Running - Maria Runs

Lentil loving

And some other pulses.

By the way I had to move the blog over which is why it was not working yesterday. But normal service should be resumed now.

Today the plan was 6 miles, 2 mile warm up, 2 miles tempo, 2 miles cool down, which I duly did. I was tired though- the other night I did not sleep well and yesterday at aerobics I was having such trouble following the moves! Luckily the girl that goes behind me in my row did not mind! She knows I normally do them right. Back to today- the run was fine, and when I looked at my watch at the mile markers (they are in my head but I know where they are) I was doing pretty well, first 2 miles in 21 minutes, next 2 miles in 18 mins, and a nice cool down too.

And the best bit? Why that was the warm shower! Oh, and ticking off the runs on my piece of paper with a red pen!

Last night I made a new chilli- Lentil chilli.

YUm! It was super easy and I didn’t even put an onion in there, although you could! It made 4 big servings, and was perfect for refuelling post aerobics.

In a pan I cooked 2 chopped peppers and a courgette (but any veg would do, those are my faves!), then added 2 tins tomatoes, 1 tin kidney beans and 1 tin lentils, some garlic and chilli, and then left to simmer for a while (eg time to shower, dry hair etc). I had it with a sweet potato, which I microwaved (sorry Jess) because I forgot about it until 10 mins to go! What an easy dinner!

Yum again! Look at the steam!

I used to be such a bad vegetarian- carbs and cheese all the way (honestly I used to have pasta with tomato sauce most nights as that was all I could be bothered to do), but this week I realised that I have been good at getting my protein from beans/ pulses. This is not that recent but I have been branching out with other varieties.

Saturday I had bean bake (which is onions, peppers, tomatoes, herbs, garlic, cannelini beans) with some home made bread which exploded all over the baking tray and so I renamed foccacia bread.

The bread once it exploded!

Sunday Andy’s mum made a lovely bean chilli 🙂 (which is even more lovely as they all had roast chicken)

Monday I had my lovely chickpea stew

And then lentil chilli yesterday. Do you know I never even used to like baked beans? Although I do have a theme to most of my dinners- I like to add courgette and peppers to just about everything!

Last night I also tried some of my Nature’s Path cereal;

This was so delicious! It was so crunchy and it had a good ginger taste (but not too strong)- really different from other cereals- perfect for adding crunch to yoghurt etc too I would think.

Ok, I am first going to say well done for reading this far, as I realise this is quite a long post! I have a selection of energy gels, and I am wondering, at what stage in my training do I need to try them? When do I actually take them? They have on them things like 3 per hour, of max 40 per day (both of which seem exessive) so any ideas? Do they really give people bad stomachs? Am I better to try them before a shorter run so they don’t spoil my long run? Or near the end so I am close to home if trouble strikes? I know some people have them for 10k’s and half’s, and I never did, so not sure if I am behind the times, or behind the training?

Phew, long question, I will leave you all to ponder- night 🙂

Better intervals

Hooray!

Today I decided to learn some lessons from last weeks’ bad attempt. The plan was 6 miles fartlek, so I decided (after listening to them talking about intervals on marathon talk, see I told you I go on about it a lot) to have some 3 minute intervals in the middle. I warmed up nice and slowly for 2 miles (actually it was just over 2 miles in 21 minutes), then I did 3 minutes of faster running (hard work, but not flat out as I had to maintain it for that long), then a minute of jogging to recover. I repeated the intervals 5 times, and then did another mile and a bit to cool down. Altogether I managed just under 6 miles in 57 minutes, so not a bad average time either.

I was well hydrated, I did not have an apple, and I visited the bathroom before I went out, and I felt good during the run. I feel the need for some foam rolling now though!

I had to have a very lukewarm shower (that turned cold) as I had forgotten to put on the hot water. Oops. But I had some yummy chickpea stew to warm me up after 🙂 Love those freezer meals!

On another note, thanks to all the comments on the post yesterday. I really enjoyed Born to Run and I hope other people will do. It is quite cheap here on amazon too.

