Things I’ve been loving and a general catch up

With a few days spare at the end of the holidays, I got into sorting out/ early spring cleaning mode. The cupboard under the stairs has not been properly sorted since we moved house- we store the bags for life in there, and random things like an old heater, wrapping paper, kindling and extension leads have also ended up there. It’s hard to get to because the door is at one end, so there is a long shelf which you have to reach around the corner to get to, so it isn’t easy to store things neatly. I was tidying up downstairs and decided to get everything out and sort through it- we definitely don’t need to buy any more bags for life!

I sorted the bags into sizes and wrote on the bags so I knew what was inside each one, although we are going to get some big boxes next time we go to IKEA.

I then sorted out the cupboard under the kitchen sink and the cupboard where the boiler used to be.

During the afternoon I’d been looking through Netflix (watching Nailed it- I am still confused as to who would actually go on a baking show designed for people who make rubbish versions of cakes??) and first of all came across Instant Hotel, which is basically the Aussie version of Four in a Bed (which is Come Dine with Me for B&B owners), and then to my excitement, Tidying Up, which is where Marie Kondo visits people and they sort through their houses and tidy them up. OK, it sounds a bit weird, but I love it.

After/before

I was going to sort through my clothes drawers anyway, and now I have started going through them and folding them so that you can see each one (instead of having them in little piles which is what I’ve done before).

I’ve been steadily working my way through all the drawers, and it is so therapeutic. I just have to tackle my office drawers and then I’ll be done!

A few photos from last week:

Christmas treats of Snow Fairy and Cinders (smells like marzipan) shower gel in the sale, plus Christmas tiffin (a slight addiction although I tend to leave it in a drawer so one is there just in case) and Pret chocolate almonds.

I finally finished my delicious Red Velvet tea- I am hoping that Bird&Blend bring it back for Valentine’s day this year. I enjoyed it with one piece of Christmas tiffin from the emergency drawer.

More Netflix, this time Ellen doing stand up, and making the most of the  Christmas tree before we had to take the decorations down.

I went for a back and shoulder massage at the end of the holidays and seriously needed it (as always). It makes such a difference though- I can look over my left shoulder when reversing onto the driveway afterwards.

My new t-shirt/ a Gail’s scone with jam and Oatly creme fraiche (needed using up)/ another favourite snack of dates filled with peanut butter (Pip and Nut Hazelnut) and then a little melted chocolate on top.

Stollen.  This went a bit wrong as I usually make 3- one for us, one for my parents and one for Andy’s parents. I merrily set about making the dough, soaking the fruit and so on, and could not work out why it was so hard to fit in the mixer. The loaves were mammoth, and it was only when I re-read the recipe that I realised it said “Makes 2 loaves”. Yup, I normally make one batch and make it into 3 not 2. A mistake I hopefully won’t make again!

More baked French toast. We had one random pain au chocolate, so I sliced it, spread it with peanut butter and then put it in a dish with a mixture of egg and milk (plus blueberries) while I went out for a run, and then baked it while I had a shower. Pretty delicious.

Running wise, following on from the NYDD, I had a rest day on Wednesday with a couple of walks (I’m managing to keep to 10,000 or more steps per day and am now on 173 days in a row), a 5.5 mile run on Thursday morning, more walking on Friday, parkrun on Saturday and then a longer run on Sunday. My knee was feeling weird on my run (and it had felt this way on the walk into town on Saturday afternoon- when I put my leg out in front it felt like the joint was bending the wrong way, which of course it wasn’t, but it was just strange) so I walked for a bit and stretched it. I kept trying to run, as it felt fine when walking, but each time I tried it just felt wrong. I was going to call it off and head home as after a mile I can cut back through the park to home, but I attempted a little run in the park and it felt OK, so I went gently but ran 7 miles, feeling OK. I’m not sure what it was, but I’ll be keeping an eye on it and at least Monday was a rest day so I could give it a break, and I swapped a run for a walk on Tuesday.

Do you love having a big clear up? 

A New Year Double parkrun (NYDD)

(New Year’s Day Double)

After a pretty chilled out weekend with an 8.5 mile run on Sunday morning and a little walk in the afternoon (followed by watching one of my Christmas presents, Whisper of the Heart) we packed up on Monday to head up to Nottingham. We’d not been for a few years and had a free night to use up, and it meant I could do some parkrun tourism to make up for missing out on Berlin!

