Sleepless Nights and a Special Birthday

There are good times during the day when it is sensible and productive to think about important decisions, tasks at work, and things that you need to do.

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I have found that 3.30am is not that time. At 3.30am everything can seem like a complicated problem. Everything gets ruminated and examined from every possible angle. Time gets sucked away and your mind whizzes at ninety miles an hour. Problems are not solved at 3.30am.

That was last night for me. I tossed and turned all through the night with a mixture of a zillion things going through my mind and achy legs from my running club run that evening. Consequentially, I did not sleep well.

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Loving that peak from 3-3.30am…not

I didn’t need the Sleep Cycle app to inform me that I had pretty rubbish sleep quality. I was fully aware of that at several points during the night. In fact, I’m sure I ruminated on it at 3.30am.

I love running club but it does mess around with my sleeping after I’ve had a hard run only hours before. And on top of a tough week at work…well I had no chance really. It’s funny because at that time in the middle of the night, you almost want you alarm to go off so you can get up. When you do eventually fall back asleep however, those thoughts are long gone.

Anyway, so this week has been tough at work and tough running. My 10k on Sunday pretty much savaged any energy I had left in my legs and left my runs feeling tough beyond belief. I usually comfortably run between 7.30-7.45mins/mile. On Tuesday I was struggling to hit 9mins/mile. Very humbling! Reminds me that I’m not superwoman and rest is important.

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But I enjoyed the run regardless and just ran at a pace that my legs felt comfortable. I think it’s important to get back into it after a tough race but I also think it’s important to that slowly and sensibly. Shake out those achy muscles and get some fresh air.

And importantly – a big happy birthday to my amazing, super mum.

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I couldn’t ask for a better mum. She may not be the best cook in the world Winking smile but she is definitely a great listener, a loving person, kind beyond words and always there whenever I need a mum-daughter chat or coffee.

On to some good food. The other night I tried a new recipe. It’s loosely based on THIS recipe that I had pinned (follow me if you fancy!)

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Tomato and Feta Chicken (serves 2)

  • 2 chicken breasts
  • 1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
  • Tin of chopped tomatoes (I used chopped cherry tomatoes)
  • Herbs (e.g. oregano, thyme, basil, rosemary)
  • Garlic

– Pre-heat oven to 200C/400F.

– On the hob in a small pan, cook the chopped tomatoes with the herbs and garlic until bubbling.

– Add most of the feta (reserve two heaped teaspoons) and stir so it begins to break down and melt.

– Season the chicken with pepper (no salt as the feta is very salty) and add to a small casserole dish. Cover with sauce, pop in oven and cook for about 15mins.

– Remove then sprinkle over the remaining feta and pop back in for another 5mins (until the chicken is cooked).

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The sweetness of the tomatoes and the saltiness of the feta worked so well together. And so easy to make, definitely one to repeat as an easy midweek meal!

So it’s Friday today, hurrah! This weekend is a long weekend with the bank holiday on Monday (a day off in the UK). I plan to enjoy a nice relaxed Parkrun tomorrow – NO PRESSURE allowed. And then Ben and me might have signed up to another 10k for Sunday….um, yes we are obsessed.

Have a lovely weekend!

What are you up to this weekend?

What’s your favourite kind of cheese? Mine is goat’s cheese without a doubt. But I do love cream cheese.

Do you wake up in the middle of the night with thinking-overload?

8 Replies to “Sleepless Nights and a Special Birthday”

  1. Enjoy the race 🙂
    I am out running tomorrow as we have a half in a few weeks and I am a bit panicked about making the distance.
    I wake up sometimes and now I have to play games- alphabet games usually- eg think of fruit that begins with a,b,c etc. Normally it helps my mind wander and I don’t get to z.

  2. I was literally just thinking about that – the other night I woke up around 3 AM and started hardcore stressing about something. When I woke back up again at a normal hour I realized how small of an issue it was. Everything seems intensified in the middle of the night! Hope you get a better sleep tonight girl

  3. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!! Hope its special 🙂
    And that chicken…omg yum. Anything with cheese (especially feta!!) is amazing in my book!!

  4. Aww, your mom sounds like such a sweet lady! I sure hope she had a fabulous time on Friday! Did you do anything special to celebrate? Knowing your love for cake, I’m guessing that was an integral part of the festivities? 😉

    Oh gosh, I can definitely relate to your sleepless night! I used have pretty bad insomnia, however my problem was falling asleep. I’d often lay there for hours—occasionally the entire night—tossing and turning. It’s gotten a lot better, though; now I typically conk out withing a few minutes of hitting the pillow. Exercising earlier in the day definitely helps me, as does taking a hot bath, and/or drinking a warm cup of tea or almond milk before bed. On nights when I’m feeling particularly “wound up,” I’ll take melatonin or a sleep aid as a last resort. I’m not a huge fan of pill-popping, but sleep is precious! I hope you were able to caught up this weekend. 🙂

    The tomato and feta chicken looks fantastic—and so easy! I just bookmarked the recipe, and may add it to the lineup next week. Yum.

    I hope today’s run went well, and best of luck in the 10k tomorrow! ENJOY IT! xoxo <3

  5. That recipe looks REALLY good. I will have to come up with a way to adapt it to make it vegetarian!

  6. Yummm that chicken looks so good. And easy! I think I’ll have to try it. Off to follow you on Pinterest 😉

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