parkrun - AnnaTheApple

July 16, 2015

Hill running, Nike gear and keeping things interesting

I can’t quite believe what I’ve signed up to this weekend…camping and running at Ultra 12.

I’m not a great camper. And it’s not because I’m particularly high maintenance and “omg dirt” but it’s because I like my creature comforts and routine. A good night’s sleep, feeling warm and having a somewhat unlimited kitchen full of food. And not only this but I’m heading to Bristol Friday night to visit friends and have a BBQ before leaving for Ultra 12 on Saturday afternoon. So I have a lot to think about when packing, especially as I plan on doing the Bristol Little Stoke parkrun Saturday morning as well. Hmmm. In true Anna style, let’s make things really complicated and as difficult as possible!

On the plus side though, Little Stoke parkrun is apparently super flat and only a mile from my friends’ house. Thankfully my friends know what I’m like and don’t think I’m weird for dashing out in the morning to go to parkrun (these are the friends I went to Orlando with).

I’m not sure really how Ultra12 is going to go though. Running multiple laps throughout the night with gaps in between…I’m nervous to say the least. I recovered really well after my half on Sunday and felt good running Tuesday evening.

Right pic: Stretching my calves on the stairs at work post-run

The run went really well. It’s my usual hilly 5.3 miles round where I work.

It includes one really nasty hill (12% incline for 0.2 miles) that I do twice, once at the beginning and once at the end. There’s a Strava segment for it and my last PB for running that segment was back in April so I was really chuffed to find I finally beat it (only by 2 seconds mind you)!

I’m a Strava stats geek and proud!

It was tough, but I do love my hill runs. I’ve found it’s really good at improving my form, building strength in my legs and strength in my mind. The lactic acid build-up is quite intense but keeping your mind focused on powering up and keeping your form good (high knees, pushing off strong through your glutes and your eye line ahead not down) helps keep your mind off the pain…sort of.

I was able to test drive my new running gear that I bought as well. I’m a self-confessed Nike addict so I couldn’t help but indulge in some sales a bit on sportshoes.com (not an affiliated link, I just like their website and they have good deals).

I always trust Nike to be of good quality and long-lasting. The shorts are very comfortable, don’t ride up and have an inner lining. Also there’s a small zipped pocket at the back which is handy. The yellow top is also nice fitting and feels very dry when wearing it, despite the recent humidity. The other items I haven’t tried yet (though the black top is exactly the same as the yellow).

I’ve still been maintaining my 2-3 times a week gym visits as well. The new gym renovation has made the gym a slightly more exciting place (OK less dull) with a lot more weights, space and the stepper machine (apparently called “Jacob’s ladder”, thanks Autumn).

There’s the face of someone really happy to be there 😉

I’ve also been playing around with the self-timer camera on my phone because gym selfies can be a bit samey! Plus I think it’s cool 😉 I can also see when my form is appalling (bottom left photo my arm is far from underneath my shoulder, not good!).

I suppose it’s quite lucky I’m at the gym so early as I guess self-timing photo taking is not normal gym behaviour…but then these days, what is?? I’ve seem some very funny things at the gym.

I do my harder gym routine either Thursday morning or Friday morning now rather than Monday, like I used to, as I’ve been finding by doing it Monday it ruins my legs for my hill session Tuesday. My Thursday night run is now with the running club so it’s far more social and less about a specific pace so it doesn’t matter if my legs ache a bit. My harder strength routine usually includes deadlifts and squats which I’ve been consistently upping the weights on and I always, always ache the next day. I also hate it but it’s a necessary evil for me to avoid injury (*touch wood*).

But I find it sooo dull and hard to get excited about. In efforts to make things more interesting I’ve been listening to the Game of Thrones unofficial podcast (Cast of Kings) while I’m there after Chelsea recommended it and I’m addicted. I read the GoT books but a couple of years ago so my memory is fuzzy (and the books are unbelievably dense with a zillion characters – you think the programme is hard to keep track of all the different people, ha!) so the podcast is great for inside knowledge and analysis of what’s going on. I’m a self-confessed geek, I won’t deny it. So listening to it alongside working my way through season five is great (I’ve got two episodes left – how scary was that seen with the white walkers!? I watched that before I went to sleep and it freaked me out).

