Week In Review – Feeling Festive

The last week before the Christmas holidays is an interesting combination of winding down work-wise whilst simultaneously cranking up the excitement festivities-wise. Fortunately, I was still able to fit in enough activity to maintain consistency (and stop my head from exploding with all the things I had to do!).

Monday – rest
Tuesday – 4 miles
Wednesday – rest
Thursday – 4 miles + Ashtanga yoga
Friday – PT session with Steve
Saturday – parkrun
Sunday – rest

The week got off to a decent start when I found a lovely Christmas gift waiting on my desk – a tin filled with homemade Christmas biscuits from one of my colleagues. It felt like I had a reeeeeeeally long week ahead so this was a nice start. Other than that, it was a rest day as there was no yoga class and I took advantage of the chance to take it easy.

On Tuesday I stuck to my routine of an early run and got 4 miles in. But as I finished my stomach felt a little “off” and this didn’t lift all day. It was strange as it wasn’t sore, but I knew it wasn’t quite right. I still ate my meals with no adverse effects, I just didn’t quite feel like myself so an early night was in order to try and shake it off. But before that, a Christmas film to cheer me up.

Fortunately when I woke up on Wednesday morning I felt back to normal and ready to get on with my day. It was Christmas jumper day at work so I was able to wear my brand new one.

It was also our department Secret Santa and I got a haul of cat-themed gifts, including one that managed to combine the holy trinity of cats, Disney and Paris. Well done Santa!

And our faculty head gave us a little gift too. Perfect!

Once more there was no evening activity, so after a home yoga practice I settled down for another evening with a Christmas film. Gotta love the classics!

After feeling “off” on Tuesday I was a little wary about my Thursday morning run but actually I felt great. I even had a bonus sprint at the end as Steve had set off after me and was gaining rapidly. He was right behind me with 0.2 of a mile to go and we ended up racing up our street to see who could get to the front door first. It was an unexpected way to finish my run, but I just edged him out as he was “coaching” me.

And I wore my Christmas leggings to get into the spirit of the season.

That evening I had my Ashtanga class and it was the last one until the new year. It was so nice to be in class and I knew it marked the end of term as I just had one half day left.

That half day was an interesting one which seemed to mainly involve a lengthy game of Friends Monopoly going on in my classroom with a group of seniors. It’s been a while since I watched any episodes of Friends and it really put me in the mood to catch a couple of episodes during the holidays. I might even have to get that game myself!

I ran a couple of errands on the way home at lunchtime (so nice to drive in daylight!) then later in the afternoon I headed down to the studio for a workout with Steve. Once again he had a circuit for me using the TRX and Bosu and it worked my poor abs pretty hard.

That evening we began our festive celebrations with Christmas dinner at the pub down the road that we go to every Friday. We’d been eyeing up their Christmas menu for a couple of weeks but always wait until the Friday right before Christmas. There were a number of options, but of course we went for turkey and trimmings followed by Christmas pudding. Yum!

The celebrations continued on Saturday morning with the last parkrun before the big day. That gave me the perfect excuse to don some of my festive finery.

We were on our usual course and it looked stunning thanks to the cold air and some low-lying fog. The route had been in question in the days prior thanks to some significant flooding, but the waters had receded to reveal the path once more.

Photo by Matt Ross on the Perth parkrun Facebook page.

Later on, we had breakfast with Steve’s brother then braved the pre-Christmas food shopping. I had to hum Christmas songs and plaster a smile to my face Kipchoge-style to try and keep my cool. I think I got away with it!

Sunday was the main event in our Christmas prep – the annual day out to Edinburgh. Despite a train cancellation, we got there on time for our booking at the ice rink and after 10 years Steve is beginning to show signs of figuring out how to skate.

Post-skate we enjoyed a hot gin and apple toddy in the bar to warm up.

And then, some food. We love going to the Chocolate Lounge at Harvey Nichols as a festive treat. We ordered Strawberry Bellinis and I had a dipping plate while Steve had a seasonal special – Christmas pudding ice cream sandwiched between sticky toffee pudding and served with cream, chocolate shards and melted chocolate. I have to say, it sounded amazing but I really wanted something savoury as it was basically my lunch and I knew I would have a sweet treat later.

That sweet treat was a Hotel Chocolat festive drink – salted caramel and clementine hot chocolate. It was delicious!

