Category: Running

After going to Valentine’s parkrun last weekend we had a lovely wander around London, enjoying the sunshine. After brunch we walked around Borough Market, but when you are full of pancakes it isn’t the best place to be!

We went to the Tate Modern just to see what it was like, but modern art appears not to be my thing.

I did like this tower made with all sorts of old radios and equipment.

I also got rather excited when we saw the I Move London relay tent- as we walked over Tower Bridge we saw a couple of runners carrying the baton- I gave them a big cheer and one of the women waved a hot and tired looking thanks to me.

We then picked up our bags from the hotel and got a train home, walking back from the train station and finally getting home at about 6pm.

On the Sunday I had a run and then did some baking as we were going to Andy’s parents to watch the football. This was a raspberry and chocolate tray bake from the Sweet Vegan cookbook- a sort of oat crumble mixture with coconut, pecans, raspberry jam and dark chocolate buttons as a filling.

Then onto a busy week:

Monday- after work we went to see The Incredibles 2- good fun but maybe now there are so many superhero movies it is a bit samey in a way. It was a bit of a rush as we had someone painting our dining room for us and also the plumber came by again to try and sort out the leak a bit more (as he can’t do the actual work until it cools down a bit as it’s too hot in the loft for the 2 days of work needed).

Tuesday- run after work. We ate dinner on our laps in the living room as we didn’t get around to moving the furniture back.

Wednesday- we went out for dinner and then picked up my parents and brother as we had tickets to see Joe Lycett at the Alban Arena.

It was a funny evening- it was a bit like Dave Gorman at times with things on the screen for us to read (letters he had written/ things on the facebook selling sites).

Thursday- After a day of moving furniture at work (we are swapping the furniture between 4 rooms so that we are closer to our outdoor area so literally all cupboards, chairs, tables etc had to be moved) I wasn’t quite feeling ready for a 5 mile race. I’v done the Panshanger 5 for the last two years and always really enjoyed it, and this time Dad was running it too. When I got home I had a cereal bar and a cup of tea, as by then it was a bit late to eat anything bigger (it was 5.30 and the race started at 7.30). Dad picked me up and 6.30 and we drove there, collected our numbers and chatted to other runners.

It’s a fairly hilly route with some very steep hills, and Dad was feeling tired too as he’d been on a long (50 miles maybe?) bike ride the day before. It felt cool when we started, but soon we were sweltering and dripping in sweat. We ran the hills that appeared in the first couple of miles, but at around half way there is a super steep hill so we decided to walk it- we weren’t aiming for a specific time, we just wanted to enjoy it. As we finished and collected our water and medals we had the most amazing view of the sun beginning to go down. What a perfect end (and 22,000 steps for the day, no wonder I felt tired!).  My official time was 52:30- I think a little slower than previous years but I am very happy to have completed it.

Friday was the last day of term and we had booked tickets for Zoo Nights at London Zoo, so another rush home, quick shower (needed after more furniture moving…) before we drove to High Barnet and got the tube in to Camden. It started at 6pm, and we arrived just before, so it was perfect timing.

Most of the exhibits were open (apart from the Gorillas as they had a baby and it was past their bedtime) and they had loads of food trucks in the centre with live entertainment. After a walk around a few places, we perused the food trucks and got some dinner- I got a lovely vegan bean burger – and we sat on a bench (and I remembered why I usually need a knife and fork for a burger-mustard gets easily squeezed out of the bun) before wandering around. There was a delicious brownie stall (Bad Brownies) and they cut them in half when I asked so we shared a peanut butter one, and then took home a caramel and raspberry one to save for a later date.

There was some amazing art being created on the walls of one of the underpasses.

The frog one with Kermit was my favourite.

