Return to Netley Abbey parkrun

After having a good time at Monday night training, I was looking forward to this week’s running. I planned to do the Thursday night endurance session, Netley Abbey parkrun and then a long run on Sunday.

Lordshill Thursday night endurance session

Several of the usual runners weren’t at the Thursday night session, but it was nice to chat with Elaine and others during the warm-up. I was pleased that I was not too far from my targets. I ran 10.56km and averaged 6:46/km.

Other exercise

On Friday, I managed to squeeze in a long walk at lunchtime with Rachel. It’s been ages since we’ve been able to have a proper catch-up, so I really enjoyed it. I’m going to really miss seeing Rachel when she moves away. I’d love to know how far we walked, but I managed to mess up my Garmin, so I didn’t record most of our walk.

At the end of the day, the weather was still dry, so I used our ebike to collect M from school. As I can cut through to Bassett Green Road when I’m on a bike, the journey can be quicker and easier than going by car. It’s also better for the environment, saves petrol and means that I don’t have to worry about finding a parking space. It also makes M happy as she loves being a passenger.

Netley Abbey parkrun with M

I was shocked to realise that the last time I ran at Netley Abbey was back in 2017, when we travelled there to celebrate Big Dave’s 250th parkrun. I’d wanted to come for a while, but it’s been difficult with other commitments. On this occasion, Stu was doing a trail half marathon, so I decided to go and enjoy it with M.

We ended up running later than I’d hoped, so didn’t have a lot of time to chat with people before the start. There was also a large crowd from Eastleigh Running Club to celebrate their Couch-to-5k graduation. I saw Sharon and Rachel, so went over to catch up with them before the start.

M wasn’t feeling like racing, so she decided to count dogs whilst we were running. I’m sure there were duplicates (or triplicates as it’s a three-lap course), but M was pleased that her final count was nearing 60! I also saw Dorte pacing 25 minutes and we had a hug from Aurelio who was tail-walking.

Our time wasn’t fast, but M completed the entire run without complaining. I think she liked the smaller numbers than Southampton.

After running, we went to the Cedar Rooms, the refurbished cafe at Royal Victoria Country Park. It looks attractive inside and has a reasonably priced menu. Between us, we had apple juice, hot chocolate, a bacon roll and a vegetarian sausage bap. A hot drink and bacon roll is just £5! M was very excited about having a bacon roll!

I can’t believe it’s been so long since I last visited this lovely parkrun. I’ve always enjoyed the park as it has a lovely children’s playground and the bluebells (when they’re out) are stunning. It definitely won’t be six years before I’m back!

Sadly, on Sunday, I felt exhausted and didn’t make it out for my long run. I hope it doesn’t derail my marathon training!