Barcelona Revisited

As it had only been 4 weeks since I ran the Barcelona Half Marathon, it didn't seem too daunting to be returning on my own for the Marathon.

DRC meeting in the pub

I was worried about my lack of conversational Spanish, but Gerardo (the race organiser) had arranged for me to be picked up at the airport and taken to the race hotel, which took a weight off my mind. It was really nice to be driven into the city in daylight, and then to be able to pop out and meet my DRC clubmates Seb and Craig for a beer before dinner.

I have to admit to feeling like a bit of an imposter at dinner, as when I looked around, almost every other runner was from East Africa. Still, maybe my half marathon position of "Fastest European" was still available for the full 26.2 miles.....

Saturday was a slightly odd day, as the Kenyans and Ethiopians had a "briefing" meeting at lunchtime so plan their pacing and discuss it with the pacemakers, and there was another meeting later on for the Spaniards/Moroccans, but I had the day to myself, apart from getting my number from Gerardo. Somehow I managed to fill it with incessant eating, relaxing and meeting up with friends in cafes.

I seemed to have shaken off most of the cold that had been pestering me all week - though a persistent headache was still nagging at me, but I hoped that when I started the next day, I'd forget about everything but the run ahead.

You worry about sleeping through breakfast when it's scheduled for 5:45am, but there's practically no chance of that, as most of the night before a big race is spent lying awake, fretting about the fact that you are still awake! Anyway, all too soon we were on the bus heading towards the start. I had a laugh with Edwin sitting next to me - he asked me how I was feeling and told me not to say what I "hoped to run" but to be confident and say what "I would run". What a nice young man.......and certainly one to watch in the future. He was going to pace the lead men up to the 35k mark, and is hoping to debut at the marathon later this year ("maybe 2:06 or 2:07") having run his last half marathon in 60:54!

As we shivered in the tents at the start, trying to dodge rain showers, I heard my name being shouted......it was Seb and Craig on their way to their start pen......lovely to see familiar faces amongst the 18,000 strong crowd!

After being allowed to warm up on the first couple of hundred metres of the course we were called back to the start line to clear the course so that the wheelchair race could begin. There was a good sized field consisting of racing chairs, hand cycles and "standard" wheelchairs being pushed by runners. A few minutes after that, there were a few announcements I didn't quite understand, and then everyone suddenly started running......so I guessed it must have been a countdown, and quickly switched my head into "race mode".

A lonely run (with 18000 others)...

Within 300m I was running alone. I could see some speedy packs of runners away in front of me, an Ethiopian lady not too far ahead, but apart from that there was no-one around. I had spoken to a lady on the start line who told me that she was only running the first 15k and so said she might be running a similar pace to me, but I didn't see her again after passing her 200m in. By the time I saw my friend Als cheering me on and blowing her samba whistle, I was frantically looking at my watch. I couldn't understand why I hadn't been surrounded by male club runners, and wondered if I'd set off at some ridiculous unsustainable pace. A check of my watch, at the 1k mark and again at the 5k mark showed that I was running exactly as planned, but it was eerily quiet as I'd now passed the Ethiopian lady and so could hardly see anyone ahead. Gradually, after about 6k, some of the men began to run past.......and I later worked out from seeing clocks registering times 2 minutes faster than my watch, that the first wave had started 2 mins after me. Unfortunately for me, this meant a very lonely race indeed, as those people running at about the same pace as me would be 2 minutes behind me, and all those passing me would be aiming for much faster times (though it meant that I could cheer a fellow Brit on as he ran past).

Whilst milling around before the start, another guy had mentioned that Barcelona was the only marathon in which he'd run a negative split, so I thought that the second half of the course might be faster than the first, so consciously steadied my pace so as not to get to the halfway point too quickly and have to pay for it later.

The race route

It was great to actually see the leading men running towards me just after they'd passed the halfway point, as the route briefly doubled back on itself. I waved at Tom who was pacing the leading lady and saw all 3 African ladies ahead of me. They were easy to spot as they'd spread out slightly and so each was accompanied by their own cyclist. A time check at halfway was reassuring......still on target pace......and I had the opportunity of then watching runners further back coming towards me, including the 2:45 and 3 hr pacemakers. I had tried to follow the blue line the road as far as possible ( though in places it did waver around as if painted by someone who'd had a few sangrias, but as this line went rather wide round many of the corners and hairpins, I realised it wasn't actually marking the optimum route.

