WEEKEND WITH MY BOY

So after a 68 day period only seeing him 6 days I was looking forward to spending the Bank Holiday weekend with Adam – even my little brother saw him more than me during this time :’(. Friday was a long drive up, leaving work at five to hopefully get on the M40 before too much traffic but ended up following google map’s spontaneous decision to make me round the back roads. Which probably ended up slower due to the number of tractors & lorries I was following.

Arriving into Sheffield at half nine, I parked up near a pub to collect my drunk boyfriend who had been there since five with some of his friends (who were actually my friends first :P) before going home. Sleep was very broken as Adam had to go to the loo a lot in the night, which he later told me was actually him going to be sick. He did no complaining as we made our way the next morning down to parkrun (stopping off to pick up a much needed 12p banana from Morrisons). I was looking to get around 20minutes for the parkrun even though I hadn’t come close since about two years ago. I started fast (or what I thought was fast before looking at my pace and realizing it wasn’t fast enough!) but luckily after a km or so the route at Sheffield Hallam double backs on itself and you get a downhill wooo! I’d already sussed out the competition and was closing in on a skinny blonde girl, who later Adam mentioned how he knew I’d notice her and be angry if I didn’t beat her – BUT IT’S OKAY I did ;). I was running with a guy for the second lap who decided now was the time to strike conversation which led to him declaring he would pace me even though I was sure a few minutes before I was going to overtake him as he was slowing.

Eventually Mr. Hungover (aka Adam) came jogging up to run the last part with me as I unfortunately couldn’t keep up with Mr I Will Pace You. I ended up running 20.20 which was a course pb and so I was relatively happy. We jogged back home (UP A HUGE HILL) before some bacon sandwiches. Later on we went to the University Gym to play some badminton – always a tense sport as I am far to competitive & energetic. We managed to make it through 3 games to 21 and two games to 11 without any arguments, just a few grumpy faces. Mostly from me as I lost and always by two points which was MOST annoying. After this, quick shower before a walk into Sheffield for some bargains & a cuppa at the Ink & Well. HUGE DOWNPOUR of rain as we walked home so we tried to shelter under the umbrella whilst walking back which was a struggle & left both of us with one wet shoulder. We had bought two world maps to plan some travelling so Adam spent the rest of the afternoon obsessing over this and quizzing me on capital cities before cooking me dinner :) and watching Titanic (which is THREE HOURS LONG??).

On Sunday Adam planned a long run in the peaks which we got round to at about 11am. After a slow start with a gate every 10 metres we got to the uphill part of the run on a really rough rocky track. I was slowly getting more and more grumpy and it took a turn for the worst when Adam went over on his ankle so we had to take a stop to chill out and eat some Fruit Pastilles. We had reached the top and it was an undulating run up to Mam Tor which had some good views, just too many people. We stormed along the ridge (as it was mostly downhill so I as loving life) and I was feeling so keen I suggested going up to Loose Edge to complete the ridge. BIG MISTAKE. As Adam pointed out later the Strava segment was called: Mam Tor to Ankle Snapper so coming off the ridge we had another incident with Adam’s ankles so had to walk off the side. A bit annoying as I was looking forward to some fast downhill to improve the pace but it was such a lovely run I didn’t want everything to end in disaster. We held it together and Adam even managed to catch some pokemon on the way home which was a bonus. Pancakes were made, covered in golden syrup & sugar before a nap to help us recover (definitely hit the ‘old couple’ stage where we need an afternoon nap!). In the evening we went for a walk to the Botanical Gardens to catch more Pokemon before Adam cooked another scrummy dinner & we watched Think Like A Man on the sweaty leather sofas.

Monday was our last day, which I tried to push to the back of my mind as I crept out for a morning run. Adam was resting the ankle and whilst half asleep pointed out the key I needed to get back in. WHICH WAS THE WRONG ONE. When I finally got back in the house we got ready to go out to Chatsworth House where Adam had booked to take me. It was a glorious day and I felt very spoilt. We started with a walk around the grounds, Adam took the map (clearly trying to impress me with any map skills) and we went exploring. After numerous selfies we got to the maze which we began with confidence – I mean how hard can it be? Famous last words as we struggled to find the centre after 15 minutes of dead ends – convincing ourselves there was no actual way in! We finally made it and successfully made it back out when Adam found a rope for tug of war – he obviously won and afterwards strutted around like a 90kg body builder.

When we’d completed the garden adventure we went to have Afternoon tea which was GORGEOUS (and very posh!). We both got a bit distracted with the number of pokemon and I thought it was going to be a nasty patch when Adam ran out of Pokeballs but don’t worry – we persevered, Pokeball numbers increased & bellies were full. We then moved onto the house, finding the violin (SPOILER – which isn’t actually a violin but a painting) making Adam happy as he saw it as a painting whereas I thought it was real. A last minute walk in the gardens before it was time to go home :( Cramming in some toast to last me for the drive home, I packed and then left for Camberley after a lovely weekend – only 3 weeks until the next weekend together!!

 

 

 

 

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.

