Sunny parkrun and I’m long running again!

This weekend was nice and chilled. Sometimes you need a weekend that you don’t do much and catch up on life, you know?

I headed to Netley Abbey parkrun on Saturday morning. I got there early, as usual, to help set-up the course. The chapel is being renovated for the next 18 months so the course has to change due to where the construction is going on. This meant a bit of confusion and rushing around as it wasn’t our standard set-up. Both the start and the finish were in different places and though the general route remains largely the same (still have that hill we have to do three times) it is a bit different and meant that we had to put our 1k markets, cones and arrows in different places.

I’d brought Alfie with me as I knew my friend Mike wasn’t going to be running and said he was happy to look after him while I ran. I always feel mean if I leave Alfie behind when the weather is so lovely. So it was nice to bring him and give him chance to race around when we set up.

It was quite warm so the run wasn’t that easy and there seemed to be a lot more exposure to the sun on the new route.

I listened to some music for once, which I haven’t done in ages but as I had my Aftershokz headphones I thought it might be a nice change. They still let me hear my surroundings so I don’t feel as ‘locked in’ when I run.

Each lap I waved to Mike and Alfie. Alfie at first didn’t really notice me and then when he saw me his little face just looked like “where are you going? Come back!”.

My time was 23:10 which I was chuffed with as I did put some effort in (it was about a minute quicker than I’ve been doing recently). I think the course is a bit easier than it used to be though as it has less turns but I’ll take it!

Then I headed back to Mike and Alfie to cheer some of the others in. The weather was just beautiful but I was a sweaty mess!

There were some great milestones achieved this parkrun: a few 50s and a 250th! And course that meant cake…

Very tasty! Then we headed to the cafe for a drink. I had an ice cold sparkling water instead of my peppermint tea as it was far too warm and I treated Alfie to some dog ice cream!

Basically it’s frozen fruit puree with a few other relatively normal and human-safe ingredients so we all tried a bit. Not especially creamy but nice enough. Alfie certainly liked it (though I had to ‘mush’ it up for him as he couldn’t be pigged to spend his time licking away it).

Then it was back home to have some breakfast, shower and then head to my parent’s house. They’re currently on holiday and had asked me to check in on the house and water their plants. As I was also meeting up with some friends that evening who lived in the area I planned on spending the night as well. It also meant my run the next day could be along my favourite coastal route.

I took Alfie down the beach for a nice long walk and it was just bliss.

I bought an ice cold Fanta Zero from the ice cream van and was in heaven. The walk took about an hour and I listened to a podcast and might have played some Pokémon Go Though this absolutely rinsed my battery.

I went to my friend’s house a bit later on and we ordered in some takeaway and had a very nice chilled evening watching the old classic, Wall Street. It was a lovely relaxed evening.

The next morning I got up and headed out for my first longish run in a while. I planned to do eight miles as I’d run five miles previously and if I’m planning on doing Chester marathon in the beginning of October I need to be increasing my mileage. I didn’t want too big a jump but I felt eight would be good.

Though it was overcast the run was still hot. I felt fairly comfortable though and the miles ticked by. I briefly thought about a tap that I knew was at the beach and would be at mile 6ish. I probably could have survived the run without water but I couldn’t get it out of my head. When I got there I couldn’t see anywhere that it said drinking water (nor that it wasn’t drinking water). But I knew people used the water for their beach huts – though I wasn’t sure if they boiled it first or not. In the end the desire for water was too much and I decided to risk it. It was nice and cold. Finger’s crossed I’m OK!

Somehow I’d gotten my route wrong (how do I always manage this?) and ended up going passed 8 miles. I decided to continue on to 8.5 miles then walk home. But then when I reached 8.5 I still felt good so pushed to 9. Then I stopped and walked home, which was about less than half a mile. I felt good though definitely like I’d run 9 miles, of which I haven’t done in a good few weeks!

It was so nice to have a run that felt good. My hamstring is pretty much back to normal. After seeing my physio a couple of times and, as I’ve said before, he didn’t think it was my actual hamstring that was the issue. He worked on loosening my back (which was probably tweaking my sciatic nerve) and realigned my pelvis. So things have been a lot better. I’m back to squatting and deadlifting at the gym again (though not stiff-legged deadlifts just yet).