After all that we headed back to the station for our train home and Steve promptly fell asleep from all the sugar! I think the kittens missed us as they were sitting in the window watching for us getting back. Awww.

We spent the remainder of the day relaxing and watching a bit of Christmas TV. A lovely way to round off a festive weekend and I was feeling really ready for Christmas after that.

What are your pre-Christmas traditions?
Have you dressed up for any festive runs?

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Week In Review – Summer!

Yippee!! I finally made it to the end of the school year! It’s funny how at the time, it seems to take forever and a day, yet as soon as those summer traditions roll around it feels like it’s only been five minutes!

The last week of term was quite busy and I needed to be creative in order to find time to run, so I was pleased with what I managed fitness-wise:

Monday – Hatha yoga
Tuesday – early run 4 miles
Wednesday – evening run 10k
Thursday – Ashtanga yoga
Friday – rest
Saturday – “parkrun sandwich”
Sunday – rest

Having TWICE had to nap last week, I really thought I was in for a struggle this week when I needed a nap between work and yoga. For some reason I just felt worn out when I got home and knew I had enough time to close my eyes for a bit. I pretty much walked in the door, set my things down and went to lie down for a while. I then got changed and headed to my yoga class feeling a lot more refreshed. It was a bit sad that this was the last Monday class for a few weeks but I know I’ve got this to look forward to when I get back from my holiday.

Despite my Monday exhaustion, I had figured out that the best way to find time for three runs this week was to go out early on Tuesday, after work on Wednesday and have a longer run on Saturday. I therefore laid out my kit on Monday night and was out the door quite quickly on Tuesday morning for a 4 mile run. Having run early on a couple of previous occasions, I did find it a bit easier (but the first mile is still a bit of a slog!).

Despite appearances, we are NOT wearing the same top!

A morning run also meant I felt like I had earned our department end of term gathering as we opted for afternoon tea at a nearby fruit farm. I made sure not to let any food go to waste!

While that morning run was nice and cool, since we’ve been having some ACTUAL SUMMER WEATHER it was clear I was going to have a much warmer run on Wednesday evening. I wanted to run 10k so kept my pace down and just enjoyed being out in the sunshine.

Thursday was probably the warmest day of the whole week and I was able to fit in an hour reading in the garden before my Ashtanga class. Having seen the forecast I had been really hopeful that we might take the class outside so I was thrilled when I arrived and it was confirmed that it would be an outdoor session. It feels so amazing to work through the sequence in the fresh air and with the sun on your skin. I even had a go at my supported headstand! And lying in savasana in a light summer breeze felt so good. Fingers crossed we can get outside again this summer.

I took Friday as a rest day. School finished at lunchtime then I made the most of the free afternoon to spend some more time in the garden with my book. There really is nothing quite like sunshine (and the knowledge that there’s no school for 6 weeks!) to start easing away the stresses of the year.

My final run of the week was Saturday morning. In order to fit in a long run and still get to parkrun, I opted for what I’m calling the “parkrun sandwich” – a run to parkrun, parkrun itself then a run home. Steve was in Edinburgh preparing for his Ironman 70.3 the following day so there was no time pressure at all. I adjusted my routes there and back to make sure I ended up with 10 miles for the day. I also wanted to find the penguins we have in the town right now as part of a public art event in the area. There are 80 in total and 4 are in my city so it was fun to add them to my run.

Despite the extra “warm up”, parkrun itself felt ok. It was another warm day and this was the middle 5k of a 10 mile run so I ran a bit easier than usual, and was quite surprised to still finish in under 25 minutes with an average 8 min/mile. Granted, it was a bit harder to get my legs moving again for the run home, but they soon got used to the idea.

Photo: Perth parkrun on Facebook

On Sunday morning I was up and on the train to Edinburgh to support Steve. He had set off super early for the swim start and I made my way to T2 in time to see him finish the bike leg and head out on the run. Last year I found it pretty hard going as a spectator as the weather got quite chilly and there was rain. This year’s warm sunshine maybe wasn’t best for the triathletes, but for me it was fantastic. I was able to see Steve on each of his laps and give him a cheer.

Earlier in the week Steve had decided that he would quite like to go for a post-race roast dinner so we were booked into the pub we normally go to on a Friday. We both had roast beef then I opted for a waffle with maple syrup for dessert. Delicious!