On the Monday afternoon we had a nice wander around the centre- they have a Bird&Blend (they shall always be Bluebird to me) so we got a delicious tea latte each while we walked around the city centre, and later on a dinner at Bill’s, and then we had booked to see Mary Poppins Returns (which I really enjoyed- it felt like slipping under a cosy warm blanket and snuggling up with a cup of tea- all very soothing and relaxing because you know it will be alright in the end).

For a while I was just going to do one parkrun on NYD, and had looked at the later starts so Andy could pick me up after. Forest Rec (which I have been to before) wasn’t on, but it would have been the easiest to get to because it was on the main tram line. The trams were running on NYD but the buses weren’t, so the later start would mean Andy could pick me up after and we’d just head home.  However, when I started looking to find out which ones were on, I was using the double finder and of course got tempted by a double. Added to that was that Gedling (9am start) would mean I’d get my Stayin’ Alive badge and I soon decided to attempt the double.

The two runs didn’t seem that far apart (3 or 4 miles) and as one was 9 and the other 10.30, theoretically I’d have lots of time. As no buses were running I got an uber out to the park, having left it rather late (I never want to call it before I leave in case there is one right there, but of course there never is) so only arrived at 8:50am. Thankfully the start is right by the car park and so as I walked up I heard the call for the new runners briefing. I was hoping to find some people running between the two, as I’d asked a question about it on the tourist facebook group (as to whether it was all pavements as I couldn’t tell on google maps) and was told lots of people ran it last  year. Anyway, the only people I spoke to were doing the double but driving. Ah well.

Gedling is a lovely one lap undulating course (they described it as a figure of 8 as you repeated the belt bit). We were warned about the two hills, called The Beast and The Cobra (it rises up and bites you) but as I was taking it steady I didn’t find them too hard. Maybe similar to Wimpole if you’ve been there? Anyway it had the most gorgeous views as it was right on top of the hills looking across the countryside- the sky was incredible with light beaming down between gaps in the clouds. I would have stayed and taken a lot more photos had I not been pressed for time!

I did snap a few mid-run and am impressed with how they turned out. I finished with token 372 / 466 with a time of 33:20 (argh so close to 17 or 18 for the stopwatch bingo!).

I’d seen lots of these lovely wooden carvings around the route, and the fox was right by the finish area so I allowed myself a picture before loading up google maps and a podcast for the run between.

When I’d looked the other day, I had found a 4 mile route, and I’d written down the road names on a post it note so I knew that google maps was taking me the same way. There was one section on a country road without pavement, but thankfully not many cars were around and it had a fairly wide verge to hop onto when needed.  I had a bit of a panic when I thought I would need to cross the railway line but the directions (and my post-it) were sending me down a dead end road and I was cutting it fine with time and knew I wouldn’t have time to double back on myself if it was a proper dead end- the main road curved away from the park so in the end I followed the directions and found a pedestrian bridge further along. I was starting to worry a little bit by that point as it was getting closer to half 10 and I hadn’t seen anyone out running, and normally when you get close to a parkrun you start coming across people running. Just then a lady ran past me- I asked her if she was going to the parkrun, and she said something like she was, but didn’t think I was going the right way, so I asked if I could follow her. She nodded but then sprinted off so I had to up the speed to try and keep her in sight. I got to the park but then it turned out that the parkrun did not start on the edge, but in the middle of the park- basically another mile away!

The lady I had been following was long gone, but I ended up running with someone else for a bit, only she didn’t know where the start was either. We found a sign (a proper parkrun one) and then came across a marshal, who told us “just keep going around, you can’t miss it”. I made it to the start at about 10:29am in the end, and I really needed to sort out my shoe laces as one shoe felt a bit loose. Thankfully there were lots of milestones to be announced which meant the start was a little delayed (10.37 according to my Strava).

Colwick was another lovely course- starting out around the little lake, going around the big lake and then back around the little lake again. All very flat with gorgeous views. I was feeling tired by that point though, and the short stop before the second parkrun had made my legs a little stiff. What did cheer me up was the amount of people saying “aye up” to each other- it is always such a friendly-sounding saying.

Again I took a few pictures on the way around- I loved seeing all the changing views.  For my second one I finished in position 409/ 573 with a time of 33:25- a few seconds slower than the hillier but first one of the day.

The plan at the end was that Andy would drive out to meet me, but he messaged me while I was running to say he was in the car park and would see me soon. This turned out to be the car park at the entrance to the lakes, another mile away from where I was! I didn’t bother putting my watch on again, and half ran and half walked back. 12 miles done for the day- I was pretty shattered as I’ve not run that far in ages (and I was expecting more like 10 miles in total).

Anyway, a G meant that I had earned my Stayin’ Alive badge!