There was an amazing amount of support en route........not just from Als (who did seem to pop up an amazing number of times, having usually asked a random stranger in the crowd near her to wave a saltire so that I could spot her with her camera and whistle) but from all the locals who lined the route despite the cold, wet conditions. It may be that I got extra support due to my position in the race, as everyone was very vocal and I heard "primera blanca" shouted many times, but whatever the reason, it was very welcome (though admittedly some people were so keen to offer support and spot loved ones that they actually caused obstructions to run round).

I have to say that I found the second half of the race rather tough, and it seems that I wasn't the only one. Looking at other people's 5k splits after the race, most of the field slowed down after halfway, so I actually maintained my position. A marathon is a long way to battle any wind, especially if you are not afforded shelter by other runners. The conditions were much more Scottish than Spanish, and I never once felt too warm while running. My shoes and socks became heavier and heavier as they got more sodden from the wet conditions, and I'm told that the strain was showing on everyone's faces as the race progressed. One of the toughest battles that I faced was with myself, as there was such a strong temptation to stop once I knew that I was no longer on target for the time I would have liked to run.

As an added sting in the tail of the race, the last few kms are uphill from the seafront, and you seem to be running up towards the columns of Plaza Espanya for a very long time without it ever getting any closer. I had remembered seeing the 42k sign as I was warming up, so I knew that when I turned that final corner, I still had a few hundred metres to go but eventually I made it, 86th overall and happily still as 4th lady.......1st European and 1st vet. I thought I was actually having auditory hallucinations when I finished, as they announced me as being Ukrainian, but I was back to being British in the results!

 DRC group hug

It looked like the Kenyan lady hadn't been that far ahead of me, as she was still being tended to by the paramedics just after the finish (she found the cold and wet a big difficulty), and I later found out (as friends at home had been tracking the race) that although I felt like I was running backwards in the latter stages, I had been closing her down. I have to take my hat off to the physio who was giving massages after the finish, as he didn't flinch in the slightest when removing my sodden shoe and socks so I could hop onto his table. I also discovered what a great changing room a saltire makes, so I was feeling more human again by the time I saw Seb and Craig for a group hug when they finished.

Rehydration

It was a tough run, but there is nothing you can do about the conditions, and although I was disappointed in myself, I can now see that it was still a performance to be proud of. I was closer to my target than most of the other runners that I started with, I can take comfort from the fact that I was a lot closer to 3rd than I was to 5th, and all the hard work that I've put in so far is still in the bank for the rest of the year. As Doug said in a text to me that evening, it's much better to have run well in those conditions and been close, than just missed it in ideal conditions!

Taper Tantrums

Well, I've reached the hardest bit of the training cycle.........the taper.

For anyone who hasn't gone through it themselves, it would appear that this is the best time in your running calendar, as you cut back on mileage while trying to make sure that you eat and drink plenty. All the hard work of training has been done, and its time to let the body rest up so that you can arrive at the start line feeling refreshed, eager, and with a spring in your step ready to run your best.

In reality, it's a period when you have time to worry :
Have you done enough?
Have you done too much?
Are your times what they should be?
You don't feel that you're running well, or are you running so well that you're "overdue" an injury?
Will that twist of the trailing foot come and haunt you several miles into the race?
Are your shoes too old and so lack cushioning?
Are they too new and hence aren't fully broken in?
Have you learnt from what went well and what didn't go well last time?
Is that niggle an injury developing?
Is that sniffle heralding the 'flu?

These thoughts go through everyone's head.......in fact, you'd probably worry if they didn't......and in my case, I cannot help thinking back to my last big race - the 50k in Italy - and worrying that I'll have a similarly bad experience, but I know that certain circumstances surrounding that race have not been repeated this time.......and so I've managed to learn from the experience.



Glasgow Uni 5





The way I deal with this is to accept that such thoughts are normal and to accept them rather than worry about them, and think about the positives of the training cycle. While reducing the overall quantity of my running, I try to keep the quality there. I actually ran a 5mile PB at the start of my taper, and then threw in a parkrun the next weekend to get some quicker leg turnover. Apart from that, the "taper fortnight" is wonderful for my garden, as I actually have some motivation to dig it over the beds, and I also have much more time and energy to catch up with friends, go to the cinema, eat more cake and so on. Anyone who knows me, knows that eating is something I have never had a problem with, but I do love the "carb loading" excuse (though to be fair, eating the usual amount but running less does probably equate to "carb loading").



