Following from the parkrun family tradition the day following family day should always start with a family run with as many people as we can rope in!
This year we managed 6 runners (big bro taking the picture) for our calorie burning, hangover curing run. Pairing up based roughly on ability (or inclination) we all set off on an out and back route, 20 mins out and then turn around.
The boys sped off as expected, some testosterone playing its part. I was kindly joined by Marii on my walk/run bump friendly pace which oddly still kept the boys in sight ahead of us as they seemed to be doing sprint intervals.
As you can see from the picture we finished with smiles on our face... maybe because the run was over.... maybe because we knew we had a yummy fry up to head back to!!
For regular readers of my blog you will know that when my brother visits he likes to have a go at Parkrun. This was one such weekend as we were gearing up for the fabulous family day at my aunts. I was a little concerned as I had not been for a run for weeks due to morning sickness but in support of my brother I decided I would give it a go as I could always drop out if I was struggling or ill.
Bromley Parkrun was busy as ever, now seeing in excess of 500 runners every week and this week saw even more than that as it was the 6th anniversary so there was lots of excitement and and of course cake!! The day was pretty hot already, great for our plans later in the day but not so good when it was grey upon leaving the house so we both had too many layers and got a bit warm running.
The course was also being run in reverse, so armed with my Garmin I told my brother his target pace and I dropped back to run with Sherry and share the good news that I was 16 weeks pregnant. I ran most of the way with Sherry and her two lovely daughters until I needed to stop for a toilet break.
This for me was unheard of... I have never stopped in a race for the toilet, not in a marathon and certainly not in a 5km event!! It seems that the baby was doing some sort of dance on my bladder, but after a quick pit stop I was back on my way. I opted for a walk run strategy to lessen the pressure on my bladder and this seemed to work just fine allowing me to complete the run.
My brother completed some time ahead of me and was there to cheer me across the finish to set a 5km PB for baby bump. Felt great to be out running after weeks of absence, may not be fast but happy to be out and keeping fit again.