Third green one along!

Another C means I am one step closer to the pirates one too and I now have one R and 5 C’s so only need 2 more.

I’d packed a jumper, face wipes and coconut water, and Andy had got some almond croissants so I had breakfast as we drove back home, stopping to buy a cup of tea when we were a little closer.

There were some cool graphics on the internet showing all of the different NYDD options- as they were two of the closest in that area it is no surprise that more people did that double than other local ones (279 did the same double as me). If you are interested to look at ones local to you, the link is here.

A different NYDD from last year where I ran my two home events, but good to see two new courses- I’ve now run at 55 different parkrun locations.

Once home I had a shower and watched some TV, and then we headed out on a walk before it got dark. I felt pretty shattered but when I looked back at Strava my mileage had really dipped in the past 3 months- since doing Wimpole half marathon back in October I’ve only run over 8 miles 3 times, and then I ended up running 12 miles, so it isn’t a surprise that I felt it a bit. Brighton Half Marathon training has begun!

How did you spend New Years Day? Would you be tempted by a double parkrun? Which races are you looking forward to this year?

Gunpowder parkrun!

On the last Saturday of 2018, Dad picked me up at 8am and we drove around to Gunpowder parkrun which is by Waltham Abbey (close to the Lee Valley park). It had been my NENDY for ages (nearest event not done yet) and Dad fancied it too, as we had spoken to a few people at Panshanger who were from Gunpowder.

It was fairly overcast and with a cold wind, even though the weather was mild (maybe 9 degrees). We got chatting to a brand new parkrunner, and I ended up explaining the finish token system to her because there wasn’t a new runners briefing, just a normal briefing. We then walked a short way to the start, as the route was just over 2 laps.

The route was all on paved paths within the park, and very flat. There were a few signs in the park (I think about local wildlife) but I didn’t see anything about the Gunpowder mills- we had passed them on the way so I think they are perhaps not in the same place. Anyway, I was glad we had spoken to the first time runner as there weren’t any marshals out on the course either. I’ve seen this once at Black Park (they also didn’t have a new runner briefing), and I find it to appear less welcoming when events are like this. To me it’s fine because I know I will just follow the person in front and I know how the finishing funnel works, but at Black Park I was introducing my friend to parkrun for the first time, and I feel that without the new runners briefing and the enthusiastic cheers from the marshals, it feels less of a community event. I had explained to the new runner that there would be a tail walker, as she was a bit worried about completing the distance having only run up to 2 k at that point, and then I didn’t actually see the tail walker (having checked the results, the final runner got a volunteer credit so that must have been it).

Anyway, neither of us were planning on going fast as Dad had a bit of a niggle and I was just wanting to take it easy. We ended up chatting but as we neared the end of the second lap I realised we were going pretty fast- my finish time was 27:16 which is very speedy for me, and a nice royal flush negative split of 9:10, 8:45, 8:20 and 7:53. Annoyingly I needed 17 and 18 for stopwatch bingo!

It did earn me my second G, and I already have 3 B’s which means I only need one more G to complete the Stayin’ Alive challenge!

We chatted a bit to some of the volunteers (Dad was admiring their token sorting system as they used little seed pots and had one pot for each token). After a bit of stretching we drove home via St Albans to pick up Mum, and then headed here to breakfast. I had prepped the night before some awesome baked French toast from the Pip and Nut recipe book (which is online here if you want to take a look). It was meant to be with brioche but I used panettone- you basically sliced it and spread one side with peanut butter, then put it in a dish with a mixture of eggs, milk, sugar (plus cinnamon), and scattered blueberries over the top. It soaked in the fridge overnight and then in the morning while we were driving back Andy put the oven on so it was cooking away when we got back. According to my dad it was a success, and there wasn’t any left which means it will be one I will make again. We had it with some extra fruit, optional maple syrup and some Oatly creme fraiche (which was really good).

If I fancied a super flat run I would probably head to Gunpowder rather than St Albans because it was much quieter (around 200 runners) and distance wise it’s similar, and if I was fed up with mud in the winter it would be a good option too. The car park was only free for an hour (thankfully we arrived just after 8.30 and the run had a prompt start), otherwise it was £2.50 so I think I would be tempted to look at nearby parking options and run the rest of the way to avoid that next time.

Do you have any prepare ahead breakfast ideas? 

A look back on 2018

I always like reading these sorts of posts, and writing them is lovely because you get to look back and remind yourself what has happened in the past year.

