And there goes another weekend! I feel recharged and ready to do another week. I know recent research says you can’t catch up on sleep you’ve missed in the week by sleeping more at the weekend but it just feels so good to get those extra hours!
I really do try and stay up later at the weekend but by 9pm my body is fully shutting down into sleep mode. I’m not ashamed to say I do love a good early night! I got up at 7am on Saturday to get to parkrun for 8am to help set up the course. I really enjoy doing this as there’s a usual crew of people who I get on really well with and have a natter with. And parkrun itself is always good fun. Ben didn’t join this week as he’s being sensible with his leg. A good plan but I missed his company.
Netley Abbey has been getting quite popular (over 240 people this week) so it’s a bit crowded at the start. I wanted to push it so found a nice spot near the front so I wouldn’t get absorbed into the crush at the beginning. I was pleased to have taken about 30 seconds off of last week’s time so I feel I’m making progress (22:02 – cool time!). I’m not sure how much faster I’ll get on the current course though (two hills you do three times) as my 5k times will never be that speedy (for me) as I don’t really care to focus on short-distance speed. I just use them as a faster run.
After getting home, showered and breakfasted the usual Saturday chores ensued. Then after lunch we met up with our friend Nathan to go for a little walk around a lovely area called Forest Bere.
I love going for walks at the weekend. I find it can be very easy to get stuck inside when the weather isn’t that warm and just watch TV or mope about. It was lovely and fresh. We walked 2.5 miles but had to get back relatively soon as the car park closed at 4.30pm which was a bit annoying. Obviously we took Alfie too.
I how the photo captures Ben mid-stride
We treated ourselves to an Indian take away that evening, which I was really looking forward to, but it was really disappointing. It tasted really nice but the portion sizes were really small. My tandorri chicken starter was pretty much just a drumstick and everything else just kind of looked a bit stingy, you know? And one onion salad when we ordered two (I love me some onion salad). Bit of a let down for a Saturday treat!
Sunday morning I went for my long run. I suppose you could say that my ‘long’ runs at the moment aren’t really that long (especially comparing them to you lot training for impending marathons!) but I’m tying to build things up gradually as I have a while yet until my marathon. While it’s great to have so much time, I’m also terrified it’s too much time to play with and that I’ll injure myself somewhere along the line!
Injury paranoia aside, I got a good seven mile run in (average pace 8:11min/mile).
At first I felt sluggish but then I got really into it and found it really hard to make myself go slower (like I said I would) but I just found myself feeling strong, not out of breath or feeling like it was an effort. My justification is that when I start getting to 10 miles and over then I’ll force myself to take it easier and use it for time on my feet. When I’m around distances that used to be very comfortable for me as a normal run I’m happy to be a bit quicker (let’s remember these fatal words if weeks from now I’m injured…).
The rest of Sunday was fairly miserable with just continuous rain (of which I missed on my run thankfully). This meant a rather unpleasant walk with Alfie.
That face: “Why are we out here??”
I had my wellies on and umbrella and at first Alfie was happy to smell bushes and do his thing, but then he would walk as close to me as possible to get sheltered from the rain. I felt mean being out in the rain with him but he had to go!
I will do a proper post on this but I just have to mention how much I’m absolutely loving this recipe box delivery service called Hello Fresh (I’ve not been contacted to do a review by them, I’m just a very happy paying customer – though I do have a discount code if anyone’s interested!). They deliver a box to your house with three recipes (though you can do five) with all the ingredients you need to make the meals. It’s amazing.
Sunday night’s dinner was sizzling sesame beef. The recipes are very easy to follow and taste SO good. Yes there’s prep and cooking involved, but I love it and I’m learning so much about ‘proper’ cooking. The meals are nutritionally balanced which is a bonus as well. And most importantly, Ben likes it too!
And that’s a wrap. OK not a hugely exciting weekend but it ticked the necessary boxes required 😉 Except cake. There was a distinct lack of cake.
How was your weekend?
Do you like to get outside during the colder months? Or do you snuggle indoors and hibernate?
Have you ever tried Hello Fresh or something similar?
Yesterday afternoon was awful. So wet and horrible. Poor little Alfie! I got my run in early then caught up with some work for school in the afternoon inside in the dry and warm.
I am an early night person as well. I try and stick it out until 10:30 at the weekends but it doesn’t always happen!
Mary recently posted…Training week 7
Yeah I was so lucky to miss the rain in the morning too.
I much prefer to be a morning person than an evening person. I’m happy to get my workout done and dusted straight away and then I’m invigorated for the day.
