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Old favourites and getting some structure into my running

A lot to catch up on recently…

So firstly, I’ve become a bit green fingered in our new house (and garden). I never thought this day would come. I’ve never been interested in plants or flowers before but now I’m loving that we have a beautiful little garden. I’ve planted some flowers, got some lovely little house plants and I’m carefully looking after them.

I’m trying really hard to not let them die, reading up on how to care for them and watering them as often as they should be. Who’d have thought some don’t like too much watering and some get very sad without it (my temperamental little peace lily drooped significantly when I forgot about him for a bit).

Well anyway, it’s bringing me great joy, much to my parent’s and Kyle’s amusement as I’ve never shown such an interest before.

The other weekend we also had a very lovely visit from my friend Emma. She popped down from Reading for a run and some brunch. Originally we’d planned 14 miles but when it came down to it neither of us were feeling it and decided to bump it down to 5 miles instead.

It was a lovely relaxed run and we were able to catch up whilst seeing the sea and enjoying some trails nearby to where I live.

Chicken, bacon, potato, cheese, coleslaw, beetroot, tomatoes, cucumber, corn, onion, salad, berries

We then walked with Kyle down to Southsea for brunch at The Parade Tearooms. I had the rather un-brunch-like Jayne Salad which was, as always, ginormous but so tasty.

We then walked to The Tenth Hole to pick out some cakes – it had to be done of course! The Bakewell slice was particularly delicious I must say. We are so lucky to live within walking distance to these places – though not close enough to be a real danger thankfully 😉

This weekend gone Kyle and I house sat/dog sat for my parents while they visited my grandparents in Wales. At first we were very happy because my parents have a hot tub (!!) and we were able to get a takeaway from our favourite Indian restaurant (honestly, I’ve never found as good an Indian as the Stubbington Tandoori).

But then during the middle of the night the happiness drained away as their dogs barked several times during the night and I had to stand in the garden at 3am while they did their business. This happened every single night we were there… it was exhausting. How my parents live with this I do not know. I couldn’t remember them being that bad when I lived there so perhaps they were sad my parents weren’t there, who knows. Either way it was ANNOYING. It also meant one morning we didn’t wake up until 10am!!

Anyway, despite these problematic sleeps, Kyle and I had a lovely 6 miles walk along the Titchfield Canal and Hill Head seafront. Thankfully we were sensible enough to put on suntan lotion as it was very sunny and warm. It was a lovely walk. Asides from running, I just really love to walk, explore and be outside (you might already know this I expect).

Sunlight making us squint

We also enjoyed a lovely 4 miles run down to the beach followed by a huge full English fry-up at the Penguin Café (another of our favourites in the area).

It was delicious. It was lovely to sit outside in the sunshine with the sea breeze and eat a ridiculously large breakfast. Then we walked the 2.5 miles back – which certainly helped the full stomach I can tell you!

Then the next day I got up and headed out for a solo long run. I really didn’t know how far I fancied going or where I wanted to go so just went with enjoying some of my favourite routes at random.

I listened to the new-to-me podcast RunPod which I’m really enjoying. Lots of good interviews with people about running and in the end did 10 miles. It felt exactly like what I needed. Not too hard, or too far, or too fast… just a nice gentle plod. I’ve started paying attention a bit more to my heart rate. I won’t say that I’m specifically training using my HR, but I definitely want to keep an eye on it. When I say I’m going to go and do an easy run I want to make sure this actually happens.

So much of my running is just one pace. I feel a bit of a fraud compared to other runners who do specific sessions. They run their easy runs easy and their hard runs hard. Whereas I just…run. Sometimes I go a bit faster, sometimes a bit slower. There’s no real rhyme or reason to it. And while I like to have a bit of freedom with my running and never want to go back to when I was going to the track every week, I do think a bit of structure would help. My motivation to run is never based on times or PB’s, but to some degree I know I need to have a bit more structure to at least keep me motivated and interested. With no races around the corner, my running is becoming a bit stale.