Perfect for carb-loading!





As a medic, I guess I'm exposed to more than my fair share of bugs.......but amazingly, I've managed to avoid them all....that is right up until 6 days before the marathon, when I developed the dreaded sore throat and blocked nose. Now it's just a question of time......nothing more I can do training-wise....nothing more I can do health-wise......but what I can do is hope that I have a short-lived cold which won't stop me having a good weekend (with a 26.2 mile run in it)!!

Fun in The Sun

It was just what the doctor ordered.......some time to chill in the warmth and recover from the Barcelona Half, before picking up the training again. I had never been to Club La Santa before, and always thought of it a type of 18-25 holiday camp, but I figured that there must have been a reason why my clubmate Lisa had been there with her family 4years in a row.

Fun with a Fitball

Now that I've been, I can see the attraction and would love to go back.  Not only is it warm all year round, but the food is amazing, and you can do as much or as little as you like.....trying various different activities for free......and it's obvious how well it suits families with children, or families with different sporting interests. While we were there, we saw groups out for ballroom dancing weeks, triathlon training camps, swimming teams, and paralympic development squads, along with families and other holiday-makers.



Track running

It is easy to see how people do too much too soon (I don't mean just spending time in the sun, though there were some distinct lobster-tinges and interesting tan-lines wandering around) and spoil the rest of their trip by being knackered, as there is so much on offer, but luckily I needed some time to chill and recharge my batteries from the half marathon. A good way to start this was with a Pilates Reformer class in the sun on "the Lawn" and the next day, I ran a couple of laps of the 3-lap half marathon that Lisa was doing, at a nice sociable chatty pace.



Beach running



Lisa and I always joke that we feel like tyrannosaurus rexes in that we have strong legs and weedy arms, so while not having the pressure of work, it seemed an ideal opportunity to go to some full body conditioning classes over the week. The barefoot one also included balance exercises, the fitball class  was a giggle, going to my first ever Zumba class (in Danish no less) was comedy, and I actually woke myself up with a gentle snore in a "stretch and relax" class. It was nice to hang out with Lisa and the children while the guys were away cycling, but I also got some nice runs done (both on and off road) in the sun!

The most memorable run of the trip was suggested by Dave (Lisa's husband) as he'd been round the route on a bike - "a nice 10mile round trip to a village along the coast - go there on the trails and return via the road" - simple....or so I thought. The only problem was that after 6.5 miles of trying to run/scramble along v sandy paths and over volcanic rock, I had only come across a cove of nude sunbathers, followed by a cove of hoodie-wearing sunbathers......and no village. The "trail" rather reminded me of running across the Atacama. After eventually finding some houses and turning with relief onto the road home (whilst muttering some rude comments under my breath about never trusting an A&E doctor), I was then reminded of Comrades, as the tarmac road disappeared up a long hill into the heat and sun. I certainly earnt my ice cream that day!!

In the Greens' Cave



The Fire Mountains

After doing a particularly hot run (with a strong wind making me eat sand) it was almost surreal to read about friends at home running cross country races in the snow and mud, and also about the first sub-24 hour winter Ramsay Round. We also hired a car to see some more of the island, including the "Fire Mountains" and the "Greens' Cave", but I probably learnt more about Lanzarote than most people have forgotten, while on a trip to the police station in San Bartolome with Ana, a native Canarian Green team member (some missing money led to the discovery of the "mañana, mañana" way of the Spanish police).





 It was a great trip for some winter sun and warmth, and all in all I would definitely recommend Club La Santa to friends and family, but as soon as I was back to work, it all seemd like a distant memory ;-(

Barcelona

It isn't easy to find a good domestic half marathon early in the year, so when I noticed the Barcelona Half Marathon on February 17th, it seemed like too good an opportunity to miss. Not only was it an escape from the lovely Scottish winter weather, but an opportunity to see how training had been going, and a chance to see some of the Barcelona marathon course.



Sightseeing - the Arc de Triomf



I felt that I'd been training consistently and making some good progress, but in a way, I was scared to race and put it to the test. If all went well, I felt that I was in shape to run a new PB, but if things went wrong on the day, then would I dent my confidence and feel that all the effort I had put in had been in vain? In a way, I was happier feeling that things were going well, without testing myself and putting a number on it.



