Maria Runs

A while ago we booked tickets for the Bristol comedy festival- it was all set up with covid in mind- it’s outdoors, you have to book seats in pairs or groups so you are only sat with people from your household and so on. Since then the same festival is coming to St Albans which would have been ideal (so much closer to home), but as we had the tickets and it was in half term we thought a few days away would be good to look forward to. So reaching the final week of half term felt quite nice as we have that to look forward to next week.

Pineapple candle jar, buttons, wellbeing Disney tips and a wellbeing dinner (eg eating on the sofa instead of in the dining room- pasta with broccoli and veggie sausages).

The final week went well- the children were only in for 3 days as we had training days on the Thursday and Friday. This makes a huge difference as they all get so tired and it’s a lot harder work. We have wellbeing buddies in school (recently set up) and mine gave me a pack of dark chocolate buttons to help me in the final week- so thoughtful. We also had a staff get together where we did some glass painting. At the moment we can’t really socialise as you can only have 4 people in the staffroom at once, and so people tend to be quite spread out around the school. Working as a team is one of the really good things about working in education, and we have missed that for these past 15 months. Anyway, the get together (or stay apart?) was really good- we could use the hall so everyone was spread out. I made a little pineapple on my jar, and I was pleased with the result. Mainly though it was nice to actually chat to people for a bit.

Online training essentials of tea and biscuits, run scenes and lunch delivered

Also for wellbeing, I decided to order my lunch on one of the final days, from Pret (uber eats delivers). I had not had a lunch like that in ages, and it felt like such a treat.

On the Wednesday I had to rush off as I had an online training course to get to, and thankfully got home with enough time to make myself a cup of tea- training essentials of course!

I had some enjoyable runs again- on the Tuesday it started raining about half way around, but the Wednesday and Thursday were dry (although I got wet from the long plants again). One morning there were amazing sunbeams coming through some of the trees. I do love the peacefulness of the early morning runs- I might pass one or two people walking their dogs but that’s all.

On the Thursday we had to be in school- the morning was standard training bits, and the afternoon was gymnastics training. Oh my goodness me I was tired when I got home- we had the mats, the ropes (I can’t climb them though), ladders and all sorts of equipment out, we were running, hopping, skipping about and making routines. Good fun but tiring!

This robin keeps visiting our pots to collect nesting material

We watched the Friends reunion and had a Pudding Stop pudding to share- this one was a gooey chocolate pudding and was so good. They don’t look that big, but we made the mistake of having one each once and they are so rich it just isn’t good by the end. Sharing one is perfect. I really enjoyed watching the Friends thing too (although I didn’t feel they needed James Corden in it at all)- it was a bit like a flashback episode when they showed little classic clips. I know some of it hasn’t aged well, but on the whole it’s still so funny.

On the Friday we could work from home, so I took advantage of that and had a slightly longer run (5 miles) listening to With Me Now. It was so warm and I was regretting my longer leggings for most of it (not when I ran past a load of stinging nettles though).

I was super efficient with my work and managed to sort out all sorts of bits that had been on my list for a while so I felt very satisfied when I had finished for the day. No commute meant that I could also get on with cleaning (usually a Saturday job) so I could really set myself up for a relaxing weekend.

On Saturday we walked over to Panshanger and back. There has been a plant-based coffee trailer in the park but it’s too far from home to carry something back during a run (4 miles) so we treated ourselves to a drink each for the walk home, and a lemon muffin for later. We couldn’t hang about, as we had booked a test drive of an electric car. At the moment we have a car each, but Andy works from home so barely uses his car. Mine is small and perfect for commuting, but not good when we go away for a week (mine is an i10 like in the pic below- it just happened to park next to the car we had just test-driven) so we do need a slightly bigger one if we go down to one car. I was super nervous as I have only driven a handful of cars (literally- 1-the car I learnt in, 2-my first car, a Clio, 3-one of Andy’s cars- also a Clio and then 4, my i10). If we hire a car then Andy drives as I just get so nervous about it all, but as I would be driving each day then I really did need to give it a go. I’ve had my car for 6 years now (but my last car I had for 12 years…) and have always thought that my next car would be electric as that is the way things are going, but I did think I’d have this one for a few more years. Anyway, we’ve not decided anything, but I did manage to drive it and actually quite enjoyed it.

