Stuff I love! - Maria Runs

Limping around RHS Wisley and seeing Rocketman

Two weeks ago on Saturday I didn’t go to parkrun as I’d fallen over and was limping around (when you have to go up the stairs one at a time, going to a running event isn’t a good idea). We’d planned to head to RHS Wisley on the Saturday anyway, so we drove down late morning.

It was a lovely place to wander (limp) around, with beautiful flowers, some amazing carvings, and some test beds where they try out different types of the same plant to see how they cope with various weather conditions.

After a few hours of walking my knee was really throbbing so we went to the cafe. Andy wanted a piece of cake and I fancied a scone, and after paying for all of our bits, the lady told me they had no cream, but she had charged me for it. I thought she’d ask me to put my card back in and refund it to me, but she told me to “hurry up and choose” and it turned out she was giving me another cake instead. I clearly dithered too much, so she put a brownie in a paper bag and told me it was the best thing there. Something to save for later.

We walked around the big glasshouse, and along by the river to the bird hide (had a great view of a woodpecker feeding), and then headed to our hotel for a bit of a rest before walking over to the cinema to see Rocketman. I really loved this film- I found it very emotional, but I thought it was done really well- no rose tinted spectacles looking back on the past.

As we’d gone to an early evening screening, we then watched a bit of TV (the Isle of Wight festival, and then some Friends) while I propped my knee on a cushion to try and make it feel better.

On the Sunday morning we drove to Windsor for a wander in the sunshine.

Windsor, Gail’s cinnamon roll for breakfast, using a shower cap to keep my hand dry in the shower)

It turned out there was some sort of triathlon event going on, so we saw loads of people wandering around in wet suits. It was a beautiful day, although as soon as the sun went in the breeze made it chilly, and you’d put your coat on and then the sun would come out and it would be baking!

That week I would have had a few runs in the evening, but I was not even walking properly on it until the Wednesday so that of course was not a good idea. I had signed up for yoga and nearly didn’t go, as my hand was still a little weepy (I was keeping it covered at work to stop germs getting in), but in the end I decided to go and see how I got on. It was a summer solstice special, so we started off outside, focusing on our connection to the ground (rather damp and muddy- the teacher had brought a towel so we could wipe our feet when we went back inside). We didn’t do too many downward dogs and I could stay on my fingertips on my left hand for the ones we did, so it was OK. The most uncomfortable pose was child’s pose as my knee was still a little swollen.

I went out on a few gentle walks in the evenings (got to keep the 10,000 step per day streak going) as I didn’t want to stiffen up. I thought I’d manage a run on Thursday but it was still sore, so I decided to tail walk at parkrun on the Saturday and then I could see how I got on and give it the extra few days off.

I spent a few evenings pottering in the garden. We have a rose and it really appears as if it is luminous- I think it must have some sort of pigment that reflects UV light (or something similar) because especially as dusk it just appears to glow, and is so much brighter than any of the other flowers of a similar colour.

Which films have you enjoyed lately?

My 200th parkrun (arbitrary…)

A couple of weekends ago I realised I was about to celebrate my 200th parkrun. Now, I know it isn’t a proper milestone, but seeing as my 100th was well over 2 years ago and I still have over a year until the proper 250th, I decided to have a mini celebration. There are still a few local-ish parkruns that I haven’t been to (within an hour drive) so I messaged my dad to see if he fancied coming to Milton Keynes, to the one at Willen Lakes. He agreed, and also messaged his cousin, Brian, who lives in MK. We actually managed to get Brian into parkrun, although it was a misunderstanding as we thought he already did parkrun, but in fact when we met up with him at Linford Wood a couple of years ago, he’d been the week before on a “reconnaissance” trip. He is now a regular there, and has done some tourism- he visited us at Ellenbrook Fields once, and he’s been to a few others when staying with family. Anyway, Brian agreed to meet us there as he’d not been to the Willen Lakes one yet.

It was a miserable day! Raining fairly hard, breezy and just rubbish. We all sat in one car in the car park until as late as possible! Then we found a tree to shelter under before the run briefing! I wasn’t sure from the map where the run started, as it wasn’t by the lake, but it was a very short walk from the car park and very easy to find- lots of runners (412) even on a rainy day. There were a few real milestones of 250 to be celebrated, and then we were off.

