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? 

Bank Holiday Weekend

A Bank Holiday weekend, a thrilling prospect of an extra day off work, so much time, so much potential. But as is all too often it can descend into a lethargic mess of miserable British weather and over crowded garden centres.

I can't see my bank holiday weekend has been all that bad but this morning, which is bank holiday Monday morning I find myself in an Alan Partridge bank holiday boredom quandary of not knowing exactly what to do with myself.

I guess I have kind of confused myself as today is a rare day off where I don't feel like exercising and don't have a training plan in place, and it a very strange occurrence to reach after 10 am and I haven't even planned when I am going for a run let alone have been for a run!

My lack of appetite for exercise stems from two factors, firstly the gloomy, wet and miserable view outside my window which is a prime example of the a fore mentioned British Bank Holiday weather and secondly a weekend spent visiting my mum and dads being indulgent in all manner of my mums cooking and various snacks, crisps, cakes and other not so good for you treats that I have been very good at avoiding during my marathon training. 

Saturday

My Saturday of the weekend was spent with an early morning drive with my wife up 'North' to meet up with my parents along with my Sister and her Fiance at Rutland water reservoir. 

The next couple of hours were then spent riding the 16 miles around the lake with this vehicle below being my mode of transport: 

   

A very enjoyable way to spend an afternoon even if my natural speed and energy was somewhat restricted by the slower speed of the girls and the large weight I carried in my bag as I acted as pack horse for the group carrying drinks, snacks and jackets. 

A pretty good form of exercise as well and quite a sweat and appetite was worked up which was good as a plentiful picnic was waiting back at the car. A wide range of homemade snacks and cakes, salads, crisps, dips, coleslaw, rolls, nibbles and sweet treats easily replaced the calories burned and then some!

Sunday

Sunday morning I headed out for my usual run when I am back home at my parents, I see it as less of a training run and more of a trip along memory lane along my route through the town and park. 

The park does have its picturesque spots as my pictures illustrate despite on the surface not appearing to be anything special.

       

The run wasn't my finest as I was possibly a bit tired from the bike ride the day before but I also definitely felt the negative affects of all the snack and junk food consumed the day before. 

I still managed a sub 50 10K on a very steep and hilly route, but although it was a good time it was a struggle as I really didn't feel that great or comfortable the whole way round. 

Sunday afternoon we headed off to a local garden centre for a little look round and a spot of lunch.

When I was confronted by the cake selection I was glad I had popped out for a run earlier as the cakes all looked awesome! They had all the standard kind of Victoria sponge cakes, meringues, millionaire shortbread and rock roads but also a range of confectionery inspired cakes such as a mars bar cheesecake, an oreo cake along the lines of a pavlova but the one I really couldn't resist was the peanut butter stack. 

   

It was delicious! It lived up to its looks and a perfect blend of sweet, chocolately, sticky, sickly peanutty goodness! It was made up of layers of chocolate brownie, some kind of peanut butter cream, topped with a thick caramel type sauce and peanuts, awesome!

Sunday afternoon was then for the drive back home when I got hit with some rather bad news, I had left my trainers at my parents house! Whoops! 

Mum is going to send them in the post but they wont get her for a few days so I am a bit unsure as to what do to with my running until then. I have some other trainers but they are well past their running best and I don't want to risk any injures pr pain by running in unsuitable trainers. 

So with the weather, my lack of interest in training today and a lack of suitable running footwear my day at the moment is looking a bit like this, coffee and pissing about on the internet. 

Thanks for reading and I hope you have had/are having an enjoyable Bank Holiday Weekend whether you are running or not. 

Bank Holiday Weekend Barbecue

A bank holiday weekend, is there much anything much better to do than a barbecue?! 

For the first time I decided to make my own burgers with a bit of assistance from a recipe from a chef called Jamie Oliver, not sure maybe some you will have heard of him he's quite good.

The recipe I used can be found here

I used it fairly loosely and made some burgers with and without mustard, to be fair there wasn't much difference in taste just colour, appearance and texture as the mustard ones were lighter in colour and slightly softer due to the added moisture.

So if you love a barbecue or are looking forward to having one this summer feast your eyes on the following documentation of my burger making process and subsequent barbecue. 

Carnivores beware you will be licking you lips in anticipation by the time you get towards the end! 

First step; finely chop some onions and lightly fry, for my first batch I used a normal onion but for take two I used a red onion and I think a regular probably worked best.

The onions were fried in some cumin as well to add a little extra flavour and kick which I think worked really well.

Next finely chop some flat head parsley, I tried to take a lot of care and attention in my fine chopping of both the onions and parsley and think it is definitely worth doing this so you get nice small pieces distributed throughout your burgers.

Time to start mixing up the ingredients, this is the mince mixed in with the onions and parsley. 

Next breadcrumbs and grated Parmesan, I know Parmesan in a burger! Wow did it work out well! It added so much to the texture and brought a soft dreamy feel to the bite of the burger the way that only melted cheese can. The Parmesan also provided the most deliciously pleasant after taste that lingered so delightfully at the back of your mouth after every burger.

Once everything was in the mixing bowl it was time to crack an egg in and season with a little salt and pepper, then it was time for the best bit!

Getting involved! 

I love getting involved with the meat whether its getting you hands right intoa mixture like this or preparing a nice chunk of roast beef or feeling up a chicken with herbs and marinade in preparation for a roast dinner.

The end result, some lovely little balls of meaty goodness.

I experimented with slightly different shapes and sizes and made a few massive burgers that weren't far off an inch thick and filled a burger bun from edge to edge.

However I felt smaller fairly thick burgers worked best and although that left a lot of excess bread around the burger they were best for cooking and were the right portion size.

I prepped my burgers in the morning so in the afternoon I had time to sort out the actual barbecue and entertain our guests. 

I am not an incredibly macho guy but the lure of making fire and cooking in this way does bring out a massive primeval urge in me and its something I really love doing. The eternal mysticism of fire never fails to captivate.

Fire under control and the coals burning nicely, the time has come to get cooking!

Having only a teeny tiny barbecue the grill was pretty fully loaded as you can see which worked OK but just required a little rotation to move things in and out of the hottest areas to get more consistent cooking. 

The end result, I was so busy enjoying it I almost forgot to take a picture!

My major discovery was the revelation that is brioche buns. I am a massive fan of brioche as a breakfast treat but have never had it before as a burger bun and cannot recommend it highly enough! The sweetness of the bun mixed with the creaminess of the parmesan from the burger worked like a dream.

It wasnt all meat though we did serve up some healthy veggie stuff in the form of peppers stuffed with rice and feta cheese. Not only are roasted peppers ridiculously tasty they add that nutritious balance as well as adding a vibrant dose of colour.

A picture of my barbecue in full flow, a magnificent sight!

And of course we made sure we had a bit of liquid refreshment to help wash all the food down! 

What summer barbecue would be complete without a glass or several of Pimms?!

All in all the barbecue was a culinary triumph for the tastebuds and one I look forward to repeating again soon once I have recovered from eating the burger shaped equivalent of a small cow!