Wet weekend!

Hey peeps, I hope you all had a good one.

On Friday night after some dinner at home we loaded up the car to drive up to Manchester. A long drive indeed, with lots of horrible heavy rain to drive through. Luckily we had lots of film podcasts to listen to.

Our hotel ended up being in an industrial estate, so my hopes of a Saturday morning run were almost dashed. It turned out we had use of the super swanky on site gym, so I headed there instead for a 5K on the treadmill. It didn’t help that I didn’t realise there was a fan button until ten minutes in, but seriously a 5K was all I could take! I have no idea how people run for hours on treadmills. I was so horribly sweaty when I finished too, and even though I did the proper cool down (it made me walk for 5 mins) that didn’t help much. I need fresh air!!

I got very excited when I noticed that button on the hotel phone- a Starbucks button! We thought we would have to buy breakfast (there was a Starbucks joined to the hotel), but there was also a hotel restaurant and a buffet was included, so I enjoyed fruit salad and a croissant, plus a big pot of tea.

We caught the tram into Manchester town centre (how great is the system there? And also how cheap! A travel card for all the tram lines was less than £5 for an adult!) and looked around the shops for a bit, before getting some lunch. I was very excited when I saw Snow Fairy in the Lush window! Now that means Christmas is coming! The town centre seemed quite nice- lots of shops, a big shopping centre, but I wasn’t sure there was much more to do.

Then we caught the tram out to Old Trafford as Andy had a football ticket. There was a shopping centre “near”, so the plan was for me to head there and we would meet up after. I think it took me about half an hour to walk there! It was only across some water but was further than it looked.

The shopping centre had some outlet shops there, so I picked up a top from Gap, and some Yankee Candle tealights.

By about 4pm I realised I had been on my feet all day, so found a nice coffee shop and sat down with my kindle and a pot of tea. So good. Poor Andy got caught in a torrential downpour on the way back from the game- he was dripping all over the place (but also very happy as they managed a draw). We were going to head back to the centre for dinner, but the tram was busy so we went to a Cafe Rouge right by the shops. I was impressed with their selection of foods- there was a lovely sounding vegetable and tomato bake topped with breadcrumbs or seeds or something, a hummus and pepper sandwich, and a goats cheese salad (which I chose)- all vegetarian.

By the time we had finished the crowds had died down, and the rain had stopped, so we got the tram back again.

On Sunday morning we took it easy, having a leisurely breakfast before heading to a couple of National Trust places. We went to Lyme Park first- I always prefer the gardens to the houses and this was lovely. We even saw loads of deer in some woods. Plus a very creepy giant model of Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice, as that was where the outdoor bits were filmed.

Photo: For any Pride and Prejudice fans- a bit creepy!

Super creepy. After a walk we went to the tearoom and shared some amazing carrot cake, although we were spoilt for choice as they had a delicious looking sticky toffee cake too.

Then we headed to Hardwick Hall, and had another walk outside and a long tour in the house (it is huge)- I found it more interesting as it had links to the Tudors (a part of history I know about!). By this time it was gone 3pm and we were both pretty hungry so we stopped for food- I had some delicious spicy carrot soup (tempted by the tea bread but decided soup would be more sensible before the long drive home). As we were leaving there were huge black clouds and enormous (and frequent) thunder rumbles. We got back to the car just in time, but most of our journey back was through heavy horrible rain. We got back just before 7pm, which was lucky as we had booked a shopping delivery, only to realise we had not bought anything for Sunday dinner. I ended up with sourdough toast, grapes and sweet potato popchips.

My poor trainers! I have realised that I have had them for well over a year, so one of my half term jobs (next week, hooray) is going to be getting some new ones.

I am glad we went up to Manchester, as it is good to get away for the weekend, but I didn’t really realise quite how far away it was. Not sure it will be added to our list of regular places!

Do you have regular weekends away? Where do you like to go? I am sure I have mentioned before but Bath and Brighton are two of my favourite places to visit.

Vivesoy review (and a little ramble)

I was recently contacted Vivesoy to see if I wanted to try some of their soya milks. I much prefer dairy free milks, and tend to move between soya and almond milk depending on what I fancy (and what is on offer!).

They sent me the entire range and so for the past few weeks I have been working through them.

The light was great in pancake mix.