All that sunshine has definitely put me in the mood for a restful summer now…

Do you do the “parkrun sandwich”
Have you ever used a run to go in search of something?

Week In Review – Me Time!!!

Hola! Finally a bit of space in my week as we enjoyed a two day break for “half term” here in Scotland. That meant just two teaching days, one inservice day and then a glorious four day weekend to relax, read and recuperate. Perfect!

Of course training was still front and centre (this marathon isn’t going to run itself, you know!) but there was a bit more room to get things done without rushing around all the time:

Monday – Hatha yoga
Tuesday – bike reps @ the gym
Wednesday – form drills
Thursday – Swim + Ashtanga yoga
Friday – PT session with Steve
Saturday – parkrun
Sunday – 16 miles

My week didn’t get off to the greatest start as I had hoped not to have to stay at school too late, but it turned out we had a meeting at the end of the day. By the time I got away I was REALLY ready for my Hatha yoga class. I decided this was a great time to try out some new kit to cheer me up. They both came from a website called Lucy Locket Loves and while I paid for the awesome Space Adventure leggings, the headband was a free gift as I volunteered as a product tester. I don’t normally wear this style of band but was really impressed as it was comfortable and stayed in place through the whole class. I loved how bright and cheery it was too.

I’m quite impressed with the company as the owner sends friendly, personal emails and the packaging is gorgeous.

The class itself was just what I needed to unwind – gentle stretching, relaxing music and dim lighting. Bliss!

We have an earlier finish on a Tuesday and I made a point of getting away pretty quickly. I headed straight for the gym to get my bike intervals done and since I had found the intensity level quite challenging last week, I took it down a notch in order to maintain the quality of my workout. I still worked hard as my red and sweaty grimace confirms!

That evening I took advantage of my sister’s comp tickets for the current play at the theatre. It wasn’t a play I knew but was pretty powerful.

On Wednesday we had our inservice day which meant no pupils, but a full day of meetings and planning. The real highlight of the day was the curry lunch laid on by the World Challenge group. They are preparing to go to Borneo and this formed part of their fundraising. It’s the third year in a row the curry lunch has taken place on the February inservice and it just gets more and more popular. It wasn’t the “done thing” to take too much on my first visit to the curry buffet, but I definitely didn’t hesitate to lead the charge and go back for seconds!

That evening I got straight home to head out for a set of 500m form drills. I was a little wary as there had been some rather unexpected heavy snow in the morning and while most of it had melted away, there were still stretches of pavement that were slushy and slippy. I still set up my watch to do the intervals and decided that I would aim to do the workout but was prepared to ditch it for a steady run if the conditions weren’t good enough. As it turned out the first few intervals were over slippy paths but I was able to focus on good form while keeping the pace down, then as the underfoot conditions improved I was able to get some quality intervals in in the second half of the workout.

I was also really entertained by this fantastic snow creation in our street (I think whoever built it must have used all the snow in the street as there wasn’t really much left!).

I then had a really quick turnaround to get to orchestra. I’ve probably managed every other rehearsal this term which is a massive improvement on last year when I had to accept that I wouldn’t be playing in our spring concert, but this time I am going to make it.

After all that Thursday was a welcome relief. I actually allowed my usual alarm to go off just so I could have the pleasure of shutting it off and going back to sleep! I started my day with a walk to the gym to have a swim. Being able to take my time and with no other pressures on my day, I felt I got into a rhythm pretty quickly despite very little swimming of late. I really must try to fit it in more often moving forward. I spent the afternoon on some bits and pieces of tidying up then headed out to my Ashtanga yoga class in the evening. It was a small class again so once more we were able to try some newer postures, including working on our headstands. I’m really enjoying having the opportunity to try new things and am feeling the benefit of more yoga throughout the week.

I had an appointment in town on Friday morning so I walked there and ran a few errands before heading home again. After lunch I had my PT session with Steve and since my right shoulder was feeling tight (it flares up a bit from time to time) we did a lot of work to help that before some more specific exercises to help my running. As usual, we used the TRX and the Core Momentum Trainer. For the occasion I chose to wear my Wonder Woman leggings, because it’s good to feel like a superhero from time to time!

Session done, I headed round the corner to have my nails done. I fancied something a bit different this time as I usually go for dark reds/purples. A sparkly silvery colour hit the spot!

