Category: Stuff I love!

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? 

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.

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

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?

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?