My Bank Holiday Weekend of Running

Bank Holiday weekends are great, three days off work, which can only mean one thing; three chances to run! Needless to say I made the most of the three opportunities! 

All in all it has been a great weekend, here is what I got up to running wise and a few other bits...

Saturday - Harrow Lodge Parkrun

Over the summer I have planned to visit all my local parkruns and this was one of the weekends I had planned to visit somewhere new. Then I heard that Harrow Lodge were planning to raise awareness for a local boy and God son of one of the race directors who had recently died of Sepsis by supporting #Orange4Sepis. With orange being my favourite colour and having the chance to be involved in a great cause I head over to what used to be my local parkrun. 

It turned out I hadn't visited in almost two years and I found the tough cross country course really challenging and finished about a minute slower than my course PB. However the course has changed since I was there last and I think it has definitely got tougher! 

Despite being disappointed with my time I was impressed with my placing of 13th and coming first in my age grade! WhooHoo!!!

The post run brunch at Healthy Roots was a great way to celebrate too! 

R

Gluten free protein pancakes with lean grilled bacon and avocado, absolutely fantastic and a great way to refuel!  

Sunday - Westminster Mile

The first time I have ever raced a mile and the first time I have ever been involved in an event like this. 

I loved it, I enjoyed the challenge of racing a shorter and faster distance and I really enjoyed the inclusive atmosphere of the overall event. It was great to see so many activities alongside the running available in Green Park and I loved how the event really seemed to be about encouraging people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds to get involved in activities and running. 

As for my mile effort I was really pleased with an official time of 6.11! 

Alongside challenging myself in the mile I also got the chance to race against my two running buddies Chris and Tony to a 60m sprint race complete with starting blocks and everything. 

Great fun! And even more enjoyable as I came out the sprint victor!

I think I will write up a specific post about Westminster Mile in due course but for the moment I would highly recommend a really fun event that covers a great route and has a great medal! 

Sunday Afternoon - England v Wales at Twickenham

After the running fun was over I head over to West London to enjoy an afternoon at the rugby having won tickets to the game a few weeks ago.

A burger a few beers, chilling out in the fanzone and then watching the game a great way to spend an afternoon! 

Bank Holiday Monday - Long Run time!

With my next marathon fast approaching I need to get back to a few long runs so despite my legs feeling a bit worse for wear from the weekend I headed out with the aim of covering around 15 miles.

The distance wasn't the main objective as I feel I need to work on my long runs. Rather than trying to maintain a much slower than marathon pace run or trying to match (and in my case usually crash and burn) marathon pace I am focusing on finishing the session stronger and faster. So for today's run my aim was 15K at comfortable pace of around 6 min/km pace and then to finish with a faster pace. In reality this transpired to 15K averaging around 6.10 min/km and then 7K at sub 4 hour marathon pace of around 5.35 min/km with two slower Ks to finish. It certainly felt a much tougher session than a 'normal' long run and time will tell if it proves successful in improving my marathon time.

So I certainly made the most of the three day weekend and I hope you did to?