I loved this route- in fact we all did! We ran it at our own paces and met up at the end. It was a one lap (well, a point to point) which I always love, and it was so varied, passing the lake, the canal, through some woods, past the peace pergola, up a sort of zig zag path- you were constantly turning and seeing new scenery.

It was stinky weather though- I didn’t bring a cap as it was only drizzling at home so my glasses were constantly needing wiping from the rain.

I managed a good negative split with 9:38, 9:05, 8:48, 8:03 which I was pleased with. Towards the end I saw a lady and her son wearing matching leggings, so I commented on how I loved them, and she told me it meant he was easier to spot- good idea!

I have run around these lakes before as the Women’s Running magazine 10k race is around Willen, but it was in different directions (they do two laps of the lake, starting and finishing by the hotel) so at times I was trying to work out where I was compared to that route.

As I crossed the finish, I was given token number 200! What are the chances? A time of 28:32.

Dad had finished a few minutes ahead of me, and decided to try and take a photo of our backs (as we both had our 100 shirts on, to total 200) but it didn’t quite work out!

When Brian finished (shortly after me) we all changed out of our sopping wet clothes and went for a hot drink in the cafe.

As Brian couldn’t stay long we soon drove back home, where Mum made us pancakes and my sister, brother in law and niece were around too- it was such a good start to the weekend.

How do you celebrate milestones? My mum is already planning what cakes to make for my 250th even though it’s over a year away! Which milestone do you have coming up?

Geese, global running day and getting outside

Because in general, alliteration pleases me…

On the Monday after half term we had some staff training, with the afternoon free to write reports. As I had finished mine, I headed home via town to pick up my free drink and then once home, did a bit of admin, including updating my parkrun touristing page on the blog- now at 63 different parkruns!

On Tuesday I changed into my running kit at work and stopped on my way home for a run around the lakes. This turned out to be not such a good decision- traffic was bad so I was feeling pretty stiff by the time I parked and got out, and then once at the lakes I got just over half way around and came across a load of geese and goslings.

Argh geese but yay, rabbits!

It was the Canada geese, which I usually don’t mind (I find the white ones with the orange beaks are usually more fierce) but these ones kept stepping towards me and looking at me. I stood there for what felt like five minutes (Strava thinks 3 minutes) before deciding to head back the way I had come rather than risk running past them. The path was fairly narrow with water on either side so I couldn’t really avoid them…

Wednesday was yoga, and as well as the fairy lights there is now bunting up in the garden. We had a focus on connections (to the ground, to ourselves) and it was a tough but really good session (lots of planks, side planks, lunge type things) and when we practised the handstand I was helped by Josie (the teacher) into one against the wall. I am still not confident with this, and my hands go all sweaty because I get so nervous doing it, but I know my arms are strong enough (just about) to hold me, it’s just having the belief and the trust when I am upside down.

It was also Global Running Day, as Run Disney helpfully informed me (whatever that is…)- in the morning I had to collect a parcel from an Amazon locker so I jogged around there so that I had one mile down for the day.

On Thursday I had a course which meant I could leave later than usual, so I went on a run first thing. They don’t supply lunch so I stopped on my way to get a sandwich. At lunch we had to leave the room so that they could set up for the afternoon, so I went and sat in the park and ate my lunch, and then walked around a bit. It was lovely to have some fresh air and to not have anything to do.

On Friday in the evening my parents had got tickets to see Mark Watson, so after dinner at home I drove back over to St Albans (with some Candy Kittens in my bag in case I fancied a snack). He was quite funny- thankfully gentle humour and the sort that you don’t mind seeing when sat next to your parents!

Are you a fan of geese? Do you like going to see stand up comedy? I am always worried about sitting too near the front in case the person starts talking to you, but thankfully in this show he’d left out postcards for people to fill in, and only mentioned things from that, so it was safe!

The rest of half term

Unpacking goodies from France/ Belgium including a few slices of marzipan. I also got some bits from a natural cosmetics company- they sold concentrated shower gel, so a teeny bottle is meant to be 50 washes so I bought a bottle for our summer holiday.

I made lots of iced teas- this lemon and raspberry tea turned a blue/purple shade once brewed. It’s green tea which I am not always keen on, but when cold brewed (basically add to cold water and leave in the fridge overnight) it wasn’t bitter at all, and was really refreshing. I wouldn’t have it too often as I am a bit sensitive to caffeine so tend to only have one or two “real” cups of tea a day (and I’d rather “spend” that on proper tea rather than fruity iced tea).