And on the subject of races… I was half-way through writing this post, about to say “guess what! I’ve just signed up for the Reykjavik Marathon – in like two weeks!” and was super excited. And then literally just got an email to say it’d been cancelled. That email came through mere hours after signing up.

I know I was probably too hasty to sign up with everything going on but it seemed like Iceland was fairly safe and they seemed pretty confident. *Sighs* guess not. I think Kyle and I will still go to Iceland (I was so super organised I’d booked flights and an Airbnb – yes, I KNOW, super keen). We’ll only go for a few days but hopefully it’ll be nice. I’ve been to Iceland on my own ages ago so it’ll be lovely to go back with Kyle 🙂

Are you going anywhere on holiday?

Have you got any races planned that are still going ahead?

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Back to normal running and eating

I’m happy to update that my calf niggle has gone.

My runs feel back to normal and I’m slowly building up the miles again. As there are no races on the horizon it’s tricky to plan how to run right now, where I would have a peak to an end point then a rest for a bit before building back up. So I think what’s clear is that I shouldn’t just be smashing out 16-17 mile long runs every single week and plan in a cut-back week once in a while. So ideally mimicking my usual race schedule.

At the weekend Kyle and I went out for our long run on Saturday morning. I’m really loving our weekends together in our home. We set an alarm for 8.30am (so we don’t sleep too late – we have black-out curtains which are both amazing and dangerous) and then loll in bed with a cup of tea for a bit before getting up and heading out.

The long run is my favourite run of the week (whereas for Kyle…well, he’s less enthused). My plan was to run seven miles with Kyle, then he would run the final mile home, whereas I would head off for a few more miles solo. I had in my mind that I’d like to do at least 10 but see how I felt.

What’s nice about where we live is that there are lots of ways to cut back home without being stranded for miles or having to make decisions about the length of the route early on.

We ran down Southsea seafront which is lovely and flat but has no shade at all and in the beating sun it was quite hard work. While it’s lovely to be near the sea and run by it, it’s so open to the elements. When it’s windy it’s WINDY. When it’s hot it’s HOT.

As we got to where Kyle was to head off I’d pretty much decided to do 13 miles. I felt good and my calf was absolutely fine. I put on the MarathonTalk podcast and just zoned out. I had to do some quick mental maths and thoughts on the route I was going to do though while I listened. While I definitely could have just done an out and back style route I always find them so unsatisfying, so chanced it with more of a loop. I knew though it would likely be about 14 miles but I felt good so went with it. I finished the run happy, no calf issues but very hot.

Kyle and I then headed off to visit my parents and then off to Red Dog Saloon for some late lunch/early dinner. We, like everyone else, haven’t been out for food in so long. Red Dog Saloon was actually the last place we went to before lockdown happened and knew they were “on it” with their safety measures so felt safe heading back there. And as we assumed, they were. Waiting staff wore masks, tables were far enough apart etc. They sadly had a reduced menu though.

At first we were a bit worried they wouldn’t have what we wanted but turns out to get what I wanted I’d just have to order three chicken wings starters… yep.

The food was SO good. I’m  guessing because they have less on the menu they can really focus on doing the stuff they do offer really well. Honestly, it was some of the best buffalo chicken wings I’ve had in the UK! Previously they had been drenched in the buffalo sauce, which while I do love can be too overpowering and spicy, but now they were just lightly coated with such a tasty crispiness. Kyle equally enjoyed his Philly cheesesteak burger. A big thumbs up for our first meal out!

The next day we took a long walk down to Southsea with Alfie.

The weather was just perfect. Not too hot but warm and sunny enough to enjoy a quick dip in the sea with Alfie. Though it did take him some persuading to come into the water. He was very apprehensive. He’s been in water before but he’s not one of those dogs that throws himself in. He did several swims though (as long as we were in there too). Though he did look a little grumpy afterwards 😉

(And even more grumpy later when he had to have a bath).