And then the weekend. Having already had a couple of days to myself meant I didn’t have a stack of things to do and was able to relax and enjoy myself. First up, of course, was parkrun. We’re still on the alternative course to allow the grass section to recover and to round off a week of madcap leggings I chose to wear my latest, and possibly maddest, pair.

My favourite picture on them is the cartoon cats with unicorn horns!

I was certain that my parkrun streak of each week being a bit faster than the one before would definitely be over but somehow found another few seconds to keep it alive. So including the New Year parkrun double that makes my 2018 “streak” 29:16 (Dundee and a trickier course), 27:20, 27:01, 26:31, 25:34, 24:56, 24:50, 24:43. I was slightly faster this time last year but I also had a stronger starting point with more consistent training at the tale end of the year, so that just motivates me to keep working hard and see if I can keep improving and get back to sub-24 form.

The rest of the day was nice and chilled – coffee and bacon croissants with Steve’s brother, food shopping and some quality time on the sofa catching up on some reading. I finished reading Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman and can highly recommend it.

On Sunday morning I got myself moving fairly sharp to head out for my 16 miles. I wanted to not only run my usual pattern of 2 easy, 1 harder with good form, but to break the bad habit I’ve been forming of having to stop for road crossings that could be avoidable. This made the run feel harder as I think I’ve been relying on those stops, but overall I was a little quicker than a comparable run this time last year so that’s a positive sign and I know the consistent running will make me stronger for race day.

Once home and showered/fed we headed off to Edinburgh (hence why I wanted to be out a bit earlier). Steve has been planning to upgrade his iPad ever since I got mine in the summer but was waiting until he got his new phone as he knew he could trade that in against the new device. Today was the day to go and sort it all out and there was no way we were going to go to Edinburgh after a 16 mile run and not visit Hotel Chocolat for a hot drink. This time they had Easter specials (perhaps a little early, but who am I to judge!) and the picture on the sandwich board sold me before I even walked in the door! I ordered the Hot Crossed Caramel Hot Chocolat (the caramel was mixed with almond, orange, cinnamon and molasses. Delicious!) and yes, it was the chocolate bunny on the top that sealed the deal for me 😂

By the time we’d done all that and driven home again I was pretty tired as my Sunday is usually pretty chilled after my long run. Good thing I had those extra days to relax beforehand!

And with that, another week came to an end. Apparently there are now 10 weeks until the marathon…

Do you like to wear patterned workout gear?
Read any good books lately?

Week In Review – Festive Fun!

Another week and just 7 more days until the big Ho Ho Ho! It was another reasonably restful week for me as I was suffering from some lingering discomfort around my ribs and torso from all my recent coughing, but the cough has finally subsided and by the end of the week I was ready to start enjoying the festive season.
I’m linking up once again with Jessie @ The Right Fits and Jess @ Jess Runs ATL to share more about my week.

My aim at the start of the week was to shift the last remnants of the cough and give the muscles around my ribs a chance to recover as they had clearly been under strain. I have to admit, I was pretty happy to have the time out as it was pretty chilly outside!

By Thursday the cough had pretty much subsided and I was keen to try some yoga to see if it helped to stretch out the muscles in my upper body. I also knew it would be the last Ashtanga class before Christmas so really wanted to be there. I took it easy and just did what my body wanted to do, which meant moving slowly and choosing easier options for some postures. By the end of the class my left hand side felt so much better, but my right, which had been flaring up a bit more that day, was still feeling uncomfortable. Still, it was good to do something within my usual routine again and although I couldn’t participate at the level I normally would, I enjoyed the class and still felt that I got something out of it.

I had hoped to return to parkrun on Saturday, however thanks to the icy conditions the event was cancelled. If I’m honest, this was probably for the best as it made me take another day to rest and allow my sore side to settle. My day consisted of getting my hair done, doing some food shopping and then settling down for the serious business of the Strictly Come Dancing final (Dancing with the Stars for my readers outside of the UK). It was an evening of glitter balls, dancing and kitty cuddles!

It was Sunday that was the real highlight of the week. It is our tradition to visit Edinburgh one Sunday close to Christmas. We did this for our first date back in 2008 and have repeated it every year since.

It was raining when we set off for the station and the rain was falling on already icy surfaces creating really treacherous conditions underfoot so our walk was a bit slow. Luckily we had left enough time as we had hoped to grab a coffee for the journey, but in the end only had a minute or two to spare so had to go caffeine-free!