World University Orienteering Championships

Originally I was going to stay in a Travelodge with the rest of the girls at Heathrow before the flight on Friday morning however Adam had come to visit after his holiday in the Alps so took me on Friday morning to Heathrow. After waiting for the boys to arrive we went through check in, pretending to be off to the Olympics and boarded the plane. I was planning to sleep on the plane but my seat happened to be in the middle of a hen group off to Budapest too! After a short wait we boarded a small minibus to Miskolc, which ended up being very smelly as I cracked open my boiled eggs and some individuals took their shoes off.

We arrived mid-afternoon, got comfortable (I was sharing a room with Katie with a joint toilet with Charlotte & Jo) before going for a short, but very sweaty run. The evening consisted of dinner (which surprisingly wasn’t boiled potatoes, dill & goulash but actually decent meals! Although throughout the week there were a few suspicious deserts), team meeting and then killing time – Katie found a table top football so was entertained by some Canadians/Americans with that.

On Saturday the majority of the team went training – a few of us had already been on a training camp a few weeks prior. After talking to my dad I had the plan to just do how ever much was needed to feel confident/happy so I was hoping I’d only be out for 10 minutes. It ended up being a lot more as I kept missing controls, finding it hard to match up the vegetation. Although not ideal, I called it a day as I had reminded myself of what was required during the races. We travelled back, during which Eddie asked about start times preferences for the long & middle. That evening we had the opening ceremony, which we arrived late too WHUPS!! we marched up a street with lots of stalls selling random things before getting to the Miskolc castle which was where the ceremony was held! REALLY COOL - and even though very hot the circus act kept us all entertained!

That night I woke up to go to the loo, finding a poorly Charlotte on the bathroom floor who had been up for a few hours previously being sick after what we spectulate some bad fish. We were going to go to the sprint but Charlotte & Jo stayed in so I headed off with Sasha & Aidan. The finish & spectator area was a bit light, with a small area to support along the finishing straight and no GPS/tracking shown live. Luckily Megan's Mum had it on her phone so we could track the girls first & then the guys. It was such an exciting day with both Megan & Charlotte getting top 10s and then Willy (the first starter) holding the lead for a surprisingly long time!! Jonny & Peter came in slightly off Willy’s time and then we were waiting for Kris. Having previously made a map and had supported the rest of the team showing the intricate levelled part of the map we were all so excited to watch his race and it was no wonder that he smashed it and came storming in with a huge lead. We were all so hyped & it was great to be part of the team.

In the evening it was time to get prepped for the long and after the GB Sprint performances the organisers had given us all GPS which I love running with as it makes me feel important :’). Leading up to the race I had done some geeking and roughly worked out where the start would be and planned some courses, always enjoying it when I get it right! Unfortunately the bus on the way to the quarantine dropped us at the wrong place so the athletes trekked along the wrong road for a while before it was apparent we were going the wrong way. 20 minutes later we got to quarantine. I had my pre-race plan so knew I was on scheduled – planned out exactly when I needed to eat my banana, o on the model map, warm up & even sort my hair! Before I started I felt relaxed & knew in my head I wanted to make no mistakes and have a consistent steady run, after all you don’t need to do anything special to be special. Nixon reinforces this as I went into the start block so I was confident & happy when I started.

I started safe and my confident build so I was comfortable pushing my speed. The majority of the race went really well, I was in control, had good plans & executed them well. However as I got further through the course I was using my brain less and so wasn’t as accurate and made a handful of errors (mostly overshooting/hesitations as I was too far to one side of a control). I finished and was really disappointed straight away with the position, feeling like I’d tried really hard, exhausted and all for a 20^th place. However I took some time to reflect, warm down and talk it over with dad which helped realise actually for where I am in life it was pretty solid.

We eventually go the bus back to the accommodation after Sasha & Aidan decided to follow an Estonian and we had to get the bulletin & map out to work out our way to the parking. I got a massage that evening and also the next day as my back felt ridiculously tight :( Although really tired, a few of us made it to the Cave Baths – a five minutes bus journey to the edge of Miskolc. It was good for my muscles especially where there were jets that could pummel my back! The water was so warm and we found a really warm pool to sit in. That afternoon we travelled down into Miskolc centre for the mixed sprint relay & excitement was high as we all knew we had an awesome team. The leg order was Charlotte, Peter, Kris & Megan and after a strong start Kris came back with over a minute lead handing over to Meg. The whole team was ecstatic and we were sprinting around, screaming our heads off at any spectator point. Meg held it together well and came back with the lead still meaning GBR had another gold. There was lots of photos and hugs followed by the cheering as they went on the podium. After that the team went back to get food and try to rest for the Middle whilst the winners stayed on as Meg had the struggle of peeing in a pot for doping control & willy got ‘kidnapped’ by a ‘reporter’ who wanted an interview & drop willy back at the accommodation – after a few hours we got a little worried but then he turned up overly happy…

The following day I got the bus with Sasha, listening to Megan’s shuffle as my ipod I use to use for quarantine had broken. As we walked to quarantine past thickets, brambles, nettles and rough open I was impressed that the warm up map was ‘Very Relevant’ – similar scrubby terrain to a rocky, overgrown north east area. Nevertheless I was excited for the race and maybe a little too hyped shoveling jelly babies in my mouth and stuffing a gel down my sports bra! Silently being judged by the rest of GB team when trying to justify that I will need to the energy I reminded them that I took three gels during the long race and was still in need of energy.

