Check back soon
Once posts are published, you’ll see them here.
Wow! Hello there! Not sure what happened last week! Your truly spent loads of time on last week's blog, and no bugger read it! Well, I'm now adding vlogs onto Instagram so there is somewhere else now you can ignore me!
In the last blog, I recorded my rest day and this time, naughty me has no rest days to record! At the time of writing, there's just an early morning 5k between me and a rest, but you can choose to ignore that in next week's blog!
So to last week's adventures! Wednesday saw another commuter run on a cool and misty morning with Dave! A pretty steady run where what we lacked in sunrise views, we made up in cloud patterns! Aww! That evening, stubborn me kicked in and I decided to make the GoodGym run up to 5k, and about 2 k in, I realised it wasn't such a great idea. The long run was still in the legs and a double run was only going to add to my aches! Having said that, it was nice to see Mark, Teo and some of the Arena crowd out on the run! My stubbornness lingered on those as I had disregarded that I was intending to run 8 miles with the Camera Shy one (well, five solo, then a freedom parkrun with Ms Luce).
The wind was, well, being a bit of a git to be frank with you! I headed off, music in the ears (thankfully no Rainbow theme music this time) and made my way past Hove Lagoon to where my carefully calculated turn point would be (and the wind would become my friend). At this point, the phone rang: it was Lucy, stranded in Brighton with a flat tyre so her participation today was out. As I ended the call, the legs said to me "just do five" and I'm glad I listened. My route plotting skills were debatable to say the least and I found that to make the run up to five, I had to do another loop of the prom! I still can't work out what went wrong there!!
And so to the rest day....that wasn't a rest day! Understandably plagued by guilt for messing up my run (the one I incorrectly measured and was glad was shorter than it should have been), Luce suggested using David Lloyd's facilities...after a 5k run. Me being me said yes! The run itself was a nice gentle plod but was one that somehow passed both of us by in the blink of an eye! Before we knew it, we were back at DL and headed in to use the facilities! Alas we had not accounted for morning classes nor the clientele, but it was nice being the youngest in the pool...until the whippersnapper Anderson appeared. A good 15 minutes in the steam room sorted my sinuses though and the coffee afterwards was nice!
That afternoon saw yours truly out with Georgia for a bracing walk in the Burgess Hill rain! Everyone's journey to the marathon begins with a step and this was a huge one! As you can see, nothing has changed! We can't be sensible and are still just a pair of <insert your own word(s) here>!
Following the walk, I made my way north (well a bit) to catch up with Danny, Libby, Bev and Steve ahead of a spot of parkrun tourism to Cardiff parkrun! Both the journeys up to the home of With Me Now Towers and to Cardiff and back were smooth and relatively traffic free! Result! It was great to catch up with Liz Mounfield too and we had a right good natter as we trotted round the 5k course! The opportunity for plenty of coffee was one not to be missed either!
Sunday was the Worthing Half Marathon and the chance for Dave and I to put our training to the test! Thankfully the initial forecast of 40mph winds and rain didn't happen, though there was a cheeky wind as we ran west. The course is such in Worthing that you're never that far from the start line, weaving in and out of the roads (and as it happens, some cars too as some residents took exception to the race). Half way round, things were going great. We were sub-one hour (and that included a pee break for one of us!) and tottering along well. I left the watch running the whole time as I wanted to keep the time as close to the race as possible! Yes, we'd entered the race, but essentially it was another training run - except with a medal - and what looked like the original three wheeled van from "Only Fools and Horses". If that can get to the finish line, then so can we I thought at the start!
The second half of the race offered its own set of challenges, not least yours truly innocently shouting to a runner coming the other way. "is is easier going down?" The people of Worthing truly do have filthy minds!! We crossed the line about 2:04 (my watch says 2:03 but it is unofficial). 13.1 done for Dave and I had 2 more to add on with! Smashing to see so many friends as we crossed the line, and thanks to Georgia for coming out and providing a great, post-race photo of the likely lads! (below)
The extra two miles were nice and steady and I had the entire road to myself as the road closures were still in place. Smashing to see friends further back in the field as well as having the opportunity to chat very briefly with Stef and Laura with whom a meal out must surely be on the cards soon!
So, what do sensible people do the day after a long run? Rest? Recovery run? Well, smart ar$e here did two! An early 5k with the Young Anderson, soon followed by another 5k with Dave. Surprisingly, the legs were up to it and I won't pretend it wasn't pleasing to realise this! Plus, at the end of the second run, we stretched to a view like this:
Tuesday saw "just" another 5k with Dave as we well and truly got the half out of our legs, before Dave was away for the day, and Luce suggested a longer run on the Wednesday. Having done the seven miles a fortnight earlier, I suggested that. The route takes us from Hove, westbound through Portslade before crossing the Lock and heading down back to the seafront. I really like this route because there is something about it that means you get 7 miles in the legs for the price of about 5! Despite being "locked" as the gates were opened to allow fishing boats to enter, it was a lovely run and credit to Luce for banging out the fastest mile at mile 7! It's been a few months since she'd done a 7 miler and you wouldn't have known!
Remembering my GoodGym mistake from the previous week, and all too aware that I'd done 7 miles earlier that morning, the Wednesday GoodGym run was kept to a respectable 2 miles. Nothing to be gained by adding the mile on! A nice cool evening for a run, and great to see some of the Arena 80 folk out too.
"I need a rest day" - if that is the first thing you think in the morning then it's usually a good idea to actually take one! Admittedly it was 6.30am and I was trying to open my eyes ahead of an early 5k with Dave. Eventually, the eyes opened and the legs began to move, and we headed out on a stunning morning. Blue skies and cold, crisp air all tried to help me get through it! Turning just before Hove Lagoon with less than 1.5 miles to go, we got the full beauty of the sunrise and it saw us step the pace up towards the end! I stopped the Garmin at the end of a 40 mile week and I knew the rest day was needed!
Saturday will see the LSR take place in the form of Lancing Beach Green parkrun, a 4 mile add on to Worthing and back, then yours truly heading for Hove to make the miles up to 16. How will I do? You'll have to read about it next week won't you, as that's another story!
