6 Random things on a Sunday: Cycling, Running, Gratitude & Planning

Happy Sunday! This was going to be a "5 on a Friday" post and then maybe a "6 on a Saturday" post and now... it's Sunday. Here are 6 things from the weekend and others:

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This weekend we watched the Tour of Britain which went only a few streets away from us.  The cyclists were so fast! The kids loved it, but I couldn't get many photos because I had Clara on my shoulders the whole time. 

We were also on TV!  Right here (there are some faint purple arrows to assist spotting us, although the 7 foot tall toddler helps.)

There was a single american rider so I decided to get my USA flag out because I don't often get the chance, and waving a flag at a bike race seemed really bike race-y.

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The Cardiff Half is just 4 weeks away.  I'm deviating a bit from the Peloton Road to Half Marathon programme, because I can't seem to get the right runs on the right days.  On Saturday I ran our local parkrun 5k with the twins in the pram as a "recovery run" which I 100% do not recommend.  The twins got bored, the running was difficult, I was slow, and I didn't feel very "recovered" after.
Today I did my long run which more than made up for my awful run last week and grumpy recovery this week.   I am still not fast, but I am happy that I can run for 2 hours now.  Also, the Cardiff half is FLAT so I am hoping that the fact I do trail hills in my long runs will mean I'll be moderately faster at the actual half marathon.

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I have a new random hobby which is writing thank you emails to people and companies.  A few weeks ago we went to the botanical gardens and there was a kid circus and I had such a nice time I wrote a thank you email to both the circus and the botanical gardens.  I also wrote a thank you to the local astronomical society for the planetarium show we saw.  And I wrote a thanks to the company that we buy our planner from.  I've been trying to look for people or companies to thank and it's a fun project so far, which hopefully is bringing a bit of joy to places that may get more complaints than thanks.

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I have not been very good about carving out actual planning time.  I have the ideal week template and last week would have been a great time to fill it out for September.  I also haven't done any sort of September goal setting.  I feel like I was doing awesome with the September and back to school transition and all the associated logistics and emotions and planning etc, until Saturday when I just got super grumpy and then stayed super grumpy.  There might be a hormonal aspect to this as well, but I don't think that fully discounts the grump!  This week my goal is to actually do my ideal week and also to continue daily planning. 

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Because I am a super basic human, I picked this background from The Everygirl for my phone this month and it brings me great joy when I see it.  

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Does anyone remember Rachael Ray? Tonight I made Spanikopa-burgers, a Rachael Ray Recipe that 80% of my family eat.   There's a real recipe, but I make burgers from Turkey mince, Feta Cheese, Olives, Spinach, Eggs & Oatmeal.  As a random aside, how very 2000's are the Rachael Ray cookbook covers?  

Can you hear her saying "EVOO"?  She did love the EVOO!

Also, I am glad cook book covers feature food now.  Did we not think food was an inspiring cookbook cover in 2004? I know you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but lady with questionable shirt and lady with tomatoes doesn't scream COOKBOOK to me.

Do you remember Rachael Ray? Do you have a random 90s/00's recipe you love?