Another weekend and another parkrun tourism with a friend. I do so love doing this on a Saturday. Sadly (well, not sadly really!) I’ve already done Basingstoke before so it wasn’t one to extend my tourism list, but it’s always nice to get out and do a different parkrun to your usual once in a while. I did Basingstoke parkrun over three years ago. This is crazy! So much has changed…except for me loving running and loving parkrun, of course.
On Saturday morning I woke up at 6.30am. It was great as I naturally woke up at 6.20am and felt very refreshed and well-rested, so snuggled in bed a bit longer just scrolling on my phone (terrible habit but there we go). I’d had a fairly late night the night before as I was out with co-workers for a leaving do (I get invited to leaving do’s! I have work friends, yay!) but I hadn’t been drinking so I was feeling good.
I got ready and drove to the train station to catch the 7.28am train to Basingstoke. It’s around a forty-five minute long journey, so the perfect time to watch another episode of Strange Things series 2. I don’t tend to binge watch television series as I don’t like sitting and watching episode after episode, so I’ve been slowly getting through these. I had a coffee and was very chilled. The weather outside however looked rather grim and wet.
The train station is just less than a mile from the Memorial Park, which is where the Basingstoke parkrun happens.
It was raining when I got off the train and I wasn’t particularly over-joyed at the prospect of walking in the rain but handily you can walk through Festival Place, the big shopping mall, for a chunk of it. I saw two guys wearing running gear having coffee in the Costa. They looked like they hadn’t run yet and I wondered if they were keeping warm before parkrun. Sensible! But I had places to be. I was meeting my friend, Bhuvana, at the park before parkrun began so I had to get a shuffle on. I also couldn’t really run there as I had my bag with me which would have been awkward.
I got to the park in good time and stood with the other parkrunners under a tree feeling a bit cold and damp. 
The park is a lovely park and actually has an aviary in it where there were loads of birds chirping away. Very unique!
Bhuvana arrived and we laughed at what a day we’d chosen to catch up. But it’s always nice to see her regardless of the weather! I take great pride in the fact that I helped her get into running (well, I just went on about too much I think so to shut me up she stated running herself!). She’s since done several 10ks and half marathons and she’s a fantastic runner 🙂 I do so love when non-running friends step over to the running side hehe.
We eventually de-peeled our layers and headed to the start. Basingstoke parkrun begins on the grass in one great big line. And then when you begin everyone charges across the field to the path. This is my only slight annoyance about the course. It makes it difficult to get into a good spot to carry on running on the tarmac. When I say “good spot” I mean everyone around people of the same speed. There’s a lot of elbow bumping, hasty overtaking and knocking into people as everyone adjusts. But it helped slow me down at the beginning. It also weirdly reminded me of 28 Weeks Later when they’re running for the helicopter across the field with the infected running behind them. My mind thinks of weird stuff when I run clearly!
It’s a two lap course which I’m pretty sure I’ve said before is my favourite I think. It’s long enough to not get bored but nice that you get two stabs at it and you know what you’re in for at the end. It’s partly on grass and partly on tarmac and relatively flat. There is a cheeky gradual incline at the end which does suck your energy a bit but it’s not too bad. The grass was tough though because it was so wet. It was quite muddy and difficult to get a good grip on. I was wearing road shoes which didn’t help. Though when I spoke to a lady afterwards she said that her trail shoes were great on the grass but then terrible on the tarmac as it became too slippy.
I did a bit of to-and-fro’ing with a man with a dog. He helpfully moved over and pointed to the side of him when it was clear I wanted to overtake. I don’t mind people running with dogs at all but it does help when they’re a bit more aware of other people trying to get past or where their dog is going! Especially if the lead is long. It can be a bit tricky when it gets narrower on the course.
I finished in 21:42 (31st place! Very happy with that considering there were over 400 people. And 2nd female which I didn’t realise at the time!). What I was more happy with was a negative split and a feeling of strength when I ran (7.10, 7.06, 6.57). 
Yes it was hard and I slipped and slid around the place on the grass but I felt good running and in control. Not like “omg I’m dying”. This is a really good position for me to be in starting marathon training! Long may it last. But I do get the sneaky suspicion that running is going too well at the moment and I should get injured soon. Just how it always works for me it seems.
