Maria Runs - parkrunning and touring since 2013!

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

Please, sing along if you would like. If you do not like, I apologise for putting the song in your head.

So on Friday after work we had dinner at home before getting the train down to Brighton. Originally we were going to go on Saturday, but there were rail replacement buses and we decided that once (Sunday) would be enough.

On Saturday we went out for breakfast (pancakes from Bill’s) and then had a wander around the shops in the rain. Then it brightened up so we had a nice long walk by the seafront.

Some of the stones and seaweed had washed up all over the promenade- crazy!

We did some shopping, had some tea and cake, and generally enjoyed wandering about.

I got some super cute t-shirts in New Look!

We went for a fairly early dinner (Pizza Express) before heading back to the hotel for some TV (Strictly and 8/10 Cats does Countdown)- good to rest the legs before the race.

2014-11-15 21.47.01 I shall be very easy to spot in my luminous t-shirt.

Staying over before the race is such a luxury. The race started at 9.30am, so we got up at 8, had a clif bar for breakfast, and then took our time getting ready. We left at just after 9, and we were at the start 5 minutes later. Amazing.

This race is great- last year we ran it together and I got my first ever sub hour 10K. This year Andy was aiming for a faster time, so we arranged to meet at the end. The run begins near the big ferris wheel- you run east for 1.5k, turn, come back to the start and run west towards Hove, and then at 6.5k turn back along the seafront again to the finish. Super flat, nice scenery the whole way, and considering it is a fairly small field for a city race (I think 3500 runners) lots of crowd support too.

I had no idea about my pacing- I have been either running 5k’s at parkrun and Sweatshop, or much longer runs for my 10 mile race. My time last year was 56.14, so I wanted to beat that but didn’t know how my fitness compared. Plus last year I had Andy pacing me, which really helped. This year I was going to have to do it by myself.

I looked on the lucozade pacing calculator- to run 56 flat I would have to do 9.01 miles, and for 55 I would need to do 8.51. Those paces sounded quick, but the parkrun I have been doing recently is not flat, and is a huge range of terrain, so it is much tougher than a pancake-flat road run. So I decided to try and keep as close to 9 minute miles as I could, and see how long I could hang on for.

I kept glancing at my watch and was generally seeing 9.03. After about 3k I think ( I like miles, so really had no idea) it went up a bit of a hill and I dropped to 9.13, but I picked up the pace again pretty quickly. This year the course was moved to the road to help with congestion, but I don’t think it helped much as I was still weaving past people a fair bit. But no matter. Just before the 6.5k turning point I saw Andy going in the other direction- he was still looking happy which was good (he often sets off way too fast and the struggles), and after the turn I was seeing a few 8.xx’s on my watch. Soon enough the ferris wheel was in my sights, and a marshal was shouting “one kilometre to go” so I decided to push it a bit. I was on my watch that I was going to make a pb, but then the finish line seemed to far away- I ended up counting to myself (one count for every 4 steps seemed to work) and willing myself to push hard. I overtook a few people, but some people rocketed past me- I have no finish kick at all.

I was so chuffed when I saw my watch!

My official time was 55.23- and my splits went 9.03, 9.02, 9.02, 8.59, 8.57, 8.39 and then 7.45 for the final .2. So another royal flush negative split 🙂 I think it is catching on!

Something that Andy pointed out to me as well was that compared to last year I recovered so much quicker- last year I was a bit shaky and Andy was a bit worried about me (my breathing while we were running- I did explain that was just what I sounded like, but also I was pretty shattered after)- whereas this year although I was very tired (and my legs still ache today) I was much better, sooner after the race. Also, pacing myself was harder than having someone else do it for me so I am really pleased with my time.

Hooray! I had some water and a bit of banana (they were a bit brown for me) and then we headed back to the hotel for showers (what a luxury again) before going for lunch. This time we went to Wai Kika Moo Kau as last time we visited it was too busy.

I had a pitta with hummus and falafels and Andy had a wrap filled with chilli and served with nachos and dips. So good. I could not resist an almond hot chocolate from Iydea either.

