Maria Runs

I am not one to wish my life away, and normally at this time of year I would be getting cross about all the Christmas things in the shops (I am normally the frame of mind that it isn’t Christmas until December), but do you know what? This year I am all ready to get festive! With so many trips and events being cancelled, I am looking forward to some actual constants. Even if we are in the most severe lockdown, we can put up our Christmas tree and watch Home Alone.

I was given my first Christmas card on the 1st October (by a child in my class- love it), and my Christmas baking book arrived- it is filled with so many cute designs. It’s been so cold so a hot water bottle and long sleeved pj tops have been in order. I just feel like I am going to embrace the holidays now and have an enjoyable few months.

I had my regular Tuesday and Thursday runs, seeing some lovely autumnal colours. Andy was out one evening (it was his mum’s birthday and thanks to the rule of 6, we could not all go) so of course I had beans on toast in front of Bake Off. Plus some Battenberg later.

Anyway, a rewind to last Friday and I’d booked a shoulder massage after work because I was starting to struggle to look over my shoulder when driving- never good. Town thankfully was fairly quiet and I popped into Caffe Nero to get my free drink after.

It was parkrun’s 16th birthday, and I felt a bit fed up because of it not actually being allowed to come back in October any more. I know that everyone has different opinions, but I feel like they did a very good job of looking for research to find out how safe outdoor activities are, and after listening to the podcast and watching some of the live Q&A’s I felt very confident that it would be relatively safe (compared to other things we are allowed to do at the moment such as go to the cinema or sit in a restaurant and have a meal).  Anyway, my dad has decided to run 16 not parkruns in October, so I thought I would have a go too. On Saturday I did a 5k at home and then (after changing my t-shirt because it was raining  and I was soaking) drove over to have a 5k run with Dad. We went for our normal route and ended up getting very very wet- the bridleway was more like a shallow river in places! (top left pic is my dad’s feet trying to find a dry route)

We totally loved it though, and I felt so much better after. Running with others is really so different to running on your own and it does lift your mood in a different way I find.

My hairdryer had been intermittently working for a few months, and on Thursday evening it finally packed up, so I had damp hair from Thursday until Saturday. I had some vouchers leftover from last Christmas, so decided to treat myself to the GHD dryer- it had good reviews and I do have very thick hair so anything that can speed up drying time is a bonus. Anyway, I could click and collect so after our not parkrun I stopped in town to pick it up.

My B&B tea order arrived too- with gorgeous festive parcel tape- honestly all the signs are here that we should be celebrating nice and early.

On Sunday it was the virtual London marathon. Some people in my club were running it, but after initially hoping to do similar routes they all ended up doing different ones. My run leader lives fairly near me, so my plan was to run in the morning, and then head out later to try and cheer her in at the end. I managed 9 miles and got totally freezing- I need to remember that this pink jacket is not waterproof! I saw so many flooded paths, and a huge tree had blown down blocking the entrance to one of the paths. I loved that the London marathon was going on though- I saw a few people with bibs on and loved giving them a big cheer as they ran past.

Once home I had one of the best hot showers (and then regretted it when my skin was itchy and burning after the shower), and watched some of the elites on the TV. After breakfast I dried my hair (a dream with a hairdryer that works!) and then walked out to try and see my run leader, but alas she had changed her route due to the floods so I didn’t see her.

I then did some rainy day projects- using my burn pen to make some number block puppets for my classroom, and making a spiced pumpkin cake.

Did you take part in the virtual London marathon? What did you think of it? Did you celebrate parkrun’s birthday at all? Are you ready to start embracing the holiday season?

As I’ve mentioned before, last weekend was meant to be the Disneyland Paris run weekend, and it was going to be a 10k and a half marathon for me, so with the help of the Run Disney Paris Fans facebook group I had a Disney themed running weekend at home instead.