Test drive car park, half the lemon muffin and my pineapple candle holder being used

On our way back we popped in to see Andy’s parents and sat in their garden for a catch up.

On Sunday I had arranged to meet my dad and brother at the end of my long run, in Ellenbrook Fields. It was the 50th weekend of (not)parkrun, so I wore my red top to commemorate (I can’t say celebrate, because it’s not good that it’s been that long).  I had an enjoyable run through the fields, did most of the parkrun route, and met them near the back of the fields, and we then ran back to St Albans together. It nearly totalled 11 miles, and had I been at home I would have run up and down the road to get it up to the round number, but I could not be bothered with it then! Again thankfully the weather was good and we sat in the garden and had breakfast. My  mum insisted on making me some porridge as well as giving me a couple of vegan croissants- there is no saying no to her! (Technically we are allowed inside now, and both my parents have had both their doses, but of course they are not a guarantee of 100% protection, and none of the kids I work with will be vaccinated so I could easily pass it on- I don’t think the LF tests that we have to take at work are worth the plastic they are wrapped in as if we do get a positive it has to be conformed via a PCR one anyway)

Lots of daisies on our lawn from taking part in No Mow May, plus the red kite soaring overhead. I love hearing them whistle to each other.

Once home it was time for more gardening jobs (staking the trees, potting on seedlings and planting out some courgette and tomato plants), but also time to actually sit outside and enjoy garden. I’d made an iced tea latte (basically we had some left over peach tea, so I left it to cool, then topped it with cold milk) and that was perfect to enjoy in the sunshine.

Then it was time for some packing ahead of our little trip away.

How many cars have you driven or owned? 

The penultimate week of term arrived alongside lots of wind and rain. It really felt so much more like early April than late May. I keep feeling like we are coming up to the Easter holidays not the May bank holiday!

Our evening walks were squeezed in between torrential rain showers and rainbows.

I did my standard 3 morning runs, plus yoga on Wednesday, and I think I had a dry run on the Tuesday but that was all.

The leaves do look very lush when they are coated in water, now they are so green. They perfectly match the matcha too. Although I ended up with very soggy trainers as running through the narrow paths with tall cow parsley on either side meant that the water just poured off the plants and into my shoes.

I’ve been slightly in love with the clothes from Magic Moon Club, and when they released a new princess collection I decided to treat myself with my April payday.

I went for Ariel (one of my fave films growing up, plus I love the green colour) and Rapunzel (Tangled is one of my fave more recent Disney films and fits with lockdown perfectly). The Tangled jumper was a lilac colour which just doesn’t suit me, so I used their “choose your style” tab which basically means you can choose any colour with any design on it- I went for grey as that would still go with the purple and yellow colour scheme. I was very pleased with how they turned out, and one good reason for the cold weather was getting to wear them!

Lovely lilac in flower, and the peony covered in buds.

One evening I managed to get out in the garden for a bit, planting out a few things from the greenhouse, before I had to head in as it started hailing!

On the Friday we had the sad but seemingly inevitable news that parkrun was delaying the UK re-start date. A shame as legally they could have returned from March, they have been so sensible about aiming for the summer, and they’ve got research to show how low the risk is to all participants. It seems utter madness to me that I could (if I wanted to) go to a pub or a nightclub or go to an enclosed restaurant for a meal etc etc, but I can’t run with others in an organised way. On Saturday morning I went for a run and listened to the With Me Now podcast- it’s my fave parkrun podcast anyway, and I felt much more optimistic after listening to it.

My worry is that parkrun are now tied to the so-called roadmap, and that if things like the Indian variant delay things (although, we all know that even though this gov said “data not dates”, they then released a load of dates and have ignored the data the whole way through…), then parkrun will be further delayed.  I also realised that it was one month until the restart date, so reasons to be cheerful! (Another good podcast right there). I had some pancakes with berries for breakfast and then got on with the fun jobs of cleaning and tidying- I like to get those out of the way early on in the weekend.

I made some vegan peanut butter blondies

Later on I watched a chat by Danny Norman (from WMN) about it, and again, felt more optimistic.