Running

Running wise, I kept going with the theme from 2017 of doing less races, but keeping the ones that I enjoyed.  My first race was the Cambridge Half marathon – I wasn’t even sure if it would go ahead as we had more snow that weekend, but it did, and it was freezing, and somehow I managed a fast for me time of 2:04:40- just as well as the big crowds meant we only just made it to breakfast on time after!

In March I did the 10K Runfest at Lee Valley (but decided that next year I’d probably do the half marathon again) and in May the Hitchin 10k with my dad – running with him is always a highlight.

In July it was time for the Ware 10k in the middle of the heatwave, and then the Panshanger 5 mile race with Dad (thankfully an evening race).

In September Andy ran the New Forest 10k with me, in preparation for our trip to Disney. I made a last minute decision (well a few weeks before) to sign up for the Wimpole half marathon- this was a beautiful race but fairly hilly and took me about 2 1/2 hours.

In November we ran the Disney Wine and Dine 10k together, celebrating 20 years together (and having just got married).

Later that month we went to Brighton where I somehow got a 10k pb of 54:11, and then in December I enjoyed running the local festive 5 race.

parkrun

Of course I have loved going to my local parkruns of Panshanger and Ellenbrook Fields. If Dad is around we usually meet at EF, and if not I pop to Panshanger as it’s closer. We’ve also been on a few tourist trips together, gradually ticking off those nearest events not yet done (and mainly ones with 2 or less laps that take our fancy) going to Houghton Hall in January, Rushmere (with the gong!) in September, and Jersey Farm and Gunpowder in December.  Dad reached 20 events on a trip up to Huddersfield so I got him a cow cowl buff for his birthday for our tourist trips.

In February I achieved Queen of Herts when I ran Letchworth parkrun (all the parkruns in Herts done). In March I noticed that Oak Hill wasn’t too far away and would tick off the O, and then on a trip to Southampton I visited Portsmouth Lakeside (originally I was going to drive to the Queen Elizabeth Country park but seeing as the  lakeside run started right outside the hotel it seemed a bit silly to go all that way).  I also got to wear my 100 t-shirt and am now over half way to the next milestone of 250.

I got rather obsessed with the running challenges badges on the chrome extension. After downloading it I noticed I only need a north for the compass challenge, having already run at Southampton, Eastleigh and Westmill, so in April I headed to Northala Fields (which also happily ticked off the N for me).  I was halfheartedly filling in the parkrun alphabet before, and started to actively chase it a little more. At the end of April I introduced a friend to parkrun at Black Park parkrun, and then on our trip to Scotland I managed to tick off the Y at York on the way home. A couple of weeks later I drove around to Upton Court to tick off the U (coincidentally meeting another regular from EF parkrun) and then in July I got my V as we were staying in London- it was meant to be Victoria Dock but that was cancelled so I got the train to Valentines.

Image may contain: 2 people, people smiling, people standing, outdoor and nature

On a trip to Copenhagen I earned a Danish flag by running at Amager Fælled, and then in another trip to Brighton I ticked off my 4th Brighton parkrun with the beautiful but hilly Bevendean Down parkrun. Trips to Rushmoor and Rushmere (with the gong!!) ticked off two more times on the bingo list, and earned my cow (half cowel- 50 events) at Wendover Woods.

I visited Dinton Pastures for the D, and then Jersey Farm for the J later in December, and finished the year at Gunpowder, earning another  G for the Stayin’ Alive badge.

I have run at 17 new events this year, and while I love touring around, my favourite moments from parkrun will be the times I have run around with Dad, or gone back to breakfast at Mum’s after.

Fun Times

We went to see Gomez at the Royal Albert Hall- time spent at live music is always well spent in my opinion. Andy got us tickets for the Foo Fighters at the Olympic Park, and they totally rocked! We also saw the Manic Street Preachers at the Penn festival in the summer. One of the major highlights was going to see the Muppets Take the O2 and then seeing Flight of the Conchords was also a hilarious evening. With my parents we went to see Joe Lycett on tour and again that was a pretty funny evening.

We’ve been to the cinema a lot this year too (making the most of our free tickets)- Mission Impossible and Ocean’s Eight were good fun, A Star is Born and First Man were “totes emosh”, Isle of Dogs and Ladybird were quirky, Game Night was a lot funnier than I expected, A Simple Favour was super creepy, Thoroughbreds was dark, Tully was exhausting, and The Mis-education of Cameron Post was brilliant but also infuriating. We’ve got Mary Poppins tickets for NYE so I have high hopes for that too.