It also passed the tea test (no curdling). I hate it when they curdle, but in fact all the flavours I tried in tea (including vanilla) passed.

I liked the unsweetened one- I tend to choose this over sweetened anyway. It made a lovely hot chocolate and frothed up really nicely- soya milk is always so good when heated.

I was not so keen on the flavoured ones. The vanilla one made nice porridge (this was gingerbread style porridge), but seemed to have a funny after-taste.  (I had it in the vanilla chai tea, but again it left a strange taste). When I checked the ingredients they do contain artificial sweeteners, which I try to avoid. I would rather have a little bit of sugar than some unpronounceable chemicals.

I really liked the natural and unsweetened ones (they also do a “light” one which was very sweet tasting), and so will keep an eye out for them.

You can find out more on their website- htp://www.vivesoy.co.uk

Also a while ago I won some Coconom coconut sugar from Tamzin– I have not used any yet as I have an opened bag of some other coconut sugar, but with half term coming up in a week I shall be getting my bake on for sure!

I am off to Manchester this weekend, so any recommendations for things to check out let me know!

Have a lovely weekend. 🙂

Take one bag of almonds

And of course, what I shall end up doing with them is baking.

As part of the Sainsbury’s Blogger Community I am sometimes sent lovely gifts to make the most of and share on my blog. I love flaked almonds (well, just almonds full stop) and have made a cherry and marzipan cake before, so that was on my mind when they arrived in the post. This time I used different sugar, and used plenty of ground almonds in the mixture which ended up creating a much better texture.

Perfect with a cup of tea on a Sunday afternoon.

Cherry and Marzipan Cake with flaked almonds

Ingredients:

175g butter or dairy free spread

175g light muscovado sugar (I used Billington’s- at the moment they have an offer for a free cake tin if you buy two packs)

2 medium eggs

200g glace cherries, chopped/ halved

100g plain flour

120g ground almonds

1 tsp of almond extract

1/4 tsp cherry flavour (optional)

3 level tsp baking powder

50g marzipan cut into small pieces

50g flaked almonds (approx- sprinkle as many as you like)

Icing sugar, to dust

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 180C and line a rectangular brownie pan with baking paper.

In a large bowl cream together the butter/spread and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the two eggs and mix again to combine, then add the almond (and cherry) extract.

Gently stir in the ground almonds, then add the flour and baking powder.

Pour this into a pan, and the sprinkle with the chopped marzipan. Push it down gently into the batter. Then pour the ground almonds over the top, and dust with icing sugar.

Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean (make sure you test it away from marzipan as this will be soft when hot so will stick to the skewer).

Leave to cool on a wire rack before slicing.

Tempting to sneak some marzipan nibbles before they all go on the cake.

Sprinkling the icing sugar always make it look super pretty too.

Try not to slice it when warm as it crumbles a bit.

A well earned treat after my 10 muddy miles on Sunday!

This is one of my favourite flavour combinations. When I was thinking of what to make I was very tempted by a stollen, but they are really for Christmas. I wonder if I could make a Halloween themed stollen? How early is it acceptable to start with the Christmas baking do you think?

What is your favourite way to use flaked almonds?

I was sent the flaked almonds but all opinions are my own. 

10 muddy miles and a cow!

The rain was pouring and the wind was howling, and as I set off this morning I did wonder why on earth I was going to this race. What a contrast to last week in so many ways. The race was about 25 minutes away, and there was no traffic, and lovely clear signposts to the car park, which was right by the start.

I arrived about 40 minutes before the start, so I ran out of the car to pick up my race number and timer chip, and then ran back to the car to shelter from the rain until the last possible moment.

View from the car- does not really show just how much it was raining!

With 5 minutes to go, I walked over to the start to listen to the announcements. I love races like this- it was organised by a local running club, to raise money for the Herts Air Ambulance. I love that the car park was right by the start, the person on the tannoy was so friendly. I have also never seen so many marshals before. They warned us that most of the run was off road (uh-oh- I had some flashbacks of when I did the Autumn challenge which I thought would be 5 road miles but ended up being cross country…), to watch out for tree roots, that some of the mud was very slippery, to not fall in the river (and if we did, be aware it contains Weils’ disease) and also there is a cow on the towpath. Lots to remember.

Then we were off!