I also spotted a colleague I used to work with and it was nice to chat to him and how his running was going (and persuade him to do a local 10k in January…). He’s still fairly new to running as well but was doing fantastically already!
After parkrun we headed over to Festival Place to grab a coffee (first “red cup” of the season!). Originally we were going to get some brunch but sadly Bhuvana had to rush to London to help a relative. It was lovely to see her, even if it is was brief! I moseyed around Festival Place a bit longer as my train wasn’t for about 50 minutes. I bought a few items from Primark (a Harry Potter jumper, yessss!) and then headed for the train. It was a nice morning spent. And another chilled train ride with two apples and another episode of Stranger Things. Bliss.
The rest of the day I did some odd jobs and… HAD A FACIAL. A deep cleansing facial. Now I really am not the person to do that sort of thing but honestly it was amazing. It was worth every penny of the £37 it cost me and my face has honestly never looked cleaner and clearer. It lasted an hour and I almost fell asleep. There was a brief painful bit where the beautician sort of digs in and scrapes away the dirt but it was TOTALLY worth it. It’s also given me a bit of boost to treat my skin better (i.e. not just wash it with cold water). Cleanse, tone and moisturise. These are my early New Year’s resolutions. I’m not being asked to review and I’m not sponsored, but if you’re in the Southampton area check out Elite Beauty. I can’t recommend more highly. I’ve been going for other beauty appointments (well, maintenance really if you get what I mean) and the beautician, Olga, is just fantastic.
On Sunday I was up at the fairly reasonable time of 7.50am to meet a friend to run at 8.30am (cut it a little fine… five minutes late. Whoops). The run was great. It was such a beautiful day, clear skies and sunny but very cold. I wore a t-shirt and shorts but my hands were freezing for the first few miles. Gloves are coming out I think! The run was great. We were aiming for 8min/miles which at first was tough as my legs still felt they were asleep but once we got going it was great. 
Tiernan, the guy I ran with, a running club friend, is an ultra running legend and was telling me all about what challenges he’s done and plans to do. Literally amazing. 100 milers, 70 milers (sounds familiar to the legend herself, Mary!). And some mad, mad challenges like who can run the furthest from Cheltenham – any route they like as long as they run. And they’re tracked with a GPS. I mean how cool but how mental. And mile repeats for 65 miles up a hill. What.
Our pace was pretty solid but we arrived near to our car at 12 miles and I managed to persuade him to run round the block with me to get our 13 miles we’d planned to do. We both grumbled a bit but we got there in the end. It was a tough run, hilly in parts, but I was very chuffed we managed it talking and not struggling.
I was glad to have gone with Tiernan as I doubt I could have been as motivated on my own. I’m so pleased that my running is going well and injury-free right now. *Touch wood*
Then I headed out for another lovely walk with my parents and ALL the dogs (Sam, Dylan, Lexie and of course Alfie). We went to Alresford (where I once did the Alresford 10k round the watercress fields). It was a beautiful sunny, but cold, day. Perfect for a walk!
It started at the Watercress line station which isn’t a real station at the moment (though it was) and there’s a restaurant and shop. Alresford is a beautiful place and we had a lovely walk along the river and the watercress farm bit.
The dogs were pooped afterwards. It was nice to bring them along – though it’s always a bit manic with all four of them! A lovely low-key weekend. All that was missing was a big slice of cake…but eh, can’t win ‘em all!
Have you ever been to Alresford?
Have you ever done Basingstoke parkrun?
Have you ever had a facial?
I arrived in more than enough time and paid for parking and headed to the loos. On the sign it said they’d be open from 7am…but they weren’t. I jogged over to the starting area of parkrun and asked one of the volunteers if they knew of another toilet. They said it was odd the other ones weren’t open. I jogged back to check again as I really did need to go. It was very cold so it was a nice warm-up anyway. But no they were still locked.
Hmmm
I finished in 23.08 which I was happy with as it felt fairly easy and I wasn’t out of breath at all at the end. As soon as I’d finished I got a message from my friend saying they were five minutes away. What perfect timing! I jogged back to my car and saw them arrive. I quickly put some trousers on as it was so cold and we walked into Chichester proper to find some brunch. I’d done a bit of research beforehand to find the perfect spot. Though Bill’s is always a good shout and they do do nice breakfasts I’d found a place called The Fat Fig, which looked really different and tasty.
