Running - Maria Runs

Excitement and almond milk

Hey peeps,

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Sunday morning started off for me with a trip to the allotment:

It was super weedy! We let the grass grow on the paths between the beds, but the weeds were not paying attention to my rules. Anyway, about an hour and a half later, I was very satisfied with how it was looking:

Much better!

My Dad planted those leeks for me a few weeks back, so that bit only needed a teeny bit of weeding. I also managed to pick some raspberries 🙂 I am amazed they are still going strong.

I spent a bit of time envying the plot next to mine:

Amazing pumpkins- they are massive and there are loads! My pumpkin plant still only has teeny flowers on it- no chance of one this year.

After that I was in need of breakfast!

After some work, Andy and I popped into town as we needed to get a few bits- we also popped to Starbucks 🙂 He tried a pumpkin latte (and made me try a bit even though I don’t like coffee- the coffee taste overwhelmed anything else, but Andy quite liked it)- I had the usual chai tea latte- sprinkled with cinnamon and nutmeg. I heard someone order a vanilla chai tea latte, so I am sure I will be able to ask for the pumpkin syrup with that- has anyone done that before?

I also went into Waitrose, and picked up a copy of the Love Life magazine.

I have bought it a few times and it is OK, but I saw a sign saying it was free with a My Waitrose card (I was persuaded to have one a while back, but usually you get 1p off each shop!)- anyway, inside was a little Almond Breeze booklet, plus vouchers for free plain and chocolate almond milk! Result!

As it has been getting colder I have been having porridge (with almond milk or coconut milk)- this week was with pumpkin purée molasses, spices and sometimes a nectarine too. Nice and warming 🙂 It is so dark in the mornings now- pitch black outside when I have my breakfast 🙁

Then, when I got home from work today, I had this on the door mat! Less than 2 weeks til the next half marathon! It spurred me on for my 3 miler- managed 3.1 in 31 mins, so keeping up the speed 🙂

What are you excited about right now? Anyone tried the pumpkin latte (without coffee?)?

Can other people make me run faster?

I think they can.

When I got home from work yesterday, I was tired. I suppose the late night on Monday didn’t help, and the wind and rain made me feel like staying inside and having cups of tea, and then because it looked like it might rain later, I was tempted to go out for a short one on my own. But the nature of having a club means that I feel obliged to go, when I can. Anyway, I went, and I am so glad I did (as always). I wore my yellow t shirt for the first time as it was too cold for a vest:

When I got there, every other person had their yellow t-shirts on too! That has not happened before (one girl borrowed a jacket), but then a new person came- we did all assure her that usually we are not all so coordinated! Anyway, it was a new route, we set off, and almost right away there was a big hill! There are not many of those around here. Sometimes on the runs we manage to stay together, but sometimes we spread out a bit, and Wednesday was one of those occasions. I could spot the yellow t-shirts up ahead, and I tried hard to keep them in sight (partly because I didn’t want to get lost!). I was running with another girl for a bit, but I ended up being a little ahead of her. Anyway, whenever I glanced at my watch I could see that my pace was under 10 min miles. That is fast for me. On my own now I sometimes manage one mile under that, and I am pleased if I get close to ten minutes for the other miles (on shorter runs). I kept going up the hill, and tried to focus on my posture, as I know I have a tendency to slump forwards on hills, especially when I am tired.

After the hill was a nice long downhill bit, and I tried to concentrate again on keeping the speed consistent. I did get confused at one point as I crossed a road, only to find there was no pavement, just a big fence! But aside from that I didn’t really stop (except for once at traffic lights). Anyway, the route was about 3.2miles, and I was amazed that I was back at the shop in 31 mins! The super speedy ones were already there, stretching and chatting, and we only had to wait another minute or so for the last people to come in.

I kept my watch going, and timed my run home (often it goes into power saving mode so I don’t time the run there or back)- but adding on the run home took it to over 4 miles, (4.04 miles) in 39 mins! I managed to keep the sub ten minute mile pace for 4 miles! OK so there was a little rest between the third and final mile, but still, I was very pleased.

I was trying to look through my Garmin stats on the computer, but I am not that great with it. But I know that my Sweatshop runs are my fastest runs of the week. Even if I do 3 miles on my own, I am a little slower (Tuesday I did 3 miles- it was super windy and felt slow, and actually was pretty good, but not as fast as this).