I had decided to keep my waterproof jacket on as it was quite cold too, and that turned out to be fine. I knew I could tie it around my waist if I got too hot, but that didn’t happen!

My tennis visor was as low to my face as I could take, trying to keep the rain off my glasses (seriously, people without glasses do not know how annoying water covered ones are)- I had tissues in my pocket to wipe them with, although they got wet too.

Last week at the 10 mile mark I looked at my watch to gauge the time I should aim for this week, as the only time I have run a 10 mile race was the Great South Run (which was not so great…)- I did that in 1.49 something so I knew I should beat that. Anyway last weekend it was 1.42 something, so I wanted to aim for 10 minute miles and see how I got on.

The race began around a field (slippery long grass, mud), then was two loops, before coming back to the field again. The first half of each loop was tough- especially the first lap as it was very congested. They had painted the tree roots bright red- what great preparation! But some bits the mud was so deep and squelchy (we can’t go over, we can’t go under it, oh no, we’ve got to go through it, squelch squerch squelch squerch)- I had to stop and walk/ clamber up some bits while holding on to the fence. My shoes are not off road in the slightest!

We then ran through some residential streets- some very steep uphill bits, then lovely downhills with speedbumps. All the marshals were so cheerful- shouting everyone on, telling us to watch out for the speed humps, telling us how good we looked (yeah, totally). I didn’t look at my Garmin at all and just tried to run on feel- in my head the 10 minute mile thing had long gone as the terrain was tough- at one point I said to a marshal that I could do with ski poles to keep upright- the mud was awful and I was just trying to stay upright.

The second half of the loop was much nicer- flatter, but also more picturesque- along by a river, through some parks/fields, and along a tow path. I saw people playing football, people kayaking (there is always someone wetter than you), people cycling and walking.

Some of the tow path was good to run on and I felt like I got into a good rhythm-  But some was tough as there were huge puddles- at one point it was ankle deep so I clambered over a wall instead. You had to concentrate to avoid the huge puddles- I had trodden in one just past mile 2 (just 3/4 of the race to go…) so had squelchy shoes and cold wet feet, but I didn’t want to make it any worse.

Then I saw the cow! I thought it would be long gone by the time I got there- there was a marshal stood by it who said “keep moooving”- get it? It was only later when I thought of the reply “how amoosing”- too late!

We had to run over a bridge, and then we were back to start the second lap- and I had not got lapped by any of the front runners. Hooray!

The second lap felt better, although the first half again was tough with those hills- I was tired by that point, and getting pretty cold and damp.

For the final stretch along the flatter fields and tow paths I decided to try and overtake people, and I managed quite a few (and the cow was still there!). One lot of people (maybe 4 of them?) overtook me back while I was deciding which way to go around a huge puddle, but then they stopped to walk up the bridge on the final stretch.

Andy had said he might come and watch, although I didn’t think he would as standing around in this weather is even worse than running in it. As I ran into the field there was a 400m to go sign, and a big group of people cheering, but he wasn’t there. Fair enough I thought, and managed to overtake 2 more people.

But then I came around the corner and saw him! He even snapped a photo.

The rain had eased right off then.

The clock said 1.41 something, so I am really pleased. I did have a chip so shall wait for my official time, but it is a pb anyway 🙂

EDIT– chip time was 1.40.58 🙂

There were people to cut the timer chips off your laces (love this because my hamstrings do not like bending down right after I have stopped running, plus my fingers were very cold), water right there, and attractive technical running t-shirts. Embarrassingly as I crossed the line a man lifted his arm to indicate where I should go, and I went to high five him- I did explain “sorry- everyone is so friendly here and I thought you were going to high five me”- turned out Andy saw this too so I can’t pretend it didn’t happen!

No small ones left, of course (unisex sizes)- I need to run a lot faster to get one! But it can go over a long sleeved top- it is the right colour for winter running anyway. It only cost £17 to enter so was a right bargain. A shame about the weather but seriously I have never seen that many marshals, and they were all so enthusiastic and friendly.

I saw a couple of runners from the Sweatshop group, so chatted to them for a few minutes, but then headed back to the car. I was freezing. My top (underneath my jacket) was damp, I think from sweat but also I think water was running in from the neckline. I usually hate even shared changing rooms but I was so cold I took my running top off in the car park and put on a warmer top, then my coat, to drive home in. I had the heating up in the car, but my running tights were soaked so just cold, and my wet hair was dripping water all over me too. Cold cold cold.

