A good solid running week this week and I actually got round to doing some of the strength training I have been given. Plus, bonus meetup with a friend I’ve known for over a decade but hadn’t actually met until Wednesday (who is also a running blogger who does the Weekly Wrap!).
Tuesday – Club run night and I covered Beginners for my friend Jenny as she’s poorly. I thought I was late so ran up to the park in a 10:35 pace frenzy, then covered 2.2 miles run/walking with a lovely lady who is returning to running with club and a lady who’d recently had her second baby and was getting back into it. We had another five who were up to continuous running after a few sessions, so they kept together and did another mile. Lots of nice stretching then I ran home with Trudie and Dave.
3.3 mi various paces
Wednesday – Managed to get all my work done and then get to Dave yoga, I couldn’t get into a shoulder stand but I don’t let that bother me now. Collected Cari from the train station and did a walk around Birmingham, then went for a curry with Matthew, two BookCrossing friends and two running friends.
Thursday – A run with Cari – how exciting! I’ve loved watching her journey to becoming a runner over the past 18 months or so. I took her on one of Jenny and my morning runs at 6am so she saw the suburban streets of Kings Heath and Moseley (Matthew kindly took a photo of us but I’d not set my camera up properly):
We did 4.4 miles taking in all the main sights, including a sweet little one-person bench that’s been put half-way up a hard hill (run to the bench! is our cry when toiling up it). Here we are a the end. Couldn’t believe it was dull enough at 6am to need to wear my flouro top!
We then got showered and changed and went off to Stratford-upon-Avon for the day, then I saw Cari off from Stratford and came home. How lovely to meet her, and we got on really well. Here’s to next time!
4.4 mil, 12:52 mm
Friday – Did my first Paul strength training session before yoga:
Dumb-bell forward raises / Dumb-bell side raises 2 sets 8 reps each (3lb)
Dumb-bell lunges / Dumb-bell squats 2 sets 8 reps each (5lb)
Medicine ball twists 2 sets 10 reps (3lb weight held in both hands)
Farmer walks with Dumb-bells some tiptoeing forward and backward (5lb) – this is off Lee’s slightly more complicated sets of exercises: I’m working my way in gently.
Then went to Claire yoga which I found quite hard but there was a lot of quite difficult long holds and I think it WAS hard, it wasn’t just me.
Saturday – I knew I had double volunteering and an errand to get the bus into town for today then a visit across town to the in-laws Sunday, so decided to split my long run over the two days.
So Saturday I ran to the PO Depot to pick up a parcel (of Torq gel singles, rather ironically), back to the house and down to the park for parkrun. As it’s downhill, I challenged myself to do negative splits for the three miles and then did (11:23 / 11:04 / 10:46 with that GAP thing showing that even relative to the downhill I was faster on mile 3 than mile 2). I then volunteered at parkrun: here I’m at the first turn on the course to see them off along the first lap, before moving to the bottom of the slope to cheer the second lap on and then encourage people up the slope:
It was a lovely day if a little chilly – I took my new rucksack with my London Marathon Top of Failure (the one they send you when you don’t get in) and popped that on to volunteer in. The park municipal planting was looking tip-top.
Then it was time for Run and Talk, the England Athletics / Mind-sponsored run, walk or talk and chat run by volunteers from Kings Heath Running Club and Bournville Harriers. We welcomed the new Mental Health Champion from the Swifts club to see what it was all about, too. I ended up running round with Jo, who’s training for a marathon, so we had a chat about training etc., I popped to the loo in the MAC cafe, and then ran home slightly the long way. I’d forgotten to turn my watch on for the first almost half a mile of that run, so under-estimated how long I’d gone and ended up doing over 7.5 miles on a normal breakfast very early and no extra drinks, etc., so was a bit tired when I got home.
3 mi / 4.66 mi, 11:05 mm / 11:55 mm
Sunday – Woke at 6am for my breakfast and it was RAINING! I actually put on long leggings and a top and then a light hoody (I was dressed entirely by cheap brand Primark, apart from bra, socks and trainers).
I met up with Trudie and Mary Ellen and we set off on a really standard five-mile route of mine (I am getting sick of all my routes though and need some new ones – what do you do if that happens?). We were all quite bright so Trudie grabbed a photo of our cool legs:

Trudie’s photo, me in stripes, Mary Ellen in pink compression socks, Trudie in rainbow tiger stripes
And we had to have a pic at that chair on Salisbury Road, for Cari!
I kept shouting “I’m not hot yet!” as I’d thought I would be whipping off my hoody at some point. It is quite breezy with mesh sides – or it’s very efficient at getting heat away – so no I did not. Pleased with it, though. And was quite damp but really happy when I got home:
What a lovely, refreshing run, such a change!
5.5 mi, 13:01 mm (I forgot to pause my watch at the chair – d’oh!) Last half-mile 11:06 others between 12:13 and 12:46 with one 13:36
I then came home and did another Paul’s strength training session, the same as Friday but with no lunges or farmer’s walks as I was in my (wet) socks by then. Readers, I confess I did that because I knew I’d be writing this up today!
