An amazing rainbow!

After doing Wimpole half the other week, we had a fairly chilled out Sunday – home for a shower, a bit of pottering around at home, an early dinner and then off to the cinema to see A Star Is Born. I actually enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would- from the advert I thought it would be a very typical “rush to stardom” film with the usual cliche romance stuff stuck in (it feels like they show half the film in the advert) and I hadn’t seen the other films, so it was a nice surprise to enjoy it so much- the live music was particularly impressive (versus the new Queen film which looks awesome, but the crowd effects look so CGI). We’ve seen some good films recently- the Mis-education of Cameron Post (about a girl in the US forced to go to a camp to change her from being gay to being straight), Adrift (which was sold to me as a bit like Wild, but was much more tragic), A Simple Favour (a bit like Gone Girl or something), Crazy Rich Asians (good fun) and then this.

I had booked a shoulder and back massage on the Monday evening, which was perfect timing. After I finished I popped into town to get a few bits (and a few treats- I can’t resist an almond chocolate croissant from Gail’s to put in the freezer) before heading home. Since our boiler has been changed, we now have enough hot water to run a bath, so I had a bath with Epsom salts which does seem to help the leg aches a lot. On Tuesday I did a short run on my own, and felt OK (thanks to the bath maybe).

By the way, how cute are these Ghibli socks? 

Wednesday was yoga, and this was well-needed although some of the warrior poses were so tough to hold (you are lunging with your legs and we hold them for a while)-oof. Walking back to the car after we saw a hedgehog crossing the road- I was so excited as I don’t think I have seen a hedgehog for years (not since we moved house at least).

On Thursday I had an appointment to get my hair cut, and as I had left plenty of time (my journey has ranged from 25 mins to 1 hour 20 mins recently) I parked a fair way out and walked in. This was all good, but when I left it was raining so I had a long walk trying to keep my hair looking nice!

On Friday my tea club arrived! This is a highlight of my month! I went for a cup of “coco chai number 5” which was black tea with chai spices and coconut- I am not always a fan of coconut in tea, but this was gorgeous and creamy and perfect.

Saturday was of course parkrun-day, and we were meeting at Ellenbrook Fields this week. I got there early (we had been warned that there was a uni open day so it might be busy) so I had a little run beforehand, and it was gorgeous- blue skies, with red kites circling above.

I met up with Dad and we ran together- in the distance we could see big black clouds and we wondered how close we were to the rain. As we turned a corner and began running across the fields, we saw a huge rainbow up ahead, so I took out my phone and attempted a mid-run photo (not too shabby I don’t think).

It was just stunning with the black clouds, the rainbow and the sun still shining on the runners and trees up ahead.

Just after this we ran into the cow field and saw that one of the OH runners, Jan, had fallen over and had a big scrape on her head and leg. She said she was OK, and luckily was with a runner who is also a RD at Ellenbrook, so he said he would walk back with her. It’s easily done- thankfully we saw her at the finish and she was OK.

As we reached the woods, we felt a few spots of rain, and then the heavens opened and it bucketed down- so hard that the rain was filling up my eyes and I was struggling to see!

On the runway Dad decided to have a sprint finish, and I was around a minute behind him in the end (27:55).

We didn’t hang around for long- I ran back to the car and was back at 9.41- I had to do a double take as normally it’s more like 10am! I drove over to my parents for breakfast. I’d packed a t-shirt and hoodie, but didn’t think I’d need anything else because it was sunny when I left (and no rain was forecast) but I was drenched through so Mum lent me some leggings to change into!

Pancakes were enjoyed by all, and then I headed home for an afternoon of work, and then an evening watching a film- Only Yesterday, which was a very sweet love story.

On the Sunday morning it was raining, but not too hard, so I put on my rain jacket (don’t want to get wet and cold like the 12 miles of the other week) but it soon became apparent that it wasn’t waterproof any more. I had mapped out a 7 ish mile route and it was OK, thankfully the rain came in waves so I did dry a little in between the heavy showers.

The autumnal colours were still looking impressive, and the run was fine but I was glad to get home and jump in the shower to warm up.

In the afternoon we popped over to see Andy’s parents, came home for an early dinner and then went to see First Man at the cinema. The scenes inside the space rockets were so claustrophobic, but it was a bit of an epic story- I think they were trying to fit too much in to one film. I did really enjoy it too (the good film streak is still continuing).

Which films have you enjoyed recently?  Do you have a good waterproof running jacket? I don’t mind getting wet in the summer, but once it’s windy or cold I just won’t warm up while I am running at all- I think I need to invest in a new one.