Yup, that was me today. I even dreamt about it last night (running and not being able to keep up was my dream).
After work (and a seedstacked bar- love those so much) I headed out. Now I had not actually listened to one before, so I listened to a bit of music to warm up (and to get past the first road crossing) and then started. It was a 43 min interval session, including a warm up (whoops), two lots of 3 min intervals at 165 steps per min, 170 and 175, with slower (150) sections in between. Now I am not sure if it is because I am short and have short hamstrings but I must take very small steps, because the warm up and recovery periods felt very slow to me. I was trying to take bigger steps, but I felt like I was running like an idiot- sort of slow mo (chariots of fire or maybe baywatch style). I managed to keep up with the faster intervals, although the first fast one was up a pretty steep hill. Anyway, I really enjoyed it, but it ended when I was tired and about 2.5 miles from home, and it started raining. My actual time for the whole route was very slow (6.7. miles in 78 mins with not much stopping for traffic) but I suppose that is because the recovery periods are slower. The run back home after doing the faster paced bits was hard, but I really really enjoyed it. I like listening to Martin Yelling on marathon talk anyway, and I found it quite motivating. I need to be told what to do! Plus there were little quotes (that some may find cheesy)- “these are the money miles”/ “own this run” etc that I really liked. They appeal to me when I am actually running anyway!
Last night I did the yoga for runners 25 min podcast (it says 20 mins, but the file name is 25 mins and it is about that long)- I really like doing this, although again the lady says some cheesy lines. Some of the poses are very hard to hold (I have terrible hamstrings) but I am hoping I will start to see some improvement.
I also made some cookies for Andy- he requested some (as all the baking I had done had gone away!). These are peanut agave cookies from the Vegan cookie book- the recipe has agave and brown rice syrup, and I used wholegrain spelt flour which I love in cookies. Anyway, they are lovely- sort of soft, not chewy cookies but not crunchy either. Anyway, another winning recipe from that book.
When I got home from my run I had a funny chat with Andy. At his work someone had got back from their holiday and brought in a load of chocolates, and he was a bit amazed at the number of people eating the chocolates all through the day. That sort of thing happens at my work too, and he was hypothesising (or generalising) about it, basically saying that people had no self control (!). I was saying that I think if I had to look at a coffee table with snacks on it all day, I would be tempted, but if they are not there then I would not think about them. Then I was thinking about it a bit more. I know some people say that they just cannot have sweets etc at home, whereas I am almost the opposite. I like to have some nice chocolate and that sort of thing, but I do not eat it that much- we still have Easter eggs left (and we only got 2 between us)- I just like to have the option. (Except for Nutella which for some reason I can eat by the teaspoonfull so I just do not buy it). So normally I think to myself that if I really want it, I will have it later with a cup of tea, and then by that time I might have changed my mind/ am not hungry/ etc. Whereas at work, if I see something, I can’t think “oh, I’ll have it later”- because probably by the time I fancy it, someone else will have eaten it. So in some ways I am more likely to have something at work, because I know I cannot have it later, whereas at home I know the option is there. Does that make sense? I am glad anyway that most of the time at work I am in my classroom and so do not have the option to graze, but I wonder how people in offices manage that sort of thing?
Also, I realised that I have left off my Sunday review of the exercise and stuff, so whoops. I will be carrying on with that from next Sunday (partly because this is a long post, and mostly because I can’t really remember) as I quite like to see how I am doing, and it keeps me accountable too (must keep up the yoga!).
Night
PS- As well as my giveaway, the lovely Jemma at Celery and Cupcakes is having a giveaway for nakd bars- click here! How exciting! 🙂
There are so many amazing looking recipes in here, but due to my current tea obsession, it had to be Earl Grey Cupcakes! Perfect for Father’s day too I thought. Although I think I will try it again with different teabags- Chai cupcakes anyone?
Now these puffed up like crazy in the oven, and the icing went very drippy, as you can see (not like in the picture in the recipe book) but we had one at Sunday tea and they were fab. The rest have been given to my family and Andy’s family.
I was actually amazed at how the rolls turned out 🙂
Gotta love a burger with some gherkins in it! Yum yum. Plus my first fresh sweetcorn cob of this year. I love the summer time 🙂
Bloom Tea is a 5 step “Tea Treatment plan” with different tea’s for different times of the day. You can read about it on their 
And the Rooibos with Vanilla.
Which was amazing- it tasted like Teapigs creme caramel tea- love it! (Full review will be coming up later). I cannot wait to try the other teas.
Some Earl Grey tea, coz that is how the English roll.
Mashed banana with cocoa powder and pb, then topped with a pear and some strawberries (including some from my garden). 🙂 Looks like a mess, tastes like a dream.
Cannelini bean, lentil and veg chilli with nutritional yeast. (Trying to empty the freezer a little).
Coconut chocolate cookies from the Vegan cookie book (these were amazing- you had to toast the coconut first, and also they used coconut butter in the recipe and melted with the chocolate). They were a hit at work 🙂
And some dried peaches. I was a little alarmed when I opened it and they were quite black, but they taste like peach jam. Yum.