Running is tough

Anna Run

Yep, that’s right people. I am back to running my usual stuff (albeit building the mileage back up slowly).

My hubby sent me this picture and I thought it was rather cool. I am a very clumsy person so this makes sense. I have been known to randomly fall over without any external influences.

On Tuesday morning I’d planned to do around 4-5miles and after getting up at stupid o’clock 5.40am I took Alfie for his walk and just prayed that my leg would deliver. I was worried I had taken too much of a chance on Sunday with my nine mile long run. But as I headed off on the first mile I felt no pain and no issues. Just a slight discomfort, which I’m firmly believing is diminishing (every time I do my stretches the discomfort is less and less every day).

But it was hard. I was concerned it was my niggle holding me back (I’m referring to my injury as a niggle as it really wasn’t that serious, despite all the moaning and complaining I did). Partly it was hard because of the niggle, but mainly I was held back because my morning runs are always tough. I’m tired, I haven’t eaten since the  night before and my muscles, in all honesty, aren’t as warmed up as they could be.

However I managed a great five mile progression run:

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I’m so chuffed I got the last mile down to 7.20mins/mile as I was worried I wouldn’t be hitting times like that for a while due to my break.

When I wasn’t running, in my head running was easy, running was amazing, I adored every minute. In reality, running is TOUGH. It is pretty much tough the whole damn time. Even when it’s good, it’s still tough. I would be lying if I said I enjoy every run. I would be lying if I said I fling myself out the door with sheer merriment and joyously hop down the road with exultation of the impending miles.

But, I love it.

I always remember what my dad says to me about running:

Brick wall

I don’t truly believe running is like this but I can see his point. 99% of the time, I always feel good after a run. No matter how tough or how bad it went, I’m always smiling afterwards.

Anyway on to food, and in joining the party for WIAW (thanks, Jenn!) I thought I’d share a couple of meals that rocked my world.

First up was Sunday night’s meal. It was one of those evenings when I just couldn’t be bothered to cook anything exciting. Ages ago I bought some turkey sausages to try and they had been living in the darkest corner of the depths of my freezer for too long. I thought it was time to bring them back to life…and then grill the hell out of them (does that even work…?).

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Now, I’m not a big fan of sausages in general. I really can’t stand pork sausages. But I love turkey so I thought I’d give them a go (while Ben had regular pork sausages).

I had two of them and cut them in half to grill them (read: paranoid about eating raw sausages), two fried eggs (devastated when one of them broke. Tears almost happened…joking but it was touch and go), and cauliflower/cream cheese mash (and broccoli). Yum! Big thumbs up for this meal.

Then Tuesday night I made this random concoction:

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Grated sweet potato with diced onions, cream cheese and a fish pie mix (salmon, mackerel and haddock). Basically a version of my paprika chicken. Oh this was good. The fishiness of the fish (yep you read that correctly) paired perfectly with the creaminess of the potato and cheese.

I love it when random meals work out well!

And I love it when the sunshine means I get to wear shorts to work!

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Shorts: Peacocks//Shirt: Next

I’m embarrassed to say these shorts are soo old (we’re talking pre-university). In fact, there’s even a hole in one of the pockets that luckily the shirt covers. Shhh… I’m too cheap and rubbish to buy/fix it.

But can you believe we’re a 1/3 through summer already? Ha. What a joke.

What meals have been rocking your world lately? I haven’t had sweet potato in so long so it was good to get that back in the routine again.

What do you wear to work/school/college/uni/other in the summer? I’m lucky that I work in a relaxed office, but I do like to keep things relatively smart. It helps keep me focused.

When do you find working out the hardest? I love running in the morning but I’m never as fast as I am in the evening or late morning when I’ve had time to properly wake up and warm up.

16 Replies to “Running is tough”

  1. I love your sweet potato concoction you threw together. I never thought to grate sweet potatoes. Genius! Will have to give it a try 🙂

    I’ve been obsessed with tilapia salads lately. So good!

  2. I’ve got a load of sweet potatoes so they will definitely be featuring in a meal soon! Wear I work is pretty relaxed so I can just wear a skirt or trousers with a vest and flip flops if I wanted. When I’m working at home I have been known to do so in pj shorts 🙂

  3. So glad you’re back running. Bet that feels great I love that pic your hubby sent you. So funny. Sounds like something my man would do.

  4. My work is casual so basically everything goes except for t-shirts, tennis shoes, and flip flops. I wear jeans about twice a week (dark jeans though so they are a little dressier than normal), a dress/skirt once a week, and dressy pants, capris or long shorts twice a week. To school I totally go full out casual though with jeans, tennis shoes and a t-shirt, even in the middle of winter where I could really use some extra layers. Lol.

    That cauliflower/cream cheese mash looks fantastic. Is it basically just that– cream cheese and mashed cauliflower? I think I may have to try making that for my parents. They love cauliflower mash and the addition of some type of smooth cream cheese would probably put it over the top.

    1. Hehe yeah school should definitely be very casual.
      Yeah the cauliflower mash is literally just cooked cauliflower mashed with salt and pepper and a big tablespoon of cream cheese. It’s heavenly.

  5. That mashed cauliflower sounds awesome! It is amazing the things that you can do with cauliflower!

  6. Running is hard! But mostly it is good while you are running too (I think anyway).
    You are so speedy- and I am so impressed you get up that early! I much prefer running before work, but I leave for work at around half 7, so to be back and have a shower and dry my hair (which takes ages) I would have to be up so early, plus I always panic that if I fell over or hurt myself or got lost I wouldn’t get back in time. So I go out after work as it is less stressful!

    1. I guess if running was easy everyone would be doing it!
      Yeah I leave for work jut after 8 so it’s a bit of a rush but not too bad. It’s only twice a week I have to get up that early thankfully!

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