Running and cake

I know this is so damn clichéd and boring to start with but I don’t care – how amazing is the weather right now?? I’m not sure what it’s like elsewhere in the UK (or world in general I suppose) but in the South Coast of England it is SPRING. The weekend’s weather was beautiful. This is my favourite time of year – such hope of things to come and better days.

My weekend started with a fabulous parkrun at Netley Abbey. It was Netley’s third parkrun birthday so it was all very festive and fun with a Hawaiian fancy dress theme.

I was devastated when I couldn’t find my grass skirt – I love a good fancy dress run! I loved how everyone really got into the theme (though I failed miserably).

And it was lovely weather – a little chilly but beautifully sunny.

We were on the same course but a slight variation. Well, I say slight but really this meant instead of having to deal with six hills (two hills three times) we only had to deal with three hills (one hill three times). I decided to see what had to give on a less hilly course.

I wore my new Jabra Sport Rox ear buds on this run and though I do find them a bit fiddly to fit in my ear snugly (it takes a bit of patience, of which I’m not known for!) when they’re in they are IN. It is great to run without having a wire dangling about you and getting caught on your arms. The sound quality is amazing as well (they’re made with Dolby). I’ll do a thorough review of them soon.

Photo credit to Kookie51

I can’t believe how good I felt on this run. Yes it was tough in terms of keeping the legs and breathing going but I felt like I was gliding. I also only looked at my watch three times (once per bleep of the mile) – this is MASSIVE for me. Normally I watch my watch like a hawk. I clung on to a running club friend, Mark, who had overtaken me at the start and I vowed to keep in my sights.

Photo credit to Kookie51

On the last lap I managed to overtake him and speed off but I’d judged it badly and had kicked too soon as he pipped me at the finish when I had nothing left. I might have shouted some abuse at him as he sped past (all good natured of course) but he played it well so kudos to him!

I managed to get first lady (though a lot of people were saving their legs for the Eastleigh 10k the next day) and a time of 21:05 which is the fastest parkrun time since October 2013 according to the parkrun website. Jeeze somewhat depressing but also great to know I’m getting back on track. It’ll be interesting to see how I perform on a flatter parkrun.

After parkrun and usual housework duties, I headed off to my parents to spend some quality time with them. We had a lovely walk down the beach with their three dogs and my Alfie (madness, absolute madness walking four dogs) and enjoyed the fantastic weather.

Lee-On-Solent beach

We enjoyed a nice Indian take-away that evening and I even suffered through The Voice (*sighs*) though I did have my Runner’s World Magazine and my iPad!! I’m not sure I would have survived otherwise.

The next morning I got up and set off on my 12 mile run. I ran along the beach path which was wonderfully quiet with just the odd dog walker and fellow runner. My run just felt fantastic. My legs felt good and my pace felt easy. I’m getting highly confused with how I should be running these runs at the moment – terrified I’m dicing with potential injuries.

Average pace 7.52min/mile with a total time of 1:37:42. I attempted to slow down but when I looked at my watch later on the pace had crept up again. I’m just going with it. I won’t be able to sustain this pace for the longer runs so I might as well enjoy it now. I know this might sound ridiculously stupid but honestly that run felt brilliant and today I don’t feel ruined or exhausted. But I know my main issue is not keeping these runs slower.

After this I got home, stretched and foam rolled and had breakfast. A bit later on I went out with my mum and enjoyed a lovely walk, again down the beach. I feel so bad for my mum at the moment as she had such a painful back. She’s been seeing a physio and he’s had to refer her for an MRI as he thinks she has a bulging disc. She has such bad nerve pain all down her back, hip and leg. She finds sitting down for too long excruciating and has to take strong painkillers. It’s awful to see someone you love in so much pain, and you can’t do anything to help. As she said walking helps a bit, we walked down the beach and then cheered ourselves up with a lovely afternoon tea. Oh it’s been too long!!

The Tea Room in Lee

We umm’ed and arr’ed between the Victoria sponge and red velvet and in the end decided to go for the Victoria sponge. My mum went for a scone and slice of cake as she didn’t fancy the sandwiches but I went for the whole hog, so to speak.

And it was fabulous. The scones are so huge and tasty, they really are the best part I think (slathered in jam and cream). I had delicious chicken sandwiches as well.

  Very scrumptious indeed.

So all in all: good running, good cake and lovely time with my family.

How was your weekend?

Have you ever had back pain?

Do you enjoy fancy dress’? Running or otherwise!

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