NY’s resolutions, parkrun overload and the National Trust

I’m not really one for New Year’s resolutions I have to be honest. I think the only thing I’d like to do better this year is not be late All. The. Time.

I’ve mentioned this before on my blog I’m sure but I just don’t leave myself enough contingency time. In the morning I won’t add in time for my ‘faffing’, i.e. tidying, swapping shoes at the last minute, forgetting stuff, spilling stuff… I’m a nightmare. I literally arrive everywhere at least 5 minutes late. So there we go, New Year’s resolution: be on time.

In terms of what I hope for the year, like I said in a previous post, I don’t really know. I just want to be happy. I’m not sure how that happiness will look though. I’m at a strange point in my life as everything I thought I was working towards changed very quickly. Basically my motto is “just keep swimming” (or I suppose in my case, just keep running). I have a lovely flat, Alfie, good friends and a very loving family so things are pretty good. I also have no real PB ambitions for the year, just healthy happy running. I’m still loving the gym so hopefully continue on with that and keep getting stronger.

On the subject of running… After the double parkrun on New Year’s Day I was starting to feel a tad parkrun’ed out. So many parkruns within a short amount of time! Don’t get me wrong, I don’t regret them and I’ll always love parkrun but the weather on the Saturday just gone was awful and for once I just fancied staying in bed.IMG_7163

It was cold, windy and very very wet. I didn’t really want to be there but life isn’t always sunshine and rainbows (especially not in Britain) so I got myself out of bed and down there.

At the start, after jokingly debating with a friend about sitting back in the car with the heat on, I de-layered and got ready to run. At least it made me want to run quickly (well, as quick as I can lately and with that wind). The winter route goes down along the seafront bit which was just horrendous with the wind. It comes straight off the water and hits you sideways. I ran with (well, held on to!) a running club friend, Jim, and he helped pace me until I was able to push on on the last lap, after having gotten a second wind (no pun intended…).

Netley parkrun pace

A fellow blogger, April, was there as well which was nice – she almost out-sprinted me at the end but she was too polite, bless her. Take no prisoners I say! 😉

I got 23:59 which I was happy with. Straight away after finishing I grabbed my coat. Normally I’m really hot after running but I was quickly back to being cold. We were a miserable lot packing parkrun up, soaked, cold and wind-swept. Come on springtime!

The shower I had at home felt so good. It was ridiculously hot and strong so it was amazing. I didn’t want to come out! Thankfully the rain and wind died down and my parents and me met up to go to the National Trust’s Mottisfont Abbey and gardens.IMG_7171

I made sure to wear my wellies! The rain mostly held off and we had a lovely time just walking around the grounds and house. It was very quiet so it was nice and peaceful.
Mottisfont Abbey

Bottom right: David Breuer-Weil’s Alien

There was a crazy statue (sculpture? Not sure how to describe it) of what looked like a man with his head in the ground. Apparently it’s of an alien that had landed from space… Random but cool.

We had a nice little hot drink in the coffee shop (I love this about the National Trust, there are always coffee shops!). I forwent the cake as I wasn’t fancying it (shock horror, I know) due to the Christmas excesses I’d been readily indulging in. After eating everything under the sun I’m ready to ease back into normal eating (I suppose cake eating is my normal eating though…).

I’m tempted to get a National Trust pass as it’s such a nice way to spend a day and we have several locations near us (for non-UK readers, National Trust is a conservation organisation that looks after historic buildings, gardens and areas and you can pay to look around them). It’s nice to have somewhere to walk and look around. Something to ponder over anyway for the future!

What weather do you really dislike? Mine is wind. I can deal with rain and cold, but wind is a killer.

What day trips do you enjoy?

What National Trust sites have you been to?

14 Replies to “NY’s resolutions, parkrun overload and the National Trust”

  1. Happy new year miss! Ahh I don’t know how you do it – the weather is enough to keep me house-bound let alone go for a run! That said I was ITCHING to move after being cooped up over the holidays (a bad back put me out of action and YES I know I’m 27 going on 72)

    I do enjoy a day trip – especially when they enjoy cake – but I haven’t been on one in a while! Might have to make a trip down to Mottisfont some time!
    Cat recently posted…How to Reboot Your Brand in 2016My Profile

  2. Sunday was horrible. Long run, in wind, rain, hail in turn, and occasionally all at once (I may have started whimpering at that point). One of the three is OK, but any two in combination is a bit much to manage. I got so cold, sploshing through puddles – I decided it was probably faster than trying to go round. But my feet went numb (my trainers got very clean though).

    We don’t really do day trips. Occasionally, we’ll go for a long walk – we were working our way through a book of London walks. That said, I’d love to get the car out (it’s not been used for faaaar to long, but it is his toy of beauteousness, and too powerful for me to want to drive), and go for some National Trust trips, or pub lunches. Trouble is – N’s a cyclist, so would probably actually prefer to do a long ride to a drive!
    Jane recently posted…Well, it’s not quite knittingMy Profile

  3. Happy new year!
    I should really try to visit more NT houses in 2016 as its always a nice day out (and bonus coffee and cake!). One of the downsides of living in London is that I think I’ve already been to the few that we do have! x
    LilyLipstick recently posted…#Goals – 2 0 1 6My Profile

  4. I agree – the wind sucks completely. Other bad weather I can cope with, but a cold wind is not fun.

    We had National Trust memberships when we were little and used to go to a property most weeks on a Sunday. They also featured in our family holidays. Unfortunately, aside from parkrun, we haven’t been to any at all recently. Maybe something to put on the list to do this year!
    Steph recently posted…My Whole 30 so far – Days 1 to 4My Profile

  5. Yup, wind is the worst, as if it’s raining then the rain goes sideways too. Or icy pavements- after snow has melted it’s really bad.
    I love the National Trust (and if you go for a membership, I think they are on quidco so worth a look there first)- we had a membership for a year and had all sorts of trips. There are not many around here, so we had to travel or go somewhere for the weekend, but a walk around the gardens (I am not too fussed about the houses unless someone very interesting lived there) and then tea and cake is the best!
    Maria @ runningcupcake recently posted…Some musing about pacingMy Profile

  6. I am also late for everything! Nothing that really matters – I’m always super early for work or interviews or meetings, but when it comes to meeting up with my friends, they know to tell me an earlier time to meet than they would with other people! If you find the secret of how to stop faffing, please let me know. I am rubbish!
    Mary recently posted…Some marshaling fun at Country to Capital!My Profile

    1. When it comes to interviews or stuff that makes me incredibly nervous I do tend to get there ridiculously early and then work myself up into a cold sweat of nerves. But when it comes to meeting friends or family, I’m very lax. I feel like it’s a bad reflection on my character now haha.

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