Ponies, pushchairs, peaks and parkrun

M has been ill again this week, so I ended up not doing a midweek run. Then my friend Teri invited me to go for a bike ride on Friday morning. I love New Forest cycling, so I was definitely up for it.

I had hoped to get myself organised the night before, but M was being tricky, so I ended up running out of time. I got as far as getting my bike out (it’s been on my turbo trainer for a while) before I noticed that I had two completely flat tyres 🙁 I was still dealing with M, so Stu sorted my tyres out.

On the road again

I was so excited on Friday morning. I left the house and got part way up the hill before realising that I’d forgotten to put on sunglasses. I rushed home, got my glasses and then set off again.

Teri and I cycled out into the New Forest, but there was a surprising amount of traffic around, which made conversation difficult at times. It wasn’t a Friday – why wasn’t everyone at work?!

We cycled out to Lepe Beach, which brought back a lot of memories. The last time I cycled there with Teri was when I told her that I was pregnant. (I waited until we got there to tell her as I didn’t want her to suggest that I shouldn’t be riding my bike!)

Coffee stop

It was an absolutely gorgeous day and there is a new beach cafe at Lepe, so we made the most of it and sat outside. The cafe is mounted on stilts (to alleviate the risk of flooding), which has made the views even better.

The cafe is accessible, so Teri and I pushed our bikes up the slope and locked them together near an outside table.

When we got inside the cafe, the cakes looked amazing. Luckily, Teri kept me on the straight and narrow by suggesting that we shared a slice of a cake. It was really tasty and we both agreed that we could have eaten an entire piece on our own.

New Forest cycling

We then headed off back through the Forest. The sun was shining and there were plenty of New Forest ponies and their foals enjoying the weather. They’ve got such cute spindly legs!

In the end, Teri and I cycled just over 70km, which is the furthest I’ve ridden for a very long time.

Hopefully, there will plenty of opportunities for me to get out on my bike in the near future.

Training Peaks prize

When I got home, I was delighted to find a parcel waiting for me from Training Peaks. I had won a prize pack including a t-shirt, cap, socks, bottle and stickers.

I tried on the t-shirt and it was beautifully soft, but as it’s a male cut, it didn’t fit me very well, so I’ve given it to Stu.

Run in Riverside Park

In the afternoon, I went for a run with Rachel in Riverside Park. It was nice to be out in the sunshine in a different location for a change. Rachel and I had originally planned to run form my house and back, which would have involved some hill climbing. Luckily our plans changed as my earlier bike ride had taken a lot more out of me than I realised and I found running really hard.

After we gone up and down the river a few times, we stopped for an ice cream.

parkrun volunteering

In the evening, I headed to Fareham for a parkrun ambassador meeting. It was really good to meet up with the other local ambassadors to discuss successes and challenges at other events.

This morning was my second week in a row as Run Director at Southampton parkrun. The next time that I volunteer will be my 100th as a volunteer at Southampton.

How’s your week been?