Anyway, if anyone has any great tips for making things exciting at the gym…let me know! 😉 Or running an all-night event…good grief.

What podcasts, if any, do you listen to?

Are you a Game of Thrones fan?

Where do you buy your gym/running gear and what’s your preferred brand?

July 6, 2015July 6, 2015

Sweaty long runs and Running Heroes

Monday morning, hello again!

My weekend was nice and relaxed, which was lovely. Geoff, one of Netley Abbey parkrun’s event organisers, had given me the honour of being responsible for the keys for the Saturday run as he was going on holiday. I’m a regular member of the set-up and clear down crew so I felt very touched he picked me to look after the keys. With great power… 😉

This meant I needed to make sure I got there dead on time (8am) to help set-up. The keys opened the store cupboard with all the parkrun kit in it (cones, signs, etc.) and it also opened two of the gates that we run through as part of the course.

I’d decided a bit last minute to have breakfast before I left (usually I’ll wait until after, but I was meeting my mum later to go shopping and needed to eat lunch a bit earlier). I was rushing about so much and just before I was about to put my oats and milk in the microwave I knocked it over with quite some force accidentally. The oats and milk went everywhere. All up my legs, all up the walls, the kitchen cabinets, the floor, and even Alfie’s bowls! Argghhhh! I just stared at the carnage around me and could have screamed in frustration – so much mess. But with limited time I had to just get on and clean it up as quickly as I could (and as thoroughly as I could – milk is not a smell you want hanging around in the heat!). Bloody chia seeds are the most stickiest things in the world, I tell you. And those little suckers got everywhere. Alfie sadly missed his walk as I just didn’t have time but I promised to make it up to him later as I dashed out the door.

The set-up went fine and though the morning had begun quite cool it was now heating up. We were on the three lap course but I wanted to see how fast I could do it, having had breakfast. I felt quite confident…

Photo credit: Chris Stapleford – Ahh the face of a happy runner

I actually felt really speedy and like I was gliding along at the start. Then I looked at my watch and saw this wasn’t computing into actual fast times. I was pushing so hard but wasn’t getting better than 6.45min/miles. Though these times are still fast for me, I was bewildered that the previous weekend I was running around 6.50s with no apparent issue for six miles. Surely I could run faster for just three?

Photo credit: Chris Stapleford

I felt stupidly hot and it was a tough slog at the end. I managed second female with 20:48. Not too shabby at all but, I won’t lie, I was a little disappointed. I know in reality if I want to be speedier at 5ks I need to put some real work in to it, like sharp short intervals, but I just don’t have that desire, so I’ll take that time and be happy with it!

The clear down went smoothly and I was pleased to have successfully done my temporary job well. Netley had actually been very busy with our highest attendance yet at 314! Southampton parkrun has been cancelled so we got a lot of runners from there I believe.

Later on I met my mum for a shopping trip to find an outfit for a wedding I’m going to next weekend. Oh the pressure of finding an outfit…but I found a very simple but very chic black dress in H&M which I can jazz up with a statement necklace and a fascinator. I’m all about the accessories! I got two other summery dresses as well and in total paid under £30!! I mean come on, that’s such a bargain!

Sunday I’d planned a long run but didn’t know what distance to run. I have a dream trail race (*cough* marathon) I’d love to do in August but I’m not sure if it’s sensible or if my body will handle it so I’m judging things as I go for the next couple of weeks…

I stayed at my parents and decided to go a different route to incorporate a few hills and some off-road trail, but still get to run alongside the sea for part of it. As I headed out I knew I felt good. No niggles and no mental exhaustion like before…just plain sailing, relaxed running.

As I was on my second mile I passed a man with a young boy (probably about nine years old? I’m rubbish at judging small people’s ages). The boy started to run with me and at first it was funny. Then it was annoying. He just stayed with me. I got a bit worried because he was running further from his dad (I assume it was his dad). I said to him “you do know I’m running 10 miles, right?” hoping to scare him off but he replied “well my dad ran a half marathon”. Oh alright then! Cheeky bugger, I felt like replying “well I’ve run a marathon so there” but stopped myself as I remembered he was a small child and I’m an adult. Anyway he dropped off thankfully a few moments later.