An epic trip out there did take the pressure away from the race. Not only was I out on house visits dealing with catheters just a few hours before the flight, but it seemed a long walk from Barcelona airport to the train station and then an even longer walk underground when changing from train to metro. All of this led to a late evening meal and even later night, causing some amusement on Saturday by waking up a good while after the race would start on the following morning. 

Race morning was cooler and damper than expected, but nothing like the weather I'd become used to at home. There were almost 15,000 entrants in the race so start pens were colour-coded, and there was a 2-wave start to ease congestion. Luckily I had an Elite start so could warm up on the course and nip in near the front, but I still found in busy on the wide boulevard. The sheer number of runners shooting off meant that you had to take some of the early corners rather wide (unless you were as speedy as the Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, who went on to win in an amazing 60:04) adding slightly to the distance but also making it appear in your race splits as if you hadn't gone off too fast!



Heading down to the Arc de Triomf, I spotted Doug waving a saltire, but also another lady in front that I had been gradually running down. I had no idea where I was in the field, but hoped that it was in the top 10 at least. The lady spotted me and put in a burst to push away - we were on a slightly downhill stretch in front of large crowds, so it was tempting to go with her, but I knew I was running faster than I'd ever run in a half marathon and we hadn't even hit the 10k mark yet, so I managed to be sensible and hold back. 

I soon caught and passed her, and realised with a jolt that a cyclist bearing a "3rd Dona" label was now sticking near me. It also meant that a group of men were keeping pace on my shoulder. At about 15k you can see runners a couple of km ahead of you doubling back on the other side of the dual carriageway, so I spotted the cyclists and then the leading ladies making it look easy. An added bonus is that when I turned back on the far side, I couldn't see any girlie runners close behind, so I hoped to be able to keep my cyclist right to the finish. Now, I know that I have a very sweet tooth, and do love churros (a typically Spanish type of long doughnut) but the smell of them cooking in a van at the side of the course after racing for 17k did turn my stomach. 



Yippee - No 3!

Seeing the sea meant we were almost turning for home, but a sneaky hill at 18k was almost the end of me. I must have looked as if I was flagging at this point as my cyclist started to encourage me (well, I think he did but I cannot be sure due to my scanty knowledge of Spanish). My watch beeped for the 13th time, I turned the corner and spotted a gantry...........yippee.....I was going to make it, and in a faster time than I'd dared hope for.  Florence came back to haunt me, as there were actually several gantries to display sponsors' logos before the actual finish with the clock above it, but some of the men sprinting past me spurred me on to keep pushing and I was rewarded with a "3" card being hung around my neck and a shiny new PB. 

Podium interview

Enjoying the post-race buffet!



I felt like the BFG on the podium next to some amazing runners (Atsede Baysa of Ethiopia won in 67:33 while Josephine Chepkoech of Kenya was second in 68:53), and I'm not sure whether the interviewers got much sense from any of us, but I'm sure I got the most enjoyment out of the post-race buffet.



In speedy company



Dissecting the day later over sangria and seafood (mmmmmmm, I could move to Barcelona), it was great to reflect on the benefits of a sensible pacing technique (my race splits were pretty consistent and I moved steadily up the field over the course - except for a couple of men outsprinting me at the finish) and to reap the rewards from steady consistent training (I've lowered my half marathon PB from 78:08 to 77:02 this year).

No More Big Brother.....

Don't get me wrong, I am completely against the use of performance enhancing drugs - I'd like to think that we all compete on a level playing field and success is a reward for hard work, dedication and sacrifice - and so am very much in favour of drug tests, but being part of a national registered testing pool can seriously impact on your life.

After winning a silver medal at the 2011 World 100k championships, I had my first experience of in-competition drugs tests. After running for so many hours, peeing into a cup in front of a witness is not the easiest thing to do (especially as every muscle protests at the thought of you getting up again once you've sat down). There were no prizes for the event, and the medals didn't even have proper ribbons, but it was a world championship event run by the IAAF (the International Amateur Athletics Federation) and so was subject to agreed rules and regulations. It was actually several months after the race that I received notification that I was now to be included on the national anti-doping register.

This is run by WADA ( the World Anti Doping Agency) and is actually more complicated than it sounds.........to the extent that an official had to come up from Birmingham to "train" me in how to use "My Whereabouts". It's easy once you become accustomed to it, but at first takes up a lot of time and worry. "My Whereabouts" is basically an online system into which you have to submit an address for every single day of the week and provide a daily 60minute testing slot between 6am and 11pm (yes, even on weekends).  One training session and venue should be entered for each week (though apparently it's OK to give a venue as "out of the front door and turn left") and if you do not have a race planned for every quarter, there should be a reason.