Andy was home a bit before me and put the kettle on, so by the time I was out the shower I had tea waiting for me. Perfect.

I spent the rest of the afternoon foam rolling in front of Strictly, and then round to Andy’s parent’s for dinner. Fab.

How did you spend this rainy Sunday?  Anyone else feel like sharing an embarrassing moment? Go on, you will make me feel better!

Happy Birthday Parkrun!

So this week the Parkrun newsletter popped into my inbox and I saw that they are celebrating their 9th birthday. When it started they had 13 runners, and now they have over 630,000 runners registered. That is some impressive growth. They are all over the UK (check the website to find one near you) and they have spread into Europe, Australia, New Zealand, North America and South Africa.

I am a relative newcomer to Parkrun- my first one was in March this year- and I don’t manage to go every week (in fact today was my 8th one, plus 3 times volunteering) but I love it and now really look forward to it starting my Saturday.

Just why do I love it so much? When my Dad first mentioned it to me, I mentioned it to Andy who basically said “I could have run a 5K and be home and showered before you have even got to the start”. Which is a good point. But then I started running with Sweatshop and found that I loved running with other people- it helped me speed up a lot, and helped me to run without a podcast or music. My Dad mentioned it to me again, and it came at the perfect time as I was all signed up to marathon talk’s Jantastic, and the third challenge was to predict a time- I had chosen a 5K time of 27.00 (although I had somehow entered 27 hours not minutes as my prediction)- so I went with my Dad and brother in the pouring rain– I managed 27.12 so I was pretty close to my prediction, and got a 5K pb to boot!

I love the whole ethos of Parkrun. Run by runners and volunteers. It is free to enter, welcomes club runners, joggers, people new to exercising, families, children, some courses are wheelchair /running buggy accessible… basically it is inclusive to all.

I love that it is a run and not a race. The people who come at the front are the first finishers and not the winners.

I think that runners are really friendly, and I love that the volunteers (and fast finishers) cheer everyone on. My local one is a large event, and when I have helped there is some community aspect there as there is a core of people who know each other well, and from what I have heard, smaller events are really friendly and everyone gets to know everyone else.

I love the feeling of starting Saturday off with short sharp exercise- it is done in half an hour and by 10am I can be home and out of the shower, full of energy for the rest of the day.

I love that there are children involved- some of them run, some of them stand by the side and cheer the runners on- it is great for them to see some positive role models, and enjoy being out in the fresh air.

I also really love the timing system and all the stats. The timing is so clever, and later in the day/ over the weekend, you get a text (or email, or both, or just check the website) with your placing, time, whether it was a pb, how many Parkruns you have completed and more!

I was not sure that I would continue to go, because I tend to like having a long run on a Saturday morning, but I have managed to fit it into my running routine. I find that I need a rest day after a long run, but I am OK to run the day before, so some weeks I have been to Parkrun on Saturday, and then done a long run on the Sunday. I have not run the day before a race (although I did today, as tomorrow the 10 miles are the same distance to some of my half marathon training runs), but then if I am around those days are a good day to be a volunteer.

I would love to get my 5K pb down even further. A few weeks ago I managed 26.50, which I was so exited by! But I want to go faster and would like to go at least once a month.

I also want to earn my 50 t-shirt. It will take me a few years, but it is the sort of thing that has no shortcut. Paul who blogs at Father Fitness recently completed his 50th Parkrun, which is a fantastic achievement.

Some other bloggers who have bitten the Parkrun bug are Lara, Lauren, Anna, Mary, Catherine, Claire and Steph to name quite a few (apologies if I missed you off)- check them out if you want to be enthused further with the whole concept!

Post Parkrun pumpkin pancakes (love some alliteration) are the best too. I used the last of my Orgran Buckwheat pancake mix, some egg replacer and a big tbs pumpkin puree, plus soya milk. I cooked the apples in gingerbread syrup, and added some cinnamon at the end, and then topped the pancakes with a few Beyond Dark chocolate chips.

So happy birthday to Parkrun, long may it continue.

If you go to Parkrun, what do you love most about it?

If not, would you be tempted?