The run went well. I really enjoyed it. Though I was drenched in sweat. I don’t normally sweat a great deal – that I notice anyway. But I was coated and my arms were chaffing because the sweat just wasn’t evaporating off me because of the high humidity. There was absolutely no wind either which was lovely as normally it can get quite windy along the seafront.

(Ave. pace 7:51 min/miles)

In the end I did 12 miles and felt good. I felt like I could have gone further which is great because this shows me I’ve still got a lot of endurance left over in my legs from the marathon. Just need to make sure I don’t over-train or injure myself.

The rest of the day was all about enjoying the wonderful weather. Meaning, it was time for a BBQ!

All those ribs were mine

My dad multi-tasked with setting the BBQ up and cooking while watching the Grand Prix on his iPad that was propped up on the table. Quite impressive really that nothing got burnt or under-done.

I went for ribs (soooooooo good), a kangaroo burger and a garlic chicken skewer. With lots of salad of course. Delicious! I felt well topped up after the run.

And away from the weekend…

I’ve recently found out about a company called Running Heroes that went live in the UK a few weeks ago. Running Heroes are basically trying to encourage people to run by rewarding them.

They’ve built the largest running community in France with more than 150,000 members. The company have a lot of well known partners as well, such asNike, Spotify, Uber, Birchbox and many more. In the UK they already have 5,000 users and were named a “Cool Vendor” by Gartner (like Dropbox, Evernote, Instagram or BlaBlaCar before) in April 2015.

The way they reward runners is very simple:

Runners connect their running app / watch to the website (Nike+, Runtastic, Garmin, Strava, Runkeeper, Polar, MapMyRun or Endomondo);
The more they run, the more they gather points;
With their points, they get access to exclusive discounts and gifts offered by our partners on our website.

It rewards your effort based on your profile meaning that it’s a fair distribution of rewards. So women gets 20% more points for the same effort as men, as studies have shown that they have to make 20% more effort for the same performance. There’s also a forum to exchange tips and experiences.

Just a snap shot of the rewards you could get

They’ve set me up with a code for my readers and I to start off with 100 free bonus points, just go to « activate a bonus code » et type in “RunAnnaRun” if you want to join!

How was your weekend?

What do you think about Running Heroes? I’m quite intrigued by it and am giving it a go!

What do you like on a BBQ?

**Full disclosure: The company contacted me and asked if I would spread the word and in return received the code to use for myself and you guys.**

June 29, 2015June 29, 2015

A sunny blogger meet-up

The blogger meet-up has been in my diary for a good few months now and suddenly it was here. There were quite a few bloggers (foodies, runners, healthy living, lifestyle, etc.) initially interested in the event but due to a myriad of reasons in the end it came down to nine of us (I think?).

It was a tough choice on the location of the meet-up as everyone lives all over the country (some in Scotland, Newcastle, some down South, Bristol, etc.). In the end London was decided as the destination after a group vote. I would have been happy to have gone up north but it would have involved flying there or staying over as I’m so far south, so London was a bit of a relief for me. Though I do still find it immensely stressful!

My train was at 11am as we were meeting at 1pm outside Camden Wholefoods (clearly the essential blogger meet-up location!). This was great as it meant I could still go to parkrun in the morning, though I’d have to dash off straight after finishing.

Running during the week had felt hard. I ran just over four miles on Wednesday and just over three miles on Thursday. The marathon definitely seems to have caught up with me. I need to write a post soon about my future running goal plans at some point…I’m in a bit of a quandary.

Anyway I took parkrun fairly easy, running with a friend trying to get him 23:30 but it was very hot and I think we both were finding it tough. It was OK but not as easy as I was planning considering I had a 10k the next day.

Photo credit to Kookie51

We were both just over 24 minutes so not too bad!

I dashed off and showered and ate breakfast in record time – the whole time cursing myself for lack of time. Why do I always put myself into situations where I’m constantly running late? It was a mad rush but I got to the station and didn’t miss my train – I even managed to get a coffee! Maybe I was being over-cautious, but you never know with traffic and trains.

This book was SO good. I started it on Thursday I think and I’ve finished it already. A real page-turned and very cleverly written.

London was heaving. It was the Gay Pride Parade which just compounded the usual London-weekend madness and the fact that it was a lovely (hot) sunny day didn’t help either. I was so concerned I’d get lost, or get the wrong tube. I’m just not good with navigating on my own! But I caught the tube and got to Camden perfectly fine and arrived pretty much on time outside Wholefoods to meet with Cat and Pip.

