been doing a similar distance for a while now, so my legs must be getting used to it. And I didn’t get a headache in the afternoon either- I think “real” tea after I finish helps with this.

Sunday was pancakes (pumpkin pancakes with apple and mincemeat) plus tea. Then we were off to London- we had a lovely walk through Hyde Park and around, had a bite to eat (there was a Leon right by the theatre, so we went there- I had a lovely falafel wrap thing) and then went to see Jersey Boys. It was good fun. I didn’t know much about it, but I recognised loads of the songs.

I was meant to be going to Starbucks after work to meet some friends, but the snow was coming down hard from about 11.15am, and by the afternoon was laying on the playground, paths and road, so we postponed and went home as soon as we could. I was thinking I might have a run if the pavements near me were clear (sometimes they are efficient near me) but they were not, so I did some work and had a hot chocolate instead.

Today by the time I got home a lot of the snow had gone, and the paths near me had been cleared, so I decided to have a run. Oh my word this turned into such a long workout! Because it is so cold I have many many layers on to wear to work, and then going out running today I wore: a thermal long sleeved top, a t shirt, a jacket, tights, leg warmers (love these because the tights let in cold air where the zips are), buff, headwarmer, gloves. It took me about ten minutes I think to change for my run!

But it was worth it. I took the run slowly because some of the pavements were not clear- some had been gritted but most had not, and in the dark it was hard to see the icy patches- I slipped a few times, and where I could I ran on the grass instead. 4 miles, in the freezing cold, but at least I was out there longer than it took for me to change.

I am hoping to make my 4 runs this week still- hopefully the Sweatshop run will be on tomorrow, and then I will do the other 2 at the weekend.

I am so pleased with how the team is getting on! We now have 11 members (and you can still sign up if you want to)- so we count as a medium team! Everyone logged their runs in the first week, and most people got 100% in their target. I am not expecting to get 100% the whole way through- I usually do 3 runs per week, but I was persuaded to go for 4 after listening to the show. I want to aim for something a bit higher- they were saying if you hit your goals all the time then your goals are too easy, and for me 3 runs was too easy. I am not saying it is for others, but I am saying getting 100% is not everything either, it is the taking part that counts. Although I might get a little competitive- I was rivalled by another Maria (this is just for fun- you can compare your % results side by side, so extra motivation I suppose) and she is winning at the moment!

Sadly (although the team name suggests otherwise) there has still been no baking! And not much blogging either. Ah well.

I shall leave you with my post pump snack:

Papaya with coconut coyo and a little lime curd. Delicious, but super rich.

Did anyone build a snowman? Or anyone else had plans disrupted because of the weather?

Popchips + pushing myself

Hey all

Before Christmas I was sent some Popchips to try.

The package had lots of different flavours (all suitable for vegetarians) and a handy bag clip too.

I had seem them on a few blogs before, not I had not tried them myself, so I was looking forward to it. I don’t regularly eat crisps, but I do love salt and vinegar ones, so if they are offered I will often have some. Popchips are made from potatoes, but they are popped (like popcorn, apparently, although I can’t picture how that works!)- they also contain some oil and seasonings etc. Each bag was under 100 calories- much lower than a packet of crisps, so if you are on a healthy eating kick at the moment they would be a good swap if you normally have crisps with lunch or for snacks.

We tended to share them- especially for lunch on a Saturday (I like something salty after a long run).

The sour cream and onion ones were lovely- I used to quite like that flavour of Pringles until I saw some video on You-Tube about pringles melting and all the fat that comes out of them (although can’t find it when I searched- anyway trust me it was horrible). These were perfect with tomato soup anyway.

The Original ones were fab too (oh dear that is my panettone that I managed to burn in the toaster)- I found the texture a bit lighter than normal crisps- they reminded me a bit of chipsticks (anyone remember those?) but flat. Maybe those crossed with a rice cake, but in a good way.

The Salt and vinegar ones are my favourite so far, as I thought they would be! Andy asked me to save him some, but I didn’t manage to!

I have not tried the other flavours yet, but I am sure we will enjoy them at some point.

Of course, they are a processed food, but they are lower in calories and fat than a packet of crisps. Also I bet some of them would be lovely to dip into hummus. And I am sure the salt and vinegar ones will make their way into my shopping basket!

What is your favourite crisp flavour?

Onto Jantastic! I have been storming through the week- As well as Monday evening I did a run after work on Tuesday (just under 3 miles) and then the Sweatshop run on Wednesday evening. They decided to do a longer route than usual by adding on a small loop at the end. I was not sure what to do (as I have to run home too) so I said to them that if the front group was in my sight by that point then I would add the extra bit on too. The route starts off with quite a tough hill (not many hills around here so it is good to do that one) but even with that (and stopping to cross a road) my first mile was 10.10- fast- and then after that I managed to speed up even more. I could not quite keep up with the front runners, but through the mist I could just about see one person ahead of me, so I did the extra loop. I was last back because the people behind me missed out the last bit, but I don’t mind that. I kept my watch going and included the run home- the trouble was because I had stopped for a few minutes I was suddenly freezing, so I think I ran home as fast as I could to get warm/ to get to the warm, whereas usually it is a bit slower. Anyway, the run and the run home I managed an average pace of 9.27 min miles! 4.5 miles in 42 mins- miles 2, 3 , 4 and the extra half all started with a 9! Including the run up there I did 5.3 miles- I am quite glad I am starting to run a bit further in the evenings again. And of course, Jantastic week 1 run number 3=done!

What is weird is that I ran that by myself, except for the first half mile where we were all together as a group. But I still run much faster than when I am on my own. Not sure what it is about the run that means I push myself harder than when I am on my own. But I suppose it is good to have runs at different paces- my short/ medium length runs on my own are probably 10.30 average pace, and my longer runs are more like 11-11.30 min mile pace, so at least I am getting some variation in there.

After dinner we decided to start our Christmas cake- very late I know! That was very tasty indeed.

I also had a few deliveries this week- I had an Amazon voucher so I put it towards this Leon book, and I saw this amazing Thermospatula (the thermometer but can be taken out of the spatula part) on Lakeland, as the markings on my thermometer are rubbing off. Although we still have not sorted out our oven so there won’t be much baking in the near future.

On Thursday night I went to pump- that turned into a bit of a comedy class as the studio was closed so we had to go in the creche- a tiny triangle shaped room with a low ceiling. There were no steps, not the right weights, the CD player kept skipping, of course there were no mirrors (never realised how much I rely on them during the class), there was hardly any space- we had to lay down in alternate directions to check the weights would not clash, and during some tracks the taller people had to be careful of the ceiling! The poor instructor did her best as it must have been so tough. Hopefully back to normal next week. I still ached like mad all of Friday though!

Right, I am off for a run now (number 4 of the week)- no snow here yet but I shall be wrapping up warm as it is sooooo cold!

What did you get up to this week?