I am sure that having other people around helps to motivate me, and also helps to push me a little harder than I push myself. I know that when I do body pump I manage a lot more than when I do the 30 day shred video- it is so tempting to put the weights down! So I am sure some of that effect will translate into running with a group too. Although I have found that runs with Andy are worse for me, as he goes too fast, I try to keep up and end up gasping for breath and struggling. I suppose with these runs, I set my pace within the pace of a group which must work out better as there is a range. Plus seeing the people further on is like seeing the carrot dangling on a stick.

Anyway, I really enjoy them anyway even just as a social thing- a few people asked about the Great North Run, and another person (the barefoot girl) had done an all terrain triathlon (including swimming in a lake!) and it is so lovely to have a little chat about these sorts of things.

I can totally see the benefits of a running club, although for me that sounds very “serious”, and I like the fact that this is a bit more relaxed than I perceive other clubs to be.

A while ago I was trying to get my 10K down to under an hour- the closest I managed was 61 mins, and although I am slower than that at the moment (as a 10k is 6.2 miles, so it has to be sub 10 min miles for the whole time), I can see that regularly having these faster runs in the week will hopefully help me to get to that goal. Although I don’t have any 10K races booked- the two local ones that I like at this time of year clash with the Oxford half (well one does, the other is the week before when I want to be running longer). So I will keep my eye out.

Anything exciting planned for the weekend?

What goals are you working towards at the moment?

Do you notice the effect from other people when working out etc?

Time for (lots of) tea

Hey all

I hope everyone has had a lovely weekend, and avoided the horrible weather. I thought it was meant to be awful today, but we have only had a little rain today.

Anyway, this weekend has been all about tea.

I have been slowly working my way through the mountain of teabags I was sent from teapigs.

Last week I made a latte using a chocolate flake teabag and some vanilla soya milk.

When I got home on Friday I had the chocolate flake tea, just plain with milk. Both versions are very delicious.

The pure lemongrass tea is lovely- so refreshing and delicate.

Of course I have been loving the earl grey tea too (Darjeeling Earl Grey– very refined).

Saturday started with a trip to the allotment, to do a little weeding (there is so much weeding to do all the time!) and plant out some strawberries. I do have pumpkin envy as one plot next to me has at least 3 massive pumpkins growing, whereas only one of my pumpkin plants survived the slugs and is tiny, with only flowers (so no hope for a pumpkin this year). I spent a good hour there, and I picked some raspberries too.

Then after a bit of pottering at home (urgh- housework! Dusting, sweeping and cleaning floors, cleaning bathrooms, sorting out drawers) I headed out on a run. I decided to do 7 miles, and the loop I chose ended up being just under that. It went well, I felt OK, and so my plan for the next few weeks is to do 9 miles, 11 miles, and then I think it is my next half marathon (if I have counted the weeks right).

It was cold! I think I might need to put the vests away soon! I had a yummy peanut 9bar when I got home (the lovely Ffion mentioned that after her review, the lovely people at 9bar were sending out samples)- it was delicious. Plus some of the chocolate soya milk, which turned out to have gone past it’s date about 6 months ago whoops.

I needed warming up, so after my shower I had a mint tea. This was free in the Waitrose magazine, which by the way is free to My Waitrose card holders (have had one of those cards for ages and never sure what the point of it was).

After burning my toast (testing my smoke alarms) for lunch, I went out to the shops for a bit. Right, there was actually a whole stand of Christmas gifts in Debenhams. What is the deal???

I had a chai latte in starbucks (and saw that the pumpkin latte is apparently “coming soon”- wonder if you can have that without syrup?

Next time I think I will sprinkle on some cinnamon too. It was so lovely I sat outside- won’t be able to do that for much longer.

Anyway, I parked in Waitrose so I had to buy something!

There was a £1 off the Twinings tea, so I bought the Earl Grey stuff as although the mint humbug tea was lovely, I have a massive jar of mint tea. Plus baking things- gluten free flour (half price), chocolate drops (on offer), cinnamon sugar (on offer), posh cocoa powder, and rice crispies. I also got some coconut water as the Waitrose magazine had £1 off that too. What can I say, I like the offers!

I had to try the tea, and I love it! It does not quite taste like earl grey, but it did have a hint of an aniseed flavour, and was quite sweetie-like. Good for keeping me going during some work (my brain likes caffeine I think).

Then I got my bake on!

