Happy birthday Netley and weekend recap

The start of the week is always sweeter when you know you have a chunky four day weekend on the horizon, am I right? Knowing I only have four days at work just puts me in a happy mood. I like my job, don’t get me wrong, but I like not being at my job more Winking smile

Saturday started as most of my normal Saturdays do, at Netley Abbey parkrun. I walked Alfie before leaving and the weather was dry but chilly. I didn’t think it was that cold so went with my running skirt and long sleeved top. When I got to parkrun to help set up however it seemed far colder. Obviously I had a coat but I was suddenly really quite cold.

IMG_9262Setting up parkrun (Photo credit: Max Andrews)

As I had the Weymouth Half Marathon the next day I didn’t want to go too fast at parkrun. It’s always nice to turn up to a parkrun knowing you’re just going to ‘plod’ round. The pressure is off! Lots of people were volunteering and not running as there was the very popular Eastleigh 10k the next day too which is a local race for us that lots in our club and nearby clubs take part in. I’ve actually never done it despite it being so close by. It just didn’t fit in with marathon training and I hate 10ks…

It was Netley’s four year anniversary of setting up so there were a collection of awards given out during the race brief. I thought I was going to be third on the female points table but surprisingly I turned out to be second.

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Apparently the maths had gone wrong somewhere and so it was wrong on the website. I was over the moon. What was nice was that the first place female and third place female were all lovely ladies from my running club so we were quite chuffed to all be on the podium.

IMG_9263Receiving my certificate (Photo credit: Max Andrews)

Anyway parkrun was good fun. I ran with my friends Mike and Matt. Mike was also doing the half the next day and Matt is just getting back into running after an extended time off. It’s always nice to see people back at it after a break – and enjoying it again Smile

IMG_9264Matt (in green), Mike (in purple) and me (in black) (Photo credit: Max Andrews)

We went round at a nice conservative pace though I felt fairly pants running initially. But after two laps I perked up and decided to push the pace with Mike to the end. He went with me and we went back and forth overtaking each other before finishing – both knackered from the random bursts of speed.

IMG_9260Final stretch (Photo credit: Max Andrews)

I finished in 24:08 so not too shabby!

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I enjoyed a nice hot drink in the cafe after helping clear down everything. I’d been looking forward to it the entire run – a lovely hot peppermint tea! Then I headed home to quickly freshen up, have breakfast then head to the gym. I’d skipped my usual gym visit on Friday morning as I’d felt tired after my evening seven miler on Thursday and for once I had nothing really planned for the afternoon apart from chores so thought I’d have a quick visit.

I quite enjoy going to the gym at the weekend (despite it being a bit more busy) as I’m less rushed and more awake. I did some assisted pull-ups (still working hard at them!), chest presses, single-arm rows, press-ups, lateral pull-downs, narrow cable rows and some kettle bell swings. A nice hour of upper body work (apart from the swings). I didn’t go too hard as I was conscious about the next day.

In the evening I met up with a fairly dedicated triathlete I’d chatted a lot with on Twitter. His family lives in Portsmouth and he was down from the Cotswolds for the weekend and apparently I go on a lot about ribs and Coast to Coast (do I…? Winking smile) and he wanted to see how good it was.

It’s funny because he’s read my blog (careful what I say here I guess…ha) so I felt a little at a disadvantage of him knowing more about me than me about him. Though it was also nice because he didn’t think I was a loon (or so he says) for photographing my dinner despite initially me saying I wouldn’t as I’d been there so often. But Coast to Coast had changed their menu! My favourite St. Louis ribs were gone and they just had regular baby back ones and the dishes were slightly different, which therefore justified more photos Winking smile

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I had my regular chicken wings to start (still good and fairly similar to before), baby back ribs for main with sweet potato fries (which, though smaller than the jumbo ones, were still pretty damn tasty), followed by millionaire’s waffle (a waffle with honeycomb ice cream, honeycomb chocolate balls and chocolate syrup).