Night 🙂

Dreary weather, fun questions

Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be a depressing post. But the weather is dreary! Last night I went out straight from work, and got home very late. I didn’t sleep well, and we had to be up at 7 as Andy is expecting a delivery (between 7-12 although at 3pm it still has not come). I think this coupled with the dreary weather made me feel less than enthusiastic about my run today. My plan was 10 miles, and once I was out there I did enjoy myself. I ended up going 10.5 miles in 1hr53 mins. My pace was pretty varied, but I think that was due to the wind. As my route has loops I almost had one mile of easy running and then one mile or hard running. At one point I felt like I could have leant parrallel to the floor and not fallen over as it was so strong! I was trying to think about landing gently on the ground, and keeping a gentle slow rhythm, and when I finished I felt like I could have gone on still. Marathon talk was talking about intervals, and how it is important to add them to marathon training, which has spurred me on to keep on at them in the week. It is hard to believe that a year ago I had just started training for my first half marathon. I found I could do 7 or 8 mile runs ok, but once I went over that distance I was shattered and really felt like I was dragging myself home for the last few miles. I am pleased that I can compare my running to this time last year and genuinely see an improvement.

Once home I had a peanut butter clif bar and some chocolate milk, and then after my shower I made myself have lunch pretty quick (to avoid the crash).

My lunch was delish! 2 slices of toasted seedy bread, filled with mashed banana and a little pb, sprinkled with cinnamon. Yum. Plus a pear and half a graze box (some brazil nuts and dark chocolate buttons).

(I took a bite before I decided to take another picture).

I have been reading blogs and I was excited to see that the lovely Jess has tagged me in a blog question thing. So here are the answers (and questions);

Four TV shows I watch.

The biggest loser

30 Rock

Burn Notice

The Office (american one)

(Yes I love american TV! )

Four things I am passionate about

Being healthy

Helping others

Running

Baking

Four words/ phrases that I use too much;

High Five!

like (instead of said- a bad bad habit I know!)

Morning (in a chirpy way- it annoys all the non morning people!)

On marathon talk this week….. (this drives Andy mad!!!)

Four things I’ve learnt from the past;

To not worry about what other people think, but to be happy in my own decisions.

That I can do more than I thought I was capable of.

That sometimes you grow apart from friends and that does not make you bad people, just people on different paths.

That if I am worried about something I should think “what’s the worst that could happen?” and then get on and do it anyway, because the worst does not usually happen.

Four things I am looking forward to;

Buying a marathon talk hoodie as my post marathon treat! I would feel a fraud wearing it (it says 26.2 on the front in big numbers) before I have actually done one!

My holiday in the summer- especially discovery cove 🙂

Seeing my friend get married in Italy later this year.

Doing some baking (this is a short term goal haha)

Four things I love about winter;

Feeling totally hardcore when I go running in the freezing weather!

Hot water bottles

Warm hats, scarves and gloves (and hoodies, and jeans, and massive fluffy socks)

A steaming bowl of soup after being outside in the fresh air

So now I have to tag four people. I have seen this on a few blogs and I can’t remember which ones, so sorry if you have already done it.

Laura at Box, run, eat!

Lara at Eat less, move more

Emma at sweet tooth runner

Stacey at the Habit of healthy

Sorry if you already answered! But if I didn’t tag you and you want to answer the questions, feel free 🙂

I am excited because I am going to do some baking tomorrow! 🙂 I have not baked for ages it seems, as we have been having all the christmassy things. So I have not decided what yet, but I am excited 🙂

Now for some tea 🙂

Move away from the plodding

In Born to Run last night, (I won’t spoil it) I read about how most people get very good at running a certain speed, but they do not go fast enough in their fast runs, or slow enough in their slow runs. This rang true with me as I am still running faster on my long runs than the suggested pace. I was thinking that as I run further, I will naturally slow down, but on thinking about it that will really mean that the last few miles will be slower, whereas overall I want to maintain a steady but slower pace. It also made me a little more inspired to keep at the intervals.