I was a bit more nervous for this race and wasn’t as calm – although I knew what was required I was too excited to get going and the agitation stayed on as I started the race. I ended up running a very scrappy race where I was racing too much and not actually in control of what I was doing. As I ran nearer to each control I was praying the control would jump out so I could get a move on to the next control. When this didn’t happen I would quickly panic and faff around. The whole race was like this and it was really unpleasant to experience as I felt like I was scrabbling for control the whole way round but didn’t have time to lose. I finished in 6^th which everyone was happy about expect me as they had no idea what had happened in the forest. I quickly dropped down to below 20^th which was disappointing but understandable.

That evening Katie packed as she was leaving in the middle of the night to go to the airport :( so I had the room to myself. I was excited for the relay, running with Jo & Charlotte on second leg but also apprehensive as I have little trust in teammates from previous experience. However, knowing what that I could orienteer without making mistakes and understanding what I needed to do, helped my confidence in my teammates too and I believed we had a strong team. Jo was first leg, coming back in 9^th, behind a string of people (including Megan!!). I set off on my own but quickly caught up three others. My race was going well, slightly panicky at parts when I had time to think and realise the pressure but pretty consistent. I made a LARGE error at ten – still not sure what happened but didn’t match the features up correctly and took a 90 degree route choice error looping back around and stumbling on control ten (thank goodness). I was running with a Russian here, fearing I had lost a lot of time and was back down in 9/10^th. I went through spectator having no idea the position just, ‘well Done Lucy, you’re doing well’ from the coaches. WHAT DOES WELL MEAN??! I remember thinking that if I was doing crap they would probably say I was doing well so carried on into the last loop spotting Andrinne – thinking Holy Fuck she must have had a nightmare as I know she went out a way before me. I finished up just behind the Russian (skinny girl that had a lot more speed than me!) and handed over to Charlotte, finally realizing I had come in 4^th! It slowly sunk in we had a chance of a medal & I had sporadic OMG moments followed by, ‘Aaah we will probably muck up and end up in 10^th or something’. However I had confidence in Charlotte as I believe she is the strongest, most consistent forest woman orienteer we had. From what we could gather from the commentary she had run the team into 3^rd, pulling a lead over the Russian & Norwegian. She came through the spectator loop running straight past the spectator control and having to double back before re-entering the forest. It was then a waiting game and unfortunately we were waiting too long – watching the Russian team sprint out the GPS tent to the finish was pretty gutting as we realised Charlotte had made a mistake. She came out the forest in 4^th behind the Norwegian and we finished in 5^th just behind the Russian.

My brain was my worst enemy for the next few hours, torturing me with thoughts of going onto the podium and I was really gutted. I don’t think it helped that everyone was saying how good 5^th was when we were so close to 3^rd. It took a while to get some perspective and even as I write this I can feel myself getting frustrated with the result. It is a step in the right direction & my mum wisely said that the teams who beat us are consistently in the top 6 & it still doesn’t work for them so we need to get used to finishing in the top 6 before we can expect more.

We had to stay for the prize giving and closing ceremony before heading back to the accommodation where we had the beer relay (definitely some cheating going on…) before eating some food to line the stomachs before some more drinking and the party which was held on the uni campus.

The travelling the next day was not fun and I felt VERY ROUGH – apparently I was up late/early hours of the morning putting the world to rights with Charlotte?! I sat with Peter chatting about life and eating copious amounts of ham & cheese sandwiches! Just as I was ready to sleep we arrived at the airport. Luckily I wasn’t sat in a hen party on the way home and could get some sleep! I was pretty sad the week was over as it was probably one of the best competitions I had been to and it was horrible that it came to an end. The bags took ages to arrive so the team needed to rush off. I picked up my bag and got the bus & train home where I tended to my hangover before Adam came down from Sheffield.

After a much needed lie-in we drove down to the New Forest to spend the weekend at home. The traffic was bad on the way down which stressed me out and I was quickly back to normal routine where I got grumpy and Adam had to highlight the positives in life :’). We made it to Lyndhurst where we stopped for a late brunch & scones in a little café. We went for a walk in the sunshine before continuing home. It was good to get home and speak to Mum and Dad. Grandad, Uncle Tony & my cousin from America came up in the afternoon as well which was great to see them. The rest of the weekend we just chilled, did a bit of baking and did NO TRAINING. I wasn’t/still am not sure where I am going with the orienteering – after managing the step up in life having to balance a 9-5 job with training I need to decide where to go as there aren’t any more 20-25 age group competitions before the senior level which I am uncomfortable racing at if I am not good enough to do well. So then it would be playing the long game and training/committing to five + years to get good which to be honest isn’t high on my priorities in life…OR pay £7,000 to do a Masters and go back to WUOC in two years (tempting)!