Lay in, Christmas cake and a happy run

[SueAppleRun]

After my horrible run at the weekend I've been determined to get out there and have an enjoyable one,Couple of long days at work, frantically trying to catch up after being off last week and going off again this week. Both days the wind howled, the rain was lashing down, I got home tired and thought "I'm not going out in this"

Willow got a text last night reminding him he had promised to do something first thing this morning and I put the Christmas cake fruit to soak.

We set both our alarms for 6.45 and woke to an annoying ring of his and some great music if mine

Willow got up, made me tea, kissed me goodbye and I promptly went back to sleep, I woke at 7.30

Then I remembered that today was the day I'd planned to go with Willow and run home along the seafront, it's about 10 miles. Whoops!

Made the cake, got dressed in leggings, teeshirt and out my light running jacket on

It had been pouring with rain on and off all morning but the skies cleared a bit and I left, no real plan but I wanted to a. Enjoy myself, b.see the sea.

I'm going to take it slow, I walk for 5 minutes warning up nicely, speed up and glide into a run, give it a minute or two and glance at my watch, it feels comfortable but way too fast for the beginning so I slow my pace, smile and say the conversational sentence out loud to check breathing is good.

Up and over the railway bridge and steadily keep going, apparently I ran a segment at a PR according to Strava which I saw when I got back.

Across the road and there is the sea, the sun glinting off it , what a wondrous sight. I can see the tide is low but not if there is enough sand to run on. Stretching my neck but I still can't see the edge of the sea

3k run and I stop to take a photo, I can now see there is no sand so turn and run back, now I want some fun so I walk a bit, sprint a bit, and repeat

I said a cheery hello to a few people I passed, when I got to the park the new pathway was so tempting, I zig zagged down to it and a dumper came whizzing round the corner, maybe not, it's still officially closed so back to the road, sprint, walk and repeat all the way home, running and smiling and thinking if all my virtual running buddies here who make running alone not lonely.

Willow got home just before me, checked live track, saw I was nearly home and made tea, what a perfect man

The small Christmas cake was cooked, the large one needs a bit longer.

And that's the start of my week off,

Run happy all

[Yesletsgo Ambassador Graduate10]

What a great start to the week! Good run, sea, sunshine and Christmas cake to boot

Here's to the rest of your time off being that much fun (and productive)!

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate in reply to Yesletsgo]

Thank you, I have a yearning for butterscotch so that's the next thing I'll make,

[Oldgirlruns Graduate10]

What a lovely start to your holiday - how organised of you to get Christmas cakes done already! Have a lovely week!

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate in reply to Oldgirlruns]

Thank you, I'm sure Christmas cake should have been made by end of October, I had such a good run and day too

[dijep Graduate10]

That sounds like you've really had fun on your run😊I bet your house smelt delicious with Xmas cake cooking 😋

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate in reply to dijep]

Thank you, I really enjoyed today's run, the house did smell good on my return, it's been a good first day off

[Oldfloss Administrator 60minGraduate]

A wonderful run!

A beautiful photograph... a Christmas cake made and the perfect husband. What more could you ask for.... you deserve it all....

Well done you! x

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate in reply to Oldfloss]

Thank you Floss, it's been a great day, x

[Oldlady64 60minGraduate]

Fab post, as always. I really liked the “running and smiling and thinking if all my virtual running buddies here who make running alone not lonely.”. I find that such a big help too, let’s keep going!

[RunBrianRun Graduate10]

Nothing quite beats a home made Xmas cake 🤤 It’s great to read that you had such a cathartic and fun run today! 🤩😀👍

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate in reply to RunBrianRun]

2 home made Christmas cakes is even better, I always make too much mixture for one tin, I'm still feeling a warm glow from this morning's run, but then I look at Strava and see the speedy runs, yours included and sigh wistfully, but I know my limitations 😃

[RunBrianRun Graduate10 in reply to SueAppleRun]

2 Xmas cakes yes definitely better than one. 🤤🤤🤤

A run is a run no matter how fast. For me it’s definitely all about speed. I don’t have time for long wistful runs right now, but I will eventually. I haven’t actually run for a very long time now. In fact I’ll need to head to strava to have a look but it’s been quite a few weeks for sure 👍

EDIT: My last run out was on 18th October. 😬 I was planning on a short sprint session soon so maybe I’ll have a go later this week and see how I get on.

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate in reply to RunBrianRun]

Hopefully the rain will stop long enough for you to enjoy your sprint, I need to start really slow otherwise my legs ache and I have to walk, but on the way home I add short sprints and it's more like real running, but I can only do that for a short while then have to drop back to my usual plod

[RunBrianRun Graduate10 in reply to SueAppleRun]

Oh I do hope so Sola. Far too much rain right now to make any form of running much fun unless one is really into that sort of thing. You’re doing exactly the right thing by starting slow and listening to your body. If you fancy a short sprint, and you feel ok, then why not have a go? Well done for doing just that. It’sa really good idea to mix it up.

Can I add that I have been inducted into the world of strength training recently and the benefits it holds for each of us is quite remarkable. I’m also getting quite informed on nutrition and supplementation both of which are very useful to understand.

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate in reply to RunBrianRun]

Strength training? I already do daily squats, calf raises, jumping up and down which I've never been able to do, and some press up type things, the only thing I don't do is lift weights. Nutrition, don't get me started, I have aa good knowledge of what I should be eating, but try telling my mouth. She has a mind of her own and colludes with my hands and my brain

Have a great day and run if you can

[RunBrianRun Graduate10 in reply to SueAppleRun]

👍

[RunBrianRun Graduate10 in reply to SueAppleRun]

My PT has put me on a high protein diet. I wasn’t getting nearly enough before and I thought I ate pretty well. Still, I did munch down a number of celebrations last night with my cuppa t, so it’s not all boring macros 😂

Oh and I bought myself a set of adjustable weights yesterday from Argos too. Just got to use them now 👍😂

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate in reply to RunBrianRun]

Don't tempt me, adjustable weights . ... Have fun with your weights, and is it really celebrations time again? Actually Willow will probably eat the lot, since the biopsies I had in my mouth I don't do well with chocolate but I make up for it with cheese, I wonder if it's too early for cheese on toast lol 🤣

[Birdlady64 Graduate10]

Sounds like you nailed the brief. You enjoyed yourself and saw the sea. Fantastic 😀 And how wonderful the house must have smelled with 2 Christmas cakes cooking. You are very organised.

And even better a lovely cuppa waiting for you. What a star Willow is

Enjoy your time off

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate in reply to Birdlady64]

Thank you ☺️ we are heading north tomorrow and getting excited

[Dexy5 Graduate10]

I love the way you arrange things so a cake or casserole goes into the oven before you go for a run. If only I was as organised as you  SueAppleRun . Oh yes, I love the smell of 🎅🏻 treats! I need to do my cranberry sauce next week, which always smells lovely .

PS Well done on the run 😉

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate in reply to Dexy5]

Thanks Dexy5 😃 I try to be organised, cranberry sauce, I've never made that, but then we don't have turkey so that might be why, I must admit, I was a little concerned about the cakes when I was about 3k from home, and Willow gets very twitchy when I put a roast in before a run

[Scruff55 60minGraduate]

such organisation 🤣well done a fabulous run for you today and a Christmas cake or two too. 🎄🥮🥮🥮

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate in reply to Scruff55]

Thank you, it was a good day all round