Another wander around the shops, and then we had the joy of the rail replacement buses. At least we had podcasts to listen to- we both caught up with the radio 5 film podcasts (and I may have had a little nap on the train too).

I think this race is great. I love the smaller races, and this has all the pro’s of one- you don’t have to get there hours before, the marshals are all fab, the start/ finish area is nice and small so meeting up is easy. There are no goody bags, just a medal, banana and water when you finish, but you get chip timing, and there is lots of crowd support. Plus, it’s in Brighton and I never need an excuse to head down there for the weekend. Even with the bus replacing some of the train our journey took about 3 hours, so we didn’t have to spend the whole day travelling.

Brighton, I will be back for more!

Half term…

Walking in the leaves in the rain.

The park looks so pretty, even in miserable weather.

Baking Christmas cakes.

Seeing Dave Gorman.

Runs in the daylight.

Muddy shoes (should have worn my trail shoes).

A leisurely breakfast.

Tesco treats from my mum.

A walk through the fields, spotting poppies.

A haircut ready for a wedding. And yes, cake is the best part of a wedding.

Baking cakes ready for the wedding.

Don’t the cakes look stunning?

Oven baked risotto

Recently Andy’s mum gave us a vegetarian cookery book. We have tried a few recipes from it, and our most recent success is a vegetarian risotto. I am not a huge fan of rice usually, but I do like a nice flavourful risotto, although if I was out I would not often choose one as I worry about what sort of stock has been used.

The book is a Good Food book (101 Veggie Dishes) but the recipe is here too.

It is pretty simple to make- chop the onion and cook it in the oven a bit, add the rice, vegetable stock (we don’t use wine, we use a small carton of passata instead) and rosemary, and leave in the oven for more, then drain a jar of antipasto peppers (Aldi do a jar for 99p), add that and some spinach, and bake again.

Last week we bought a huge bag of spinach, so it would not all fit in the risotto- I added some to my plate so the warm rice wilted it a bit too. The recipe says to use vegetarian parmesan- style cheese, but we have just grated a little cheddar to melt on top.

Much easier than one that cooks on the hob and needs constant stirring.

We are ones to get stuck in a bit of a meal routine, so it was great to try something new and we have had this for a few weeks now, as it is lovely and warming on a chilly evening.

Have you tried baking a risotto before? Are you good at trying new meals or do you tend to stick to the same ones?

The Sock Mine (review) and other running ramblings

Hey peeps,

How are you all??

First up, I was sent some socks from The Sock Mine. They make a range of technical socks for different sports including running, hiking and even snow sports. They kindly sent me a pair of their Cool Runner with Coolmax ladies socks. First up, I love that they have the L and R marked on each sock.

I decided to wear these on Tuesday night, when I went for a trial at a local running club. They were comfy, but they are fairly thin, so I think they will be perfect for warmer weather. I like the ankle style sock too (no gaps between my leggings and socks) but they do trainer liner style ones too if that is more your thing. The price is reasonable too- £10 for these socks, which is pretty similar to other technical socks out there.

So, the running trial. I decided to go this week as I had a course (which finished at 4) so it would not be a rush to get there after work. Well, I chose a pretty miserable day to do it- it was pouring with rain and pretty cold. I parked up about ten minutes before we were due to meet, and sat in the car for a bit but then didn’t want to be late! Only two people turned up (including the group leader). After we did a little warm up we started running and after a few minutes I was asked to run ahead of the group leader so she could assess me. Straight away she talked about trying to relax my shoulders- I know I am terrible at this but it was so interesting that she picked up on it right away!

After about a mile of gentle jogging we did a section of intervals/ fartlek running- we used lamp posts to walk to one, jog to the next and sprint to the final one- repeated several times. Those sprints were tough! Then we ran steadily back- I was a bit faster than the other person who came, so I was then told to run ahead two lamp-posts, turn around and come back. At one point I saw a baby hedgehog too- made it all worth it!

We finished with stretches (luckily the rain had eased) and I really felt a warm glow by that point. I think I am going to join anyway- how exciting!