Once in Edinburgh we headed straight to the festive ice rink at St Andrews Square as we had booked our tickets in advance. It’s always a bit strange getting onto the ice, but after a slightly wobbly lap sticking close to the sides, things usually click into place for me and I can skate with enough confidence to move away from the hand rails. Steve, on the other hand, has never yet grasped the mechanics of moving around the ice, but this year did make some significant progress!

Once off the ice we were channelled right into the bar where we were keen to enjoy a hot festive beverage. We chose the hot gin and apple toddy which was delicious!

From there we visited a couple of shops before it was time to go for some food. And where else would we go but the Chocolate Lounge on the top floor of Harvey Nichols? I was in the mood for something savoury so had the dipping plate which had olives, hummus, bloody Mary chutney and chocolate balsamic vinegar with some delicious bread. Yum! And to drink? Why a strawberry bellini of course – standards must be maintained 😂

After lunch we had a walk around some of the Christmas market stalls and assorted festivities before heading to Hotel Chocolat for a hot drink. I decided on their winter spiced hot chocolate which was delicious!

The lights at The Dome are always worth a look!

Full of yummy goodness, we headed back to the station for our train home. Turned out we were pretty tired (or full!) so both of us had a nap since we had a while before getting home.

Fortunately the morning ice had melted so our walk home was much easier, but we did make a pitstop at our local Chinese takeaway. Neither of us were massively hungry but we did fancy some food and for some reason fried rice and curry sauce sounded perfect – what a classy pair we are lol!

Any weather-related disruptions to your running lately?
What are your pre-Christmas traditions?

Week In Review – Beaten!

I think this might be my briefest Week in Review yet! Thanks to being ill I really haven’t done anything all week, but I’ve written a weekly roundup every week this year and don’t want to stop now. As ever, linking up with Jessie and Jess to share the details.

If you read my post last week then you’ll maybe remember that by the end of the week I was really struggling with a chesty cough, and it was getting worse. After giving in on Sunday and staying at home resting, Steve insisted that I wasn’t well enough to go to work on Monday (and my protests were rather feeble!) so I called in sick. As it turned out, that was going to be the case for a few days.

I spent Monday in bed trying to rest and catching up on some TV programmes I was a bit behind with (in case you’re interested, Once Upon a Time, Nashville and Will & Grace). I had coughed so much the night before that poor Steve had gone to sleep in the spare room and he did the same on Monday night which meant that if I wasn’t sleeping I could read or use my laptop without disturbing him. Not a very exciting day and when I eventually fell asleep that night it was through sheer exhaustion from coughing.

Ridiculous cat checking to see if she liked tomato soup!

Tuesday followed a rather similar pattern, however after lunch I felt well enough to get up and head downstairs to my comfy armchair instead…just in time for Steve to head to bed having picked up the bug from me. I felt bad as it was his birthday and rather than celebrating he was heading to bed with hot drinks and a bit of a fever. My turn for the spare room!

I stayed off work again on Wednesday as I knew it would be too much for me to spend all day teaching at that stage. I did, however, manage to spend the whole day out of bed. I did a little work, watched some more TV, read and tried to eat a bit more to get my strength back. Meanwhile Steve stayed in bed and I did my best to take him the things he needed. We were quite a pair!

On Thursday I went back to work. I knew I was too “well” to be at home but a day at work is a whole other story and by the afternoon I was really tired. The school has really been hit with this bug so loads of pupils (and staff) were off and I got through the day with the help of my lozenges and the good will of my pupils who were pleased to have their teacher back rather than a cover teacher. I decided not to go to yoga at night as I was not only tired, but still coughing and all the muscles in my upper body were really aching from the force of the cough. A quiet night in front of the TV beckoned for us both as Steve was getting himself up and about when I arrived home.

I felt a bit better on Friday and had a relatively light teaching commitment so survived another day. Steve went back to work too so both of us were feeling the impact of following a “normal” routine. We did still go out to eat as we usually do, but were both conscious that we didn’t need as much to eat as normal – highly unusual for these two runners!

The weekend plan was to relax. Without parkrun to go to (no running until I’m sure the cough has settled and I’m no longer sore) I was able to sleep until I awoke naturally and take my time getting ready. Steve went to meet his brother for a coffee and I walked into town to meet them as I thought the fresh air would be good for me. This meant we could get some food shopping done then relax at home for the afternoon.