Dark chocolate brownies with raspberries (all from the allotment!) and white chocolate stars (which I added after, because otherwise they melt and turn into a horrible greasy mess). For work 🙂

I was sent another parcel of goodies from American Soda, so I cracked open the pumpkin.

For some pumpkin spice cakes.

Need to learn how to turn the flash off- using a newer camera now

Had one with some tropical rooibos tea (from Sainsbury’s) after dinner (found a mexican casserole in the freezer- win).

Then I chilled out and watched the Great British Bake off, and then a film about some men who decided to run across the Sahara. Amazing.

This morning I went out on a short run (3.6 miles in 34 mins, not bad) before it started to rain. I was expecting it to be awful today, but perhaps we have that saved for tomorrow instead? I have done some more baking and more pottering, and had even more tea whilst watching the Grand Prix.

Tasty breakfast of warmed baked apricots, yoghurt and granola, with a teapigs chai tea.

We are trying to hold out not putting the heating on, but it is getting very chilly now!

What did you get up to this weekend? Has the storm hit yet?

What a G(n)Reat weekend!!!!

Be warned, this is going to be a long one!

Friday night we got the train up to Newcastle, and arrived pretty late (it is 3 hours on the train from here). We managed to sleep until 10am on Saturday (the hotel room had black out blinds so the light didn’t wake me up) – we could hear the tannoy announcer for the Junior run and things.

It was lovely weather as we walked across from our hotel to the city.

Anyway, by the time we had walked up into the town from Gatehead, it was lunch time. I had seen Laura mention Olive and Bean before, and neither of us had been to Newcastle before, so we went there and had a lovely lunch, including a Teapigs Chai tea + soya latte for me- yum. After a wander around the shops, I left Andy to go and meet up with Laura and Sarah.

I was very excited, but also very nervous beforehand as I had not met them before, just read their blogs. Anyway, it was wonderful to meet them both- we went for a tea in the same shop- can you see the wall of tea and coffee in the pic? What a perfect place to meet!

After that I just had to show Andy the wall of tea (we only had a little glance as we had eaten upstairs), so we went back again and bought some cake for later (carb loading??) and two packets of tea (including one which smells of marzipan) even though I was just saying to the girls that we had enough tea at home- I could not resist and luckily Andy liked the sound of them too.

We had an early dinner (yummy salad in Zizzi’s), a bit of disaster with trying to pre-buy our metro tickets (turns out you can’t??), then I bought some jelly beans as I realised I hadn’t packed any mid-run snacks, and then a nice walk back to the hotel.

The view from the Millennium Bridge was very pretty.

Then it was back to the room to get ready.

In the end I pinned my number on to the charity vest, as I was wearing a normal vest top underneath- much easier than pinning it on once I am wearing it.

The next morning we got up early for showers and a teacake (not sure if that was the best breakfast, but I knew it would settle OK), and then a walk to the start. It was overcast, but mild. I was super nervous though! I packed some spare toilet paper into the waist-band of my capris just in case.

This apparently was the photo that I looked less terrified in! I had my bottle with a nuun tab in it (as I prefer to have that while I run) and a little bag of jelly beans. The organisation was amazing- the bag drop was great (big buses) but I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the number of people there. You hear that 54,000 people do it, but that is hard to comprehend I think.

Anyway, Andy was in a pen further up than me, so we wished each other good luck and then went to find our places. I got a bit tearful- I think that this was the first race that I have done that I was genuinely worried about not making it to the end. Plus I keep on thinking about when I was unwell, and things will pop into my head (not really flashbacks, but I will suddenly remember something bad from the hospital or something)- anyway, I want to put that behind me.

My pen (a green one- near the back with about 3 pens behind me I think) was filled with people already- loads of charity runners, some men dressed as penguins (my favourites)- everyone was very friendly. The warm up guy was funny, making everyone do the Mo-bot and the Bolt! I could see a big screen but not really hear it- I did see the elite women being introduced (a big cheer for Jo Pavey and Freya Murray). I saw the men too, but again could not really hear. I got a bit teary at the start again, dearie me. I was hoping no-one was looking at me that closely to notice.

They were off! Only we were off, then we stopped, walked a bit, stopped, walked some more. I could see people on the screens giving high-fives to Mo, Greg Rutherford, Ellie Simmonds etc.We saw the Red Arrows fly over (and a lady near me said that last year she started further up the front and was crossing the bridge by the time they flew over). Anyway, by the time I saw the start line the clock said 35 mins! I cannot believe it took that long but it was a lot of people. As I was about to cross the line I saw two queues for the toilets- well it turned out one was for the toilets, and one was to high five Mo and Ellie! I decided not to go back so instead I just shouted “woo Mo!”. I bet he heard me???? Haha.