Today (after a peanut clif bar at work) was my 6 mile tempo run. Due to the rain all day I was not really looking forward to it, but I had put all my running clothes out ready, so I did not have long to think about. I found an old baseball cap which I put on over my earwarmer; my intention being that it would keep the rain off my face and my glasses, but the rain was pretty much sideways for half the run so that didn’t work! I did make sure I had more water today, although I could have just run along with my mouth wide open?? The plan was a 2 mile warm up, which was 22 minutes, then 2 miles faster (one mile was 8.5 mins, one was 9 mins so both pretty fast for me) and then cool down for the last part, which ended up being a little under 2 miles for 18 minutes- I think the thought of getting into a hot shower was spurring me on for the last bit. I was quite pleased with that, as I know I have a tendancy to go out at the same speed. During the faster running I had to really think about my breathing, but practise makes perfect. The rest of the run was spent avoiding the puddles.

Dinner was delish- a freezer meal of pumpkin pasta which was great- when I got home Andy had already put the oven on, so I put the pasta in, jumped in the shower (he also cooked some green beans to go alongside) and I even had time to half dry my hair 🙂 Just what I needed after that run.

Later I am going to foam roll some more, and maybe have some stollen with my tea.

Night

Intervals bleurgh

I used my foam roller yesterday, because as the day wore on I got more and more stiff. I watched the video (thanks for the links) and managed it all except for the IT band stretch. For some reason I was not balancing it right. I thought that it would hurt my hamstrings the most, as they always get so stiff, but actually it was most painful on my quads- weird. Really painful!

Onto today;

I am not a fan of intervals. I do not think I am build for speed- I am built to plod very slowly. Now I do try to tell myself that I feel good after (and sometimes, well, most times I do) and that it is like when I started running, where I did intervals of walking and running. Back then, I liked the walking and didn’t like the running. Now, I like the recovery bit but not the fast bit! But I know they are good for me to get me used to running different speeds, and to hopefully help me speed up as well as numerous other reasons. So I went out and did them.

Today after work I had an apple (possible mistake) and a seed stacked bar (my last one- sniff), and then headed home for a quick change. I was good and even got my running clothes out ready this morning, as I am likely to wander around at home, slowly gathering all my bits, maybe tidying up a bit as I go, basically procrastinating. So I was out the door after around 5 minutes of being home. Possible mistake number 2. My plan (the masterplan is complete by the way and I had bad dreams last night as near the end I have some 8-10 mile runs that need to be done midweek and so I dreamt about those) was for 3.5 miles- I am easing myself in gently. 1 mile warm up, 1.5 miles of intervals of faster (not sprinting) running, around 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off, then another mile to cool down. I felt fine, but then after about 2 miles I started getting weird stomach pains. I had to stop a few times as my legs felt all wobbly too. In the end I got home, but I abandoned the last few intervals in favour of jogging home in pain. It was so strange as it has gone now. I was pretty thirsty and think it could be because I did not drink enough yesterday. During the week I have a real routine of water with breakfast, water at work, rooibos tea at work, water when I get home, tea with dinner, water in the evening, and maybe more rooibos tea, and on my long run day I have water before I go, take some with me, have a drink once I get back and drink all afternoon. But on sundays I am terrible! I have breakfast later so I don’t have water until later, then I am busy and am out so I don’t get around to it. Anyway, it could have been that. It also could have been the apple as I normally have them after my run. When I first started running I could not eat anything before a run (not even porridge until recently), and it has taken me a long time to train my stomach. So it could have been this. I also did not go to the toilet before I went out (sorry if that is too much info) because I was in a hurry, and I normally go before my runs just in case.

Anyway, after coming home, having some water (and going to the toilet) and having some dinner, I feel fine.

I might try the foam roller again later- I think I need to get into the habit of using it.

Anyone love intervals? Or hate them? Perhaps they are like marmite. Although, for marmite, I am in the camp of quite liking it, going against the whole campaign!