Then we grabbed a drink and sat on the pebbles enjoying the rays. I just adore being close to the sea, it feels like being on holiday. All the smells of chips, doughnuts, coffee and suntan lotion. I love it.

We then walked back. All in all it was a 5 mile round walk. This nicely set us up for an appetite of roast pork later. I popped the meat in the oven then dashed out the door for a quick 5k (nothing makes me run faster than food, I tell you).

It’s the fastest 5k I’ve done in a while, so I was quite pleased. And a solid 29 miles for the week (a good 10 less than I was running previously before my calf issue – I’m trying to be cautious and sensible).

Then I was back in the kitchen sorting the roast out.

I rustled up home-made roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, cauliflower cheese, with veg and stuffing.

It all came together nicely. I can’t tell you how proud of myself I was! It tasted incredible (if I do say so myself…).

So a very satisfying and fun filled weekend!

Do you like roast dinners?

Do you like going to the beach?

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Brownies, street bingo and running happy

Another week of lockdown living…

Kyle and I are still working from home, sorting out our new house, and staying “alert”… whatever that means. We ventured to Ikea a few days after it opened and thankfully didn’t have to wait in any crazy queues. In fact, we literally just walked in. Of course we had to keep away from other people and you couldn’t go inside one of the “fake rooms” if someone else was. But it wasn’t busy at all so felt all very normal. We got some bits and pieces but as I only have a Fiat 500, couldn’t get the armchair we wanted. But we’re hopefully going to ask a favour from Kyle’s brother who has a larger car to see if he can help us.

Ikea selfie

It’s been a lot easier buying furniture online. We bought a chest of drawers and a matching wardrobe. Unfortunately it required assembling and really wasn’t that simple. Pages of diagrams, parts and screws…

We built the drawers one weekend and the wardrobe the next. It literally took us four hours a piece and we still managed to mess it up somehow. We got the top of the drawers on backwards and managed to nail into the wrong areas in the wardrobe. Ah well, they’re both standing and doing the job intended so that’s all that matters!

Every week we’ve been getting involved with the “street bingo” that happens on our road at 2pm on Sundays. It’s run by an amazing guy who runs an Instagram page called @dontsufferinsilence1 which is all about improving mental health and looking out for each other. He got everyone together (he’s been doing it for like 10 weeks!) and loads of people sit on their doorstep and do the bingo and get involved (social distanced of course).

I’ve never seen anything like it in real life. To be honest it was somewhat overwhelming to begin with because suddenly you’re being introduced to loads of people but everyone is super chatty and lovely.

So we’ve sat outside with Alfie and did the bingo and got to know our neighbours each week. It’s really nice to see how much everyone looks out for each other – like proper old school Britain, you know?

Kyle thinks he’s cool…

What’s also been lovely is more house warming presents from lovely people! And OMG trying the BEST brownies I’ve ever had. Our lovely friend Shell sent us some Gower Brownies and Jesus Christ they were incredible. Perfect texture, dense gooey delicious squares of pure heaven. They don’t look like they’ll rock your world but honestly they were amazing. So moreish as well 😉

Running is still going well, happily! Without having any marathons coming up and not being injured or coming back from an injury has left me in a novel position whereby I can literally run whatever I want and my long runs have naturally just fell in the 15-18 mile region, which I love.

I don’t really set a concrete distance in my brain before I head out but I have a rough range. It’s very relaxed and it’s actually one of my favourite runs of the week.

Last weekend Kyle joined me for 6 miles before heading  home and I carried on to get 16 in total. It was windy and hot – not a great combo, but it was nice to zone out to the MarathonTalk podcast and enjoy the sunshine.

And less getting lost as the weeks go on, winning! I reallly love my long run route because it’s so varied, road, trail, promenade along the beach, coastal paths, and super flat! Perhaps not the greatest training for hills but ehhh I fully enjoy it.

