Stuff I love! - Maria Runs

Amager Fælled parkrun! Danish parkrun tourism!

I’ll get to the rest of Copenhagen in another post (we arrived early on Friday morning and came back on Sunday). We stayed a few metro stops from the city centre (the Crowne Plaze Towers hotel opposite Ørestad station and right by the huge Field’s shopping mall), handily placed around 3km from the start of Amager Fælled parkrun. The directions looked fairly simple as all I had to do was either run up the straight road and then turn left into the park, or get off at the university metro stop and head into the park.

(Our hotel was by the mall on the map so you can see it looked relatively simple). It was super hot so in the end I decided to get the metro, although this added to the stress a bit (not because of navigating the metro, as that was super simple with either a north or south-going metro, every 5 or so minutes) but because my phone was playing up and not always unlocking and the metro ticket was a 48 hour pass purchased online, so if I had been asked for a ticket I would have needed to show the text message.

Anyway, I thought I had prepared well, by emailing myself a link to the map (on the parkrun course page, if you look at the map, you can select the “share” icon and email it to yourself, which means when you then open the map via the link on your phone, both the parkrun route and your location show up), but my phone then started zooming out so much that I could see the whole of Europe on my screen- argh! I’d read that it was very much a last-minute parkrun, in that people would appear at 8.55 and set it up. Fine, but if I was in the wrong part of the park that would be no good. It wasn’t a flat grassy park where you could see across, it was full of bushes and trees, with paths between them, meaning no last minute dashes across to the right place.

The entrance to the park

Thankfully as I was wandering in, clearly looking confused and probably talking to myself, a runner overtook me, turned and saw my top, and pointed the way for me. I waved a thanks to her, as she then turned off left, but had indicated that I needed to go straight on. A little later I came across a cross-roads of paths, and could not decide (and again the phone wasn’t working), but after seeing a few people up ahead decided to go that way. As I got closer to the group of people, one person came up to me (seeing my parkrun apricot top I suppose) and asked me if this was where it started. I admitted that I didn’t know, and she told me it was a lot of English tourists plus some locals that were new to parkrun, so no-one knew so far where the start was. Fingers crossed we were in the right place! At around 8.50 the crowd of people moved a little further down the track to a clearing, where someone got out a tarp (for water bottles etc) and someone else put down cones for the finish funnel- phew!

The briefing at the start

The run briefing began in Danish, and seeing as all I can remember from my time in Denmark was how to count to ten, I worked out the 5k, 2 laps part, and then there were some claps (someone waved so we knew that was a milestone of some sort). A guy sidled over and said to me and someone else that he would translate for us if they said anything important, but then the guy doing the briefing switched to English and said “any tourists here today? From England?” Lots of people put their hands up, and then one lady said she was from Australia. “You win” he told her. He explained that there would not be marshals out on the course, but it was signposted and you could just follow the person in front. He then quickly ran through the route, told us it was the first parkrun outside of the UK and was coming up to being 10 years old, before showing us to the start line (back along the path where we first waited). A line had been created (it looked like flour) on the floor to show the start line, and then it was a quick countdown and we were off.

From their facebook page- one of the volunteers must know a short cut as he was waiting on the first lap with his camera taking pictures of everyone.

It was absolutely baking. On Friday the temperature had got to over 30C, and the Saturday was meant to peak at 29, but there was little shade and a breeze only appeared in a couple of places.

I had seen on the results that it was a fairly speedy one, with final finishers coming in before 40 minutes, and I think I tried to keep up with the pack at first but it soon thinned out and I ended up mainly by myself. I ran behind this guy in the blue top (you can see a bit of him in the photo) and it had 50 and the parkrun logo on it. I wondered for a while if the milestone tops were a different colour in Denmark, and then realised that it seemed the same shade as the 500 top, so perhaps one of the 0’s came off. However when I looked at the results there was no-one with that many runs (438 was the highest I found) so I am not sure. Any ideas?

I enjoyed running the route- every now and then you had to look out for arrows on the floor and at one point during the second lap (when we were all further apart) I did wonder if I had missed an arrow, but then I noticed the fenced off field and remembered running by it before. When I ran past the start/finish area on my first lap, there were loads of people cheering (RD/ timer/ scanners etc)- they had these little hand held clapper things and were cheering in both English and Danish, including the lovely but very not true chant of “you look beautiful”.

Follow the arrows…

I was so hot by the end- my face seems to radiate the heat- so I wasn’t really putting in a fast finish. It was one of my highest placings though (47/67 runners- it was my 6th best finishing position). As soon as I finished I got my barcode scanned. The lady told me she was very happy that my wrist band scanned, and I told her I had a backup on me too. She showed me a notepad, and explained that they were ready for anything. As I stood in the shade to cool down, she was writing down the barcode for someone who had it up on their phone (DFYB people).

