Category: Running

After being out late the night before at Taskmaster, both my dad and I were glad that Jersey Farm parkrun was back on, so we could have a relatively late start to the morning- it’s only a 10 minute walk from their house so I don’t even need to leave home until 8.15am- a lie in compared to tourist trips!

The weather was so warm for mid-September. The wildflowers had been mown down and the long grass put into hay bales, but the mixture of trees and open fields are always pretty. We bumped into loads of OH ladies and people from Ellenbrook Fields- it felt like such a nice social event. Some had run from Hatfield to make the parkrun sandwich their final long run before the London marathon, and so once we finished we waited around to cheer on some of the other runners. I also met one of our runners in the flesh after we have regularly commented on our running posts within the group! It was strange to see someone in person who you think you know (a bit like meeting someone from a blog/ instagram in real life too), but so lovely to finally meet properly. In the end we had to head off as Dad was going to football so we could not hang around for too long but we could have easily chatted for ages.  It did make me miss EF even more as so often you’d bump into people you had not seen for a while, and end up chatting  and helping to pack away the gazebo/ funnel because you had chatted for so long. I have said it before, but really what am I going to do for my 250th? I don’t really want to be at JF because one of the reasons EF has not re-started is linked to someone linked to JF.

On Sunday morning I went for an OH run- again running to meet them and then we ran down to the lakes and back up. We met more OH ladies (on a virtual 10k race) while we were out too. It felt like a social running weekend, something that I’ve not felt for a while.

A huge mushroom that I saw on my run, sedum in the garden and a hazy sky

Vegan mars bar type thing from my vegan box went well with a cup of tea.

I did a lot of pottering in the garden and even did a spot of baking- a pumpkin spice loaf from A Virtual Vegan (I love her website- she was from the UK but moved to Canada, so I love that the recipes are in grams and not cups because it’s way more specific. Plus every recipe I have tried has been brilliant).

I was not looking forward to Monday as I had booked my flu jab for after work. I know it’s important, and particularly working in a school I am exposed to lots of germs, but I do not like injections (I sometimes faint) and so I have to work up to it. Having already had my 2 covid jabs this year I felt that the memory of the sore arm was a bit too recent and not yet forgotten.

It was OK in the end, and while I was sitting in the chair after (you have to wait for 10 mins to check you are OK) I saw Andy outside- he’d come to meet me with a Starbucks and also a vegan Belgium bun from a bakery that had just opened in town (he’d had his jab the same day but at a different pharmacy). A bit of sugar always helps in the flu jab recovery process! It also helped as I’d rushed away from work quickly and ended up needing to do a few hours in the evening to catch up.

Gorgeous sunrises on my runs

I felt OK after, so I went for my usual morning runs that week (Tues, Wed, Thurs) but took them slowly and kept them to a 5k in distance. I saw some beautiful sunrises, but as we were reaching the autumn equinox I know that soon it will be dark the entire time, so I’ll make the most of the views while I still can. I was feeling tired but I think it was more due to the fact that work was busy and I was working most evenings for several hours (one day we didn’t eat dinner until 9pm because I wanted to get it done before we ate).

Yoga living room set up, another sunrise and Bake Off returns!

Our yoga was focused on the autumn equinox as well and I really enjoyed having that additional focus to the session. I have still been setting up in the living room instead of my office, which gives me a bit more space, but the mat does slip on the rug a bit. It means I can lay on the sofa under a blanket for the nidra session after, which is a bit like guided meditation.

I did manage to find time to watch Bake Off (although I can never fit it all in on a Tuesday so I have to hope that I don’t see any spoilers before I’ve finished it), and of course I was excited for the new Taskmaster (although this series isn’t the one we saw being filmed).

What should I do for my 250th run? Tour somewhere? Or go to Panshanger?

And by that I mean pumpkin spiced tea, baked goods and just general autumn vibes. Not actual coffee! Of course included in that is my tea club (for September- I’m suddenly a long way behind with posts).

Pumpkin spice sticker on the tea delivery, and yoga set up in the living room

Talking of tea club, my advent calendar also arrived from Bird&Blend- I did ask in the order notes whether I could start in November as this year each box contains 2 teabags, but they said no… (and that Santa would be watching).

I’ve been to a few Sunday club runs on Sundays- this was the one following our parkrun trip to Rushmere.