I’d never met them before in real life but I obviously recognised them from their blogs. I was very nervous…it’s such a strange situation to meet people you’ve been reading about on the Internet and hearing lots about their life but never having actually met before. They were both so lovely and friendly I was put at ease instantly.

Mary and Ceri arrived shortly after as well and we stood on the road just sort of properly meeting each other. Claire arrived a little while later too. Then we headed into the hallowed foodie blogger grounds of Wholefoods and picked up some pieces for a picnic lunch.

Yeah that makes it sound very easy but honestly I was so flustered and spoilt for choice that I must have circled that shop about five times. Sadly this Wholefoods didn’t have the amazing famous salad bar where you fill up a box of different bits and bobs from an amazing buffet bar and then have it weighed, but it did have so many take-away options and a Mexican stand that you could order a tostada or burrito.

It’s funny because Pip asked for a burrito but without the wrap and got basically an amazing looking salad, so both Mary and I (and I think Claire?) followed suit. And then another random girl asked for the same (we started a trend…). You just got piles of salad, black beans, guacamole, salsa and sweetcorn, cheese along with your choice of protein (I went for chicken).

I also picked up some watermelon and a chocolate cake pop.

We walked to a local park and sat on the grass enjoying the sunshine chatting and eating. It was quite amusing to see everyone whip out their phones to take the standard blogger photo of their meals before beginning to eat.

It was just so lovely to properly chat to all the girls but their were moments when it felt surreal. Like when Claire was talking about how her car got burgled and we all nodded away as we knew this had happened as we’d all read her blog post about it – despite none of us really having spoken to her in real life about it!

Then we headed off to the more…interesting parts of Camden to meet a couple more bloggers in the inSpiral Cafe where Cat had booked a table for us. (Side note: the non-London members the group followed like sheep as we literally had no idea where to go and were terrified of getting lost – though this could have just been me!)

Though it seemed there was a lot of confusion over this as no one seemed aware that it had been booked. Cat was amazing though. She fully took charge and sorted it out. You definitely need a good organiser and ‘sorter-outter’ like her in a group!

The menu just sounded incredible.: different raw food main meals, smoothies, juices, tonics, ‘activated’ almonds, fermented things, hazelnut cheese…We’re not in Southampton anymore!! Again I was in a state of confusion as to what to order and went back and forth between a smoothie, an almond ice cream shake and ALL THE FOODS.

In the end I panicked and just went for an almond cappuccino. It was delicious. Normally I’m an Americano girl with a splash of milk if I fancy it, but this was fantastic. The almond milk gave it a delicious flavour and they managed to froth it up nicely.

Lily and Laureen arrived and so we all ordered something sweet. Honestly the theme of this day was me standing in front of a selection of food and drink going “Argh I don’t know what to get!”. The raw cheesecakes sounded divine but they looked a bit dense and rich. It was so warm (read: sweaty) as well I wasn’t sure I fancied something overly chocolaty so I went for the crumble of the day.

It was pineapple and artichoke with a seeded crumble and a zesty ginger sorbet (which had melted by the time it arrived). It was delicious! I didn’t really notice the artichokes but it could have done with either custard or thicker (*cough* proper) ice cream but it was very nice regardless. Many of the other girls got cheesecake and I did have some food envy but I was glad about my choice.

I had a lovely chat with Lily about running and how expensive London is (£20 for a single gym class and £150 gym memberships!!). She also ran the London marathon this year so it was great hearing how she found it…just makes me look forward to running it next year so much!

Photo Credit to Cat

To be honest, I had lovely chats with everyone – Mary about running and blogging, Claire and her adorable dog Henry, lots of chats about food and allergies, preferences etc…just good old nattering about life. It didn’t feel like a collection of people who had met via the Internet. It just felt like a group of friends…or “blends” as those cool Americans call them 😉

Anyway, I really hope it happens again (probably up north next time I’m sure!). It was a lovely day out. Though I must say, I was glad to get out of hot, smelly London afterwards 😉

Thank you to both Dannii (who sadly couldn’t make it) and Cat for arranging! 🙂

Have you ever met someone via the Internet? (Sounds rather sordid doesn’t it??)

Have you ever been to a raw food cafe or tried a raw meal?