What’s your ideal long run distance?

Do you enjoy putting furniture together? I’ve been surprised at how many people said they love it!

Have you ever been involved in something like street bingo?

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All moved in and exploring the local routes for running

So we are in the new house!

Kyle and I had a week off of work to sort ALL THE THINGS and while we definitely could have done with another week (or month) off, we got so much done. As I sold my flat furnished (and Kyle was moving from his mum’s house), we didn’t have a huge amount of furniture to move in with so it was a real timing act for certain items we bought before we actually moved in, like the bed and the sofa.

The bed arrived a couple of days after we moved in (which meant sleeping on several duvets for the first couple of nights – not particularly comfy!) and that was a HUGE feat to get it upstairs. Normally the delivery people would help you get things in and to the room you want it, but during this pandemic era they now just leave it at the doorstep.

Of course we understand this but it makes for tough work for just the two of us to get a super king size mattress up the rather narrow stairs. And we can’t ask for help from our family because we’re now isolating from them… so things are a lot harder.

It took us over 40 minutes to get the mattress up the stairs and honestly we weren’t sure it was going to happen. It took all our strength to pivot, pivot, PIVOT that bad boy. Whhhy did we order super king size?? But our bedroom is quite a big size and as Kyle is quite tall it seemed like a nice indulgence. We had not considered actually getting it into the bedroom though.

Likewise the sofa was another drama. This time the delivery men went above and beyond what they were technically allowed to do and helped us actually get it in.

We stood awkwardly back while they heaved to and fro to get the sofa in to our living room. It wouldn’t go through the door so in the end (after trying all the angles) they took our living room window off and got it through there.

THANK GOD. We were so grateful and sent them away with lots of biscuits.

So between cleaning, unpacking, buying and constructing furniture and organising our life, I have also been doing a bit of exploring on my runs. It is SO cool to have a whole new area to run round. Though it does mean my running has become less about switching off and more about being super alert with my surroundings and working out distances and where to go. It’s been great though.

We’re kind of living in the centre of Portsmouth as an area (not central city, just the central geography of the island if you get what I mean) so I have the luxury of heading out in any direction. Previously at my parent’s house this wasn’t really possible to do because of their location, so I’d always just head out in one of two directions most of the time.

And what’s lovely is the sea is just 1.5 miles away to the east of us, and Southsea is just over 2 miles to the south of us. So I’m still so close to the sea. While I’m definitely a land creature, I’ve always lived by the sea and just love being near to it. The possibilities of running and walking are just endless and I’m so excited. Kyle and I adore Southsea – it has very special memories for us throughout our relationship, and so to be so close to it (and all the incredible restaurants) is just so exciting to us. Unfortunately of course the coronavirus has meant that we can’t actually enjoy those restaurants at the moment, but hopefully in time…

This week was my highest mileage week in a while (almost 40 miles) and my running has been going so well (TOUCH WOOD). On Saturday I ran 18 miles and it went so well! I felt strong, had no niggles or issues and enjoyed it immensely. I had a vague route in mind and was able to run along Southsea seafront, along to Eastney and then followed the Portsmouth Coastal Marathon route up to the Farlington Marshes  and run round there. So it was a really interesting and, at times, very scenic route.

But it was hot. Of course I hadn’t gone  out super early and probably went out in the peak of the day’s heat but that’s just how I roll. I didn’t take any water with me (of course I didn’t, because I’m an idiot)… Though to be fair, I knew I could run back to the house to get some water and Kyle said he’d walk out to me to give me some if I rang him. Where we live is literally central to the route, so it would have been only 2 miles or less for me to get back. But being stubborn, I just pushed through. It was the final two miles when I was like “OK now I am THIRSTY”.

And Kyle, being the incredible human he is, had tracked me on his phone (not the entire run I must stress, he’s not a weirdo ha) and was standing outside our house with Alfie and a glass of ice cold water. Oh my god, that water was SO needed. I was so grateful!

