Visit to see Grandad

Dreading the drive down – as it is mostly A roads and the traffic at Stonehenge is ALWAYS bad – I left work for the four hour drive down. Thankfully I’d found some new songs on Spotify that I listened to on repeat for a while. Made quiet good time and got there at half seven (left at three) to be greeted by a happy Grandad and some cottage pie.

After a good catch up it was bedtime & I managed to get a lovely long sleep until 10am the next day! Which was much needed for the track race at Newquay and Par – Grandad came to support which was wonderful and he really enjoyed it, telling me about his memories running around the same track when he was young – exclaiming how happy he was the tradition was being carried on! Although I think he was a bit upset that he wasn’t still running and I could tell that he would have loved to be running round too! The first race I did was the 800m which I had previously had mixed feelings, one moment deciding I would be a boss at the distance and the next losing confidence and worrying I won’t get sub 2.40, especially in my clumpy trainers and the windy & rain! As it was my first 800m it would be a pb whatever but there was only 3 other people in the race so I had no idea how to pace it (also never had to run in a lane/break from them so was distracted with this!). I felt like I paced it well but didn’t have anyone to push me, winning with a time of 2.31 (although power of ten says 2.32 -_-!). My legs were like jelly afterwards and so the 3000m half an hour later was at a leisurely pace, just to get the club some more points! The last race I did was the 1500m, the only distance I had done before so at least I had a benchmark. My second lap was way to slow so it was hard to ‘catch up time’ and I finished five seconds off my pb which was annoying but I was happy to have done three races! Grandad took me home where we had a chilled afternoon watching the olympics & planning the next day. After lots of persuasion I convinced Grandad that I could run to the lighthouse you can see in the distance from his house and we planned the best route. I then had a quick nap before waking up at 1 to watch the Olympics again – Mo in the 5km! As I crept downstairs I found Grandad napping on the coach who had almost stayed up the whole time watching the match of the day & the Olympic final between Germany & Brazill!



After a morning long run & swim

The next morning I did not feel well but powered on as I wanted to get a run in. I begun the run and the pace was really slow – helped along by the downhill! I did get a bit lost but had photos of the map on my phone so stopped a few times to replan the route. The second half of the run got a lot hillier and I really struggled, especially after being stung on the back by some nasty beasty that has left a lasting mark – to this day (which is two weeks later!) I finally reached the lighthouse and was relieved that it wasn’t open (I was originally going to go up it) as I was too tired! I jogged the last bit down to Penridmouth where Grandad was waiting for me! We had a quick dip in the COLD sea before the cloud & rain came in and we went home. I had a lovely long warm bath before a nap to shake off the cold I felt coming and help my legs feel a bit less like lead. In the evening we went for a lovely walk around Luxylyan Valley where Grandad grew up & he told me all his stories while we found the largest boulder in Europe (according to Grandad) and trekked around a viaduct. It was good to get out and stretch the legs & felt good giving Grandad someone to share his life with!! He showed me all the little places he had treasured & meeting Nana. He then bought me fish and chips for the evening meal before we tucked into pudding (Kelly’s ice cream obviously - also sharing that he had known the daughter of Mr, Kelly who had wanted to go out!! WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN SO COOL as I could have FREE Kelly’s ice cream WHENEVER!). That evening grandad had an early night and I helped Harry apply for some placements as it was getting near the cut off point for when he could start!

Exploring the Boulders of Cornwall

Monday was the last day down in cornwall so we had a lazy morning before heading over to Bedruthen steps, Grandads favourite beach. I was so tired during the day and felt a lot quieter than previous days. We parked up and after having a mare with the parking (had to ask the parking officer to extend it without getting a new ticket as we put in the wrong amount!) we headed down to the beach. Unfortunately the tide was still in so we went for a walk along the headline which was lovely and it made me miss the caravan so much! We managed to make it down and were the first ones to cross over into the tunnels and through to further along the back I needed a rest so we had some lunch whilst grandad highlighted how lovely it would be if everyone lived down in Cornwall :(. We then went for a walk along the beach as the tide was out far enough now and Grandad has a little shot at running which I could tell he had been wanting to do since Saturday! He also had a swim, although I declined as the water looked far too cold!! IT was soon time to leave so we packed up and headed up the cliff and back to Grandad’s house. Soon time to start the long drive back where I completely forgot the way home and ended up taking a long way out to the A30 but apart from that it was an easy drive back to Camberley.