Although there was no cafe nearby, people were hanging around, sitting in the small patches of shade and cheering everyone else in. I chatted briefly to the lady who came up to me at the start (and her husband)- they were from Cumbria and here on holiday. I was surprised to see in the results that they had only done a couple of parkruns before this one as when I was chatting to the lady she was raving about how brilliant parkrun was (I’m not saying you can’t love it from the start, but seeking one out on holiday seems like something you would do once Saturday morning is always a parkrunday for you).

Anyway, I was hot and thirsty so I headed back to the metro, getting back to the hotel for about 10am. I had lots of water and a cool shower and then we headed to the shopping centre to get a cinnamon roll for breakfast- what else can you do in Denmark?

That was my 160th run, a nice number to do my 3rd country with.

I do like the badges on the tourist running challenges– now I have a new flag!

Where would your ideal parkrun holiday be? They are in so many countries now- how about Germany combined with a Christmas market trip? Or they posted about a potential NYD double with Copenhagen and then Malmo…

The beginning of summer!

Ah, this time of year is just great when the summer stretches ahead of you. After a busy week last Sunday was a totally chilled out day which was just what was needed. After a lie in, we had breakfast and walked the long way into town, had a bit of a look around some of the shops (looking for a lamp and a mirror), stopping to get an iced drink to share on the way home.

In the afternoon we popped over to see Andy’s brother before heading home to potter in the garden and watch some TV.

On Monday I went out for a run first thing- I did just over 6 miles and it was very hot by the time I got home. Later in the morning we walked into town to get some sourdough bread for dinner, and then after that I drove to St Albans as I had booked a massage. After first driving to the out of town Sainsbury’s to get some peanut butter (as you do) I parked around a mile and a half from the town centre and walked in, thankfully arriving early so I could sit in the waiting room to cool down for a bit!

Acai bowl from HIIT kitchen/ blue fountain in WGC for the NHS/ 32 on the car thermometer

The massage was so needed- again she apologised for “digging around a bit” but I get so many knots in my shoulders and neck and afterwards the feeling of being able to turn and look over my shoulder is pretty amazing! Thankfully the room was cool with a fan going. I’d had a late breakfast and then didn’t have time for lunch (you can’t eat too close to a massage I don’t think) so by the time it finished and I went into town I was pretty hungry. I have walked past HIIT kitchen a few times and noticed that they did acai bowls, so I decided to treat myself as a late lunch/ afternoon snack. It was very tasty and refreshing, although they didn’t do the unsweetened one which was on the menu (topped with seeds or granola) so I had to have the normal one topped with fruit.

I had to pick up some currency at the Post Office and had the most hilarious exchange:

Me- I would like £25 of Danish Kroner please.

Lady- Are you going on holiday?

M- Yes.

L- That isn’t much money.

M- I’ll use a credit card for the rest.

L- Does your card charge for foriegn currency?

M- It’s a Post Office card.

L- Oh. Do you have travel insurance?

M- Yes.

L- What kind?

M- It’s an annual policy.

L- Is it due for renewal because we have a sale.

M- No, I think it’s November (turns out it’s with the bank so it just rolls over)

L- You do know it’s very expensive in Denmark don’t you?

M- Yes but I am only going for a couple of days (I was so tempted to tell her that I used to live in Denmark but she was almost shirty with me and I didn’t want her to not sell me the currency!)

L- When are you going?

M- This Friday.

L- Right, that will be £26

I feel like she was possibly on commission for selling the currency/ credit card/ insurance, but honestly her attitude was terrible and would put anyone off. It was like I was being told off ( I think had I said I was going away the next day she would tell me off for getting the money out so last minute). Hard work!

Once I’d walked back to my car I was up to 29,000 steps!

On Tuesday I set the alarm a little earlier to go out on a run while it was a little cooler. After a shower and breakfast I got on with a lot of jobs at home (sorting out old magazines, putting things back in the dining room after the decorating) and then walked into town for a haircut.

Post haircut although it still looks fairly long in this picture for some reason.

I got an iced chai (my favourite) for the hot walk home.

On Wednesday I went up to the Hitchin Lavender farm with my parents. They picked me up and we had a little look in the show fields and then went to the cafe (a delicious scone and Earl Grey tea for me- perfect) before heading to a local nature reserve for a walk around there. It was pretty hot but luckily most of the route was in the shade- we did have to dodge some massive stinging nettles and my mum got caught by a giant bramble at one point!

I’ve been making lots of iced teas- this one was Bluebird Cherry Bakewell tea (made with Chinese white tea, apple, rosehip, hibiscus, cornflowers (red + blue), almond pieces, currants, cranberry pieces, flavour.) Just brew it as normal, leave to cool then serve with ice.

My Dad gave me a load of home-grown tomatoes, and we had sourdough bread left over from the other day, so I had avocado and tomatoes (and sundried tomatoes) on toast for dinner. I haven’t had this in ages and it is so simple but so tasty.

We went to see the new Mission Impossible film, which (behind the Bourne films) is just my type of action film- good stunts, some tense moments but also some comic relief so it doesn’t feel too stressful. It feels like recently we have seen films which have been OK (Jurassic Park/ Rampage) but nothing really good, so it was a change to leave the cinema feeling that it was properly time well spent.

