Stuff I love! - Maria Runs

Holidays are busier than work days!

Sort of!

I somehow thought that I had loads of free time, but in fact I have been super busy these last few days. Wednesday I went out and did my Audiofuel run before breakfast, as I had loads to do. This was good, but hard work- probably a little further than I normally would run before any food. Plus it was warm, but I did take water with me.

Then it was a busy day of going into work, a quick rush to the shops (not to put a downer on it, but I need to find something to wear to Discovery Cove- swim shopping is what I dread the most) and then cheering myself up at the allotment!

See this bed at the bottom? Well it goes the whole length of the allotment and that was what I spent a lot of the 3 hours digging up! And that pile of rubbish is what the lady left behind- after clearing 8 tubs of the stuff I dug up I could not be bothered to move her stuff. Plus I was a bit worried that there might be a frog or a hedgehog living in it.

This is it from the other side- I was not going to attempt digging up the potatoes (they cover about 1/3 of it I think) and apparently the lady is coming this weekend to take away her shed and dig up the potatoes. This picture makes it look like there is loads to do, but honestly it is just the potatoes now!

Thursday I did some yoga before breakfast (yoga for weightloss- I downloaded a few other ones which looked good, and at my level as this was a beginners one). Then I had some friends over. I was pretty pleased (food related) as we all bring something, and tend to snack and chat- often I get tempted by the crisps, nuts, cakes etc. But this time I had a Food Doctor pitta, some crudites, half of a berry crumble bar, and a lot of watermelon.

Watermelon just looks so refreshing 🙂 Love it!

Then it was body pump time, and actually I was really pleased. We always do a stretch at the end (for the glutes I think)- you lay on your back with one leg up in the air, then you cross that leg over the other one, reach through and hold on to the other leg. Not sure if I have explained it? Anyway, I have always struggled with this, being inflexible,and have always had to hold my leg first, then hook the other leg over the top, but the last couple of weeks I have managed to do it properly, and I am wondering if the yoga is actually making a little difference. It will be a long time til I can put my forehead on my knee though!

Anyway, I was hungry after that, so I went for a Moma porridge pot, as I have been sent a few Moma products to try and I could not wait for breakfast!

Verdict? Delicious. It is ready made bircher muesli- this one is made with yoghurt, apple juice, oats, apples, peaches, agave nectar, rice starch and lemon juice. It was lovely and very filling. Yum.

Today I had another pot for breakfast;

This one was a blueberry one. Then I was off for a 10 mile run (I have a family wedding this weekend so would not be able to go out tomorrow or Sunday morning)- this was hard as my legs were getting stiff from body pump last night (I also drank a lot of water before I left so I had to stop at the toilets in the park!). It took me longer than last time, 1hr50 something, but with the stop that is not too bad.

After a snack and a shower I was off to meet a friend for lunch- we went to Starbucks and I was excited to see they sell their chai teabags!!!!!!!!!!!!

Woo hoo!!!! I mean, perhaps they have for ages, but I have not looked/ noticed them before. After resisting ordering Teapigs for ages, I am yet again adding to my tea collection.

Then I was off for a haircut (plus buying a dress for the wedding tomorrow- last minute much?).

So there we go. Some exercise, some socialising, and some de-stressing.

So nice weekend plans? The wedding will be keeping us busy as we have a family lunch on Sunday too. Hope you all have a good one.

Laters dudes 🙂

WIAW newbie!

Hello all! This is my first ever WIAW 🙂

(And due to holidays etc will not be another one for a few weeks oops!).

After reading the rules I realised that I could choose any day, but just have it ready to post on Wednesday. So I chose Tuesday, and was diligently snapping away at home!

Breakfast– Chopped jazz apple, 50g Rude Health Early Bird Crispy Muesli, Milk.

Snack– Some dried mango (that Forest Feast stuff is lovely) and then a smoothie/ fake ice cream bowl- one small frozen banana whizzed with Kara coconut milk and cocoa powder.

Plus some end-of-term chocolates (pre-digging energy).

Then I headed to the allotment and ended up doing 3 hours of digging! I forgot to wear my watch- no wonder I was hungry when I got home! I was annoyed actually as I forgot to take the camera today, and as I took a proper fork (and not just the hand trowel from Monday) I actually dug up a load of massive plants. Ah well, maybe next time I will take a pic.

Lunch– some of the quinoa salad I made yesterday, with some wheatgrass powder stirred in (after the spirulina mistake I was nervous to open this, but I think it smelled a bit like tea) and topped with Righteous raspberry basil dressing. Yum.

Plus a pear and a rude health oaty thin covered with Sainsbury’s choc chip pb. I was very hungry after all that digging I can tell you! A bulldozer might have been an easier option!

Afternoon snack– some Cosy Earl Grey tea, and a Waitrose nut bar (to give me me energy for aerobics).

Dinner– pasta with pesto, roasted courgette and pepper, and then I sprinkled it with some cheese.

Dessert; A chai bite, grapes and cherries. I am loving cherries so much at the moment!

Plus some mint tea, which I did not photograph.

Gosh, taking photos of all of that makes me think that was a lot of food! At least I got in a lot of fruits and veggies haha! Maybe not very much protein for today though- it was a carb-tastic day but then 3 hours of digging plus aerobics means you need carbs I think!

OK, well that was my first WIAW. I think the best thing for me was that breakfast, as it is such a summery combination. Best thing you ate today?

Rude Health Oaty Thins!

First of all, that is what I am excited about! When I got home from work today I tried a couple of them, and I love them! They are similar to rice cakes, in that they are big and sort of puffy, but without the weird stick-to-your-tongue texture that rice cakes have, plus they feel a bit more substantial.