Travelling Tales

Image may contain: ocean, sky, cloud, beach, twilight, outdoor, nature and water

We have managed several trips to Brighton this year (always a favourite place and then as we found somewhere to get our wedding rings from, we had to do a few visits to order and collect them). A few running related weekends to Cambridge and the New Forest, as well as trips down to Southampton to see family, a lovely week going up to Scotland and catching up with one of my oldest friends, a festive weekend in Bath and a few festive days in Berlin.  In the summer holidays we had a long weekend in Copenhagen and another in Amsterdam, plus a week in France. The highlight would have to be our half term trip to Florida, where we got married at the botanical gardens.

All in all a pretty good year.

How was 2018 for you? What are you looking forward to in 2019?

That lovely time between Christmas and New Year

I love this time of year. I am usually a busy person, and like it that way, but for some reason at this point I am always ready to just slow down, have a pot of tea in the afternoon, watch a bit of TV during the day or just not worry about rushing about. During term time I feel like I am hardly at home in the daylight so it’s been lovely to sit in the dining room looking out at the garden, seeing all the birds and just letting my mind wander.

I’d been given some lovely Christmas gifts from friends, including this cute “Married in 2018” mug (with penguin socks, because, penguins <3 ). When we had been on holiday in Florida I’d seen this print of Stitch (Lilo and Stitch is one of my favourite films), so Andy had bought that for me, plus some penguin PJ’s and some Ghibli films to add to the collection. We unwrapped our presents on Wednesday evening while watching the Escape to the Chateau Christmas episode to add to the festive feelings.

After getting back quite late on Wednesday evening, I pottered around at home for a bit before heading off on a run. To make the most of running in the light I headed down to the lakes.

It was a really beautiful wintery day with lovely skies and clouds. It felt really early in the morning but I don’t think I left until about 9.30am! I did around 6.5 miles but had to take it slowly as one of my knees was feeling rather stiff- I had fallen asleep on the plane on the way home so I wonder if it was in an awkward position or something.

I was excited to find my With me Now t-shirt had arrived (team cool down for me)- it is super soft but I realised I should have got a long sleeved top as I only have a couple of long sleeved t-shirts (one of which is a Christmas themed one) and I like wearing them after a run. So now, do I order a long sleeved one too and then risk never wearing the short sleeved one?

Andy’s parents were coming over in the evening so I did a bit of tidying and sorting (along to the Muppets Most Wanted soundtrack of course), before walking into town for an opticians appointment. Although my eyes were pretty much the same, it turned out I’d had my current ones for over 4 years now so a new pair was probably a good idea (I keep worrying I will drop them and I don’t have a spare pair as the ones I like are the ones with plastic frames and not included in the 2 for 1 deal). Anyway, they had a clever app which scanned your face and then worked out which glasses would suit you. I’d been browsing before my appointment but hadn’t seen any I liked, but in using the app (and explaining that I only like plastic frames as I don’t like the little things that rest on your nose, plus I don’t like thick  arms as I don’t want to feel like I have blinkers on) the lady found 2 pairs straight away that were pretty much the same as my current ones but in slightly different colours. I was a bit sceptical but it was really useful.  Andy’s parents came over after dinner to watch the football. They gave us a lovely bag filled with all sorts of treats including piccalilli (my favourite), pesto and crackers which will keep us going for a while.

On Friday I went out on a long walk first thing, and then headed over to my parents to see family (my auntie and cousins were all going around there). It got a bit complicated because I had to leave in the afternoon to go and get my hair cut (I’d left it late to book and when I asked for an appointment she only had one left until March as she was going on holiday)-also Andy was working so when he finished my haircut was done and he picked me up on the way back to my parents.  It was lovely to catch up with everyone and just a really relaxing afternoon/evening.

Saturday morning was spent at a new parkrun (more on that another time) and then in the afternoon we parked outside of St Albans town and walked in. There were lots of postboxes with decorations on them raising money for some local charities so it was quite fun to spot some of them.

We then popped in to give our niece and nephew their Christmas presents and then headed home. It was a bit warm for the fire so we put some candles in front of it instead- nearly as cosy! We watched one of the Ellen standups on Netflix which was very funny.

This morning I had another enjoyable run to the lakes and back- I made it a little longer by adding on a small loop at the start so by the time I got home I’d run 8.5 miles. I realised I hadn’t run much further than a 10k for a long time now, and have the Brighton half at the end of Feb so needed to start getting my long runs a little longer. As I got home I had a text to say my glasses were ready so after a breakfast (porridge with meridian mince pie filling stirred in) we walked into town to pick them up. Then it’s been more pottering and the afternoon will probably involve a pot of tea and a little bit of TV.

How do you like to spend your days off?