Good times all round!

Hey guys! How are you doing? The weekend has gone and we’re back to it.

All last week my fitness-related aim was: beat last week’s Parkrun time. I needed some validation that what I was doing was going to pay off. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve found that I’m really loving spinning twice a week, and I always feel such an accomplishment after the interval session I do with my club on a Tuesday night…but they’re painful sessions. I feel like I’ve been through the mill after them! But it’s all about balance for me at the moment and focused training to keep improving without getting injured again.

I’m still doing body pump once a week and every other day I’m doing my stretches and foam rolling. And, well, everything seems to be going quite nicely! I smashed my Parkrun time by 25 seconds from last week’s time which I am over the moon about.

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I have absolutely no game plans when it comes to 5ks. For me it’s just go as hard as can for as long as you can. There’s a sneaky hill which we have to do three times and it’s tough to not let the pace drop but I blasted on the downhill to make up for it. I placed second lady so I was very pleased indeed.

The rest of Saturday was getting the jobs done around the house and then chilling. My dad was over once again to watch the football with Ben in the afternoon so I got myself nice and comfy with a magazine, the iPad (with the World Championship athletics playing) and watermelon. Ahh perfect.

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I’m reading the Empire magazine, I do love my movie reviews…

I might have also indulged in a slice of cake in the evening while we watched some Friends… I do love Saturdays!

Sunday morning I had planned either a 10 mile run or a 12 mile run. I was going to decide how I felt as the run went on. And from the get-go it felt like a great run. I had Marathon Talk on my iPhone (can’t recommend this podcast enough to runner-lovers out there) and it was raining on and off. Made a lovely change from the heat.

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So I made it 12 miles and just really enjoyed it. One of those runs you kind of relax into. The miles flew by. I decided to pick up the pace towards the end just to challenge myself a bit as well. Now fingers crossed next Sunday’s half marathon goes that way! I’m thinking that’s unlikely considering the hills…(“super challenging terrain” says the description. Oh joy).

Despite the rain in the morning, it cleared up beautifully to be a lovely sunny day. Alfie and me went for a nice gentle walk after lunch.

Walking the dog

We’re so lucky to live within a five minute’s walk from these lovely trails. Though considering Britain’s usual weather we don’t get to utilise them as much as we’d like Winking smile

So this week has been great for my workouts. One of my best in a while.

Monday: Spinning

Tuesday: Interval session with running club (2 miles warm up, intervals, 2 miles cool down; total 7 miles)

Wednesday: Off

Thursday: Trail run with running club (9 miles total)

Friday: Spinning

Saturday: Parkrun (5k)

Sunday: Glorious 12 miles and body pump

Amongst this, as I said, lots of pre-run stretches, post-run stretches, foam rolling and my strengthening stretches. I’m like a stretching machine. And it really isn’t that much hassle. I used to be so blasé about the whole warm-up and warm-downs, but now I’m like the golden girl of following running best practice. I’m boring myself talking about this sorry!

Hope you all have a lovely week Smile

What has been your favourite workout this week? Mine was my long run. PBs and great speeds come and go, but that mental peace you get from a slower, longer run is just incomparable to anything else I find.

Do you have a dog? Or enjoy going for walks? Like my long runs, I enjoy just popping a podcast on and taking Alfie for a lovely walk to just chill out.

What magazines do you love to read? Empire magazine, BBC Good Food or Runnersworld are my favourite!

22 Replies to “Good times all round!”

  1. Nice parkrun time, and great job on the 12 miles, you are going to rock the half marathon! Favourite workout from last week was my half marathon! I don’t have a dog (yet) but would love to get one, I really enjoy walking, try to get out for a bit every day. I have subscriptions to womens health and runners world, I used to have one to Empire too.

  2. My hubby actually took our 1 year old pup out for her first run on Saturday!! He did about 4 miles with her, and he said she did really good! Hes not much of a runner, so he did walk some, but still when she came home she was burnt out! I was like awww puppy is tired! Im the one who usually just walks her though. While I do enjoy running with a dog (its sooo much more fun than going alone!) I like the relaxation more of just walking with a dog!

    1. Aww bless you puppy managing 4 miles! It’s a great way to chill them out for the day too hehe. Yeah I’m not sure I could run with my dog as he loves sniffing and exploring bushes a bit too much haha.

  3. Wowzers on the 5k time Anna, that’s amazing! And also wow on the stellar week of running and workouts, you are a machine! You are going to ace the half 🙂
    My family dog is always a great companion for walks but I enjoy just going by myself, exploring and thinking

  4. I love going on walks with my dog. But she doesn’t last very long. Haha. Short legs- we can go down my driveway and back, then she’s out like a log for the night. 🙂 I plan on taking her on some more walks for the week that I’m home before school.

    I love health magazines, food magazines, health + food magazines 😉 And in the check-out lines at the grocery store I can’t help picking up a gossip mag for a quick read before loading our groceries.

    1. Hehe I remember you mentioning about your driveway – I’m not surprised, it’s a huge drive!
      Oh yes, the gossip magazines are such a guilty pleasure. I try not to buy them as they’re so vacuous but I do like a good flick now and again.

    1. I find with the long runs if you’re finding it tough you’re going to fast. It should just be nice and easy so you can kind of lose yourself. Getting a dog is the best thing Ben and me have ever done. He’s such an integral part of our little family.

  5. I’ve already said it on Twitter but well done on the 25s PB. That’s huge over 5k! 🙂
    I’m a massive fan of Marathon Talk – I’ve been listening to the podcasts on my long runs since Marathon training earlier in the year and have now started to also listen on long car journeys.
    I don’t have a dog, but do enjoy going out for walks and always take my parent’s dog out when I’m back at theirs. Although I took him out with me on a progression run a few weeks back around a large enclosed 15 acre field. By the end of my 45 minute run he was just laying down panting in the middle of the field waiting for me to finish!
    ‘Super challenging terrain’ sounds interesting… :S Although I’m yet to come across a race description which doesn’t have at least ‘undulating’ somewhere in the writeup! I’m sure you will be great! 🙂

    1. Yeah I listen to marathon Talk in the car as well on longer journeys! And when I do a lot of cooking if Ben is playing his Xbox.
      Hehe bless your parent’s dog! You need to work on his endurance 😉

  6. Nice work on the pb- that is a LOT to improve on over such a short distance 🙂
    Still can’t believe you manage 12 miles + pump in the same day- amazing!
    And more marathon talk love from me- I am going to have a bit of a backlog when I get home so will need to pencil in some long runs to rectify that!

    1. I don’t think my body quite believes it’s doing pump afterwards either hehe. In all seriousness though it’s a 30 minute class and it doesn’t feel too tough. I make sure I relax A LOT afterwards though (and foam roll). And lots of food 😉

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