We all ordered the Turkish fry-up which was delicious! Feta, halloumi, eggs, Turkish sausage, a filo pastry thing full of feta, olives and toast. So good.
It was nice to have something a little different. The Fat Fig was a lovely place – lots of pastries and cakes as well.
After food we headed for a little mosey about round Chichester (such a lovely place to wander round). Obviously we went into Hotel Chocolat of course, my favourite chocolate place. And then we decided breakfast pudding was in order. We evaluated all the cake options and decided on a cafe which used to be The Swallow Bakery but now is something else, though it didn’t have a name over the door (or maybe it;s the same but just getting a re-vamped sign? I don’t know…). I had a raspberry cake which was delicious and looked amazing in the middle.
I also shared a Halloween cake pop with Charlotte (because I’m greedy remember). They each had a cupcake – I can’t remember what but they said it was like a fruit crumble inside! Delicious.
I did seven miles with Mike and then headed off to do three on my own. Let me tell you, those three miles really felt like a slog. I listened to a podcast and just felt exhausted. I was glad to get back to my car and head home. There was no way I could have run a mile more! I’ve definitely run too much this week (five times! I normally only run four times). I felt so drained.
After re-fuelling on breakfast and a hot coffee my parents and I headed out for a lovely hour long walk along the Farlington Marshes in Portsmouth (which is near where the Portsmouth Coastal Marathon goes). It was cold but lovely and sunny.
Then we headed to Emsworth for a lovely coffee and a cake. It was a fabulous way to end a walk! I still felt very drained and wondered if I was coming down with something – or at least fighting something off. My mum has been ill for a week now with a cold so I wonder if it’s that… but anyway, a good weekend regardless!
Abingdon parkrun has a handy car park just next to the finish funnel so you can find where it’s all going on very easily. It’s also free for the first two hours and there’s a rather posh public toilet nearby too (you pay 10p but the experience is fabulous). Abingdon itself, if you’ve never been, is a very lovely quaint English town, similar to Salisbury, Chichester or Winchester.
By 8.30am we’d all arrived and were hugging and swapping stories. It was just lovely. I love it when you can slot back into place with people like you’ve never been away.
Everyone was going to run the parkrun apart from John (John is the legend that ran from Winchester to Canterbury along the Pilgrims and North Downs Way long-distance trail to celebrate his 40th. Yep) as he was suffering from a back niggle.
Everyone but one person made it (Zoe, we missed you!) so it was a nice gang of us and when we had our newbie briefing for the parkrun they wrote down all our home locations and when it came to the main briefing they read them all out and asked if anyone from actual Abingdon was there today! It was amusing. 
So yeah, we had the newbie briefing though we really didn’t need it as Sarah, who’s from Abingdon, had given us a good briefing (if you’re a Marathon Talk listening, Sarah does the designs for Xempo and had a bazillion shout outs in the last podcast episode! She’s amazing and does fantastic running-themed products and designs – 
The weather, as you can see, was glorious. Yes very windy but the sun was beautiful. It was cold in that autumnal British way, but not horrific. I’d already decided I wanted to chat and run rather than do any sort of hard effort so I ran besides Sarah and we caught up. It was a lovely run that honestly flew by. I had no idea of my pace at all. The course is a bit tricky underfoot at times, running along grassy, uneven bits but overall it’s a lovely parkrun. Beautiful next to the river and lots of open green spaces.
There were a couple of moments at the start where we ground to a halt. I think there were more people there than usual so a bottleneck occurred along the narrower bit, but I wasn’t bothered as I was too busy chatting! John cheered us on as we passed him which was nice (thanks for the pic too!).
My time was 26.13 which I was happy with. It wasn’t a run for a fast time after all. The finishing straight is nice and straight for anyone hunting for a sprint finish.
Photo credit: John Harvey
Of course I didn’t have a phone anymore to take a photo of it so borrowed Sarah’s again (thank you, thank you). I felt a bit at a loss without my phone… no way to upload my run to Strava (did it even happen…?). But it was lovely to sit and chat with the guys and eat copious amounts of cake. As it was Michelle’s 50th parkrun Sarah had amazingly baked a cake (how nice is that??) so I had a couple of slices of that as well. Consolation cake, you see.