By then it was raining quite hard so my glasses were foggy. But the atmosphere was just brilliant! I loved it! Even with the rain the streets were crowded with people cheering, little kids trying to get high-fives, people giving out water, jelly beans, beer (!). The bands were brilliant too, although I always think things like that could do with more. There were so many charity runners (the man with the fridge- amazing)- I was loving just reading the different messages and charity vests.

I was looking at my Garmin (I pressed go just before the start, which meant that I got a beep just a bit before each mile marker which was good as then I could look out for it) and saw that my first mile was 10 something (too fast for that length of race for me) but it was hard to slow down. Anyway, people were going past me and I kept saying to myself “the tide is going out” (from Marathon talk and something I try to think about)- at the start most people will go too fast so they will overtake you, but by the end you will be overtaking some as they slow, so the tide comes back in again. Anyway, it worked because I managed to slow down, and did the first 5K in about 35 mins (34.16 according to the official results page). There were a few hills, but nothing too long or too steep, and after an hour the rain stopped so I could clean my glasses and look properly! Still the streets were lined with kids (although I wasn’t keen on the kids that were picking up water from the stations and squirting them at runners- maybe nicer on a hot day)- “Come and get your jelly beans here” etc- like going to the market! I was trying to count down the miles I had left, but as well as mile markers they had mats for 5K, 10K and 15K. Now, I am fine with maths, but clearly not when I am running, because I was very surprised when, just after 10k, I passed the half way sign- I had worked out half way as being 8 miles! Duh!

When I had 5 miles left, I started on the jelly beans- I didn’t end up having too many (after a while the sugary feeling in your mouth is a bit horrible really), but I thought I would need the boost.

Around 10 miles ish, we went through the Bupa Boost Zone- the Great South run had one of these two- they have a guy cheering people on, playing sort of pumping music, and they were saying about how we were getting close. Again, I got all emotional and nearly cried as I was running through it. I just kept on thinking that it was the furthest I have run this year, since I was out of hospital etc, and sort of remembering how far I have come since then. Silly.

When I got to 10 miles, I was close to South Shields and could see signs for the coast. Then the Red Arrows started flying up ahead. I knew they were doing the display at 1.15, but as it had taken me so long to cross the start line I had no hope of getting there in time. But it was perfect timing- apparently one of the hills near the end lasts for a mile, but I was so distracted watching them that I didn’t really notice it. I just love seeing them. My favourite bit was when they created a heart in the sky, and a women near me shouted “Oh my G*d, they are doing the Mo-bot!” Er, no, it was a heart- made me giggle anyway.

The Red Arrows continued- I went down the hill and saw the sea! I tried to run down it fast, like the Sweatshop people have been trying to help me get better at it. There were brilliant signs “It’s the sea!” was my fave! The Red Arrows were still going strong, and then all of a sudden it was the last mile! The crowds were massive, and I was trying to look out for my Dad’s cousin and their orange balloons, but I stood no chance! At the 800m to go sign, I realised I was going to finish, and tried to keep a steady pace and not let the adrenaline get to me too soon. Then with the 400m sign I picked up the pace a little (tried to overtake the people who were walking), and then I heard someone say “that’s the end, the blue sign” so I pushed on. Only the blue sign was by the corner, and you had to turn and run up another 10m or so before the actual finishers line. I was so excited to cross the finish line, and then of course more tears came. I have no idea why I found it so emotional, but I did. I also realised that I was pretty close to 2 1/2 hours, which was the time I was aiming for. My first half I did in 2.32, and my second in 2.19 (but I knew I was not that fast)- I did it in 2.27 so I am really pleased- it is a “come-back pb” anyway, but also it my second best time (out of 3). Plus I ran the whole way- I was going to let myself walk if I needed to, but I didn’t!

It took a while to meet up with Andy- he had already collected our bag and had some food.

I was excited to have a space blanket in my bag, and of course a medal too! I did it!!!!!!!