We listened to a talk in the rainforest enclosure, and a bit of a talk by the giraffes, and one at the penguins. I had not been to London Zoo for years (we have Whipsnade nearer  which is much bigger and easier to get to) so I wondered how much it had changed. Yes, some of the enclosures were bigger (the penguin pool is now “the biggest in England” which seems faint praise) but they are still tiny. The lady at the giraffe talk said about how they can run at 30mph, but I can’t see there is enough space in there for them to get up to that speed. I do understand that some conversation needs to happen in captivity, and lots goes on to help with species being saved, but I do feel like the is such a small amount of space there, particularly for the bigger animals, that it still felt a bit sad.

We were about to leave when Andy pointed out a Dutch pancake stall (and seeing as we shared a brownie, I decided it was OK to share one of these to add them up to make a whole dessert each…) so we shared a portion- they are little round pancakes (a bit like the little Danish ones) with various toppings to choose from. We went for melted chocolate and strawberries and they were divine.

On Saturday morning I met Dad at Ellenbrook and we ran around together (well, until the final bit when although he said he was tired, he suddenly had the energy for a sprint finish!) and then I had to get home quickly as we were off to the Penn Festival (in Buckinghamshire).

The main draw for us was that Manic Street Preachers were headlining, but when we got there in the afternoon we got to see Noasis (who were pretty good), Badly Drawn Boy (why was he still wearing a woolly hat in that weather?) and Starsailor, plus some dodgy dance music that isn’t really my thing. We had bought a little picnic on the way, so we sat outside the tent where Mel C was playing (doing some good covers of 80’s classics) and ate  them. I had visions of us sitting on the green grass while we waited for the next band to come on, but in reality it was a dust bowl and I really should have realised this seeing as all the grass is now yellow. Wearing white sandals wasn’t a good idea as they are now brown and my feet were filthy with a sort of dust line where you’d normally have a tan line, and you ended up with the dust in your mouth as it just blew everywhere (a bit like when you get sand in your mouth at the beach). When it got dark the moon looked red from all the dust swirling around.

Anyway, Manics were fab and although I was feeling so shattered by such a busy week, it was worth it in the end.

So, that was the week that flew by and my feet hardly touched the ground! I was looking forward to a Sunday (mostly) at home and an evening where I could just watch some TV for a change!

Do you like going to see shows or comedians? Are you a fan of modern art?

So last Monday was a rest day (following on from the very hot Ware 10k), and then yoga was moved to Tuesday evening so we could watch the football. It was my last yoga session before the summer (they are term time classes only)- we did a bit inside and then lots outside which I love so much.

There was a t-shirt I ummed and ahhed over at FOTC- I didn’t get it but luckily Andy’s brother was going on a different night so got it for me. (There was a very funny song sung by a seagull…)

I got up super early on Wednesday (5am) for a run before work, as I knew I wouldn’t have time after. I think I did 4 miles at a fairly leisurely pace, but I felt better after. (Also, because of our hot water problems I needed to put the immersion on for a while before having a shower, so I may as well go on a run while it heats up).

I was a huge flock of parakeets flying overhead- I’ve seen them in St Albans before but not here. Since then I’ve seen them a few times when I’ve been walking around.

Thursday we had yoga at work, and then I stopped for a quick run on my way home- I was going to do a 2 mile loop. When I got back to my car, it had been blocked in on both sides- with about 2cm on either side. Loads of people were walking past and one guy commented on how close the other cars were, so I asked him if he would help me try and get out. He stood at the back but even after a few forwards and backwards I wasn’t really getting anywhere. It turned out there was an event at the secondary school around the corner, so I wrote down both number plates and ran up there, found a member of staff and very apologetically asked if they would make an announcement (I think it was some sort of open evening so I did feel bad speaking to the staff when they were so busy). Thankfully they made an announcement and one guy started going back to the car. He was the one parked behind me, although he had the cheek to tell me that I wasn’t very well parked and that’s why he had to park so closely behind me! When I had parked there had been a van in front, so I had parked with space between me and the van, but the van had obviously driven off it was a huge 4×4 in front. I did explain this, and he then “let me off”. The cheek! I was fuming- but I couldn’t really argue as at least  he had come to move his car unlike the other person.