I went to Sweatshop on Wednesday as usual- lots of fireworks were going off while we ran which was quite fun. Normally I am nearer the back, but a friend and I were right at the front – she is a bit faster than me so eased ahead at the very end, but I was pleased I kept up with her for that time, and even managed one mile beginning with an 8- not too shabby!

In half term I made some caramel shortcakes for work:

I didn’t have enough of the round cases, so I made a few in little loaf cases too. On Thursday night I went to pump- last week I upped my squats weight and my legs were so sore over the weekend. I was going to wimp out, but once I was there I decided to go for it again- I reasoned that after a break the first week is always the toughest, so probably it would be the same with upping weights.

It was super tough, and I enjoyed a cake when I got home. At least at the moment my legs are not as bad as they were last weekend.

This morning I went to parkrun- I tried to keep up with my dad for as long as possible, but at around 4k he went ahead. It was so muddy and squelchy- I was glad of my trail shoes but at times I was slipping a bit. My Garmin said 29.07 (which I think is quite accurate as I pressed “start” as they said it and not as I went over the start line) which would have been a course pb, but alas the timer malfunctioned so I got 59.59 as my official time. Ah well, it was a great morning for it- cool but before the rain. I even met someone from Sweatshop there (and another couple were marshaling).

Then I had a go at making pumpkin french toast- an egg, a blob of pumpkin, cinnamon and a splash of almond milk with some brioche.

Apples cooked in coconut oil.

Then the toast (although I think maybe it would be better to cook the apples after).

Oh yes. I think the recipe needs a little less pumpkin as it didn’t soak into the bread as much, but it was good all the same.

How has your week been? If you are in a running club, what do you like about it? Do you like ankle socks or trainer liner socks? (And do you like the L/R markings?)

* I was sent the socks in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Starbucks freaked me out!!!

But as you will see, it has not stopped me visiting them…

Recently I have been having a Monday morning treat of a visit to Starbucks on my way to work- I am out of class and always have a mountain of paperwork to get through, so it is a nice treat.

They normally ask for your name now (did anyone see Dave Gorman’s thing about that? Worth a hunt on Dave if you didn’t- Modern Life is Goodish), but one week they didn’t ask me. When I got back to my car I noticed that they had written my name- creepy! I think this was my 5th Monday- not as if I was in there all the time!

Excuse the chipped nail varnish!

Later that week I was sent an email saying that I could get a bakery item for half price, and double stars. Andy was out on Thursday evening which meant cooking my own dinner before body pump, and I left work pretty late. I decided to pop on my way home to get a pre-pump drink, and a post-pump treat.

I did have a sensible dinner I promise!

Yummy bean and mint falafels with salad and hummus.

And this was waiting for me when I got home.

Then the other weekend after the 15k race (and slightly tricky journey home) I had to dash back to work on Saturday evening as there was a disco. By the time that finished it was after 6pm but Andy would not be back from football for another hour at least, so I popped in for a drink, and got us a cinnamon roll to share. When I got home I lay on the sofa with my laptop- what luxury! (Spot the glo-bracelet I was given at the disco!)

However, the staff redeemed themselves in the final week of half term. We had consultation evenings for two nights, which are just such tiring evenings (on top of full days of teaching) and by Thursday I was so tired, losing my voice, I got into my car to come home and realised I needed petrol. I drove to the petrol station near work, only to see it was all cordoned off. It was right by Starbucks, so I popped in for a drink to take home. I am sure I smiled (and I always say please and thank you) but I think I must have looked like I needed cheering up, as it was only when I got home that I noticed that someone had drawn a smiley. Starbucks staff take note- I much prefer a smiley to my name.

The petrol saga continued on Friday morning- I went to Asda before work, but it was cordoned off. Never mind, I thought, there is a new petrol station opening along the dual carriageway on my way to work, I can just go there. Well, when I got there the sign said “now open”, but the entrance was still fenced off! Argh! Luckily the petrol lasted until Saturday when I finally managed to find an open one!

Are you a fan of the name-on-the-cup fad? Any shops where you are a regular?