On Tuesday I had a 10 mile run, but my legs felt heavy the entire time. You know those runs where you think “it will get better in a minute” but for the whole way? I think probably I was a bit stiff from the driving on the Monday (and all weekend to be fair), so that didn’t help. It one direction it was black clouds and another blue skies, and I made it home before the rain so that was good.

It rained a little, but I spent some time in the garden pottering about which is always enjoyable. (Good work procrastination too).

On Wednesday my car was having it’s service and MOT, so I drove it there dressed in my running kit and then ran the long way home (5 miles in the end). Andy made me laugh when he said to me “are you going to run around town until your car is ready?”- luckily I didn’t because they didn’t call me until about 3 o’clock (I had to drop it off at 8.30)- that would have been a long time to run around.

Our dining room has become a bit of a dumping ground, because we have a big table but only need a small part for both of us to sit at, plus there are loads of drawers that needed sorting, so one day I took everything out and went through it. It was lovely to do as one of the drawers had a load of tickets from various holidays.

I also found this Christmas biscuit (I think it was a free thing from John Lewis?)- so I had that with a cup of tea one afternoon. Only the 6 months late!

On Thursday I met a friend for breakfast at The Waffle House. I parked the other side of town and walked in, through the park and past the cathedral (about 2 miles I think). It was such a gorgeous day and there were so many ducklings in the park. One group of them were jumping out of the water, eating little flies that were buzzing about in the air.

I went for a pecan nut and butterscotch waffle, with added banana (to make it breakfast-like). Delish.

I had popped into Gail’s to get some of their delicious sourdough bread for dinner, and then on Friday I had a run first thing (5 miles) and then had banana and pb on toast- I had not had this in ages and it was so good!

On my run I saw a fox just sitting by a hedge, and then when I got home and was telling Andy about it, a fox came into our garden. I used to quite like seeing them in our garden, but now it appears we are at the edge of some territories as we keep finding “presents” in our garden- it’s horrible if you are weeding or something and then come across a pile of it, so I ran out to chase it away. Half way there I wondered what I would do if it didn’t run away, because foxes are more scary than dogs, but thankfully it went through the hedge into a neighbour’s garden.

I had a bit of work to do of course, so spent that afternoon (and a few others) catching up on things, but it’s so nice to be at home and to stop and have a cup of tea when I want to, or stretch my legs when I need to.

Then on Friday afternoon we drove down to Brighton. It was beautiful weather and although we had a bit of a nightmare parking (recently we use the college car park but even though there were spaces, when you tried to pay online it said it was full, so we had to go elsewhere), we had plenty of time to wander around. For the last few times we have walked past this amazing smelling pizza restaurant, Fatto A Mano, so we decided to head there for dinner. All of their “vegetarian” pizzas contained Parmesan, which isn’t a vegetarian cheese, so I opted for a vegan pizza and it was so good- the base was perfect, lots of fresh tomato sauce, roasted veggies, pesto and vegan cheese. We shall be going there again I am sure!

There’s a lovely ice cream shop nearby, but it shut at six, so we ended up going to Sprinkles and sharing some white chocolate mint choc chip, before walking the long way back to the hotel.

In the morning I ran down to Preston Park for the parkrun- it’s the closest to the hotel (we stayed by the station). It also meant my p-index is now 5 (so I have been to 5 different parkruns 5 or more times). Little things!

Of course it was then breakfast at Cafe Coho- I met Andy there and he’s already ordered so it was pretty perfect timing.

After a shower we picked up iced teas from Bird&Blend and went to the seafront (along with everyone else!)- we walked along to Hove, sat on the beach for a bit, and enjoyed mooching around. As always, a pretty perfect day.

We had a bit of cake in the afternoon (I think it was pumpkin and salted caramel cake, which sounds quite autumnal) and a cup of tea.

I came across a new to me shop (Wideye) selling natural toiletries and cosmetics- the bug spray caught my eye so I bought some, plus some lip balm (the lady made me laugh when I chose the pineapple and coconut one- she told me it was a bestseller “probably because everyone’s a raging alcoholic and it smells like a pina colada”) and a few gifts.

