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Alton Towers Half Marathon

Ages ago Kyle and I had signed up to the Alton Towers Half Marathon. Sadly when the time came around for it, Kyle was only just coming back from injury from his London Marathon. So he dropped down to the 5k instead, which was also on the Sunday. But to be honest, he was far happier with that distance anyway!

The great thing about these races are that after you’ve finished the race you can then go round the park and do all the rides. We both love theme parks and rollercoasters so this was perfect. And handily my grandad lives about 30 mins from Alton Towers so we could kill two birds with one stone and visit him as well. I don’t get to see him enough so this was really lovely.

After lots of thought, we decided to leave Isaac at home with the Nanas. The drive from Portsmouth is a long one (3.5 hours) which would be hard going for him and then be stuck in the running buggy for most of Sunday. Anyway the Nanas couldn’t wait to look after him so it worked nicely. Of course I missed him and it was hard leaving him… the longest time I’ve been away yet. He had a great time tho in the end.

We arrived at my grandad’s on the Saturday and had a lovely dinner catching up with him properly and then headed to bed early. We were shattered from an early wake up (Isaac doesn’t understand lie ins yet!) and a long drive.

The next morning, after breakfast, we drove up to Alton Towers. The race felt so well organised. We parked and walked to the race village. It was very misty and a bit chilly, but a lot warmer than you’d expect for mid-November.

As my race started first I said goodbye to Kyle and headed off to the start. We did a minute silence for Remembrance Sunday, which was a nice touch, and then the race began.

Having been to Alton Towers many many times in my youth (due to my grandparents living so close) I was well aware that it would be hilly. I mean, straight away, as we began the first 200m, it’s literally uphill. But it was such a cool race in that you were literally running through the park and past all the rollercoasters that I didn’t mind.

We ran past Oblivion and the Smiley, then headed off to other parts of the park. I was behind the 1:40 pacer, tho I didn’t think I’d go that fast. I was keeping to just under 8 min miles and felt comfortable there.

We whizzed through CBeebies Land where there were Telly Tubbies to high five. Then headed round past the gardens (thankfully not down into the gardens because that would be a very steep uphill!), past the Wicker Man and the rapids. There were lots of themed people wearing costumes cheering us on which was cool.

Eventually after going through the park, past all the rides and through the different themed areas and the castle, you head out to the less exciting part which goes round the car parks. To be honest it was fine. There was loads of support from spectators and volunteers so it didn’t feel boring. And you can’t expect the whole race to be exciting all the time. It’s a two lapper, which I quite like. It means you know what’s coming for the rest of the race.

The car park was quite hilly but there were also good downhills to get some speed back. Towards the second lap I put on some music to keep me entertained and I felt myself get far more into the race. I always find the further into a race the better I feel as I warm up. I naturally sped up and felt like I had more energy so this was encouraging.

As I hit the second lap I was really enjoying myself. During the week proceeding I’d felt very tired and demotivated running but now I felt back to normal and was loving it.

I saw Kyle a few times as he’d finished his race and had headed back to the car to get changed and pick up our stuff. He waved and cheered me along.

The crowds as you got back into the park after the car park section were really strong and the cheering was fantastic. It helps that none of the rides are open yet so all the spectators are just watching the race. I high fived loads of kids which is always good fun. Honestly, I had such a good time during this race!

I was so pleased to finish strong with 1:37:30. Far faster than I’d expected.

I met up with Kyle shortly after. He’d had a good race and finished with a time of 21:30. Coming back from injury without much training, he was really chuffed.

And then I popped to the loo, got changed and we headed to the rides that were now slowly opening up. We had such a good rest of the day enjoying all the rides and being like kids again. Kyle got a doughnut chicken burger. And I got a sausage baguette. It was a great day.

Then eventually after doing as many rides as we could be bothered – the queues were so short because there weren’t as many people in the park – we decided to head back home. That evening we had a lovely carvery with my grandad to coelenterate.

All in all it was such a good weekend. Seeing my grandad, doing a great race and enjoying Alton Towers. We’re definitely signing up for next year!

Do you enjoy roller coasters?

Would you do a race around a theme park?