Do you enjoy going to London?

June 22, 2015

A reluctant birthday and an almost sub-20 parkrun

It was my birthday on Friday. To be honest, I really wasn’t feeling it.

I went with the attitude that I could ignore it. Going to the gym, going to work and not doing anything Friday night was my aim. Obviously with Facebook you can’t quite hide the fact it’s your birthday and I appreciated all my birthday (and Twitter) ‘happy birthdays’ but other than that I was rather grumpy.

Turning 27 in itself isn’t bad at all, I know that. But I never imagined myself at 27 to be single, selling my marital home and looking for a flat to buy (something for another post!). It’s all rather depressing.

Anyway I was looking forward to parkrun. We were finally on the cricket pitch (fast and flat course only used occasionally). After the marathon on Sunday I took two full days off (I was meant to do yoga Tuesday but got my times wrong). But otherwise during the week I got back to the gym twice for my usual strength training and ran 4.5 miles on Thursday morning. All went well though all week I was just tired.

I really wanted to make a good go at parkrun though as it seemed a perfect opportunity. Generally it seems that the week after a marathon it’s a great time to bust out a good parkrun time. You still have marathon trained legs and as long as you’re not injured you tend to do quite well.

I drank a big cup of coffee in the morning (mistake) and headed to help set-up. The cricket pitch is easy to set-up because it’s just a big circle really.

I felt a lot of pressure on this parkrun and this was furthered when a few other guys from the running club said I should do well today because of the marathon. Arghh!

I’m not made for short, sharp sprints. My body doesn’t like 5ks. The entire time you’re running you’re in pain, your lungs are bursting and your whole body is telling you to stop. Give me a marathon any day! In my personal experience I’ve found that most of the marathon you’re running at a comfortable speed – it’s the mental monotony and the fatigue in your muscles you have to deal with, not the heart racing pain of a 5k (and 10ks – they’re much worse!). It was hard work from the start. It might look like I’m enjoying myself but honestly, they were well timed smiles for the cameras. Most of the time I was wishing it would end. What was also annoying was I had badly timed that coffee and really needed to pee. I had a sudden fear I’d pee myself! We’ve all heard the stories from other runners!! (Spoiler: I did not pee myself).

It was Iwan Thomas’ (400m Olympian and our local celeb) 50th parkrun and he was just ahead of me most of the race pushing a little lad on, giving him good encouragement. My music stopped working on the first lap (my iPhone’s still playing up) so I dropped it to some supporters and tried to use Iwan’s encouragement too 😉

My three goals were:

Beat 20:26 (my Netley Abbey parkrun PB)
Beat 20:16 (my overall parkrun PB and 5k PB)
Get a sub-20

Well by the second mile I knew the sub-20 wasn’t going to happen. I was lagging and just couldn’t keep pushing (the pee fear was also heavy on my mind). In the end I finished 20:06. Honestly I was just glad to stop 😉 I’m very pleased. Two out of three ain’t bad!

While I was chatting to people afterwards and starting to help tidy up I suddenly heard a chorus of “Happy birthday” begin. I turned round and there were loads of people from parkrun and my club singing me happy birthday…holding the most fantastic cake!!

A wonderfully talented lady, Roberta, from the club had baked it (apple flavour of course). It has an apple and a slice of cake on top, and it’s in my favourite colour (purple) with tiny little yellow icing trainers all round the edge. I’m over the moon!

OK so I know I said I wanted to ignore my birthday and felt very sorry for myself…well I was very chuffed. It’s pathetic to curl up in a ball and ignore the happy moments in life and this was certainly very happy and very much appreciated. My smile remained all day long. And I received a card which so many lovely people had signed – I almost cried. I didn’t though thankfully!

After parkrun we headed to the cafe and all indulged in a bit of cake, which tasted INCREDIBLE. I’m glad to say though that I was able to stock up my freezer with a few slices as well. Whew!

I stayed at my parents’ that night and had a very chilled evening (with a takeaway of course). I wanted to run the next morning but had no idea what distance to go for. In my head I thought anywhere between 6-10miles. When I started running though I knew I wasn’t in the right head space. My legs felt very heavy and very tired. Just not right, you know? I’d planned for the two weeks post marathon to be low mileage and recovery so I decided to be sensible and cut it short to 4.7 miles rather than just force the run.