After an earlier meal than usual, Steve drove me back into town as I was going to the pantomime with my sister. She works for the theatre and concert hall, so gets comp tickets for shows and I usually go with her. This year the panto is Aladdin and it was the opening night in the newly refurbished theatre. I still find it really strange as I worked there for a few years as a student so knew the old building really well and now it feels like all the doors lead to different places as there is basically a whole new building around the auditorium! Since I’ve been ill I’ve not been feeling too festive so it was nice to do something tradionally Christmassy and make me feel a bit better.

Sunday was another lazy morning (I feel so much better but this bug has left me really tired) and some chores before heading out for a coffee. Once home I spent some time putting up our Christmas tree, something that fell by the wayside last weekend!

So overall not the best of weeks for me. I am feeling a lot better now, but am incredibly sore from coughing and I can feel myself getting grumpy and irritable because I’m not getting the endorphins  from workouts. Hopefully I’ll be able to get back to some training soon as heading into Christmas without any training does not sound appealing! On a more interesting note, this week my photo has been used in some of the emails and social media posts for the Edinburgh Marathon Festival. This was taken during my 2nd of 4 events that weekend (10k, 5k, half marathon and final relay leg in 2015) and remains one of my greatest running memories. If you’re a newer reader or somehow missed it, you can read al about that particular adventure here and here.

Fame at last lol!

Have you put your Christmas decorations up yet?
What’s your favourite running memory?

Week In Review – Winter Begins…

With the clocks going back last weekend and the calendar turning over to November, I guess I have to accept that winter has officially arrived. I don’t enjoy colder weather, but I do enjoy snuggling up under a cosy blanket and looking forward to the festivities of December. In the meantime, I’m continuing to get back into the swing of regular training, but without any pressure. There needs to be some downtime after two marathon training cycles this year, so while it’s important to train, if something else comes up then I’m not going to stress about it. Join me now as I link up with Jessie @ The Right Fits and Jess @ Jess Runs ATL  (they’re both ran the NYC marathon this weekend so I hope they had an awesome race!) to share more about my week.

After being so busy in the week before, here’s how this past week worked out:

Monday – rest
Tuesday – bike @ gym
Wednesday – short run
Thursday – Ashtanga yoga
Friday – rest
Saturday – parkrun
Sunday – Edinburgh trip

I decided on Monday that rest was the most important thing as I was feeling tired. I was at work later due to a meeting then rather than go for a swim I headed straight home to get comfy. I was actually so tired that I went to bed before 9pm and was asleep shortly after. Wow!

As a result, I awoke on Tuesday morning after 8.5 hours of sleep. I was refreshed and ready to go! When I finished work I went to the gym and got set up on the bike with my Kindle again. I started a new book and pedalled fairly hard for half an hour. Often I like to go down to the sauna after this but this week preferred to head right home and spend some time with my cat as she was a little under the weather again. This also meant that I could be in bed at a reasonable time once more.

Wednesday is still a running day, even if the distance has been a little shorter of late. This week I had longer to fit in my run before orchestra so decided on a similar loop to the one I had done the previous Sunday (a bit under 4 miles). It felt good, but was the first run of the winter that was properly dark from start to finish. Time for a bit more high-vis!

By Thursday I was really looking forward to Ashtanga yoga, but found myself a bit behind schedule and was worried I might not make it. By some miracle (and spending less than 10 minutes in the house to get changed!) I got there in time. It was great to have some quiet time after rushing, and I was pleased to hold “Wheel” for the full 5 breaths again. Definitely improving at that one!

Friday was another rest day, this time because the cat had a check-up scheduled at the vet. She was much better than earlier in the week, but she hadn’t been in to see the vet for a month and I wanted to review her meds as well as make sure she had a check to see if there had been any change in her health conditions. We did make a small tweak to one of her meds, but other than that she was about the same which was good news. After that I enjoyed a relaxing evening of heading out for some food with Steve then relaxing in front of the TV with a glass of wine (and the cat!).

I awoke on Saturday to a crisp morning for parkrun. As the first Saturday of the month it was pacer day and I was the 28 minute pacer. I was also volunteering for the 25th time which means that I will shortly be able to claim my 25 volunteer T-shirt 🙂

As usual I was a little bit quick, but by less than 20 seconds which is not too bad, and had a lovely run. It’s nice to run at an easier pace and I enjoyed chatting to several others as I made my way around the course. It was a bumper event with 336 runners (a new record for us) which was great to see.