But first, the rest of the week- nothing much different. I started organising my apps into colour order which I really love because it keeps the screen looking so much tidier. I’m still going with the 10,000 steps a day, and earned another Garmin badge. Although I still can’t navigate the Garmin app- I can find a badge if it pops up, but ask me to find it now and I’d be looking for ages. I was feeling a little more tired and wondered if that was from the flu jab, but the main thing was that my arm hurt (I have a little bruise there) especially when I ran. One day we had waffles for dinner- hummus and avocado, and then peanut butter and banana.

Bake Off and crumpet/ autumn bouquet/ gorgeous oat milk from Minor Figures (from Bird & Blend), sourdough bread.

The difference in weather from my Tuesday to my Thursday run was crazy- Tuesday it was so warm I was in shorts and a vest, and on Thursday it was long sleeved top plus long leggings.

Of course Wednesday was good with the return of Bake Off. I watched it on Wednesday before yoga and really enjoyed it, although I have never seen a pineapple upside down cake covered in cream. Surely the point is that you can see the pineapple?

On Friday I did a bit of prep for the race. I had a card mount from a picture that I hadn’t used, so I turned it into a Minnie Mouse selfie frame. Also wore Olf pj’s because it’s freezing! Facebook loved to remind me that  years ago I had run the half marathon….

On Saturday I did my 10k, wearing a Disney top and also my magic band as it’s Minnie themed. When I got home I had my hand drawn medal, plus a 10k medal that I earned on a virtual race back in the summer but it had only recently been sent out, so I thought I’d wear it  after this race. I was quite pleased with the time- 1:02:24- my fastest 10k in quite some time.

I had a lot of work to do so got on with that, and then in the afternoon we met my parents for a walk at Panshanger park. We wandered across the fields (not really the parkrun route), seeing loads of birds including green woodpeckers, jays and a kestrel. It was very enjoyable but also really cold- it kept raining and I hadn’t taken a hat with me, what a mistake!

Once home I made a Battenberg cake (I’d had the marzipan for ages but hadn’t got around to it- seeing it on Bake Off gave me the incentive), and then in the evening I fancied a Disney film to keep the theme going. I was going to watch Enchanted, but it wasn’t on Disney+ for some reason, so I watched Finding Dory instead- just what was needed.

On Sunday I went off for my half marathon, Disney gear on again. I ran to Panshanger park, did 2 laps and a teeny out and back (it’s 3 miles there and just over 3 miles a lap). It was windy but I really enjoyed it. I listened to a podcast for the first bit, and then switched to a Run Disney playlist that I’d made (basically all the upbeat Disney songs that I love). I do find it strange running to music because I like to run to the beat, so if the song is a bit slow or fast it feels a bit disjointed.

My time was 2:22:22 – all the twos! Once home I collected my goodie bag (repurposed from an actual Run Disney event) and picked up my medal. I’d earned the Brooks medal a while ago (April?) but only recently collected it, so thought I’d save it, because Run Happy fit the Run Disney theme to me. I had designed a 36k challenge medal as on the RDPF page the 36K challenge was Ratatouille, only I realised that I had only run 31k (half + 10k) and the 36k included a 5k too. Oops.

We had our free Caffe Nero drinks from Vitality to collect, so we walked into town (a little over 5K) for me to make up the distance. I wasn’t making the mistake of not wearing a hat again, so I wore my Minnie gingerbread hat and of course my Minnie cup cozy for some more Disney theming.

Not quite the same as Disneyland Paris, but good fun and a different weekend. I do feel at the moment that all the weekends feel the same – the only difference is whether I see my parents in their garden or not- so it was good to have something to do to make an event of the weekend.

We finished by watching the rest of Giri/Haji- we’ve been watching an episode a night for most of the week. Less of a Disney note to finish on!

Did you see Bake Off?  And if so, what did you think about the pineapple cake? Do you like virtual runs?

I know that it was forecast, but I didn’t expect it to be as hot as it was last week!

I’m working on the September Red Cross challenge, and am aiming for over 100 miles in September. This was going to be 10 miles on a Sunday, and then 5 miles on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, but on Tuesday it was so hot I did 4 and that was enough. I was OK out running but as soon as I stopped I felt so hot, and ended up with a really bad headache all evening and all night. I had looked at running before work, but as the street lights aren’t on until 6am and I have to be home by then, I am not keen on it now that it’s darker. I was regretting that at the time though.  Yoga on Wednesday evening was very much needed to recover from that night of poor sleep.