Anyway, all that faff added loads of time on (probably about half an hour) so I got home pretty late. After a shower and dinner we had a bit of a walk (saw more parakeets).

Then on Friday I had to head home super quick because we were going to see The Muppets!

I love it when the tube do signs like this

I quickly packed as we were staying overnight in London, walked to the station and got the train to Moorgate before the tube to near our hotel. After checking in and dropping our bags off, we headed to the DLR (don’t ask me what we did because I get very confused on there- why are all the lines the same colour???) and picked up a sandwich in Canary Wharf. We ate them outside the O2 and then headed in to join the enormous queue. Everyone was having to go through metal detectors and bag searches, but for some reason they were so slow and the queue would not move an inch for 5 mins. There were no announcements for the people in the queue though, and I have no idea why it took so long (for FOTC they did bag searches and had metal detectors for people to walk through, and the queue moved the whole time). The show started at 8 and in the end we got inside at about ten past, just as they announced the show would be starting so we had to run up the stairs, find the door, run down the stairs as we were on the floor near the front, and then apologetically squeeze past people as the show was about to begin.

Anyway, the show was brilliant, with puppets on stage (a bit like Avenue Q, you can see the puppeteers all dressed in black but you just tend to watch the muppet- some of them had 3 puppeteers to one puppet), bits happening on the screen, and of course the very special guests including David Tennant, Charles Dance and Kylie (she was singing Manamanah and then Rainbow Connection). We were sat quite close to where the special guests were, so could see when they were about to be needed on stage again. One of the films was a Netflix parody with things like The Walking Bread (with the Swedish Chef) and my favourite- Frogglebox! I am sure you can guess what that was! It reminded me of many happy times at Disney watching the Muppet show there, and it was just such a fun evening.

I didn’t dilly dally and decided to get a t-shirt. As we were staying in London we didn’t have too long a journey, so we got a mint tea from the Starbucks just outside, and then headed back to the hotel.

I shall save my Saturday morning adventure for another post!

Do you like The Muppets? I think their shows are funny, but the two most recent films (particularly Muppets Most Wanted) are such funny films with brilliant songs.

Have you seen parakeets where you live? A while ago I would only see them in Richmond park or parks in London, whereas they seem to be really spreading now.

So on Saturday morning I was off to Letchworth parkrun, to tail walk.  I’ve run it once before, and it’s a lovely two lap route around farm fields and playing fields. As I had a race on Sunday I wanted to tail walk, and I also wanted to visit the town centre as a “weigh and pay” shop had recently opened and I wanted to visit it.

I was very excited to be given an actual tail to wear as tail walker! A giraffe tail! I had to have someone help me to clip it on, and then it was so long it dangled on the floor so I held it over my arm! I didn’t want to lose it out on the course.

It was absolutely baking- 23 degrees when I got out of the car at 8.30, and 27 by the time I finished. The views were stunning across the open countryside, and I could hear so many crickets/grasshoppers in the fields. I was behind a couple of women and then a little further up a lady who announced at the end that she was a 70 year old grandmother. All three of them were running at times and walking at others, it was a tough one and I was really hot and bothered by the end. I finished in 54:16 and headed into town.

I was heading to Bamboo Turtle, which is aiming to be a zero waste shop.  When I was little we always used to go to the weigh and pay shop to get things like cereals and flour, but those sorts of things all closed. This one in Letchworth recently opened- the idea is you bring your own containers, weigh them, write down the weight, then fill them with whatever you are buying (everything was priced per 100g) and then pay. The lady in there was very helpful, saying she could put things back if I had weighed out too much.

They did have jars and things for sale if you didn’t have your own though. I got some coconut chips, almonds and dark chocolate buttons for baking, plus a bamboo straw, although I need something to carry it in (so that if I get an iced drink in town I can use that straw instead of a plastic one).

Once I got home I had a lovely breakfast of a chocolate almond croissant (I bought it in town on Friday as a post crazy-work week treat) and watermelon. Seriously, nothing is better than watermelon when it’s hot.