Miles this week: 20.9
Progress towards 1,000 miles in the year: 676 miles (10 miles past the target for the end of this month!)
Wendy’s weekly wrap is here and Holly’s is here. I’ve really loved being a part of this for the last few months: long may it continue!
Aug 26, 2018 @ 20:56:52
What a great posting! Almost felt I was running with you – in my dreams only!
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Aug 27, 2018 @ 07:05:27
Oh, what a lovely thing to say, thank you!
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Aug 26, 2018 @ 21:41:28
So much fun to finally run with you. If I’d brought my alternate running outfit from the trip we’d have been a frightening pink and yellow combo,
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Aug 27, 2018 @ 07:05:50
A missed opportunity, indeed! It was lovely to run with you and show you the neighbourhood!
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Aug 26, 2018 @ 22:40:51
Looks like you had a pretty solid week and got in some great miles. Yay for strength training and yoga
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Aug 27, 2018 @ 07:06:24
Yes, thank you, even though it was a non-standard week it felt good, and it was nice to remind myself I can run 4x a week without falling apart!
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Aug 26, 2018 @ 23:26:48
I”m so excited that you and Cari got to run together! I didn’t realize she was traveling. Very cool.
Nice week!
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Aug 27, 2018 @ 07:06:59
I know, right – she did one wrap-up runner one week and one the next – hooray! She did a LOT of stuff and that diddn’t let up when she was with us in the Midlands!
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Aug 26, 2018 @ 23:43:39
You were busy! I love that pic of the three of you…and all those bright colors!
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Aug 27, 2018 @ 07:07:38
Busy but not overwhelming, i’d say. Love my sedate ladies and we were indeed nice and bright (well, I was mainly in black and dark blue but the others made up for it!).
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Aug 27, 2018 @ 00:07:21
How fun that you were able to run with Cari!
Looks like you had a great but busy week – nice job!
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Aug 27, 2018 @ 07:08:01
It was great – not quite as amazing as when everyone met up in Chicago, but we did our best!
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Aug 27, 2018 @ 02:15:11
What a solid week! Lots of great variety, and very cool to connect with a friend for runs!
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Aug 27, 2018 @ 07:08:44
Yes, it was brilliant. Not sure now whether I’ve done that before, though am supposed to do parkrun with my best friend soon, who has been a friend for 25 years but has only been running for a few years.
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Aug 27, 2018 @ 08:34:20
How fun to meet up with Cari and share a run! Isn’t it amazing how blogging connects us? Great job incorporating strength training. I’ll confess that (at least on a few occasions) the accountability of having a fitness blog has been the reason I do a workout. Ha Ha. I haven’t heard of Primark, but if the clothes work well it’s just a huge bonus that they are affordable too. Thanks for linking!
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Aug 27, 2018 @ 10:06:17
Yes! Well, we actually “met” on BookCrossing.com sharing books, which we still do to this day (mainly running books now!). I don’t really need the accountability for running, but when everyone had said ooh strength training I was all like, “oops, better do some”!
Primark is a cheap fashion-led brand but the running kit is decent and fits well and wears as well as more expensive brands.
I love linking and all the commenting back and forth on a Monday!
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Aug 27, 2018 @ 11:16:27
How fun that you got to run with Cari! You had a great week with getting all those strength workouts in too. It’s awesome how much you volunteer to support other runners.
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Aug 27, 2018 @ 11:59:04
Yes, it was brilliant, so glad we could work something out! I did have a good week and I’m keen to carry on the strength stuff. And thank you for your kind comment: I love volunteering and helping others and find I can still fit it in with my own running, so all good.
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Aug 27, 2018 @ 13:35:46
Great runs – even in the rain! I’m fighting a sore Achilles, so most of the planned runs are turning into a walk/jog instead of a real run.
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Aug 27, 2018 @ 13:45:19
Oh no, sorry to hear that. Hope you have some exercises etc you can do to work back from that. Running in the rain is THE BEST.
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A Workout Wrap up from Last Week's Fitness - Becoming Elli
Aug 27, 2018 @ 13:45:17
Aug 27, 2018 @ 21:38:51
So lovely you could share your morning run with Cari.
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Aug 28, 2018 @ 08:54:18
It was fab. I’ve run with Sally on her bike in Cornwall but I’m not sure I’ve run with a friend who’s visiting before. A nice way to show her KH and Moseley.
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Aug 28, 2018 @ 19:52:38
Oh wow, you had a great week of running, lifting, volunteering, and meeting Cari! So fun!
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Aug 29, 2018 @ 13:52:56
Waving around rather than lifting as such, I feel! But yes, a good week. And I’ve done running, volunteering and a core and conditioning session this week already!
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Aug 29, 2018 @ 16:09:11
I had some rain on my weekend run too – nice to finally get a break from summer weather! And always fun to meet “internet friends” in real life.
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Aug 29, 2018 @ 16:14:20
Oh brilliant, it’s so nice, isn’t it. It was slightly muggy for my run last night but nothing too bad so looks like it’s finally broken. And yes, I’ve met a lot of friends that way, but I haven’t gone that long between “meeting” and meeting with anyone else!
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