Tough run, and then a fun day out in London

Hey- I hope everyone loved Super Saturday and am not getting fed up of me raving about the Olympics yet!

Where did I last leave you? Friday I was at a wedding all day- it was lovely, there was no rain, I spend the whole day with some fab friends- wonderful stuff…

Saturday the plan was a 12 mile run. Recently I have been going out before breakfast, so I decided to do that. It did not go so well. I will not ramble on (really?) but it was hard. The weather was muggy which didn’t help, but I felt like I had no energy- I walked several times which is very unlike me, and I even had to stop for the toilets at one point. Andy caught me up again and ran with me for a bit which was nice, but I just wasn’t feeling it. It started raining lightly after about 5 miles, then eased off, but then when I was about 1-2 miles from home it poured down- torrential rain. First the rain washed all the salt off my face and into my eyes, then the rain filled my eyes (had to take my glasses off) and at points I could not see because my eyes just could not get the water out. In the end I cut it a bit short and did just under 11 miles, but it was a struggle. I was quite fed up when I got home, but in reality I know that I had not slept enough, and had not eaten normally the day before (wedding meal in the afternoon, slice of cake in the evening), and probably had not drunk enough either. Anyway, as I keep saying, I just want to enjoy the GNR, and so what if I have to walk a bit??

Breakfast could not come soon enough! Nectarine, raspberries, muesli, maple cereal, chia seeds, almond milk, topped with soya yoghurt and pb.

I spent the rest of the day chilling- watching some sports on TV, popping to town to pick up my new glasses, then spent the evening at Andy’s parents- I was so excited during Mo’s race! I really didn’t think he would do it- I thought he would do better in the 5000m so it was even better!!!

This morning we headed into London- we made pretty good time- leaving home at 9am and getting to Tower Bridge at about 10.

When we came out of the tube station it was very exciting to see the logo on the bridge.

(Andy’s camera for most of these as the battery ran out of mine after 3 pictures!)

You can almost see the colours here!

We walked over the bridge to by the Tower of London, and then it started raining very hard!

See those black clouds- they were on their way to us!

We waited in the shop for a bit, and then when it eased off we walked up to the course. Then it started raining hard again, and we still had a while before it started (and we were near the end of the loop bit) so we headed down to a Starbucks for a warm drink and a sit down. Just in time, as it poured even harder.

At about half 11 the rain had nearly stopped, so we went back up to the course. I was so jammy- the crowds were about 2 or 3 people deep, but the man I stood behind moved as soon as the runners went past on their first lap, and then a child moved away, so I got right up by the barriers! Plus we could see them on the way past in both directions, as they ran up the road, turned and ran back down the other side.

Seeing the runners was so amazing- they are just so fast! Plus I hear about them all the time on marathon talk- I felt pleased that I actually knew some of them! All the crowd were cheering every single runner past, but there were big roars for the GB girls. I saw Freya Murray go through, and a little later Claire Hallisey, but never saw Mara (and only later I saw the news story that she pulled out after 5K- such a shame)- extra big cheers for them. The sun came out, and it ended up getting quite hot. After they went by the third time we started to wander to the river.

We saw a band playing very lively music, and walked passed one of the water stations too.

We walked over to St Paul’s, and I was so excited when we came across an Earl of Sandwich! We have been to these in America before, but never seen one in the UK! That was lunch sorted!

Just look at that blue sky- hard to believe it is the same day!

We then walked along the river (lovely views of the Eye and Big Ben etc) and then up to Trafalgar Square. Nelson was wearing a Union Jack on his hat!

A lot of it was still pedestrianised (as they had closed lots of roads I suppose) which made it lovely- much better as there were quite big crowds.

We also stumbled across a free exhibition of different Olympic torches- belonging to the Prince of Monaco. It was very interesting as they gave us a leaflet about all the torch designs- but we only took a picture of the London 2012 one.

Exciting stuff!

Finally we headed to the big Wholefoods- what a lovely shop. And yes, I managed to spend quite a bit!

Drinks- vanilla chai (love this and had just run out), plus mango and tropical coconut water.

Snacks- popcorn (for Andy), chocolate pretzels, yummy zest pesto.

Chocolate and things- pb, marzipan bars, coconut bounce bar, raspberry and coconut chocolate, earl grey tea chocolate, lucuma powder.

Plus some doughnut peaches- I have only ever had these in the US before and they are so good- had to have one as soon as I got home.

Then we headed home on the train, and collapsed in front of the TV for some more sporting action!

Phew!

I am hoping to have a run tomorrow morning before I go into work, but I looked just now and my trainers are still soaked from yesterday. I have put them in the airing cupboard with some newspaper, but might have to wear my old ones I suppose if they are not dry.

Did you watch any of the women’s marathon today? What did you get up to this weekend?