On Saturday night we felt like watching something cheerful and easy, and ended up watching School of Rock. I wasn’t sure how it would have aged, but it stood the test of time and was enjoyable.

On Sunday I was up early for a 12 mile run (I really have to think that the Brighton half is going ahead now- they’ve sent out the info regarding the covid risk assessments with masks being needed in the start pens and so on). Anyway, I saw lots of rabbits and some pretty flowers. It was so sunny when I left but soon clouded over. Once home it was time for a quick shower and breakfast as we had to deliver some bits to the hospital ( family member- all OK now).

I treated myself to a toastie in front of Lilo and Stitch- I felt I needed something summery as the weather had just been a bit rubbish.

How do you feel about parkrun coming back?  Do you like a toasted sandwich? 

I tried one of the vegan Bosh slices from Costa- it was fairly nice but I think I can make nicer tiffin at home. Good to have options though.

Last week was a fairly standard week run-wise, with runs on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning. I had a meeting before work (a presentation which was a bit nerve wracking) on the Thursday, but knew I would not sleep well anyway so may as well still get up to run. I kept the run to a 5k instead of my usual 4 miles, so I could be in work a little earlier. The bluebells are just about there, although coming to their end now, so of course I took a few photos on some of the runs.

Vegan box arrived, afternoon work essentials and waffles for dinner.

I think the presentation (or worry about it) had really affected my sleep that week, and by Thursday afternoon I had such a stress headache- paracetamol was the only way (oh, and a ginger biscuit) to get through the rest of the day.

On Friday we had waffles for dinner as we had not had them in ages- delicious hummus and avocado, with rocket and sweet chilli sauce. So good.

I then had to do my long run on Saturday morning, as I’d planned to meet my dad and brother for a run on Sunday morning. I really haven’t thought that the Brighton half will go ahead, but it’s getting closer and no cancelation email yet, so really need to go a bit beyond my happy 10 mile weekend runs!

I headed over to Panshanger for 11 miles. I even saw some ducklings- I feel like I’ve seen hardly any this year. It rained on and off, but wasn’t too bad. I was in a t-shirt and a couple of times wished I’d had a long sleeved top on, but of course once the rain stopped it got warm again. One of those days. Once home I had some croissants and fruit, and of course tea.

I had a bit of a rubbish afternoon- I think I was overly tired from the week and from the long run (and then doing all of the cleaning- should probably have saved that for Sunday after the shorter run), but I made the mistake of reading some comments on the parkrun posts- some people are just so horrible. (By now we know that the restart has been delayed, which is so disappointing) I was really getting my hopes up for the 5th June as the restart date, but I think it dawned on me on that day that it would not be coming back due to London having so few permissions.  I find it so frustrating that people can go to pubs, nightclubs, spas and so on, but an activity that is scientifically proven to have such little risk has not been allowed to come back. I really find parkrun helps with stress levels, and going for a run just isn’t the same as being surrounded by a positive community. Anyway, Sunday was another day and I was looking forward to a run with my dad and brother. I had a little warm up first, and then we headed out on a new route (as parkrun had emailed out a challenge, which Dad had then decided to do).

On Saturday night we watched The Sound of Metal, about a drummer in a band who loses his hearing. It was a very engrossing watch, although with the sound switching between what he hears and the rest of the world, I don’t think I could have watched it in a cinema with the surround sound!

It ended up being slightly longer, but who is counting? We ran to the edge of Ellenbrook Fields and back, mostly through fields and countryside- lovely. Afterwards we sat in the garden and were so lucky with the weather as it only rained for a few minutes a couple of times. (From the Monday we would have been allowed indoors, but being in a classroom all week with children that will not be vaccinated means I feel I am taking more risks with things like this so would not be happy to do that just yet).

Gorgeous chocolate orange pot, cold brew fruity tea and Baby Yoda cup cosy is my fave.

Mum gave me some plants (she is always growing things in her greenhouse) so once home and showered I pottered around in the garden for a bit, planting out some of them plus of course the weeding.

We’ve been watching the series Mare of Easttown (I think I mentioned it before)- it’s really so good, but I find it so frustrating that they only release one episode a week! I can’t really get used to that again.