Then we were off to London with Andy’s parents for the Hampton Court Palace flower show.

Again it was absolutely baking hot.

The gardens were good to see, and we picked up a few ideas for our own. There were also loads of stalls but we didn’t buy any plants as the ground is rock hard at the moment so I don’t think anything would survive for long.

We had thought we might avoid the score from the match, but there was a big screen up showing it, so we heard the two massive cheers which gave away the score somewhat!

Normally I find scarecrows pretty creepy, but this one was very clever- different parts of the body were represented by different vegetables (I think the liver was a butternut squash?).

I’d packed a clif bar and had that at around 5pm. We also took loads of water with us (and there were a few places to refill) but it was just so hot everywhere that I wasn’t feeling great by the end, really craving something salty. I think we did about 12,000 steps walking around (plus to and from the car) and all of that was really in the sun as there wasn’t much shade. By the time we got home it was so late we decided to get a takeaway pizza- something we only normally do if we are with other people. I think the only other time we had one was the day we moved into our house in Hatfield 12 or so years ago! We ended up eating it at 9pm in front of the TV.

Then on Sunday I was off to Ware for a 10k race. I love this race (there’s a 10 mile too, but since it’s been in the summer and not the autumn the 10k is the better option as it’s one lap not two, and there isn’t much shade).

After picking up my number I sat in the shade and seriously considered not running. It was just so hot. I had a nuun tab in water before I left, but hadn’t bothered with breakfast so I could sleep for longer, plus I knew I would not be racing it and I wouldn’t eat breakfast before a training run. It didn’t begin until 10am though the heat was building all the time.

Once we started it was OK, but so hot. I had decided to walk up the hills to save myself from getting overheated and overtired. My legs were not happy though, just lacking energy.

I took a few photos on the way around and enjoyed thanking the marshals. As well as water stations they had splash buckets with sponges so you could cool yourself down. At one point we ran through a housing estate and loads of people were out with their garden hoses offering to spray the runners- it felt so good to be momentarily cooled.

At around 4 miles I bumped into a couple of girls from the club, so I chatted to them for a bit but eventually lost them. The second part of the route is very flat, so apart from walking at the water stations I kept on going. I ended up overtaking a lot of people in the final couple of miles, so I think I paced it OK for me as I didn’t feel awful at the end. I did get overtaken by the lead runners in the 10 mile race, which I don’t think has happened to me before, but it was about finish lines and not finish times for me.

Near the end some children were manning the final splash bucket and had cups, basically offering to throw cups of water over you as you ran past. I said “go on then” and was drenched, but it was so hot that the water dried pretty much instantly.

I saw Donna (my lovely running club leader) at the end (her boyfriend had finished ahead of me and she’d been cheering people on) so we chatted for a bit once I’d got myself drink and cake for £1- that’s the whole point of this race! Lemon cake was just what I fancied (brunch by then). I got a text pretty much as I crossed the line saying my time was 1:07:40, and they announced your name as you ran in which was a nice touch.

This year as it was the 10th anniversary, you got a t-shirt and a medal. It’s a pretty smart top with black down the sides, although red isn’t really my colour (especially when my face matches it after a run!).

While we were chatting, Daniel, the guy from Ellenbrook Fields parkrun (who I met at Upton parkrun) came up to say hi- he’d run the 10 miles in not much longer than the 10k had taken me. I was very glad I wasn’t going any further. After a chat it was time to head home for a lovely shower (the water worked, hooray) and then basically trying to stay as cool as possible inside. I ended up having a little lie down in the afternoon as I was still feeling tired from the busy week at work, and then after an early dinner we went to the cinema to see Tag (which was sort of OK and funny in places, and then took a weird turn at the end which just seemed inappropriate for that sort of comedy film). At least it was cool in there.

Did you manage to stay cool over the weekend?

Have you seen anything good in the cinema recently? I am looking forward to The Incredibles!