In my naivete, I thought that by submitting a 60 minute slot, you would be tested in this slot if your name came up, but this is not the case. You can be tested at any time, but it is only if you fail to do a test in your allocated 60 minutes that it counts as a "failed" test. In the time that I've been on the register, I've been tested an average of every few months, but testers have turned up at my front door at 7am on a Sunday morning, at 9:45 pm on a rainy weeknight, and a couple of times at my work. Once a tester has made contact with you, you cannot disappear from their sight......which can cause comedy moments as you ransack the house to locate your passport for proof of ID, or at work when you're in a meeting or about to start surgery.

The difference to "in competition" and "out of competition" testing is in a slight difference in what medications are allowed. It is advisable to check every medication, even something as everyday as a decongestant for a cold (pseudoephedrine is a stimulant found in decongestants), on a database before you take it. The same goes for any drinks, gels or supplements.......so the WADA app on my phone has been very useful. Any medications taken in the past week are declared at the time of a test, and some may require a medical exemption certificate to prove you actually needed to take them.

Now, as I said earlier, I am in favour of testing to keep the sport "clean" but I do find it quite funny, when I realise that many people running faster than me in races have not been subject to the same level of testing as I have. I generally don't go in for all night drinking sessions, but it is quite restricting to have to submit an address of where you are staying ahead of time. For example,  if I visit friends, I have to ask their permission to enter their address details onto the database, and depending on when I nominate my 60minute slot, it means I either have a curfew, or I cannot leave the house before a certain time - not easy if travelling.

This week I received notification that I can now be removed from the National Registered Testing Pool - and it is amazing how liberating it feels. Although I can still be tested at any time (and can be included in the Pool again), I no longer panic when going on holiday, as I was always worried I'd forget to update accommodation details, or forget time zone differences. I can also go away on the spur of the moment, go camping, or choose to stay somewhere just "because" -  but the main bonus for me is that I can return to taking part in overnight and multi-day events, (eg Mountain Marathons) which is where my love for running started!

Less is More.......well for me at least....

......if we're talking about running that is.......if we're talking about cakes and chocolate, I can never get enough!!!

It is interesting to look back on last year, or even a training cycle within the year, and see what worked and what could have worked better. Even though I had suffered with tendonitis in 2011, and not given it the respect it deserved as soon as I felt the initial pain resulting in several weeks of enforced rest from running, I still hadn't really learnt my lesson. I started to get some foot discomfort early on in 2012, but have to admit to putting my head in the sand, ignoring it and carrying on.....and so developed full-blown Plantar Fasciitis, which meant another enforced rest from training and having to pull out of my target races. This time though, I think the frailty of the human body and the reality of the knife-edge we tread between training "niggles" and developing injuries, did start to sink in. Next time I felt foot pain was in a long training run as part of an autumn marathon build-up, and so I visited the physio the very next day for a check ultrasound.  A judicious week away from running meant that the developing tendonitis settled very quickly and I could still make the marathon startline.

Having had the injuries during the year, my training had been more fragmented than it should have been (indeed sometimes it was frankly not possible) and I did not have long to build up in order to run my desired Warsaw marathon. This meant that I had to increase my mileage and running intensity pretty quickly, which in hindsight didn't work that well for me. The race notwithstanding, as anything can happen on the day, and nobody had predicted the strong headwind, I became frustrated with not quite achieving my training goals and just becoming more tired. Having the 50K race so soon after the marathon was another problem, as it was really too soon for me to recover and refocus.

This year has seen me make some changes, which I hope will be of benefit in racing, although that is really a secondary goal, as they have certainly made me feel much happier about my running....and actually enjoy training a lot more!

I am doing a lower mileage, and all my runs have a purpose. That may sound odd, but it means that I don't go for a run without knowing why I'm going...and don't change the reason halfway through. If it's a gentle recovery run, then it will stay as a gentle recovery run whether I feel like I could fly or not; if it's an endurance session, I'll break the session up in my head as I need to so that I can focus all the way through and get on with it without moaning (much); if it's purely for the fun of going out and enjoying the trails, I won't look at a watch and will change the route so that I cannot compare times. I have also realised the necessity of recovery.....be that my favourite past-time of trying and testing the cakes in all the local cafes, or just sitting on the sofa and watching TV.