Post-run Steve and I got changed then headed into town to get some shopping (after a scone and cup of tea that is!).

It was an early start on Sunday to drive through to Edinburgh as Steve had a place in the men’s 10k. It was a chilly morning but bright so we had great views as we drove over the new Queensferry Crossing.

Safely parked, we made our way over to the Royal Mile via Starbucks for a caffeine hit and toilet stop.

The plan was for me to set off as soon as Steve was ready, but before the race began, in order to reach the finish line at Murrayfield Stadium before he finished. I set off with a podcast playing but wasn’t even past the castle before I got a call from Steve.

It turned out that as he warmed up he was getting a problem with his calf and had decided not to race. Probably a sensible decision. I returned to meet him and suggested that since it was just around the corner we (really I!) should pay a visit to the Harry Potter shop Diagon House which had opened in the summer. It’s on the street that is thought to be J.K. Rowling’s inspiration for Diagon Alley and I’ve been desperate to visit, but back in the summer the queues were massive!

Inside, I was spellbound and passed some happy time taking photos and browsing the merchandise. I bought a cloth bag with a picture of Harry Potter in cat form, as well as a couple of postcards for my classroom.

After that we went for a coffee (and the first mince pie of the season!) then had a look in the Apple Store before heading over to our favourite place – Hotel Chocolat. Their products are amazing and there’s a nice cafe. They also had festive drinks on and we had the most amazing salted caramel and clementine hot chocolate. Yum!

Then with all that chocolate goodness inside us we headed back to the car for the drive home as we were both in need of a nap after the early start (and I hadn’t slept too well the right before).

All in all, a pretty good week rounded off with a brilliant weekend, at least for me!

Are you a Harry Potter fan?
Any exciting plans for the festive season?

Week In Review – Training Peak

I’m at that stage in marathon training when the big miles are coming, the weariness is setting in and the taper is looking like an appealing prospect! Here’s how things have been over the past week – linking up with Jessie @ The Right Fits and Jess @ Jess Runs ATL as usual.

This week felt like a bit of a whirlwind, but here’s how my schedule ended up looking:

Monday – rest
Tuesday – bike reps @ the gym
Wednesday – 1km form drills
Thursday – Ashtanga yoga
Friday – rest
Saturday – parkrun pacing
Sunday – 20 miles

I actually felt quite good on Monday morning, despite the previous day’s 18 mile run. Clearly the post-birthday high tea was a great recovery tool! (If you missed last week’s post, you can catch up here). It was a good thing too as my work day was going to be a little different. Rather than be in my classroom all day, I was taking a group of 40 pupils to the Edinburgh Book Festival to see some authors speaking live. It was a good trip and the pupils were brilliant, but some of the timings were a little tight so there was a lot of rushing about to make sure we managed to do everything and got everyone home safely.

I think my young charges were all spending their money in the bookshop when I took this!

After that I decided it would be much more beneficial to head straight home and have some quality time at home rather than rushing about with going to the gym and using up a big chunk of my evening. This meant a reasonably early night and I definitely felt better for it.

Tuesday was a return to normal both with work and training. After school I headed to the gym to complete my bike reps (still hard work but boosting my fitness and making me stronger). I had considered a swim, but was a little later as I had decided to walk down there so headed home again instead so I could eat and enjoy a bit of down time (which basically means sitting in my comfy chair with the cat purring on my lap!).

On foot to make sure I hit my step goal!

I wasn’t looking forward to my Wednesday workout. I had 10 x 1km form drills to do and I just couldn’t work out a route. It’s fine to do some of the reps on inclines, but it does make it tougher. There aren’t really any totally flat routes around here though. To make things worse, I was quite late getting home and organised so it was about 6:30pm before I was heading out the door and I knew that with a warm up and cool down, as well as my recovery segments, I was probably looking at an hour and a half of exercise. In reality that’s not too much, and the workout was fine, but it meant arriving home again around 8pm, whereupon I had to shower, change and eat. I was so tired that I pretty much headed to bed as soon as I’d done all that and was sound asleep before 10pm!

The rock and roll life of a runner during marathon training!

I much prefer Thursday as I have my Ashtanga yoga class. I think this is one of my favourite sessions in the whole week. By the time I get to Thursday I really appreciate the time to unwind and stretch. I always feel better afterwards.

