Strava-ing to Avoid the Rain

This week's training:
Saturday: parkrun
Sunday: Dinton Duathlon
Monday: Strength workout
Tuesday: 8 mile run & Body Balance
Wednesday: Rest day
Thursday: 5 mile run
Friday: Rest day

It was Woodley parkrun's 2nd anniversary last weekend so how could I not go? Woodley are always keen on a theme and this week the theme was "be different". I keeping with this we were to run the course in reverse. I cobbled together a rather unimaginative outfit of different colours and odd socks but there were some far better efforts made... couples in each other's kit, men in drag, someone in a wet suit... main woman Kerry was present in a bath towel and shower cap! It was a bit odd running the course the opposite way to normal and of course I didn't PB but it was loads of fun, and there was a good deal of cake afterwards. I had a slab of marble cake with thick fudgy icing - mmmm mmm! The rest of the day was taken up with a show (Matthew Bourne's Lord of the Flies) and dinner with mum and of course Sunday was Dinton Duathlon day. A fine weekend indeed.

It's felt like a bit of an uneventful week generally but I'm keeping busy with hen-do planning for Alex and sorting out aspects of my PT business. I got a couple of runs in but have been thwarted by rain, wussiness and things not going to plan. Body Balance is still featuring once a week and I'm starting to do a bit more strength work again. I've realised that I can use the timer on my electric toothbrush to time tree poses and wall sits so I can squeeze in extra exercise - multitasking at it's finest!

I'm not the only one who's been avoiding the rain. I usually incorporate a 1.5 mile walk into the PT session I give to a friend but had fun coming up with alternative ways to achieve similar results in his lounge. I think I managed to wear him out more than if we'd done the walk! I might share that little routine another time.

Awesome, comforting bean chilli

Other highlights this week included some fantastic bed-hair, some delicious bean chilli made from contents of a Hello Fresh box and getting an email out of the blue from a chap called John. John found my blog and got in touch as he's also tackling Gatliff at the end of next month. As Alex might not be joining me now due to family commitments it'll be great to know someone on the day, although I've been told that ultras are extremely social anyway. John has also gotten me into using Strava. This is another of these apps/sites a bit like RunKeeper. I've dipped in and out of them in the past but never stuck with them. This time though I might, not least because it's so easy to upload my data from my Garmin. Although I have the phone app I'm not tied to using it and therefore having to take my phone out with me on every run. John's been very encouraging and I've made more effort to make my planned runs because I've felt more accountable. If you're a Strava user let's connect and encourage each other through these wet dark months ahead!

Bed hair!

This weekend I'm going to attempt to squeeze in at least one 10-mile run around gigs, art exhibitions and the Chocolate Show. And the rain looks as though it'll be holding off - bonus! What are you up to this weekend?