The next day my legs felt tired but good! And Kyle and I enjoyed a gentle 3 mile run after a lovely lie in. Kyle does not enjoy running in the heat at all (whereas I can endure it) so he didn’t quite have my enthusiasm, but it was nice to FINALLY be able to run together. I mean, running aside, it’s nice to finally be together at all. This week has been so so lovely.

Do you enjoy running in new places?

Are the routes round you hilly or flat?

Have you had any moving in drama?

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Moving out!

I’ve become terrible at updating my blog it seems.

It’s weird because you’d think I’d have a lot more time during this whole lockdown business than usual. But actually it’s been something I’ve let slip. Working from home and seemingly being on my laptop a lot more throughout the day makes me less inclined to continue this into the evening. Whereas previously at work I’d have meetings with real life people and I wouldn’t be quite so anchored to my screen, I wouldn’t mind so much.

But enough excuses. I have some exciting news. Kyle and I will be moving out in a week! The selling of my flat and the purchasing of our new property is going through on Friday. We are so excited! We are very lucky that our chain is short and things have gone very smoothly. It also helps that my flat is empty – as I’ve been living with my parents for the past THREE YEARS. Jesus, that long eh!

Moving house is stressful enough but during a pandemic is somewhat more problematic. We had visions of borrowing Kyle’s dad’s van and him helping us out, but we can’t do that as we need to keep the people we involve to the very few. Kyle’s mum (who is separated from his dad) and my parents will be helping us, but then we go back in to lockdown mode – the parents passing the baton to Kyle and I. So instead of being isolated from each other, Kyle and I will be isolating from our parents. It’s all very strange.

We obviously can’t go out and have a look at sofas or furniture… meaning we have very little to take with us. We are going to be ordering a bed and luckily where we’re getting it from takes 2-6 days delivery so it’s a fine timing game really. Whenever the bed gets delivered we’ll be moving in properly.

There’s a lot to buy and sort out and we’ve taken a week off to do what we can but realistically it’s going to be a bit of a hollow shell for a bit while lockdown is still going on. And that’s OK. We’ve been waiting patiently for this day to come and in whatever format, we’ll take it. It does feel rather formal though… like some crazy arranged marriage where Kyle and I have been hidden away from each other and then we’ll be handed over by the parents and then left to it.

Well, anyway it’s very exciting. It’s good stress at least. We’re both lucky enough to be working from home during this time so the key is getting Internet sorted ASAP during our week off and then we can crack back into work straight away. What’s also nice is that us being at home all the time means Alfie can settle without being left alone for long stretches. We can look after him and give him lots of attention to minimise the stress for him. Though he won’ t be moving in till the major moving stress has gone.

Speaking of Alfie, he’s been looking very scruffy during lockdown and as soon as the groomers were allowed to work again we got Alfie in and tidied up.

He looks like a puppy! Though to be honest, he does look like one of those celebrities who’s had a bit of work done to their face to look ten years younger but with their neck giving their true age away… 

Alfie has a lot of saggy skin round his neck which I swear was never there before. My little dog, growing older 🙁

During this lockdown period I’ve really enjoyed the time I’ve had with my parents. It’s been like a last hurrah with living with them.  We’ve gotten into a good routine of weekend fun. We have a takeaway Friday night together. My dad and I watch a film or two. And Sunday we always have a more elaborate family meal.

We’ve had roast dinners, pulled pork, gammon and a delicious steak meal. It’s been lovely to be WFH with my dad in the other room also WFH. We’ve gone for walks, cooked together, spent lots of quality time together. I’ll miss them when I move out. But I am ready! (Again!)

Looking forward to finding new run routes, new Alfie walks, new takeaways, new local shops… a new local parkrun (Southsea) and a new coastal area to walk round. And of course, being able to see Kyle every day IN REAL LIFE and starting our life properly together 🙂

How’s your lockdown going?

When did you last move house?