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New Forest Marathon recap – 2022

The New Forest Marathon was my 26th marathon (though I have actually run the marathon distance 28 times but they’re unofficial).

I did this race a few years ago and was looking forward to it. I normally predominately do road marathons, so it was nice to a “semi-trail” one. I say semi-trail because a lot of it is still on road and the non-road bits are on compacted trail so realistically it’s not that off-roady. You wouldn’t need trail shoes for this race.

Sarah, Kyle’s mum, looked after Isaac the night before and came to ours for 7.30am to drop him off and join us. This was really handy because it meant I got a decent night’s sleep the night before. I do have to wake up in the middle of the night though to pump as I’m still breastfeeding Isaac so it’s not perfect but definitely easier.

I fed Isaac and got my porridge together and then we were off. It was about 40ish minutes away and the race started at 9.30am. The traffic to get into the race village is a little heavy but we got there with enough time for me to go for a quick wee and do the warmup.

Then we were off! Sarah and Kyle were going to try and see me during the race but I wasn’t banking on it. It’s a tricky course to spectate unless you drive or cycle around. Spoiler alert: they couldn’t find a way to see me. It was just impossible. But it didn’t stop me thinking “I might see them soon” as I was running which, while ultimately disappointing as I never saw them, was a nice motivator.

I felt very swept away with the first mile, looking at my watch and seeing 7:20s and thinking wooah there this is not sustainable. I’m not in the mindset to GO GO GO. This race was more just about enjoying it and seeing what I could do with the level of effort I want to put in. I pretty much say this about every race so I know I’m a bit of broken record by now! But that’s just how I like to run and do marathons. And I do wonder because I don’t go for a time every time I enjoy them more and can do more of them as I’m not rinsed at the end every time.

Anyway I pulled back the pace a bit and let people fly past me. Marathons are a long way and I wanted to relax a bit more early on. The first 10 miles went by without much to report. The scenery was beautiful. Gigantic trees (apparently weighing around 104 tonnes!) and gorgeous views. It was very peaceful. The marshals were really supportive and happy, so that was great.

Mid-race selfie

The race organisers had said the change of course meant it was now “fast and flat”. Well between 8-9 miles it was certainly not flat! There was a slow incline up to Rhinestone House (which was beautiful) that seemed to suck the life from me. And at different points during the race I would be really questioning their “fast and flat” description. Maybe compared to last year! It certainly isn’t hilly but I wouldn’t describe it as flat. Occasionally bumpy.

I got to mile 10 and decided to put a podcast on. Recently I haven’t felt the need to listen to anything during marathons. I quite like the freedom of just running with the surrounding sounds. Sometimes listening to things during the race can put you in a little bubble away from the race atmosphere. However I was starting to feel a bit bored and the idea of 16 more miles was weighing heavily on my brain.

Don’t get me wrong, the views are beautiful and the marshals lovely, but I needed something to take my mind off the task at hand. So I popped one on and just zoned out.

It was getting really warm now, and humid. I hadn’t got anything with me because I knew there were enough water stations and from about halfway I started stopping at the water stations. Like literally stopping and getting a cup or two of water to drink. They were using paper cups (yay for sustainability!) and I didn’t’ want to try and run and drink because I was getting very thirsty and I knew I wouldn’t take in enough otherwise.

After halfway my mood started to sink. I was mentally struggling. Maybe it was the humidity or maybe it was just one of those days, but I found my pace dropping a bit. It just felt really hard, and finding it hard made me feel demotivated. I’ve run marathons before! I’ve done solid training! What’s going on! But this is why the marathon is so challenging, anything can happen and it doesn’t matter how many you’ve done. It’s still a long way and you’re only human.

I needed a wee as well and I couldn’t see any toilets on the course so I decided to duck into a bush. In doing that I put my foot straight into a soggy bog… ah wonderful. I had my wee and then got back mile 19. This was amazing! I’d somehow glazed over a mile. I can’t tell you what this did to my mood.

Now I was in a whole different head space. Suddenly the end was in sight – I could absolutely do this. I switched the podcast to music and BOOM I was good to go. It was like someone had injected lightening up my bum.