A "Reformer"



I know that many people cross-train. While I do not doubt that cross-training/gym-work etc has a lot of benefits and really helps many runners, I feel that I do not have enough time to really get into it. Trying to fit training round a busy job and life, I feel that such sessions would be at the expense of runs...and it is the running that I enjoy, and hence why I do it.



On a "Reformer"



I have, however,  swopped a run for a Pilates session every week. Initially I went along to a mat-based Pilates class with Audrey, but when I was over in California on holiday, Clancy took me along to her Pilates session and we used "reformers". These 8 foot long machines are the main pieces of equipment used in Pilates exercise, and have a horizontal carriage that glides forward and backward on rollers. Resistance is provided using springs along with other attachments for a variety of exercises and positions (that is, lying down, seated and standing.) This type of Pilates seemed to suit me much better, as it is designed to restore the natural curves of the spine (and I struggle with an exaggerated lumbar lordosis - curve in the base of my back) and rebalance the muscles around the joints, so I changed classes on my return to Dumfries. Although the instructor still tells me that my core is too weak and my legs are too strong (so they take over doing the work instead of my core), I do feel that I'm gradually improving, and hope it helps my running form....and if nothing else, makes me stretch at least once a week (ie once more than I used to do)!





A snowy off-road run

Another thing I'm trying to do is to look at the bigger picture - by this, I mean not getting bogged down with every run - eg mileage and pace. If I feel a niggle, it is better to take a rest day, or change the terrain of the run, as missing one or two runs won't affect the final goal, but developing an injury could completely jeopardise the whole cycle. The weather in this part of Scotland can be temperamental at this time of year to say the least, and so, although it's important to get out and train even if I'd rather be curled up in front of the fire, it's not worth risking falling over on the snow or ice and damaging myself. Running in snow can be magical and fun, but it can also be hard work, and therefore I can get more out of a short snowy off-road run, than trying to slide around to "get the mileage in" on slushy wet roads.

 

I'm interested to see the outcome of these changes......but as I said before, at the end of the day, the time I run in a race is just that.....a time, and I almost don't want to race because I don't want to put a figure on it - but I'm loving the process of getting there just now - long may it continue!!

Cake........cake......and more cake.......



Not the warmest day...



January can be a very flat time of the year.......the excitement of Christmas and New Year has faded.....and the longed for warmth and longer days of Spring still seem to be a long time coming! Most people are getting stuck into their training plans for spring races but the races themselves are still away on a distant horizon.

I used to hate having a birthday so soon after Christmas as then there was nothing big to look forward to for the rest of the year, and also because people used to "accidentally" tell you that they'd bought your present in the January sales. This year, however, I loved my birthday weekend as I got to do 3 of my favourite things.......run, hang out with friends, and eat lots of cake and chocolate! The only negative thing was that my parents couldn't come over as planned due to all the snow in the Northeast.



Parkrun



Buggy Running

Luckily I hadn't had too late a night at our practice night out at the local Indian restaurant on the Friday night, so I managed to get up early enough on Saturday morning to drive down to Carlisle for the inaugural running of the Carlisle parkrun at Chances Park. Parkruns are free, weekly, timed 5K runs that occur on Saturday mornings around the world. They are for people of any ability and experience, though I think they are especially good for those new to running, returning from injury, or juggling family time with running. There are no parkruns very close to Dumfries, but I sometimes run them if I'm away visiting family or friends, as it means there are always people to run with (and have coffee&cake with afterwards). It's also nice to take a step back from training and just have a fun run with friends......and Carlisle parkrun was just that. It isn't what I'd describe as a fast course as it is about 50% on grass, and consists of 3 laps with some tight corners, but I had a fun steady run round. I also really enjoyed a cool down pushing my friends' 15month old daughter round in her babyjogger. It was great to run with (both on and off road), and doesn't seem to slow you down much.....though admittedly I didn't go up any major hills!

Tullie House Triple Layer Cake



Morton Manor opened up their cafe for us to have post-run coffee and snacks, so I had my first cake of the day courtesy of Russ and Pip Maddams (who are looking forward to the arrival of their daughter this week.....hopefully). Never being one to turn down cake, I had some more at Tullie House with Doug...and then later went out to a cafe in Dumfries for more treats with Audrey.......which was definitely a good thing as every cafe in the area seemed to be shut on Sunday (either that or they knew I was coming!!!). What more can a girl ask for?

(parkrun photos courtesy of Steve Angus)