Friday became a rest day as I had arranged to visit a good friend from work who has recently had surgery on her foot. She’s been spending her days at home with her foot up, so was keen for a visit to catch up on the gossip as various circumstances prevented that from happening over the summer and her surgery was scheduled for soon after we went back to work. It was great to see her and we had a lovely chat over several cups of tea and a bit of cake. Lovely!

Since Saturday was the first Saturday of the month, it was pacer day at parkrun. I was down for 28 minutes so that meant I had a nice comfortable (for me) run ahead of me. Probably a good thing as I woke up not feeling at my best. Over dinner on Friday evening I felt a bit off – scratchy throat and lethargic – and put it down to being tired from a busy week as that’s usually the physical symptoms I get if I’ve overdone it a bit. I had hoped to sleep it off, but don’t think I slept well enough. I still felt fine to run (no “below the neck” symptoms) and running 28 minutes rather than sub-24 meant I felt no pressure to perform. In actual fact the run made me feel much better and I was pleased to be able to help other runners again. One friend got a great new PB, with lots of loud “encouragement” from me towards the end, and I helped a first timer to keep on going to the end. Very satisfying.

Impressive that we managed to line up in the right order (no idea where 21 was though!)

It was also Steve’s 100th parkrun (my 90th – nearly there!) and this year he has taken on the job of photographing parkrunners on their milestone run days to add to our event’s Facebook page. I was ready to leap in and take his, however we weren’t standing together and he handed his camera to someone else. It was only later that the lovely Ella pointed out that I was in “stealth mode” again lol!

Can you spot me?

Sadly no Hatha yoga this week, but that did mean I could join Steve and his brother for their usual Saturday morning post-parkrun catchup. I had a pot of tea and a bacon croissant (so delicious) before Steve and I sorted out all our errands for the weekend. After lunch Steve headed out so I finished off the mammoth stack of laundry I’d not had time to tackle during the week and had a nice nap with my furry napping supervisor. It was just what I needed and I woke feeling refreshed and much less “off” than earlier. Hopefully that should sort me out – a cold would be most inconvenient right now!

I tackled the germs hard on Saturday night with an assortment of remedies I know usually ward off any nasties for me and I awoke on Sunday morning feeling pretty much myself, but with a bit of a lingering sniffle. The 20 mile run was on! There was a bit of me that kind of couldn’t be bothered, but I told myself that once the run was done I would feel ready for race day and would be able to taper. But having fought off a probable cold, I didn’t want to stray too far from home in case I had any bother so plotted a route that would keep me reasonably close by but without too much repetition.

I’d be lying if I said it was easy, but then when is a 20 mile run ever easy? I felt absolutely fine, but my body did take advantage of the time in the fresh air to make my nose run a fair bit. This, in turn, made my mouth and throat feel really dry so by the time I got home I was desperate for a drink as I’d used up all of mine. Luckily I had the foresight to text Steve and ask him to have my drinks ready for my return so there was some ice cold water at the door for me to drink straight away, before some electrolytes and my recovery shake. By the time I had my shower I was feeling fine again.

Tired but happy post-run

I also took the opportunity on this run to try out a running skirt I hadn’t worn before but was considering for race day (I liked it so that looks like a decision made) as well as a new pair of the shoes I have been training in (always best to check in case there’s a bit of material that rubs or something). Most excitingly, I had bought a new hydration pack and was keen to try it out. I already have a couple but the sloshing of the water reservoir can be a bit annoying and I still have a scar on my shoulder blade from where the pack I was wearing in Paris worked loose and rubbed against my back in the heat. Ouch! This time I decided to invest in a Salomon pack, where you buy a specific size. It came with two soft flasks on the front and loads of storage for phone/gels/tissues and anything else I consider indispensable. There’s also space for a reservoir, but I just went with the soft flasks today as that was new to me. I have to say, the pack was amazing. It doesn’t really move, there’s no sloshing from the soft flasks and is barely noticeable while I run, yet I know that everything I need is easy to access without having to stop and faff around. Perfect!

So that’s my longest run done and now it’s time to taper. I’m definitely ready to cut back a bit and plan to really focus on rest, especially sleep, over the next three weeks so my body is ready to go for it on race day.

What is your next challenge?
What’s your preferred method (if any) of carrying hydration for a long run?