We got home quite late on the Saturday and so I didn’t set an alarm and by the time I got up on Sunday it was already really hot. I quite like the advice of dressing for 10 degrees warmer than it actually is, and as it was already 24 I knew I needed to brave the shorts. Andy commented that I might blind everyone with my pale legs, but I had on my sunglasses so it didn’t bother me! I tend to favour capri’s because they don’t ride up like shorts can, and so the first time I wear shorts for a run I always feel super self conscious. To make myself feel better I wore my Run Disney vest- it has a lovely sort of flap at the back to let the breeze in without exposing your skin to everyone (and needing suncream in an awkward place). I ran 7 miles and that was plenty!

The rest of the day was spent baking back to work brownies (peanut butter and white chocolate), pottering in the garden, having a walk and visiting Andy’s parents.

I feel like I made the most of the week off- a good balance between things to keep my busy, but time to chill by myself too.

How do you like to spend your days off? Do you run in shorts? Do you have foxes near you? I am pretty sure they are trolling us now with the amount of things they leave in the garden for us …

Hopping over to Bruges for waffles (mainly)

On Sunday morning we drove to Folkstone and onto the train (compared to when I was little and you had to get a ferry to go abroad, it still amazes me that this is possible). I was feeling rather nervous about driving but Andy had said he could drive my car if I needed him to. I think I was mainly worried about forgetting things- Dartford charge paid, insurance checked (it included Europe), European breakdown for 2 days bought, high viz jackets and the bits you need for France such as the breathalyser all packed…

But all was well, the roads were quiet and I managed to get us into the centre of Bruges- our hotel was by the station, and the station had car parking for 3.50 for 24 hours (bargain), so we were in the centre of town by lunch time- perfect.

It’s a lovely place to wander- I’d only been in the winter before and we had always said we should go back to be outdoors a little more! Of course we had to have a hot chocolate, and a little later a waffle.

This waffle place had a free toppings bar, so I chose a waffle with strawberries and chocolate, and then topped it with some nuts, some dark chocolate curls and Lotus biscuit crumbles. It was good!

We walked all around the park and the centre, up and down canals, past all the pretty buildings (and all the while resisting the urge to quote from In Bruges because it contains lots of swearzies).

As a fan of marzipan I also loved the shops selling slices of marzipan with a range of flavours (pistachio/ hazelnut/ cherry etc)- I bought a few slices for us to take home, as well as a little bag of dark chocolate coated orange peel, because that stuff is gorgeous.

For dinner we opted for a little picnic of some delicious bread and cheese- when in Rome…

On Monday (a Bank Holiday in the UK but not here) we went out for breakfast in The Old Chocolate House, and it was divine.

On the left is the chocolate cup containing the buttons for my drink, with the ganache on top (it looks like a giant stuffed date) and the pot of sprinkles in the white pot. Andy’s pestle and mortar in the background.

The hot chocolate menu was immense, and when they brought our drinks over at first I thought they were taking an afternoon tea to the wrong table. You were given a big mug of warm milk (they did have soya milk there), a chocolate cup filled with chocolate buttons (I had dark milk and Andy had dark) and then the add ones in an extra pot. Andy had chosen dark with peppermint, ginger and lemongrass, and those add ons were in a little pestle and mortar set, so he could grind it himself and add the amount that he wanted. You dropped the chocolate pot into the milk, whisked, and the chocolate melted. I went for speculoos cookie hot chocolate (I love those biscuits) and so mine came with a chocolate ganache and little biscuit crumbs to sprinkle on top. It was super rich but really delicious.

There wasn’t a huge amount of food on the menu (not surprisingly) but as it was brunch we each had a waffle. There were loads of gorgeous sounding chocolatey options, but with the big hot chocolate to drink we both fancied something different, so I had a waffle with raspberry jam, and Andy had one with orange jam. These waffles were my kind of waffle- the one from the day before was good, but in a sweet and puffy way, whereas these ones were thinner and crispier and nuttier.

After more of a wander it was time to head back to the car and drive back to Calais, with a little stop at the supermarket to pick up a few bits. There were big queues for the passport checks (what a contrast from our drive from France into Belgium which just had a sign announcing the border) and so we ended up on a train 10 mins later, but this was forgiven because there were no queues at the Dartford Tunnel- I’m not sure that’s ever happened before!

Have you been to Bruges? Are you a fan of waffles or marzipan or hot chocolate? Are you confident driving abroad? I am very lucky that Andy has always been happy to drive when we’ve been on holiday.