It’s crazy how suddenly my body didn’t feel so tired and demotivated as before. When I got to 20 miles I was feeling in a great place. Knowing I had only 10k to go – I could definitely do this. It helped that there was a great downhill at mile 21. My legs ached and were tired, of course, but I knew I could push through to the end.

I definitely could have had an easier time at the end had I just kept the pace nice and chilled but after I had started getting faster I was like “well I can’t slow down now!”. So I had to ride that pain train. I passed a few people who cheered me on which was nice and the supporters on the route were lovely. I tried to keep a smile on my face as much as I could because, ages ago, I remember reading about fooling your body into thinking everything was OK if you smiled (don’t quote me on that research, ha!). But also it encourages supporters to give you a big cheer so that was nice.

We had now joined the half marathoners which meant a bit of weaving in and out of runners. This involved more concentration that just head down pushing forward. Finally we got to the race village and I could see the finish line. I put some more welly into it and got going. My legs were BURNING. The finish line had a good crowd of supporters lined up along it so that was amazing. They were all cheering and that hugely helped. I saw Kyle and he shouted me on too.

As I almost got to the end I started to feel a little sick, probably due to the effort I was exerting, and I suddenly got a big whiff of a burger van nearby and I honestly thought I was going to throw up! Luckily, thank god, I didn’t. Whew!

My time was 3:24:37. I am SO over the moon as I really thought my race was nosediving in the middle. I actually thought I’d be closer to 3:30+ than a sub 3:30. I’m really really pleased. Especially for a race that I had zero expectations for. It’s one of my faster times (6th fastest in actual fact).

It’s a little annoying that it isn’t a full 26.2 miles on my watch but I’m assuming that’s because of the trees and satellites. I had the same issue last time, and that was a different course. Hey ho!

I met someone I knew from Instagram and we had a nice chat, so that was cool, and then I found Kyle, Isaac and Sarah. Ahh it was so lovely to be reunited and have a cuddle with my little man!

Apparently he’d had a great time enjoying crawling about the place, eating ice cream and spending time with his Nana (and dad of course!). A big thank you to them 🙂 I’m very lucky to have such patient and supportive family who are happy to come and join me when I do my races.

So all in all, a tough but enjoyable day. I’m glad I got myself out of my funny headspace mid-way through the race and finished with a smile on my face. Though my legs were certainly feeling more achy than I’d anticipated!

Do you prefer trail or road races?

Have you had a race where you’ve dipped but then brought it back later?

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My next marathon impending

This Sunday I have the New Forest Marathon.

I‘ve previously done this race a few years ago when I was pacing my friend Mike to get a sub-4 hour marathon (we missed the goal, but had a great race regardless).

I’ve been training for this race for about 12 weeks or so and feel like I’m in good shape. Not PB shape or anywhere close, but hopefully looking for a comfortable race where I can maybe push the pace a bit to see what I can do. Apparently they’ve changed the course from last time and it’s “fast and flat”. Well we will see! It definitely wasn’t fast and flat when I ran it last time.

My training has gone really well. Kyle has also been marathon training as he has a place for the October London Marathon. We’ve gone on lots of long runs together which has been really nice. I do love a solo long run listening to my favourite podcasts but I love running with Kyle as well, even if he’s a little grumpy about it 😉 It has meant though a lot of planning with regards to Isaac.

Normally once a week Isaac goes to either my mum’s or Kyle’s mum overnight over the weekend and we use that time wisely for us getting out the next morning to get our run done. Though sometimes we’ve had to tag team parenting and do our runs separately.

We’ve also had a few trips which have meant juggling around. For example, we went to Cardiff for a weekend a few weeks ago. I wanted to show Kyle around where I went to university (I did psychology there) and we also had a fun Pizza 10k race on the Sunday.

After a lovely Saturday moseying around and eating everything in sight (love that they have a Mrs Potts Chocolate House in Cardiff now!), we decided to run 10 miles Sunday morning before the race so we could get our 16 mile long run done. As the race didn’t start until 10.30am we had stacks of time beforehand.

Our 10 miles was lovely. We got to see more of the city and I could really show Kyle around. Though I did manage to trip over in Cardiff Bay and cut my knee open! It was a bit of a bloody mess but thankfully I was OK to continue running, though it did look a bit of a state.

