It’s been an interesting week. My boys are fully back in to the swing of things at school now so I can get my routine back on track. My aim is to find new routes and test different techniques out and see where it takes me. As Eldest is now volunteering at Parkrun I’m organising my running regime around that, which is quite handy.
So, the week started with a run on Monday: I worked until 1pm, so I had an early lunch whilst I was still working. Unfortunately I didn’t quite leave enough time (1.5 hrs) for it to go down, so by the time I got back I was very uncomfortable. I managed 2 miles at a reasonable pace though, and my route involved a few hills but I learned that I needed to eat a full meal after my run. I did learn one other thing: bouncing runs...I have a favourite Strava Segment, and I found that if I bounced a bit more into my stride I went a lot faster. I would have beaten my PB and got fastest female this year if I hadn’t had to divert round a lady & her dog. Ah well, next time.
Tuesday was yoga which was lovely.
Wednesday, I had a snack whilst I was working and that was fine. However, I drank too much this time. I found a brilliant new route which involved going north of the river (ooooh!) and down to the old railway line and back up my new favourite hill (honestly! But it’s only diddy). I also wore my new lovely Ron Hill leggings with the zippy pocket in the back, and they fab because they are really snug. Unfortunately my new regime of keeping myself hydrated bit me on the proverbial. No matter how much I go to the loo beforehand it’s never enough. I don’t think I need to go into too much detail 😳😳😳 but I raced home very quickly once I got back over the river again. 2.6 miles at record pace! The running bit was fine and I could probably have done much longer, maybe even pushed it to over 5k at last, but it was not to be.
So, the new plan was to not drink as much and plan it around rest days, two of which I now had before Parkrun.
Two very busy work days later and I thought I had sorted the hydration thing. Eldest son and I went off to Parkrun, no morning drink and just a cereal bar inside of me. Because I was hanging around for longer than usual I think the cooler autumn air got to me and by the time we started I realised I would have to take a ‘comfort break’ somewhere on lap one. Luckily, I didn’t have to do a Paula Radcliffe 😳 as there were loos about 2/3s of the way round. I don’t know how long it took but I knew that was any chance of a PB today out of the window. Still I went flying out of the (loo) blocks and caught up and passed quite a few people and I was fine for the rest of the run.
Strava says I had a 9:24/mile pace which is a record for me. If it hadn’t have been for the loo break I would have finally cracked 30 minutes. Next week maybe...as long as I’ve sussed this feeding & watering thing. More learning for me next week 📖 🙄🦆
In my first few weeks post-graduation, one of the gremlins I had was a desperate need to pee, even though I had been before I left home. I stopped obsessing about hydration and just drink normally, taking a couple of mouthfuls of water just before I go out for my run. 
Burnage parkrun meet - leg 1 complete!
Abingdon Parkrun - streak of 3!!
W9 R1 parkrun 
Park Run - 2 (B210W4R1)