On Thursday I did a 3 mile run first thing, and then walked into town to meet some friends. We walked down to the park and had a picnic- it was absolutely baking hot but OK in the shade- then walked back to town for iced drinks before heading our separate ways home. I had to then finish packing as I was off to the airport on Thursday night as we had a super early flight to Copenhagen on Friday morning- more on that another day!

What are you looking forward to this summer? Have you enjoyed some good films lately?

Feet not touching the ground

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.

Image may contain: 1 person, standing and outdoor

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?

Getting my V with a plan B

So after seeing The Muppets at the O2, the plan was to stay in London nearby, so I could do Victoria Docks parkrun and of course a bonus would be to tick off the V. I had checked it was on via the future roster (they seem to cancel a fair bit) and followed them on facebook just to be sure. On Wednesday someone shared to the parkrun tourist page that it was cancelled due to some works going on that they just found out about. Totally not the teams fault at all, but so frustrating! Luckily we hadn’t actually booked a hotel at that point (there were a few options and it was depending on where I would least likely get lost from) and the hive mind of the tourist group helped with suggestions. Beckton would have been the closest but I don’t need a B, Mile End would have been close too but I went there in December. Thankfully someone suggested Valentine’s- before Victoria Dock that was the only option for a V and I’d looked at it but from home I would have needed to drive somewhere and get the underground, and it was on a loop so a bit complicated.

Once Valentine’s was the choice, someone sent a link through to this website (which is easier to use than the TfL website I find) and then told me to get on a central line train to Gants Hill via Hainault. If I had not been told that I would have spent ages on the platform dithering about which train to get on. As it was I had a fairly simple journey- run up the road from the hotel to Aldgate East, get to Mile End on one tube, then change to the central line for to Gants Hill. I had allowed plenty of time for getting lost, plus it was “10-15 min walk” from the station to the start at the other end.

As I got to the Mile End there was another platform going eastbound where I got off, so I didn’t even need to wander around the station. There weren’t totally clear signs on the platform though, but the station I needed was on the map and as a train turned up after a few minutes I got on it and just kept checking the map at each station to make sure it was going where I thought it was. When I thought I was OK I put on a podcast- I listened to the parkrun adventurers which is an Australian parkrun tourist podcast. One of the presenters had been to the UK annual conference so it was an interesting listen.

The directions on the website told you to follow signs for the park from the tube station, which helped with which exit to leave from. I’d looked at a map beforehand (how unlike me…) and so I knew the road name I needed too (Cranbrook Road) so I just followed the road down to the park.

Once in the park I had to get out google maps on my phone because I couldn’t work out the map in the park.

There were some lovely ponds in the park but when I tried to go closer to take a photo some geese started to chase me which rather alarmed me!

When I got to the start I saw three people with cow cowls having a photo taken together. I thought they were all together but when I went to say hi it turned out they were all from different places (Essex, Bristol and Peterborough) and jokingly told me off for missing the photo! Then the tail walker came over and chatted to us about the course, giving us an informal tourist briefing. He asked if people were getting their V, and of course we were. When I explained about Victoria Dock, he did mention the cable car being a cool way to get to a parkrun, but I explained that I am not that keen on them so was quite relieved to arrive by land!

Then it was time for the main briefing before we were off. The route is two laps- you start in the middle and head out to the edge, repeating two anti-clockwise loops and then head back in (so you finish in the other direction). There was lots to see on the way around- boating lakes, tennis courts, outdoor gyms- and lots of shade so it was enjoyable and passed by quickly.

I put on a bit of a sprint at the end but it was hot and I didn’t want to push too hard. 28:50 was my official time, but it seemed like it could be a fast course (with a few gentle up and down bits to add variation but no hills or tough bits).

On the second lap I overtook the tail walker who called out to me something like “it’s better with no cable car”- I love the friendliness of parkrun.

When I finished a guy a few places ahead was being sick in the finish funnel so I had to look away, but thankfully one of the marshals took his token for him so we could all move on.

I briefly chatted to one of the tourists who had finished ahead of me, before scanning my barcode. They had this sorting tray for the tokens which I thought was a great idea- I think they are little seedling trays- one for each token.

Then it was time to run back to the station and get the tube home- much easier because all the Central Line trains were going to the station I needed.

I was pretty thirsty by this point so got some coconut water in Pret to drink on the way back to the hotel, had a quick shower and then we checked out to get breakfast.

Andy booked Bill’s near Borough market so we walked there and enjoyed delicious pancakes for brunch to give us energy to walk around London for the rest of the day.

So, another letter completed! For the UK I have D and K left of the more normal letters, Q (hopefully going there in September) and then I (which is either Inverness or Ipswich) and J (which is only Jersey as I don’t think I can persuade Andy to go all the way to Boston for Jamaica Pond parkrun just yet….)

Do you get many tourists at your parkrun? Often I speak to people who have been to Ellenbrook Fields but we don’t get particularly big numbers each week (under 200 usually). Best post run breakfast?

More early morning runs, parakeets and The Muppets!

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.