The rest of the day was life admin and chores. I also had a wonderful nap in the afternoon, perfect Sunday chill time. So basically my weekend was quiet but lovely.

Did you go to parkrun this weekend?

Would you drink from a suspect tap if you were thirsty?

18 Replies to “Sunny parkrun and I’m long running again!”

  1. Aw, ice cream especially for dogs is such a nice idea! I’ll have to try and get some of that for my parents’ dog. I bet she would love it!

    I haven’t been to parkrun for months. I miss it, but I was starting to find running was stressing me out, and the idea of a timed run was too much when I was struggling. Taking a break to try and get my body and mind back to a good place before I start running again.
    I’m excited to go back to parkrun though, because there’s a new one just started along one of my favourite running routes. It’s pretty far from home (it’s about 15 miles away, where I used to live) but I think it’ll be worth the drive!

    I would have gone for it with that tap, definitely!
    Laura recently posted…UKRunChat Squat Challenge – Week 2My Profile

    1. I can completely understand what you mean about the pressure of a timed run. I used to be the same with parkrun thinking that every single one I needed to GO GO GO but now I just go and do what I fancy. The only person who cares about my time is me and I just needed to realise parkrun was more social than a weekly time trial for me.
      AnnaTheApple recently posted…Rants and Raves #34My Profile

  2. Sounds like a lovely park run! No joke – yesterday I went over to my parents house to visit and my husband straight up took my little brother and little sister out on a pokemon hunt. So there I was, the REAL sibling, just hanging out at my parents house while my husband took off with my siblings. lol ridiculous!
    kat recently posted…Healthy Cookies N’ Cream BlizzardMy Profile

  3. I had no idea you could get ice cream for dogs! I would definitely have taken a chance on the water – I think anywhere in the UK it would be fine. I still haven’t been to a Parkrun but would love to do one before the end of the summer even if it does involve going a bit out of my way because there are none near me! x
    LilyLipstick recently posted…Travel: New York, New YorkMy Profile

  4. I don’t think I would ever drink from a public tap- I was in Quebec and thought it was such a great idea, then I saw someone walking their dog let the dog jump up, and basically suck water from the tap. So the water may be clean, but the tap certainly isn’t!
    Nice work on the speedy parkrun and the longer mileage!
    I was marshalling at parkrun (I much prefer that in the summer when the weather is good) so I had a lovely run around the park first, and then to and from my spot. I haven’t run one properly for ages though- the last 4 weeks I have either marshalled or been the tail runner, and this weekend I can’t make one as we are going into London, so the week after I am looking forward to just running one for a change.
    Dog ice cream? Crazy! Although in this heat I am sure they love it- having seen pictures of zoo animals being given ice and things to help them cool down.
    Maria @ runningcupcake recently posted…More decorating, end of term cooking, a double breakfast and an online order mistakeMy Profile

    1. I totally see your point about the tap. Yes I suppose you never know what’s happened to it. I did run it a bit though (wishful thinking I know). To be honest, I was so thirsty that I didn’t care!
      I love your idea of running then marshalling. It’s tricky for me to do that as I’m one of the core set-up team so would feel bad not helping out and running beforehand. We normally get more than enough marshals but not really enough people to help set-up and clear down. Our main set-up guy always jokes that if we’re not going to be there one week we need to fill out a holiday form hehe.
      AnnaTheApple recently posted…Rants and Raves #34My Profile

  5. I didn’t go to parkrun – I think I’m going to have to give up on parkruns until I’ve got my own car again. If I had come across a tap in the street during my run on Sunday I would have definitely stopped for a drink. Great work on the longer run, I’m looking forward to following your training in the lead up to Chester. Dog ice cream? I had no idea such a treat for dogs existed. Lucky Alfie!
    Emma recently posted…Great Birmingham Run training week 4My Profile

    1. Oh no! That’s so annoying about your car.
      The dog ice cream won’t be a regular thing I think as it was rather expensive but it’s a nice treat when it’s hot (and let’s be honest, that’s not a regular thing either!) But I do love the idea of it 🙂
      AnnaTheApple recently posted…Rants and Raves #34My Profile

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