Michelle, by the way, ran in the ELITE wave of the Great South Run the next day. SHE IS SO FAST. I’ll do a separate post on the Great South Run soon!
How beautiful is this square where we had coffee? It was a bit blustery but the autumnal colours were just gorgeous. And because it was quite chilly I got another hot drink, this time a turmeric latte. So fancy, eh!
It was…interesting. I quite enjoyed it, as I do like turmeric, but it wasn’t the nicest drink on the planet. A bit bitty at the end. Glad I gave it a bash!
So in the end I decided to go for the more expensive, but guaranteed fix, with Apple (which would also be covered partially by my phone insurance). Annoyingly it would need to wait until Wednesday until they had a free appointment. Apparently I’m not the only idiot who drops and ruins their phone…
Honestly, I don’t dare to think about my cake consumption this weekend because it didn’t stop there…! More on that on my Great South Run recap 😉
As none of us really knew what to order, Mike suggested he just get a selection of bits and pieces to share between us (cue Anna mini panic on sharing food. Needn’t have worried! So much food!). There was a large turning bit in the middle of the table so we could rotate the different plates round which was great for the sharing situation. We started with a platter of ribs, sesame prawn toast, spring rolls, crispy seaweed and peanut chicken skewers.
Very tasty indeed. And obviously I loved the ribs. Then following this we had crispy duck pancakes followed by mountains of main courses… sweet and sour, black bean beef and another one (a pork dish, no idea what it was but it was delicious). Oh god, so much food… We barely made a dent! 
The above photo isn’t when all the dishes are out… I got too distracted eating to take better photos! So yes, we were quite full afterwards. It was also highly amusing seeing some of the “older” generation using Snap Chat filters for the first time. I don’t use Snap Chat either so it was quite an education for all of us!
Then after those fun and games we all headed to the nearby Sprinkles Gelato for a bit of pudding… even though we were all feeling quite full. But as we know, there is a separate stomach for pudding.
I ordered the Sticky Situation, which I’ve had before… basically a dessert in a jar. It was vanilla gelato with cookie dough, white and regular chocolate sauce, chocolate buttons, real cream (not the cheap squirty stuff). But yeah, it was FILLING. Mike and Kate ordered the peanut butter version of it and they struggled towards the end too… I guess a crepe, waffle or a smaller sundae might have been a more sensible choice (as the others had gone for) but that’s not how I roll!
I was SO full (as you imagine). It was delicious though. We all stumbled out of Sprinkles feeling very much in a sugar coma. I went to bed that night not feeling my best!
Joe was planning on testing his marathon legs and I was just planning on surviving. My legs had felt fairly good post-marathon but I wasn’t expecting or really intending on attempting anything too fast or crazy.
My official time was 21:44 which I was really pleased with. I was more pleased that I wasn’t actually sick. Though after finishing I had to take myself off to a nearby bush and breathe deeply for a good few minutes before I was in the clear. I wasn’t sick but good god I was close. Lessons have been learnt.
Joe didn’t do as well as he’d hoped (19.30ish…so slow! ;-)) and Matt got a PB. Matt’s dad did very well as well and we all agreed our previous night nutrition (the boys had had chips and beer) hadn’t been stellar so our performance wasn’t too shabby all things considered!
And then Matt and his dad headed off while Joe and I headed to The Tenth Hole for a post-run coffee. We had originally intended on having cake or breakfast but the reality was I felt so sick even the smell of food was turning my stomach. So we settled instead on a coffee and ordered cake to take-away.
I knew future Anna would regret not getting cake! I also got three little cake’s for my parents (they come as a trio of cake selection). This way they’d still get cake but it would fit into their Slimming World diet being smaller cakes. I chose a s’mores Rolo brownie and a peanut butter caramel cake (sweet ‘n’ salty – there was more popcorn on top but I nibbled at it).
We had a nice coffee and chatted away before heading back down the prom to the car. Exactly what I needed! I’m glad I hadn’t tried to push my run earlier as I really didn’t fancy it and I’m not actually training for anything right now (more on that in another post). So for now I can have those days when I don’t fancy running and not run. Lovely. I might have also picked up a slice of coconut vanilla cake and a chocolate beetroot cake to join my other cake friends in the freezer… 😉