When I ordered the pudding the waitress informed me that there were no honeycomb balls left. I jokingly said (well, I was sort of joking) what else could she put on top then and she said how about Oreo crumbles? Sounds good. Then five minutes later she came back to the table with a little bowl of honeycomb chocolate bowls and whispered they were from the bar and used in the milkshakes but I could have them. Amazing! Great service!

And happily I wasn’t the only one eating everything on my plate for the three courses (and he even had a thick shake!) Major kudos there Winking smile All in all I lovely evening. Though I was stuffed.

I knew I wasn’t in a chance to get a PB for the half the next day so I wasn’t too worried about feeling so full of non-race ideal food. Though I did want a hard effort – ideally I was aiming for sub 1:40. I know I’m not in PB shape and that seemed like a realistic target, maintaining around 7.30min/miles. I’ve also done a lot of long runs having had a big meal (ribs included) the night before so I wasn’t stressed about it.

I’ll recap the race in another post, but all in all it was a great weekend.

How was your weekend?

Has a favourite restaurant of yours ever changed it’s menu for the better or worse?

How old is your local parkrun?

23 Replies to “Happy birthday Netley and weekend recap”

  1. Wooo hoo!

    I’m not sure how old my parkrun is. I just know I’m way back in the table (although I did achieve 1st female in my age group this weekend, which was a bit of a fluke).

    Otherwise, the weekend involved a trip to Nandos (my second, I think), 20 miles (ploddy and slowing), and cooking up a chicken stew (I recommend putting too much wine in).

    I think I need a favourite restaurant.
    Jane recently posted…BathHalfMy Profile

  2. Yum I’m reading this whilst eating a post work snack of tea, toast slathered with whole earth peanut butter and raspberry jam (for the taste). Weekend running goals were achieved (20 on Saturday and almost 13 on Sunday) podcasts kept me company. I also entered day 1 of the new forest pony express next month (30 miles / 50 km) to get me in the ultra event zone. Have an easier week this week of 18 miles or so in total so can wind down, before the epic weekend.

  3. Nice work on the points table! So exciting!
    Ours is just over a year old (October/November time I think), and then we have a new one starting up here in May which is so exciting. Our club are sponsoring it and so we will get to do the tester event the week before too- I love hearing about how they are set up.
    Ah, I am always sad when places change their menus. Bill’s do that a lot, which is good I suppose- using seasonal ingredients and things, but their soup used to be so good- butternut squash, with amazing rosemary bread, but now it’s something I don’t like so much. They have a new thing on their brunch menu which was French toast with something like peanut butter and banana, or chocolate, or maybe both- I need to go there soon to try it!
    Maria @ runningcupcake recently posted…Welwyn Half marathon- Lucky number 13?My Profile

  4. We do not have Park Runs in my area. We should! And I am going to look into that! I have also realized that reading your blog after a meal is best. If not I always end up hungry! Glad to hear dinner went well. It would be weird with someone reading and knowing more about you than you them. 🙂 Can’t wait to read about the race!
    Staci @ Hoosier Running Mom recently posted…A Downhill Half? Why not!My Profile

  5. Congrats on your second place! One of parkruns I do has just turned 5 and the other one near me is three years old. There used to be a nice salmon dish on the menu at a Mexican restaurant I’ve been to, but they got rid of that on the new menu 🙁
    Lucy Edwards recently posted…Swimathon 2016My Profile

  6. Woohoo on the points! That’s fantastic!

    I must tell my sister about the Eastleigh 10K, as that would be her local one.

    Those ribs look good! And definitely great job on the service there! I don’t think I mind too much when menus change, but I don’t often have the same thing (except for Wagamama, I tend to have the same thing there).
    Steph recently posted…Easter weekendMy Profile

    1. There are lots of lovely local runs around that area. The Netley 10k is in May if that takes her fancy – that goes round the country park and it’s always a lovely day.

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