I ran to the station (around 3 miles), met the others, then we had a lovely loop to some woods and fields that I’d not been to before (Welham Green) before I came home. The total was 12 miles and I was quite pleased as my long runs had tailed off a bit over the summer, and with the Brighton half coming up I needed to get a bit more confidence over those longer distances. Once home it was time for vegan croissants (the bake at home Pret ones are so good, plus an Aldi one).

We needed to collect a click and collect from town, and so popped into Starbucks to get a (coffee free) iced pumpkin spice. The colour is always so alarming, but it does taste of autumn (in the best way).

Morning runs are getting darker- a few pretty sunrises, watch showing zero miles on Thursday morning, and my vegan box.

On the Monday of that week I sat very awkwardly doing some work, and my back was super sore. I managed a couple of walks (and some yoga) but didn’t run until the Thursday morning. Thankfully all was fine by then. That’s the downside of the Garmin showing the total miles for the week- not a good reminder if you’ve not run at all.

On Friday I did an early run too. I don’t usually run on a Friday, but partly I wanted to as I hadn’t all week, but also I was going to a TV show recording (Taskmaster)  straight from work, so I wanted to get in some movement. I packed sandwiches to eat after, but the recording didn’t finish until nearly 10pm so it was a very late dinner! I was a bit apprehensive about being inside, but the studio was like a big hanger, and there were only 2 rows of seats (with about 10 in each row) where we were sat, and we kept our masks on (they gave out black ones so that if we were filmed it all looked the same). It was brilliant- my mum had been to see Pointless a few years back (as they were desperate for an audience) and they’d been given priority tickets because of that.

What do you like about autumn?

After getting back from Alwnick on Saturday night, I headed out on a long run on the Sunday, going over to Panshanger.

The cows were back in the big field but I managed to get through without panicking- phew. I am trying to go through the field instead of avoiding it as I know that the cows should be fine- they are a gentle species and used to the public walking through. I am still not keen when they are close to the path!

On the Monday we were having our pod point fitted (to charge our car at home- we could charge it with a wire dangled out of the window, but that was very slow, so we tended to take it to a local charging point). Anyway, I could get on with work until they had to turn the electricity off. It took a lot longer than we had thought, due to our electrics being set up in a weird way, but by 6.30pm it was done.

Wood running, autumn flowers in the garden including the Japanese anemones and an actual fig on our fig tree!

The rest of the week I tended to go on a run in the morning, head into work to set up my classroom, and then come home in the afternoon. Our garden is starting to be filled with autumn colour- it starts me looking forward to cosy evenings in, chai lattes, scented candles, fairy lights…

Our weekend in DLP started on the Thursday evening as that’s when we drove down to Kent, and then we were back on Sunday night.

I’ve been living in my Stitch hoodie!

We spent the Monday pottering around, having a nice walk , unpacking and getting sorted for the week ahead.

After seeing that Cruella was on regular Disney+, we decided to watch that. I quite enjoyed it, although I couldn’t remember a lot of 101 Dalmatians and so a few things I couldn’t quite match up.

On Tuesday I did a longer run – past the cows again. I was a bit annoyed as I didn’t check Strava until September, but I did 99 miles in August! I would definitely have added an extra mile to round it up!

How perfect is this t-shirt? Magic Moon Club did a Christmas in July secret Santa thing where you signed up to buy something for someone else, and then filled in a little tick list of your likes (colours/ characters/ parks). A perfect top to wear between now and the next visit! I opened my Christmas Lebkuchen hearts as I had saved them for Christmas in July.

Keeping the Disney theme going with a “monorail peach” candle from Dole Wicks Candle Co, my new Disney bowl and a classic Olaf mug.

Then it was back to work, and back to the early morning runs. It’s already so dark in the mornings which has surprised me. I need to find my torch and charge it. It’s fine after a few minutes as the sun comes up, but I need it for the beginning and it’s only going to get darker!

As a first week back treat I booked in for a massage- the lovely lady I see has recently gone independent and created an amazing treatment room next to her house (she used to rent out a room in a beauty place in town). It was perfect and such a nice end to the week.

Saturday was filled with family time- after our Luton parkrun trip, my mum made us vegan pancakes for breakfast (I really love how much my parents are embracing this for me) and then we visited my sister who was back from the hospital after having her second baby. It was so lovely to see her and my niece (who started school this week too- what a busy week for her) and spend some time catching up.