One with pb&co maple peanut butter (not much of this left now!) and one with coconut butter and meridian raspberry spread, after this combo was recommended. I must say, it was lovely 🙂 I have never eaten coconut butter raw before, only used it in cooking, but it was nice to have that hint of coconut flavour to the snack. I also had my final Teapigs chai tea 🙁 Until my tea cupboard gets a bit emptier (remember my hoarding confessional post?) I cannot order any more. Although they do sell it on Ocado and I am about to do a shop……..

Anyway, I love those oaty thins and I kind of wish I had bought the multigrain ones too, just to try them. Once these have been eaten that will be my next stop I think.

I have body pump later so I made a pudding to have when I get home;

All my ingredients ready (well nearly, I forgot the xanthan gum). Mash banana, add cocoa powder and pb (Sainsburys pb with chocolate chips, which is nice but not as good as dark chocolate dreams), then pour on coconut milk, sprinkle on xanthan gum and whisk, then add chia seeds.

The bowl gets so messy from all the stirring but I am not putting it in a clean bowl just for the photo I am afraid! This is thickening up in the fridge as I type.

Also I have been reading everyone’s “What I eat Wednesday” posts and feel left out! I keep thinking I should join in, and then the week goes by and before I know it I am reading them all over again, thinking “whoops, I should have done it”. Next week I am off, so I might even get around to doing it (but then after that I will be away for loads of Wednesdays). Anyone else not jumped on that bandwagon yet?

Right, off to body pump and then, hooray, the last day of the summer term 🙂

Silverstone weekend

Hey guys!

Hope you all had a lovely weekend- I did 🙂

We were up so early (6am on Saturday and 7.30 today) to get up to Silverstone in time, but it was fab. In brief, Saturday we had “roaming seats” which meant we could sit anywhere there was space, so we watched practise sessions and then the qualifying in one grandstand (luckily it was covered as it tipped it down!)- it was great, the cars were so noisy (I had earplugs though phew), but it was freezing cold! I think I shivered for the whole day. As soon as you went down to the ground it was fine, but up high it was windy. We also saw some other cars racing (in a different stand just to mix things up a bit), and Jenson and Lewis having a little chat on the vodafone stage after qualifying.

Today there were a few things before the race, but we had seats (in an open air stand) so we did not have to get there as early. It tipped it down with rain once we were in our seats, but we had dressed for the rain and brought an umbrella, so we were OK! It did stop before the start (although Jenson and Lewis did ask for rain yesterday as they would have stood a better chance I think- we were in two minds- rain makes for a more exciting race, but then we would have got wet!). We saw the drivers go around on the back of a lorry, the Red Arrows did about 30 mins of awesome amazing stunts, and then it was race time! I won’t bore you with the race, as I am sure you would have watched it if you were interested. But I have never been to one before, and I was wondering how I would get on, as you can only see part of the track (and we could see the start of the pit lane too). Normally when you watch it on TV they tell you where everyone is, so I did think I might get a little confused. There were big screen TV’s showing the feed just as it comes on BBC, and when the cars were not near you could hear the commentary. Andy listened to the radio (on an mp3 player) but I wanted earplugs instead, but I did manage to follow what was going on. There were some exciting overtaking moves, and I was loving that the crowd were cheering every time Jenson or Lewis went past- loads of clapping and air horns and stuff! I had not thought about it before, but you know at a football match the players can hear the crowd, but in those cars with all the noise (and seriously, it is so much louder than on the TV, so much more high pitched) there is no way the drivers can hear, so I did not know if there would be any cheering during the race, just at the end. But it was great! 🙂 Andy was trying out his new fancy camera (one of those digital SLR ones) so no photos from me I am afraid!

What was not so great (but cannot be helped) was the awful traffic coming home today! The park and ride bus took an hour to get us back to the car park, and then the motorway, urgh, no idea what went on there.

Anyway, it was a brilliant weekend. And I have one question (Ferarri fans need not apply)- Jenson or Lewis?

I am for Jenson Button all the way- a few years ago (maybe 5/6?) one of my friends gave me an official photo of him as a birthday present, as I was rather taken by him! Andy even teased me that if I met him I would be even more star struck than when I met Mickey and Minnie Mouse (and yes I was an adult at the time too). 🙂 But I love having two Brit drivers in the same team, and I was still cheering on Lewis when he did some fancy handbrake style turning stuff in front of the grand stand to celebrate at the end! 🙂

Giveaway winner!

The winner of the set of Bloom Teas, goes to:

Rachel- at Delicious and Nuts 🙂

I am afraid I have no idea how to do those random number generator thingies, so it was names on paper, and Andy picked one out! 🙂

Rachel- can you email (emailme at runningcupcake.co.uk) your address details to me and I will pass them on to Bloom Teas. Congrats 🙂 Hope you enjoy the tea 🙂

Also, I realised I forgot to do my exercise recap for the week.

So:

Monday- 6.7ish mile run with Audiofuel intervals. Found it hard going slow enough in the recovery parts, and finished it tired a long way from home. Lesson learned- do them nearer home!

Tuesday- Aerobics- I had not been for weeks, and it was the replacement girl (but she was loads better than last time and turned up the speed so it was a great workout).

Wednesday- 3.5 mile run- more Audiofuel- this time I did the slightly faster one which was better. The fast bits were really hard but that is good. Then yoga for runners 25 mins.

Thursday- New body pump release. Back to pretty much normal weights.

Friday- Rest (and waffle house 🙂 )

Saturday- 9.5 mile run, including wardrobe malfunction. Very hot. And a walk before dinner.

Sunday- Rest day- I did yoga podcast this evening.

Verdict- pretty good week.

And Lara I apologise for the baking! I am going to try and take pictures of the healthy food this week. Except for Thursday as I am making a cheesecake to take to a friends’ on Friday. Consider yourself warned 😉