I’m so glad I did. Mentally and certainly physically I need a break for a bit. I have a 10k next weekend that I want to go for but other than that it’s all going to be a bit directionless and chilled for a while, which is perfect.

My dad and me had agreed to postpone Father’s Day and have a joint celebration with my birthday in July as we’ve recently had so many meals out together it seemed sensible to save it for another month. So instead I went out to Winchester again to meet my friend and her lovely fluffy dog, Rain, for some chatting, walking and lunching.

I went for something new for lunch this time (even though the Caesar salad was calling me). A delicious goat’s cheese salad.

I must say though…I think I’d have preferred the Caesar!! Though it was tasty, just a little small.

Despite being a grumpy fart before the weekend began, it actually turned out to be a pretty damn good one! Despite my life being a bit upside down right now, I have so many lovely people in my life that remind me that it’s not all doom and gloom. Twenty-seven is a great age to start fresh and enjoy whatever life throws at me!

What do you prefer: short or long distance running?

What’s an essential salad requirement for you? For me it needs to be BIG. Small salads are side dishes, not main meals.

Do you have any local celebs near you? Unsurprisingly, Iwan Thomas did not bring cakes to celebrate his 50th parkrun…

June 17, 2015

Hanley parkrun and pre-Liverpool marathon recap

Ahh what a weekend!! I will be doing a full recap post on the Liverpool marathon very soon so bear with me.

What I will say for now is that it went really well and I enjoyed it a lot! I got a PB and my shin/calf niggle held out fabulously. In fact, and I absolutely have no understanding of this, it felt better the day after the marathon than it did leading up. WHAT IS THAT ABOUT!? I do have a slight sneaking suspicion that in my usual pre-marathon panic and general fear of injury that I might have foam rolled and ~~poked~~ self-massaged the area in question too much. I’m not one of those “sit tight and it will go away” type people…I have to prod, poke and foam roll. I’m wondering if the high mileage from the previous week made it slightly grumpy and then I pushed it over the edge in my panic? I suppose the real test will be when I get back to running again.

In overall terms though, I feel pretty good! I’m tired obviously and my muscles ached a lot afterwards but my quads, which for my previous two marathons have been SO achy and sore, are absolutely fine. Sitting down and walking afterwards and the day after were all fine. In fact, I even ran up some stairs on Tuesday. Apparently training properly seems to help with recovery…? 😉

Anyway I’ll roll back to the days before. On Friday after work my dad and me drove up to Stoke-On-Trent. This is around a 3.5 hours car journey. Though we stopped for some food half-way. I try and encourage my dad to eat healthily pretty much most of the time…some could describe me as a bit of a nag but I like to say “Health Coach” 😉 As he was driving all the way I thought a KFC treat would be alright so I turned off my nag alarm. I went for a Subway turkey salad which I added pre-cooked pesto chicken from Waitrose and some luminous beetroot dip.

This was SO good and chocka full of tasty toppings. I was stuffed!!

We got to my granddad’s around 8.30pm and he welcomed us in with a lovely cup of tea.

I love my granddad’s tea. I have no idea why it’s so good but it’s just so refreshing. He is one of those people who literally makes about 10 cups of tea throughout the day. He’d also prepared some meringue nests dipped in chocolate with some chocolate strawberries as well. Perfect! We caught up and then watched TFIF and I felt very relaxed and content. I even stayed up until 10.30pm! Madness eh?

The next morning I’d planned to do the local Hanley parkrun. It was literally a five minute drive from my granddad’s so it meant quite a nice lie-in. I was worried though as my shin/calf was still not right. It was feeling better, but still not 100%. I wanted to do the parkrun though as I had to know what I was in for on Sunday, good or bad.

After doing some investigation on Twitter I’d found that the course profile was ‘challenging’. Well I wasn’t going for a good time anyway as this was just supposed to be a nice shakeout run and testing the waters. My dad drove me down and stayed to support.