Once home, I watched the original 101 Dalmatians, and then in the evening we bought the Jungle Cruise as I was very keen to watch it – I love all the puns on the ride, and the film was fairly light hearted and good fun (could have done with more puns though).

I’ve been happy doing solo runs for a long time, but in the club group they posted about running to Ellenbrook Fields on Sunday (either meeting there for a lap, or meeting at the station and running there first), so I decided to run to the the station, (which is around 2.5 miles away), run with them to EF (another couple of miles), run around EF (a couple more) and then run home through the fields (4-5 miles ish). I loved it! The club runs just fly by, and it breaks up the long run into chunks which make it seem easier too. It was a bit sad running around EF and knowing that the parkrun is not there, because it is so perfect. But at least we can visit it any time.

It started off cool but got very warm once the sun came out- I should have worn my sunglasses. Of course my maths did not add up, and so by the time I got home I’d run a half marathon as opposed to the 11 ish miles I thought it would be. All good training although I felt quite shattered in the afternoon.

I’d bought tickets for the London Podcast festival- Two Mr P’s did a show on Friday night and you could watch it later, so I sat in the shade in the garden (in my new garden chair) and watched it. A very good way to spend an afternoon.

In this past week it’s been warm (for September) and so I was very glad of my morning runs while it was still feeling fresh. I was even treated to some beautiful sunrises early on, although one morning was super misty.

In the evenings we were still catching up on the Paralympics (being away for a few days meant we got behind) and then as we’ve finished the final series of Bosch (based on the books- a police drama)  we started on The White Lotus, a dark drama set in a hotel in Hawaii (lockdown meant no tourists so I think the filming basically took over the hotel). Weirdly the hotel that we stayed in for one night on Maui was right next door, and we walked along the coastline to it in the evening. It’s compelling and I want to find out what happens, but it’s also very tense and stressful to watch so I could not take more than one episode at a time!

Podcast festival, misty morning run, homemade sourdough bread, and watching The White Lotus and missing Hawaii. 

We had another podcast booked for Thursday evening- this one we watched live- The Judge John Hodgman podcast (it’s a comedy podcast where people bring their cases and discuss them before he gives his verdict).

And then it was Friday!

What have you been watching recently? I am excited about the new series of Bake Off and Taskmaster coming, and I think The Morning Show is coming back soon too.

Unpacking the ears I took with me. I was very restrained and didn’t buy another pair in the park, although I had said that if I saw the deep green ones then I would have bought those.

It was my turn to choose this week, and as Jersey Farm was not on due to another event taking place, I decided we should do some tourism and visit a different event. It wasn’t my NENDY (nearest event not done yet) as that is in London, but it is the easiest one to get to.

I picked up Dad and drove us there. We left plenty of time as I had read the car park was quite small, and we arrived just after 8.30 to a pretty empty car park. There was another car park through the other side of the park but that seemed to have access from a different road.

There were lots of decorated elephants around, so we had a nice wander around the park. We passed a sign for “corner corner” which on second reading was “conker corner”, and lots of volunteers setting up arrows. It seemed like a fairly small park, and it was hard to believe that it would fit in a parkrun in only 3 and a half laps, although it was filled with interesting parts- a lake, a play park, tennis courts and those outdoor exercise machines.

At around ten to 9 there were still only a few people stood around, but after the new runners briefing finished, we turned around to see a packed park. The run briefing was really clear due to the RD having a megaphone/ speaker system, and then we walked to the start. They had asked people to seed themselves, but the people with the signs were stood only a couple of metres apart- we were going to line up with the 30 minutes but we were not even half way back in the field so in the end we moved back. You’re only stood there for a few moments (and it really was- the RD said she had a whistle for the start and just as we had decided where to start, she blew it and everyone was off) but it feels better to have some space, not only now but anyway due to tripping etc.

In the run brief they emphasised “the hill” as you had to run up it 4 times- to help keep count (once in each lap and then once in the final “bit”). The hill was even marked out, but it wasn’t really a hill- more of a short slope. But it did make the lap counting easier.

We did excellent negative splits of 10:06, 9:28, 9:28 and 9:15. The marshals were amazing- cheering everyone on in each lap. It really felt like a wonderful community and so encouraging.

The weather was good- it was chilly when we first got there but as soon as we started running I took my long sleeved top off. The sun even came out as we were driving home.

So that was my 240th parkrun- the next milestone is ever closer. But next week it’s Dad’s 200th, so it’s his choice of where we go (Jersey Farm and St Albans are both cancelled).