Thursday’s run was more enjoyable, seeing some beautiful autumn trees and being a more acceptable temperature.

On Friday I had to race home because I had booked my flu jab- I am getting it done early this year after there was such a problem with them last year (I had booked, when I turned up they had no jabs, they said to come back another day, I did, they still had none, ended up being sent to a different pharmacy…). It is lucky that Boots send out a reminder text message because I thought I had booked one pharmacy but in fact had booked another! Anyway, it was OK. I hate needles and have often fainted when I get an injection, although the flu jab last year was fine at the time, just made my arm ache for ages after. The hot cross bun was required for recovery!

On Saturday I did a not parkrun at home- I was meant to be seeing my parents but I felt I could not risk it because we have had children with symptoms at work but the delays to testing etc means we don’t know the result of the test for a while, so potentially I could have been exposed to it. Although I only sit in the garden I just don’t want to risk anything like that. I had breakfast with Andy when I got home from my run- we found some almond croissants in the freezer so heated those up with a few chocolate buttons added inside.

The rest of the day was filled with exciting things like housework, school-work and a teeny bit of gardening. Plus pumpkin spice tea- look at the cute little pumpkin sprinkles in the tea.

On Sunday I headed over to Panshanger for my long run- I decided to do 11 miles this week and so ran there (3 miles), did the parkrun route plus a little out and back (4 miles) and then back home.

Croissants for breakfast again, and then some pottering at home while watching the parkrun Q&A (recorded on Friday).  I made myself some medals because next weekend was meant to be the Disneyland Paris run weekend- Andy has Friday off work as he was going to travel in the day to collect our bibs, and I was going to go there after work, then we were going to do the 10k on the Saturday (if you arrive late Friday night you miss the expo so can’t collect the 10k bib) and I was going to do the half on the Sunday.  So I am going to run the distances next weekend and then have some Disney- themed fun at home (just like in May- I can’t believe it was 4 months ago that I was doing the May run weekend virtual run…).

How did you cope in the heat this week? Do you worry about injections? 

This September I’ve signed up to run miles to raise money for the Red Cross- our running club has a team so I was persuaded to join in. Adding in extra miles isn’t as easy now I am back at work (particularly because the traffic has been awful and what was taking me 22 mins in the summer term is now at least double that on a good day), so before meeting my dad and brother for our not parkrun on a Saturday I’ve been doing a 2 mile warm up.

Our socially distanced breakfasts have been going well still- although I am not sure how we will manage for much longer as it’s been a bit chilly on a couple of occasions (I know technically I am allowed inside their house but we don’t want to take any chances).

Gorgeous print from Seashells & Magic on Etsy for my desk at work, Stitch bag, waffles with hummus and avocado and then banana, peanut butter and chocolate chips.

I had been browsing on Ebay and saw this bag- I have been looking for a little rucksack for a while (I was going to maybe treat myself in DLP to one of their Disney Loungefly bags) as the strap broke on my bag plus it seems a rucksack would be better for my shoulders than a cross-body bag. It has pineapples in the lining- so cute!

Last Sunday my running club was meeting in Hatfield and then running “5 ish miles on a route with a view”- as they were meeting around 3 miles from home, I decided I would run and meet them and then do their route together. It was so lovely to run together- there were 4 of us on the run and it was so nice to catch up. At the top of the hill there was indeed the most beautiful view looking across the countryside- peeking out of the trees we could see these white buildings and after looking at them more closely they turned out to be the big Shredded Wheat factory in the centre of WGC (being turned into flats etc at the moment)- it’s crazy that it is so green and looked just like countryside.

I saw lots of blackberries too- I need to take a little sandwich bag with me on my runs in case I find a good patch (I used to know a few patches where we lived before). Croissants for breakfast, some work and a walk and then watching a film in the afternoon. I chose Mulan, which I think I saw on a plane but it was so long ago. I actually enjoyed it a lot more than the other older ones I’ve seen (Peter Pan I’m looking at you) and I am now looking forward to watching the live action remake.