By this time, it was gone 2pm, and so we headed to the Metro station (easier said than done)- it seemed a long hobble! Then a long queue. I had a cereal bar in the queue, but I was not feeling that hungry. Anyway, the trains were organised, but the queues were huge, so by the time we had got on a train, got to Gateshead and walked down to our hotel, it was after 4pm! Where did the time go? We both changed (always pack baby wipes for races) as I didn’t want to spend another second in my running clothes, let alone a 3 hour train journey. As I was changing I found the toilet paper in my waistband- rather disintegrated! (I hadn’t needed to use the port-a-loos in the end).

Anyway, we started walking to the train station, but just over the bridge we saw a taxi, and thank goodness it was there. We had just enough time to buy a sandwich at the station, before getting to our 5pm train. Then the hunger just hit me- I realised that all I had eaten was a tea cake, some jelly beans and a cereal bar- not great to get to 5pm with just that.

When we changed trains we had about 25 mins, so we bought a cup of tea at the station before the final journey home- got in the door just before 9pm last night. It turned out to be a long day! But a brilliant one too.

Then it was time for a quick shower, dinner (I bought a nice Waitrose pizza on Friday for us to share as I wanted something that could just be put in the oven and needed nothing doing to it), and a rest in front of the TV. I put my compression socks on and I had forgotten how much they help.

This morning I was a bit stiff, but I have not been too bad. I am having today and tomorrow off from running, and am going to see how I feel on Wednesday- I might go to Sweatshop, or I might do a jog on my own if I am still a bit sore.

Anyway, I loved it! I loved the crowd support, and the atmosphere- it was the closest feeling to running Stockholm marathon. I loved all the random signs, the crowd doing the Mo-bot, the charity runners in their fancy dress, the amazing man with the fridge on his back (I passed him after about 10 miles- how was he still running???), the people setting up their own water and food stalls (Andy saw people giving out beer near the end- each to their own!). The one thing I would say is that Powerade should make smaller bottles- after each station there were so many bottles discarded where runners had only taken one sip and then thrown it- what a waste. Ideally I would have spent the night up there and travelled back down today, but one of the small draw backs of teaching is of course that I can’t take days off, so it did turn into a bit of a rush at the end. But it was brilliant, and each time I think about it, I am smiling.

Today I left work earlier than usual, brought my marking home and watched the race (set it to tape yesterday) and had some new tea 🙂 Resting my legs.

Right, that is enough for now. Thanks again for anyone who has sponsored me, for all the good luck wishes etc. (And if you did sponsor me, I will be getting my bake-on next weekend).

What did you get up to this weekend?

Sponsorship plea

Hey peeps.

Thanks for all the lovely messages on my last post- I keep going from feeling confident that I will manage the GNR, to waves of panic about not finishing and missing the train back home. Anyway, I am trying to stay in a positive frame of mind. A lovely colleague sponsored me the other day, and when I thanked her she told me that she was so impressed because of all I have been through this year. Sometimes when I refer back to my op, I feel a bit like I am making a meal out of nothing, seeing as it was a small op, no complications etc. But when I came home from the hospital I could barely walk, so I suppose the fact I am running now is a reason to celebrate, and a reason to feel proud that I have come back from that really.

Anyway, I enjoy running races, and usually just run for myself, but once a year I like to raise money for charity. This year I missed the Race for Life near me (races?), and didn’t get a place through the GNR ballot. But my Dad’s cousin worked for a charity (a branch of the Sheffield Hospitals Charity- the kidney research part)- they also run it each year (as well as doing other fund raising things) and I think the charity does really good work. Anyway, they secured me a charity place, which sorted out my charity of the year dilemma.

Last year I did a few give-aways for people who sponsored me, but this year I am going to do a Great British Bake off style giveaway, and if you sponsor me I will send you out some home-made goodies. Any donations are very much appreciated- every pound adds up after all. So in advance if you feel you can sponsor me a little bit then I sent you my thanks xx

The link is here.

(I chose My Donate because the charity gets more than it would from other donating websites- something I didn’t know before).

On the subject of running, taper time is here! Yesterday my run went well and each mile was a little quicker, and today I did just over 3 miles, and again (despite the wind) kept a faster pace. When I started back, 3 miles was taking me nearly 40 mins, but on my own it is down to about 33/34, and with Sweatshop it is a bit lower. Anyway, tomorrow I have a late meeting at work (so no Sweatshop run, boo), and Thursday is pump. Friday night we are getting the train up, so no more running before Sunday! Ahhh!

But I am in a positive frame of mind.

And thanks again if anyone does sponsor me. Maria xx