As I’ve said before, my dad loves to watch my races. He’s very proud of my running and he loves supporting. He ‘gets’ it. He understands my love for it and the intricacies involved in pacing, training, injuries etc. more than a lay person (probably because I talk so much about to him!). Before a race, he’ll talks ‘strategy’ with me and ask what paces I’m aiming for so he knows when I’ll come by and the goal I’m aiming for. He also, bless him, will always point out someone he thinks looks speedy or I should watch out for (even when I say I’m not racing!!). He’s a proud dad and loves being involved. And I love him being there of course! And it’s great because he’ll always tell me funny or interesting stories of what he’s seen while he’s been supporting – always interesting to hear the perspective of a supporter!

Back to parkrun…It was raining but it wasn’t cold. The Hanley parkrun guys were so friendly and welcoming. We all stood under the shelter of a bandstand and I chatted away to some other parkrunners. As a tourist we went off with the group of other tourists and first-timers to hear about the course. Yes it was fairly hilly.

There wasn’t a huge amount of people (140 people) so I started near the front. I just wanted to run comfortably and see how it went. As we started I got swept up in the race mentality but I looked at my watch and saw 6.30min/miles and thought “don’t be stupid”. As I slowed down four ladies pulled off ahead. I squashed any competitive need I had to try and follow them and reminded myself severely that I had a marathon the next day.The course was lovely and scenic, going round a pond with lots of ducks and geese walking around and it was a mix of tarmac and grass. It was very pleasant and the temperature was perfect. Yes there were hills but there were also down hills so actually it wasn’t bad at all.

There was a young girl in front of me and as we passed a man he yelled at her “come on! There aren’t many more girls ahead!”. It wasn’t a supportive cheer, it was an instruction and I felt bad for the young girl (11-14 category). Come on, it’s parkrun for God’s sake!

In the end I overtook all but one girl and got 22:20. She was really fast (and another 11-14 category – speedy young ladies!!). I know I wasn’t supposed to be racing but it was nice to come second and I felt very comfortable and not massively out of breath.

Test driving my new running skirt from Fabletics

The shin/calf did niggle slightly during the run but, again, no pain, no gait change, just an awareness and tightness. It didn’t feel any worse after running. I felt a bit calmer. I vowed to not touch it the entire day and sleep in compression socks that evening.

After getting back to my granddad’s, showering and having breakfast we had the day to kill. My dad and me decided to do a bit of shopping and he wanted to show me some old haunts from his childhood. My granddad stayed at home, happy to see us later when we returned (he doesn’t go out a huge deal). Hilariously he gave us a map to take with us so we “wouldn’t get lost”. We took it with us but didn’t mention the fact that my dad’s car has a built-in Sat Nav or that my dad, having grown up there, knew the area quite well. Bless him!

After moseying about some shops we headed to Mow Cop Castle, which is right on the border between Cheshire and Staffordshire. It’s a ‘folly’ dating back to 1754. I didn’t know what a folly was but apparently it’s when people have too much money and build something pretty but fairly useless 😉

My dad and me joked somewhat wryly that it would be a bit of a disaster if I twisted my ankle or fell over on our little excursion! Thankfully we both made it up and down in one piece.

The views were magnificent! We also later learned (after Googling) that there were some pretty amazing runs people did around the area (and up to the castle itself) and there’s a Mow Cop running club!

Then we headed for lunch. We found a lovely little pub nearby that was just about to stop serving food but we managed to squeeze in just in time (it was after 2pm). I had an EPIC cold meats salad.

It came with roast beef, turkey and ham with stuffing. It was so tasty and filling!

Don’t worry I made sure my evening meal was carbtastic with a standard pizza. My granddad had these cheap (86p!) pizzas he gets from Sainsbury’s which he then tops with a whole host of different ingredients. This is definitely my style of cooking! He also made a great mini-salad for me as he knows my love of vegetables.

I made sure to drink lots of fluid (with nuun) throughout the day, especially as I was concerned of how warm it was going to be. It said 86% humidity on the weather forecast!

Then it was time to just relax. We weren’t going to see my granddad the next morning as we were driving to Liverpool ridiculously early and then going straight back to Southampton from the race, so we said our goodbyes before going to bed. My alarm was set for 5am…ouch. But the race began at 10am and it would take around an hour to get there. I would need a coffee stop and we needed to get to the parking area before the 8am road closures…so 5am it had to be!

…And the race recap will be along in another post I’m afraid!

What do you do the day before a big race?

Have you ever seen/heard some un-parkrun spirited behaviour from anyone before at a parkrun?

How far have you had to travel (within your country) to a race/event before?