We got to the Pizza 10k in enough time to get it cleaned up by the first aid team and then we were off.

It was a great race doing two laps around Bute Park – a park I knew so well from my time at university. I felt really strong and managed to push the pace quite a bit. I even managed to nab second female!

For this training cycle I’ve managed to do two 18 milers, a 17 miler and a few 16 milers. I never really go over 18 miles as I generally find that’s enough for me. I’ve been running three 10ks during the week, a parkrun and then the long run Sunday. Some of the runs have been with the running buggy and that’s hugely helped my strength.

My strength training has actually fallen to the wayside a bit as time has just run out. I know it’s not a great thing to miss as it’s how I try and stay uninjured, but life happens. I’ve been managing once a week, which is better than nothing. I do about 5 minutes worth of resistance band training while I wait for my porridge in the microwave which works my glutes. Usually before each run I do this too. In my eyes it’s about consistency and what you can squeeze in. Little and often helps massively.

So finger’s crossed Sunday goes well…

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Running in the heat and our adidas haul

So this heatwave is fun, eh?

Makes running tough going, as I’m sure you’re aware. Ideally you want to get out early before the sun is in full beam. For us that’s quite hard because Isaac dictates our mornings. We wake up when he wakes up and this can be anywhere from 5am to 7am. Either Kyle or I can head out separately whenever or we can head out as a three with Isaac in the running buggy.

It really depends how the night has gone and what the weather is like. If it isn’t too hot I’ll run him to nursery (meaning I leave at 8am). If it’s too hot and Isaac has woken up very early we’ll head out at 6.30am or 7am. It’s a fun juggling act!

I’d love to be sure that Isaac is going to wake up at a certain time (7am would be amazing obviously) and get out and run before he wakes up. But that’s tough with the uncertainty and the fact that he’s usually still waking up 1-2 times a night, making it a tough ask to get up before he’s awake and lose that valuable sleep!

But anyway, the hot weather makes running hard work, with or without a small human! It’s important to hydrate (water and electrolytes), keep to the shade, not go out when the sun is at its strongest and to adjust your expectations for a run (i.e. don’t go out thinking you’re going to smash a speed session perfectly).

Wearing the right kit helps too. Something airy and not too heavy. As you probably know, I’m a big fan of adidas and have reviewed a variety of their clothing before. I was recently sent some more items and it’s perfect timing for the weather.

I was sent two sports bras and asides from being gorgeous, they’re perfect to just wear with shorts and avoid double layers.

The first sports bra is very simple, just plain black but I love how smooth the lines are. Fittingly, it’s called the Ultimate Bra. It’s very comfortable. It has a lovely cross-back as well which works perfectly with so many of my running tops.

As someone who has recently gone up a few cup sizes (thank you Isaac) I’ve been needing sports bra with more support now. Previously I could get away with sports bras that were basically crop tops, but now this is now the case! This sports bra is perfect for running. And because it’s so simple and chic looking, it means it looks quite nice to wear out with a pair of shorts.

The other sports bra, the International Women’s Day Allover Print Bra, couldn’t be more different in terms of aesthetics. It is loud and proud!

I like the longer fit. It looks great with a pair of shorts for a hot run. I love the mesh bits as well as the vibrant design. It has good support as well. It’s just so unique, I love it!

Also, trying to take photos in the clothing was fun work with Isaac wanting to be involved, haha! This was just after he’d pulled everything out of one of our drawers as well… chaos!

I also got a pair of trainers, the 3MC Shoes.

Perfect for walking Alfie or going out to meet friends. They’re casual but chic (can you say that about trainers?). They go with everything which is exactly what I want with trainers!

They’re a beautiful white so I really will need to look after them to make sure they stay that way! They’re lovely and comfortable as well.

Kyle was also sent a pair of trainers. They’re the Kaptir 2.0 Shoes.

We took a photo after a walk so they’re very slightly dusty!

His old shoes were pretty much falling apart so this was ideal. We both walk a lot – whether that’s walking Alfie, walking with the pram (invariably to get Isaac to nap!) or just a nice walk down to the beach, so the trainers are perfect for both of us. Kyle’s quite fussy with his trainers but he loved these. He’s got quite big feet but said they fit great and were really comfortable.