Do you have any races that you are booked to do?

Do you like waffles?

I don’t know about you, but although I love a four day week following a bank holiday weekend, the week actually feels more manic. I think I try to fit in 5 days worth of work into 4 days which just is crazy!

I’d been for a long run on the Monday, and often I would have  rest day after that, but I wasn’t sure that I’d run on Thursday, so I thought I’d stick to my regular Tuesday and Wednesday morning runs.

The light had been particularly beautiful on one of the mornings, so of course I could not resist and had to take some photos.

I had 2 staff meetings plus an additional department one (after school on Tues, Wed and Thurs), but I had to try and leave fairly promptly after it finished on Wednesday as I was off for my first vaccine appointment! The one bonus of getting older!

It was in the centre of town so I drove up after work. The whole thing was excellently organised (well done NHS and all the volunteers)- it felt a bit like a parkrun as the volunteers were all so cheerful. I am not a big fan of needles (I have fainted before and so get a bit panicked)- so when sitting in the hall and waiting my turn I had to try and sit facing ahead, as I could see the 5 injection stations to one side. The actual jab (I hate that word) was fine, but fairly soon after my arm started to get sore. They made me sit around for a bit before I could drive  home, but I was OK. I knew I wouldn’t be home in time for the actual yoga class, but I had said I would aim for the yoga nidra session, and ended up laying in bed while I joined in. The benefits of zoom! I felt OK when I went to bed, but woke up at around 2.30am with horrible chills and sweats and shivers. I also couldn’t lay on my arm (and I usually lay on my left arm to get to sleep, and then move all around once I am asleep). I took some paracetemol and that helped a bit but I didn’t sleep much.  Even a shower didn’t help (I have this if I get a bad cold- things touching the skin just feel uncomfortable). Thursday was a tough day as my teaching assistant was off, so I had to cope with my class on my own. Normally this would be fine, but feeling under the weather (achy stomach, headache etc) is very hard when you are working with little children. The meeting after work was a bit of a high pressured one too, so having to stay for that instead of just going home didn’t help. I was so glad to get home, and sit under a blanket on the sofa (I was so cold and shivery still). I think I managed to stay up until around 8pm, when I went to bed with a hot water bottle and more paracetamol.  Thankfully when I woke up on Friday I felt much better, with just the sore arm remaining.

On Saturday it was pouring with rain- so miserable! I headed out for a gentle run to see how I felt, and I was OK. I think I felt tired from the lack of sleep more than anything. My arm was a bit sore, and hurt when I lifted it over my head, but OK when running.

I used some vegan brioche rolls to make us some French toast for breakfast, and then we spent the morning doing jobs around the house. I also finally booked a haircut- for June! I thought that after the first vaccine does (plus 3 weeks) you have some protection, so I would feel OK going for a haircut. I’ve not been since January 2020, and so it is long overdue.

Once that was done I watched TV in the afternoon (catching up on Taskmaster)- I really needed some chill out time.

I made a vegan battenberg which turned out really well (check out sophie.bullimore on Instagram as she has some brilliant recipes).

On Saturday night we watched The Mitchells vs. the Machines, which was good fun and just what I fancied- nothing heavy going.

On Sunday I went for an 8 mile run, and then had more French toast for breakfast. This fuelled me for hours in the garden. I was given some trees for my birthday which needed planting in the back of our garden.

Before-The mound doesn’t even look that high, but it really was!

However, that bit of the garden needed sorting as it was covered in a pile of earth from when we dug out the pond, plus chippings from when the tree stumps were removed. I had to dig and rake and move a lot of soil.

After- much flatter I hope you’ll agree!

Noodles for dinner- so tasty!

I was pretty shattered after all of that, so treated myself to watching Tangled. Always a good choice. (Andy planted the trees once he had finished watching the Grand Prix).

After all of that hard work, we decided to have our dinner (yummy peanut tofu noodles) in front of the TV in the living room. In the end a productive weekend, but why can’t every weekend be a 3 day one?

Did you have a good bank holiday weekend? What is your favourite easy dinner? (the noodles are a bit of a faff really, but easy to eat in front of the TV) Have you booked anything or started to get back to more “normal” things yet?