Christmas – lots of food and parkruns

So Christmas has been and gone far too quickly! Depressingly quick. It’s still nice to be off and enjoy the time to relax and see friends.

Rolling back to Christmas then, the morning began with me dressing up like an idiot in fancy dress (with Alfie) and heading to the Netley Abbey parkrun. I was staying at my parents and before I left I somehow managed to persuade my dad to take a photo of me. I was heading there early to help set up which is why it looks so dark.Christmas fancy dress runIt was so lovely seeing everyone and wishing them merry Christmas. Lots of people had dressed up too so it felt very festive.Christmas parkrunThe run itself was tough. I felt like I was plodding the entire time. My body just didn’t want to go any faster. Luckily my friend Mike felt similar so we ran together, taking it easy, dreaming of the turkey to come later 😉 I managed 24:58 which I wasn’t too happy with (considering Mike and me had said we’d aim for an easy 24…whoops). Sometimes it just doesn’t happen. And when I’m dressed in a tutu on Christmas day I’m not going to complain about it!

Alfie loved his time at parkrun and got ridiculously muddy. He also managed to get his little Santa outfit off at the end as well, bless him. I think he felt a little ridiculous in it. Can’t understand why personally…Christmas fancy dress dog

We cleared up quickly and parted ways, everyone heading off for their respective Christmases. I went straight back to my parent’s house where I first had to get Alfie in the bath and clean. My parents thankfully took over so I could go and shower and not delay the celebrations. I enjoyed a cheeky glass of Bucks fizz with my porridge and then we opened presents.

I got some lovely gifts which I was rather chuffed with. My parents had bought me some Nike pro shorts (I’m obsessed), some bits and bobs and some items for my new flat.Home decor

The ‘A’ is battery powered so I can turn the lights on and off.

Then I helped my dad cook the Christmas meal. We both really enjoy cooking so it was quite fun. We had Christmas music on, peeling carrots, scrubbing parsnips and just enjoying the day. The food, as always, was awesome. We had a prawn and salmon starter and for main turkey with all the trimmings.Christmas Dinner

It rocked my world. I probably say this every year, but Christmas day is my favourite meal of the year. I just love it. I requested for broad beans as one of the veg as it’s one of my favourites (I know I’m weird). And we had Monopoly crackers!!!Monopoly Crackers

After dinner we went for a walk with the dogs. The weather was so mild but fairly windy. It was great to see all the houses all lit up and people enjoying Christmas. Walking on Christmas day is one of my favourite things to do. It’s a shame we didn’t go down the beach but it was just ridiculously windy and dark so we kept it simple with round the block.

When we got back we had pudding. Normally you’d have Christmas pudding in the UK but no one really likes Christmas pudding in my family. So my mum and granddad had a panacotta and my dad and me had giant portions of a melt in the middle chocolate pudding with ice cream. LITERALLY THE BEST THING EVER.Chocolate puddingThen we played the Logo Game which we’ve now played for the third time in a row at Christmas. Christmas dayI love it. I stayed at my parents over night, which meant I could get into PJs and watch some Christmas TV into the evening with them (where I enjoyed round 2 of Christmas dinner with the leftovers…because it’s Christmas!)

The next day, Boxing Day, was the proper parkrun as it was Saturday. My tummy didn’t feel in too great a shape to run it must be said…All that food. But surprisingly I felt far better running than the day before and I managed to shave almost a minute off my time (24:12). I felt myself getting stronger as the run continued as well which was great. I usually warm up into a run about five miles in… I’m a slow burner I think (and probably why I hate 5ks and 10ks).

I spent the rest of the day at my parent’s again and my sister, her fiancé and little girls came over. It was manic but lovely. Ellie, my little niece who I ran the kid’s race the other week with, loved her Nike leggings I bought her. She even asked me if one day we could run together and I could run at my top speed and hold her hand so I could pull her along. Bless her!

So Christmas this year was very chilled, a little bit different to normal but full of fun, happiness, family and (let’s be honest, the best bit) GOOD food. Now it’s New Year’s Eve and I’m going to be heading to my friend’s house for a chilled evening of lots of food, films and games.

How was your Christmas?

What’s your favourite Christmas food? Mine is the whole turkey dinner.

What are you/did you get up to on New Year’s Eve?

12 Replies to “Christmas – lots of food and parkruns”

  1. I love Alfie’s little outfit. So very adorable! Not a huge amount of people dressed up at our event which was a shame. I admit I even forgot my Santa hat, although I did wear it at cross-country on the previous Sunday and for our club Christmas Eve run. To be honest, it was a little muddy following that one, so probably best that I didn’t pull it out on Christmas Day as well!
    Your version of Christmas Day dessert works for me too. I made trifle in the end as again, no one really liked Christmas Pudding but I am very jealous of your chocolate pudding!
    My favourite thing about Christmas dinner is all of the veg in gravy. I have never seen broad beans on a Christmas dinner before though!
    Glad you had a good one. Happy New Year! 🙂
    Mary recently posted…Christmas as hostsMy Profile

  2. Sounds like a lovely few days 🙂 Love Alfie’s outfit!
    I did parkrun on Christmas day with my brother, and it was fab! I woke up too late for a Boxing day parkrun so went out on my own.
    Hmm, at Christmas time I love cheese and piccalilli, or Wensleydale with cranberries on crackers, and then all the fruity things like satsumas, dates, fruit cake, stollen…
    Andy’s mum made a lovely squash and something wellington (basically all roasted veggies in puff pastry) as his brother and wife are now pescatarians, and that was delicious. She also made some lovely red cabbage with apple- that was super tasty too.
    I have those lounge pants from Fat Face! Although I keep them not for pj’s because they are so thick.
    I never do much for new years- we were in Seville but after spending all day walking around we just chilled out in the hotel room- at home I would rarely stay up til midnight!
    Maria @ runningcupcake recently posted…12 months of runningMy Profile

    1. Wensleydale and cranberry – yes! So tasty. I was so sad when my dad said he’d bought cheeses without dried fruit in (as he can’t eat it). But luckily my granddad had a stash of his own which was amaaazing.
      Yes the Fat Face PJs are a bit thick. I don’t wear them to bed as I’d get too hot.
      Your NY’s sounds lovely 🙂
      AnnaTheApple recently posted…Starting the year with all my favourite thingsMy Profile

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