The weekend just gone my lovely friend, Emma, and I had planned to meet up and do the Winchester parkrun followed by brunch.
She lives in Reading and we wanted a location that would be nice and relatively half-way. After some deliberation we decided on Winchester because, though it’s not really half-way, it is a lovely place and there were a couple of different brunch spots that took our fancy.
Unfortunately as we got closer to the weekend we realised Winchester parkrun had been cancelled. Ah, that scuppered that plan! After to’ing and fro’ing we decided to still go but do our own run together instead. Winchester is a beautiful place and has a nice river area to run along.
But before I get to Saturday, first Friday night. I just have to mention the meal we had at the Merchant House. Kyle and I went out with some friends from work. Happily I like the people I work with so it was a fun time. And the food was, as before, so good.
I went for the triple chicken burger with a portion of the loaded burnt end fries.
I actually felt a little embarrassed because last time I shared them with Kyle but this time I wanted my own portion… I liked them so much and I’m greedy. But the reason I was embarrassed was because one of my colleagues turned up and the first thing he said was “oof the portions here are huge so I’m going to give the fries a miss!”. Ahh here Anna goes again being the one who eats the most… but it was damn good and I enjoyed every bite.
Moments like these do make me feel like the most greedy person in the room because generally I do eat the most. It’s just that I enjoy food. I’m not stuffing myself to a ridiculous level, I do just think I have a big appetite and can eat a lot. But it does make me sometimes feel self-conscious when I eat more than everyone else…
But back to Saturday. I met with Emma at 9am and we ran four miles together.
The weather was lovely and sunny, but not too hot, and we kept the pace conversational so we could catch up. We regularly stay in touch through messages but it’s always nice to see someone in person.
She’s doing Chicago Marathon as well so it was nice to hear about her training – though it did give me major anxieties about my lack of training. This was the longest run I’d done for over 10 weeks. But no panic, no panic. I can only do what I can. At this point I’m still not 100% certain I will do Chicago…
Anyway the four miles were relatively comfortable, though there was a low lying discomfort it was still feeling better.
We then headed to the Dispensary Kitchen for some brunch.
I decided on the vegetarian breakfast after seeing it being whisked by me to another customer (it looked delicious!) and Emma went for poached eggs on avocado and toast. We shared a fruit and yogurt platter.
The food was delicious and looked gorgeous. I felt very saintly. It had halloumi, mushrooms, poached eggs, sourdough toast, avocado and homemade baked beans. The fruit platter was incredible as well. So much food! Just how I like it 😉
It was such a lovely meet-up 🙂
When I got home I decided on another two miles because I really wanted to get six for the day. My reasoning behind this was because I wanted to increase to eight miles the next week.
This is going to be a sink or swim lead-up to Chicago now. I just have to get into training. If my hamstring says “nope” and regresses then I know that Chicago isn’t going to happen. I’ve already taken over 10 weeks off of running. I’ve rehabbed as best as I can (I still am), I’ve avoided anything that aggravates things, I’ve seen two different physios and changed my trainers.
At this point I think I just have to try consistently running and see what happens. Obviously I’m going to be sensible and not suddenly go out and do a 20 miler or five runs a week. But I’d like to do three runs a week and one of those runs gradually building up. I won’t get higher than 16-17 miles before Chicago (if all goes well in my plan) but I’m absolutely fine by that.
I just want to run issue-free. Times and paces literally don’t matter to me right now. When I had this issue a few years ago after the Boston Marathon I managed to get back into long running with some persisting symptoms but otherwise it didn’t get worse.
So I know each run isn’t going to feel perfect or the discomfort entirely disappear just yet, but I can’t be frightened to run. As long as it doesn’t make it worse. That’s my rationale right now. I so hope this works!
How was your weekend?
Have you ever run through an injury?
I too am the person in the room who seems to eat the most (other than N when he’s having curry…). And I’m relatively diddy.
It might be an idea to have a running coach for the next few weeks (mine, Laura from LazyGirlRunning is lovely. I’m running 3 times a week, my mid-week runs are 45 mins max, and I feel almost as fit as I did when training for Berlin marathon at 5 runs a week. She’s amazing).
And: if you go out to Chicago for a holiday anyhow, it’s a great place to visit. I recommend getting a city pass and going to as many places as possible on it. I particularly recommend Lou Mitchell’s Diner, and the miniature rooms in the basement of the Art Institute. Or: you could re-enact Ferris Bueller’s Day Off….I’ve been to Chicago so many times but not been location hunting. Oooh. Go onto the lake (and if you get seasick, get a packet of Dramamine. It is so effective).
Jane recently posted…Well, that was quite the week
This is so helpful thank you! We’ll definitely still go to Chicago whatever happens. I’ve made a note of all these recommendations 😀
Ah, shame parkrun was cancelled but at least you still had a lovely run and brunch.
I am sure I have asked this before, but if there is a long cut off for Chicago could you walk it? Or run/walk it? Take photos, high five, see the sights. There is awesome popcorn in Chicago!
I am also the person who eats more than everyone else, especially when it’s a work thing. Between you and I we’d probably have the entire menu in front of us 😂
Running through an injury in the past has often been my downfall, but I still really believe that if you are sensible and can get to a point where you can run comfortably, maybe with a long run of around a half marathon, you can absolutely complete Chicago and enjoy the experience.
Allison recently posted…Week In Review – Summer Holidays Week 5
This is so helpful, we’ll definitely still go to Chicago whatever happens. I recommend getting a city pass and going to as many places as possible on it. and I am also the person who eats more than everyone else, especially when it’s a work thing. you can absolutely complete Chicago and enjoy the experience.