Bad bad run, fun food shopping

Apologies for not being around this week. It was going to be fab- I was going to have a short run after work Monday, aerobics after a late meeting on Tuesday, get up early for a run Wednesday before work (so I could leave and watch the second half of the England match- then out for celebration meal with work in the evening), body pump Thursday and a rest on Friday. What actually happened was this: Monday break-time we all got called into the staffroom- Ofsted were on their way for Wednesday and Thursday. Cue being at work from 7am, not leaving til 7pm, plus lots to do at home too. (As an aside this is not because our plans etc are rubbish, but Ofsted expect perfection- they may only observe for 10 minutes but in that 10 minutes expect to see everything!- also I usually have PPA time (time out the class for planning etc) but this was taken away so the children had continuity of teachers- so more lessons to plan for than usual. Plus I get everything ready in advance instead of leaving some things until the morning just in case!). That was a long bracket! So anyway all the runs and classes went out the window, and the week was full of work, worry and little else!

So this morning I was really looking forward to a run. I had breakfast as usual, a big drink of water and headed out. After ten minutes I had to stop to cross a road and felt so dizzy all of a sudden I had to hold on to the push the button post thing. Not good, but it went away so I carried on. Five minutes later I got to the park and felt so bad I sat on a low fence. I was feeling more and more dizzy and in the end sat on the grass for 5 minutes, drinking more water and trying to get the normal feeling back into my legs. At that point I knew I had to cut my run short, there was no way I was going any further. I then did a combo of walking/ slow jogging/ stopping until I got home. It really was the most awful run I have ever had. I think it must have been a combination of being a little dehydrated (it was so hot at work and although I have been drinking more water than usual it is maybe not quite enough), plus the stress of the past week. When I got home I was all clammy and had to sit with my head between my legs for a while. I had some coconut water as I thought it would do me good as it’s good for re-hydration, and then a cool shower. All day I have still been feeling dizzy, I have drunk so much water today and tried to take it easy, so fingers crossed I will feel better tomorrow.

On the plus side I have finally added the photos from the last few weeks (although not sure how to get the ones off my phone so may take some more next time I make bread).

I also popped to the shops and had a spending spree on healthy food! A post-ofsted treat! Holland and Barrett were doing buy one get one half price so I stocked up on coconut water (including some flavoured ones- mango and peach, and pineapple).

I also tried out a new health food shop (http://www.naturalhealthwelwyn.co.uk/store/ ) and got a few treats including rainforest nut butter (brazil, cashew and some other nut- have seen it on the net but never in a shop). I was impressed with the shop; from the outside it looked like a supplement shop, which normally puts me off, but inside it had a big selection of groceries; cereals, cooking things like maple syrup, agave, pesto etc, snacks and treats, all the gluten free nak’d bars (hooray! including gingerbread so I got a couple!!), and even a fridge and freezer section. They also sold tempeh which I have been reading about (it’s a soya protein but higher in protein than tofu), I think I will look up some recipes before I buy it though. Although when I paid the lady asked if I had a loyalty card and I said no. I am not wondering how you get one and maybe I should have asked! Silly me!

This evening I have made some peanut butter and white chocolate cookies (with some agave instead of caster sugar)- they are very gooey at the moment but I love chewy cookies so am hoping they will be ok. I also got very hot in the kitchen making a vegetable quinoa bake for the freezer (onion, pepper, courgette, spinach, tomato, quinoa, black beans, sundried tomato, herbs- all mixed up in a pan and simmered) so I had a walk too to cool down . Fingers crossed I am back to normal tomorrow!