It's been a long but enjoyable weekend. What started with working an overnighter ended with a trip to an ice cream parlour that wouldn't have been out of place in a Malcolm Pryce book.
I found myself finishing work at the relatively decent time of 0130 & headed back to my hotel for a few hours of sleep ahead of a trip to Southwark parkrun. With three Saturdays in succession planned in the capital I've been identifying more new parkrun events to attend. Currently the plan is Southwark, Mile End & Brockwell. I was joined in Southwark by Dave, a fellow London Martian.
I found myself finishing work at the relatively decent time of 0130 & headed back to my hotel for a few hours of sleep ahead of a trip to Southwark parkrun. With three Saturdays in succession planned in the capital I've been identifying more new parkrun events to attend. Currently the plan is Southwark, Mile End & Brockwell. I was joined in Southwark by Dave, a fellow London Martian.
The Run #1
Southwark is one of the newer parkrun events I believe and attracts a field of just under 50. The park is a five minute walk from Canada Water so accessible from central London with ease.
I lined up hopeful I could return a sub 25:00, yet not overly expectant as the demands of working overnight and a lack of sleep had to be accounted for.
After five minutes my GPS watch advised me I was running at a pace of 5:29/km. This was a concern! I didn't feel in perfect rhythm but returning with a 27:00 run would have been disappointed. I focused and kicked back into life, suggesting to myself that the slow pace just proves you can't burn both ends of a candle and keep getting results.
With the run appearing to me a write off I just tried to get round. My next 3 five minute blocks were consistently quicker and the fear of a 27 was replaced with the realisation that a mid 25 would be a recovery.
I turned the final corner and realised my watch was still in the 23's, something wasn't right so I kicked for the line and stopped my watch with a bewildering 24:13. The course had measured 250m short!!! No wonder my pacing was out. After all of the concern I was only 5 seconds away from breaking my PB.
The Southwark course is a quick one. Three laps of tarmac, flat & a small enough field of competitors make this one to recommend for PB chasers.
I lined up hopeful I could return a sub 25:00, yet not overly expectant as the demands of working overnight and a lack of sleep had to be accounted for.
After five minutes my GPS watch advised me I was running at a pace of 5:29/km. This was a concern! I didn't feel in perfect rhythm but returning with a 27:00 run would have been disappointed. I focused and kicked back into life, suggesting to myself that the slow pace just proves you can't burn both ends of a candle and keep getting results.
With the run appearing to me a write off I just tried to get round. My next 3 five minute blocks were consistently quicker and the fear of a 27 was replaced with the realisation that a mid 25 would be a recovery.
I turned the final corner and realised my watch was still in the 23's, something wasn't right so I kicked for the line and stopped my watch with a bewildering 24:13. The course had measured 250m short!!! No wonder my pacing was out. After all of the concern I was only 5 seconds away from breaking my PB.
The Southwark course is a quick one. Three laps of tarmac, flat & a small enough field of competitors make this one to recommend for PB chasers.
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| Southwark parkrun |
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| Crossing the line in an unexpected near PB time |
The Run #2
Saturday evening took us down to Hayling Island to see friends. I'd decided in advance to pack my running kit as a morning run along the coast would be the perfect motivation to prevent another lazy Sunday. Having run well the day before I felt that a nice gentle hour would shake the cobwebs & also create a calorie deficit to allow for a visit to the much fabled ice cream parlour before we left the island.
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| The beach at the south of Hayling Island |
I offered our friends the opportunity to join me on a run, but for some reason they all preferred a Sunday morning lie in. So out I ventured, down to the amusements on the seafront & then onto the beach itself. Running on shingle is hard work! I tried to keep on the compacted sand as much as possible, but when negotiating some groynes I had no choice but to slug it out. The Saucony windbreaker jacket was well and truly needed as the gusts were unrelenting when running into the wind. Turning back provided no real respite as the lack of sunglasses made vision hard work. I was enjoying myself though, completing easy kilometres without feeling overly taxed at all. I completed just over 9km, a nice end to the week.
The Eat
Last time we'd visited our friends on Hayling our need to leave early meant we missed out on a visit to Pepperelli's. This time there would be no mistake, we surveyed the menu beforehand & made our choices before we'd even left our friend's house!
Pepperelli's is the kind of treat you only find at the seaside. A family run ice cream parlour with a seemingly limitless menu of flavours to try. The menu was even more vast than on their website! This lead to some last minute changes in decision. I opted for rum & raisin, millionaire's shortbread & turkish delight, all for a bargain £3. Paula opted for white chocolate chunk, fudge & clotted cream & toffee crunch. Once all nine of us had ordered I also asked for a single scoop of the most curious offering on the menu, Dorset Blue cheese.
Once everything arrived we all viewed the Dorset Blue with suspicion. Could a blue cheese based ice cream work? Anyone who wanted a spoonful took one & opinion was divided. To me, it was worth trying, an interesting way to present blue cheese & completely savoury. Some mouthfuls even had chunks of the cheese still fully formed. I didn't feel you could eat a whole scoop, but for curiousity it was worth a try.
The sweet ice cream was mostly excellent, only the turkish delight a slight disappointment, I should have stuck with my original selection. After devouring all three and a bit scoops I was glad for the run to start the morning!
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| Pepperelli's menu |
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| His & Her's scoops |
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| Dorset Blue Cheese ice cream |
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