Week 2, Day 6: Weymouth Runnning & Turning off Parkrun Mode: 10 miles in 85 minutes

Week 2, Day 6

Goal: 10 miles in 85 mins

Actual: 10 miles in 83:58 mins

I’m down in Dorset this weekend so decided to take advantage of the fact and have a run in Weymouth. Nice flat promenade … and not so nice gusty winds trying to blow me into the sea. However, it was nice to run there even though it wasn’t the ice cream eating weather I normally associate with Weymouth.

Also I was running around in light running gear (plus bright pink socks of course!) and everyone else was bundled up in thick winter coats, scarves and hats. Felt a bit of a twerp. However the wind was pushing me along from behind so it wasn’t all bad.

Boyfriend and Little Sis were running today too but as we all run at different speeds so they set off before me while I faffed. I’m a veteran faffer. I’ve never quite worked out how headphones can tangle themselves quite so thoroughly within 10 minutes … or how running belts get twisted up with jacket pockets …

View from the top of the hill looking down across Weymouth (Promenade on the left above the trees)

Could see Little Sis clearly in her new neon pink top in the distance. She was slightly slower than me so every step brought me a tiny bit closer. Problem one. I had to stick to around an 8:25 – 8:30 minute / miles pace to bring me home at the 85 minute goal, but my brain was going into ‘Parkrun Mode’ and shouting “She’s only 250 metres away!” and “Just a BIT quicker – you can catch her!” and “NEXT TARGET!! Overtake her quick!!” Tried to ignore brain and keep legs going at right speed.

Boyfriend had already disappeared. Presumably into a nice warm pub as soon as the wind rose and he got out of sight of me and Little Sis. Sensible chap.

There wasn’t any rain but there was a lot of wind. The weather kind, not the sprouty kind. I’d ended up tying my jacket around my waist as I’d got warm but it was blowing out like a parachute and slowing me down so put it back on again.

I’d started at the Theatre by the new tower and had ran along the promenade past Rossi’s towards the White Horse. It was nice and flat until the hill up to the Outlook Café and I’d turned around and retraced my steps back down the hill and along the promenade again. I’d gone back to my starting point and caught up with Little Sis and boyfriend at the end of their runs.

They warmed down and went off to find a hot cup of coffee and I carried on to the end of the harbour wall and past the new tower and past the lunatics fishing in the dark. Who no doubt were surprised by the lunatic running in the dark.

I doubled back and ran down the side of the harbour avoiding the old tram tracks still criss-crossing the road. Up the steep stone stairs up to the bridge that lifts up (and which had lifted up and interrupted my first 12 miler earlier in the year giving me a much appreciated breather!) and down the other side of the harbour past the pubs and fishing boats to the beacon light at the end with the fort rising up in the dark on my right. Back along the cobbled streets to Brewers Fayre and up to the Nothe Fort which was quite spooky in the dark. I nearly tripped over a dog running in the gloom while circling the fort and then it was back down the hill and back along the harbour side and to the Promenade and finished the run along the front of Weymouth not far from where I started.

Finished up and no-one was around! No toddler to hang a medal around my neck or family with cups of steaming coffee! Checked my phone to find the following message. “We’re in a pub called The Ship”. Charming. Instead of welcoming me with an ice cream or cup of coffee (either warmly appreciated) they’d gone to the pub. Went off to find a coke and a packet of peanuts. And found a fiver. 50p a mile … Wonder if I’ll find £13.10 at the end of the Marathon … or whatever that translates to in Euros.

Garmin Info Here

Mile Splits: 8:22, 8:31, 8:28, 8:30, 8:14, 8:22, 8:23, 8:23, 8:19, 8:14