Hi guys! How was your weekend? Mine was pretty much a whirlwind. One of the best weekends in a while I think.
Ohhh before I start with the weekend: MY MUG HAS RETURNED!!!
Apparently it had been taken down to the canteen downstairs. My poster worked
Anyway…
Saturday morning Ben and me woke up late (whoops) for Parkrun and had to mad dash around the place to get ourselves together. I like to arrive at least 30 minutes before so I can relax a bit as I get so nervous and stressed before races. Even though Parkruns aren’t really ‘proper’ races as they’re so informal and just a bit of fun.
Anyway we got there and made it to the start. I didn’t really know how I was going to run but I did want to try as I’m not going to be back at our local Parkrun for a couple of weeks now. As soon as I started running I felt strong and happy. What was brilliant was that there was a bunch of guys who were running the same speed and I kept with them so it really helped.
With 5ks I just like to give it my all and hold on for as long as I can. Not sure if that’s a great strategy as the last lap is always so tough. My running club friend was right behind me as well which helped push me on but she managed to sail past me breezily on the last stretch. She obviously has a great strategy of keeping something in the bag because she looked very fresh as she zoomed past me hehe.
Amazingly I beat last week’s PB by about 5 seconds. I think I’m going to plateau soon because it just gets too hard now.
Then we zoomed home and got ready to go to my work’s summer BBQ. I was the designated driver as I rarely drink and I wasn’t going to drink the day before the half marathon anyway. My parents came with us too (my dad works in the company as well).
It looked a bit gloomy and like it was about to rain when we got there but it didn’t really matter as they had a huge marquee in the garden.
The marquee is that white tent on the side of the photos
There was mini golf, giant Jenga, a beer tent, a tent for other alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, a puppeteer, a face painter (more on that in a bit!) and a beautifully huge garden.
Oh and even very posh temporary loos! Of course I took a sneaky photo in the interior of the toilets as I was so impressed.
And there was a bouncy castle. *Sighs* I love my father. I really do. But seriously.
Within five minutes of arriving he was on that bouncy castle. I feared for his life
I stuck to sparkling water (which I really love – anyone else with me on that?) and just milled around enjoying myself.
I enjoyed a lovely plateful of BBQ food when food was served.
Burger, kebabs, a sausage (I’ve found I quite like actual sausages – since having turkey sausages things have changed!), rustic-flavoured bread, corn on the cob and salad. And maybe another cheeky burger and sausage afterwards…
So good. Always a good spread as these things!
Ben enjoyed himself too and was (in my opinion) daring and had a few glasses of wine! His mentality was that he hadn’t really done the training, had been in Germany for the week on business, had just come back from an injury…so why the hell not! If the odds were against him he might as well enjoy it haha.
Then pudding. Oh pudding.
Honestly I just did not know what to have. So I had one of everything.
Totally joking! Wish I could have, haha. No I was sensible and stuck very diligently to two puddings only. Believe me when I say I was enormously tempted to go back for more.
There was a conversation like this between Ben and me:
Me: “But surely a cupcake doesn’t count, right?”
Ben: “Anna, you told me to stop you from having more than two puddings. Don’t do it.”
Me: “Yeah…I don’t think I was being sincere though.”
Ben: “You’ll regret it for 13.1 miles tomorrow.”
Me: “Fair point.”
So I stuck with a slice (should I say slab?) of Victoria sponge and a brownie *grumble grumble*. No in all honesty it was perfect and in the evening I was thankful that I hadn’t eaten a buffet of cakes (which, let’s be honest, was a real possibility).
Obviously we had to get a bit of face paint action.
And of course so did my dad…
He had ‘LFC’ on his cheek…*sighs* Liverpool Football Club. Bless him. He kept checking his phone all the time watching the score of the match while we were at the BBQ as well!
Even the rain didn’t dampen our spirits. It was a great day!
When Ben and I got home we really didn’t fancy anything to eat which was annoying. So we had some crisps and snacky things and left it like that. Ideally I wanted to have a proper meal before the race the next day.
And then the half marathon on Sunday…well, I will continue this in my next post as it might be a bit lengthy otherwise and I want to do it justice. Though I will say that it was one of my favourite races of the year. It was epic! And we both survived
How was your weekend?
What is your best pre-race meal the night before? Usually it’s a pizza without cheese (so it’s less heavy and I’m not a bit fan of regular cheesy pizzas – unless it’s goat’s cheese of course).
Did you ever used to get your face painted? It brought back so many memories of when I was little!
I can’t believe your mug turned up! Yay!
We went to a wedding recently with the fanciest portaloos I have ever seen and I really regretted not taking a picture afterwards!
If I was presented with that array of puddings there would be a strong chance that I would have snuck some back home with me to enjoy after the half marathon!…Or just had one of everything at the time! Haha!
I tend to have pizza the night before a race now too. One filled with veggies, but also cheese! I used to do the whole pasta-dish thing but it made my tummy feel all ick in the morning, not good on race day!
Do you know what, I was SO tempted to take a doggy bag home with a pudding (or two) but I refrained as, well, my bag was too small haha.
I’m not a fan of pasta so pizza is perfect for me. Just the right amount of carbs, protein and yumminess!
That dessert spread looks epic! Looking forward to your race recap, glad you had such a fun weekend 🙂
Ahh those desserts…I miss them already 😉
HAHA OMG YOUR DAD. That is downright HILARIOUS. And love your dress! too cute.
What’s he like..! So embarrassing haha.
Yey for the return of the mug! The food looks great too!
Hehe I was so chuffed to get my mug back.
I love that you made a poster for your lost mug, cute! Glad you had a great weekend!
Haha well it worked in the end!
I totally would have been loving that bouncy house like your dad haha! It would have my brought out my inner 5 year old.
I was tempted but the dress made things tricky hehe.
Haha. Your dad is awesome. Bouncy castles and face painting are great! I actually always preferred tattoos though. They took a lot less time and a wobbly hand wouldn’t make my the blue butterfly on my cheek look unidentifiable. Face painting is serious work. I had to do it at a 4-h camp once and I think I completed one before calling it quits. That was one very beautiful flower 🙂
The Mug of No Return. Obviously not an applicable title in this case, but your comment just reminded me of that. Lol. Happy for you that it came back!
Hehe yeah the face painter lady was really arty – it literally took her minutes! I imagined it to be a very peaceful and nice job. But I guess dealing with kids all day might not be soo easy.
That BBQ looks amazing! What a fun way to spend the day. 🙂
I always fuel before marathons with Chipotle! Favorite ever.
Oooh great choice! Wish we had them in the UK.
Looks like a fun time! Glad your mug turned up. Looking forward to your race recap. I like simple carbs the night before a race, sweet potato, brown rice and a bit of coconut oil.
Simple carbs are the most sensible as you don’t want anything too tough for your body to digest!
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