So we’re summer ready with items! As I always say, adidas is one of my favourite sportswear brand. It’s quality stuff and I can never fault them Their running items have always lasted me ages.

This weekend we’re off to Cardiff for a nice weekend away. We have the 10k Pizza Run which will be fun on the Sunday and plan to run beforehand to get in some more miles to make it a long run. We’re not taking Isaac which is bittersweet. I ummed and arred about leaving or taking him but in the end because it’s such a flying visit it seemed easier for everyone involved for him to stay at his Nana’s.

Hopefully the weather won’t be a scorcher like it was last weekend but we shall see. Either way I’ve got the kit ready to go!

Do you enjoy running in summer?

What’s your tip for keeping cool in the heat?

**Full Disclaimer: I was sent the items for free in exchange for a review. All opinions are my (and Kyle’s) own honest ones**

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parkrun Smackdown – Kyle vs. Anna

Bit late on the recap, but the weekend before last Kyle and I decided to have a ‘parkrun smackdown’. (I will quickly preface this by saying I know parkrun is not actually a race, this is just a bit of fun between Kyle and me).

This basically meant we were going to race each other at Southsea parkrun. We had often wondered who would win over a 5k between us. I train a bit more in general than Kyle and have been running longer, but Kyle is far better at sprinting and running shorter distances than me. So it would be interesting.

I ran down to Southsea parkrun (almost 3 miles) as I knew I’d need a bit of a warmup beforehand, especially for a 5k. I struggle to go from 0 to 100 that quickly. Kyle drove down with Isaac and I met him, his mum, sister and my dad there. We were all going to go for breakfast afterwards. Something to look forward to after all that pain!

It was fairly windy, annoyingly, and very warm. Southsea parkrun is an out and back and so you run 1.5ish miles out along the prom and then back again. The wind was coming from the West so the first half of the run would be lovely with a tail wind, but then heading back would be dreadful.

There had been some fun banter all week between Kyle and me. Some good old fashioned trash talk. But in reality I had a sneaky suspicion that Kyle would beat me. He would straight away run ahead and I didn’t think I had enough mileage to catch him up. We would see…

As parkrun begun I was ahead for, oh, all of 5 seconds before Kyle zoomed past me. Then it was basically me desperately trying to keep him in my sights. I looked at my watch and saw low 6 minute miles and thought “oh wow this isn’t going to stay like this!”. But I knew I needed to make as much gains as I could while the wind was in a favourable direction. It would all change when we get to the turn around point.

I managed to keep Kyle in my line of vision but I wasn’t gaining on him. I hoped that maybe after the turnaround he would start to lose his energy but it was a longshot. We got to the turnaround and straight away the wind hit us in the face. Now it was going to get tough!

I never did manage to gain any closer to Kyle but I didn’t manage to lose too much distance either. As I hit 2 miles I started to do the maths in my head… with the pace I’d been running so far could I be in chance of a sub-20?

Ooof it would be a hard ask. I was putting everything into it and my legs and lungs were burning. Sadly, as I hit 3 miles I realised this would be impossible. I wasn’t running fast enough. I crossed the line (behind Kyle) at 20:23. Kyle finished in a fantastic 20:11.

The winner!

We were both really pleased with our times. I mean, this is the fastest I’ve run in MONTHS for a 5k.

However there was a little bit of a disappointment lingering for both Kyle and I that we hadn’t managed to get a sub-20. More so for Kyle as he was so close, whereas I guess for me I’d really need to get my skates on! I reckon though Kyle would have smashed the 20 minute mark had the wind not been so strong.

The disappointment didn’t last long tho as we were then off to the Parade Tearooms for some breakfast. I say breakfast but my meal of choice from there will always be their gigantic Jayne Salad. It’s epic and I always order it, regardless of the time.

Calling it a salad is somewhat of a push considering it doesn’t contain that much salad compared to the piles of bacon, potato, chicken and cheese (which is why it’s so divine).

Anyway, a lovely morning! Family, parkrunning and breakfast 🙂

Have you ever raced someone at parkrun?

Would you eat a salad for breakfast?