Of course I had to have tea in my Olaf mug when watching a Disney film. And I wore my monorail t-shirt. Since the first time we went to Florida I loved seeing all the families and groups in their matching t-shirts. Anywhere else it would seem strange but I think it is just great seeing the designs. Anyway, Andy has never agreed to matching tops (not even when we got married!) but he really liked this design too, so got one in a different colour so we don’t totally match. I wonder when we will actually get to wear them at Disney…

Gingerbread almond butter- not quite as good as their pumpkin spice one but really delicious.

The week just gone flew by, and despite lots of traffic I managed a run on Tuesday and Thursday, and yoga (on Zoom) was back on Wednesday. There have been some beautiful sunrises, and the flowers in our garden seem to be having a bit of a second wind.

My September tea club arrived, including Spiced pumpkin pie tea- it’s so pretty with little pumpkin sprinkles in it!

This week we have had the news that parkrun is aiming to return in England at the end of October. With Me Now has held some excellent live discussions via their facebook page, including having Tom Williams on (parkrun COO). As someone who has been quite risk averse and quite cautious about being exposed to people during the pandemic, I felt really reassured after hearing the research they commissioned (regarding the risk of transmission in outdoor spaces) and also all of the procedures they are putting into place. I think we are lucky here to have a choice of local runs in large spaces (eg no 5 lap routes around cricket pitches), and on Saturday when running our not parkrun we discussed the merits of our most local runs. Panshanger is one big lap but the start can be congested as it is narrow (but then teams can adapt routes if they need to, so I wonder if they are able to there). Ellenbrook Fields is pretty much one lap and JF is two but you don’t have too much lapping.  For either I could easily wait at the back at the start, and then of course when running to the funnel you can just slow down if someone is near by and you don’t want to be too close to them. The new virtual volunteer app sounds amazing (Danny Norman did try to screen share this on a facebook live and I think will have another go at some point) because then if you have it (from how I understand it) you could then scan your own barcode using your own phone, which would reduce contact even further. I would recommend watching their videos if you have any questions because they were so informative and really helpful. I suppose if you are working at home and not going out then it might seem like a big step, but as I am in a room with 30 people each day, an outside setting seems safer than work does to me right now.

Bottom right new final km path

On Sunday I fancied heading back to Panshanger for my long run- I’ve not been for ages because towards the end of the mot severe part of lockdown it had got very busy with dog walkers and cyclists and groups of people, but as the streets around here have calmed down I wondered if it would be quieter.

Although I came across a few people, particularly on my way back (including one person with a little yappy dog who came and chased me in a part of the park that says on all the signs to have dogs on a short lead because of the livestock…) it was much emptier than before, and I loved the run. They have even resurfaced the final km of the parkrun course- normally a narrow muddy path with loads of huge puddles, now it’s wider as they have cut back the undergrowth, and covered in hard packed gravel- what joy! I also found the long horned cattle (including a calf) so of course had to have a selfie with one of the cows.

It should have been the Great North Run, and although I wasn’t signed up this year, I am still in the family whatsapp group from our run last year (we ran it for my uncle as he wanted to do 20 GNR’s but died before he could do the last one)- one of my dad’s cousin’s (Brian, who we introduced to parkrun and is now on 97 parkruns!) went out to run a half marathon and sent us all a photo of him at the end. Very impressive.

I’d managed to finish all of my work (and nearly all of the housework) on Saturday afternoon (in between helping Andy to begin the decorating of our spare room- he moved out all the furniture, took down the wallpaper and then put it all back rearranged) so on Sunday I could watch a film. My choice for this week was Lilo and Stitch. It’s so warm outside so I knew I needed a warm film (can’t watch Frozen when it’s hot) and I fancied something I knew was good. Watercolour artwork, scenes of Hawaii and an Elvis soundtrack- it’s all good with me.

Are you excited about the prospect of parkrun returning?  Do you tend to run with a club or run alone?