AnnaTheApple recently posted…All the good stuff – food on holiday
Isn’t it crazy how it is so hard to go slower, I find I have to do that a lot, slow myself down on runs to keep it easy, it can be so easy to get carried away. I am SO jealous you had indian takeaway, I miss it so much!! Love that you went for a walk in the countryside too, I wish we could do that here, its just not the same. Enjoy!
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I really need to get better at it as I really want to avoid any change of injury this time around.
Indian’s are my favourite take-aways – so good.
AnnaTheApple recently posted…All the good stuff – food on holiday
The weather was awful here yesterday so we didn’t get out for a walk, but we did during the week. I recently discovered a lovely wood near a short drive from our house that has public access. It’s so nice to get outside and blow the cob webs away with a long walk.
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It’s lovely when you find a walk nearby! I hate just walking along roads. But sometimes it’s just impossible because of the weather if the walk doesn’t have good paths.
AnnaTheApple recently posted…All the good stuff – food on holiday
Andy’s brother does Hello Fresh- I looked as I got a code in an amazon order or something, but it seemed so expensive. I suppose it might be better value with the meat ones, but the veggie ones seemed crazy. I like the idea of having different recipes to try though.
Oh dear that picture of Alfie sums up the weather yesterday- it really was horrible in the afternoon. I love going out for walks at the weekend- but near us we don’t have anywhere that nice really.
Good job on your running too- it is easy to start worrying about what other people are doing, but you know it is right for you, so stay steady and hopefully stay strong.
Maria @ runningcupcake recently posted…Brighton Half 2015- working out what I am capable of!
Yes I agree for vegetarians it probably isn’t worth it. But we’re going to carry on with it for a while and see how it goes – while balancing our shop to it so we’re not spending ridiculous amounts of money each week on food!
AnnaTheApple recently posted…All the good stuff – food on holiday
Sesame beef sounds good!
I really wish I could be falling asleep at 9pm, but my body is not ready for sleep until about 2am and then it is awake again at 7am – so I really don’t get much sleep. Something I need to work on.
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy recently posted…Comment on 30 Ways To Eat Avocado by Liv @ Healthy Liv
Wow 2am!? I am fully into my sleep by then! I couldn’t manage on so little sleep. Hope it improves for you.
AnnaTheApple recently posted…All the good stuff – food on holiday
Nice Parkrun time! I definitely think you could go under 20 minutes by a considerable margin if you ever did want to focus on speed at some point.
I love to go out no matter what the weather, because I know how crap I feel if I stay in all day. I crave fresh air and I always end up with the worst headache if I’m stuck inside with central heating. I might grumble a lot about the weather, but the great outdoors still beats being cooped up inside the house!
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Maybe…but I’d have to put a lot of speed work in to get there (like you said) and that’s not my thing right now…marathons are where I’m at! 😉
Yep I agree – even though it was pouring down I knew we both had to go out. Even in the rain it’s still nice to be outside in the fresh air.
AnnaTheApple recently posted…All the good stuff – food on holiday
Oh I would love to be able to go for a walk without snow!!!! The trail looks nice!!!
Lack of cake is never good either!! You should have plenty after all those speedy runs!!
Staci @ Hoosier Running Mom recently posted…Keepin’ it real
Sorry about your snow – sounds crazy!
AnnaTheApple recently posted…All the good stuff – food on holiday
Awesome job on the long run!! Alfie is so cute 🙂
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Hehe isn’t he just?
AnnaTheApple recently posted…All the good stuff – food on holiday
So glad your running is going well 🙂
Thansk Karen – me too!!
AnnaTheApple recently posted…Sometimes weekends need to be like this…
Aw poor Alfie, the weather was pretty grim wasn’t it. I definitely need to be outside whatever the weather, I hate being stuck in.
Lauren (@PoweredbyPB) recently posted…Thoughts during 13.1
Yeah and as weird as it sounds it’s nice to go outside and then come back inside and appreciate the warm and dry again!
Aww look at little Alfie, his face just says it all! The rain was rubbish, can’t believe how much it was chucking it down.
Our parkrun is also becoming really popular, which is good, but it is really hard to get any kind of speed up in the first mile (my last attempt I was two minutes slower than usual as I couldn’t get past anyone – maybe I need to work on being less polite!)
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Or elbow your way to the front 😉 It is good to see them becoming more popular. It’s just annoying to be stuck behind people, but at the end of the day you can always do a speedy 5k on another day I suppose!
AnnaTheApple recently posted…Sometimes weekends need to be like this…