Easter quadruple marathon weekend - 15.04.22 to 18.04.22

A Phoenix/SVN Easter sandwich! A beautiful sunny weekend, and I felt better physically and mentally than I have for a few months. Thank you to everyone!

Friday 15.04.22: The Intrepid Key Run with Phoenix Running (#213): A marathon on a day that is normally a work day is the best feeling! Back to the towpath at Walton-on-Thames, to rejoin the Phoenix 10 in 10 (TiT)/ 12 in 12 (TwiT) at Day 7. All the TiTs and TwiTs were looking strong! Ran with Sarah, who had accidentally ended up doing the TiT and was doing amazing! Three days of chat to catch up on since I was last there, so there was plenty to talk about, and the miles passed by quickly in the sun. It was the Hampton Court little loop, which was quite nice and shady. En route, we rescued a bee from the towpath, and had an ice lolly (a Rocket!). Nice to catch up in the pub afterwards with birthday chips - thanks Andrew, and for my birthday cake! 

 

Then, it was a drive up to Northampton and a stay at the Premier Inn, ahead of an SVN weekend!

Saturday 16.04.22: The Cakeathon with SVN Running (#214): I haven't done the Northampton SVN route before, and I loved it. It's a 5.3 mile loop - about a mile along a nice cycle track, then about 3 miles all around a lake on a raised path on the embankment, and then back along the cycle track. The weather was outstanding, wall to wall sunshine! Was a bit too sunny probably, as there was no shade at all on the route, but shouldn't really complain about that. Loved the feeling of being up high and seeing all the birds on the lake - I don't know much about birds, and I know that it is a popular spot for real bird experts, but even with my paltry ornithological knowledge, it was still wonderful to see the swans and geese flying around and landing on the waters. Almost got flown into by a pair of geese taking off from the lake. 

5 laps for a marathon, and I found just counting to 5 (rather than 8) was a nice change and felt easier, and the laps seemed to be over very quickly. Would have been very happy to keep going, but it was time to celebrate Clive's 400th marathon with cold drinks in the shade - well done Clive! 

As it was "The Cakeathon" there was a vast array of lovely looking cakes at the aid station. My favourite was the expresso chocolate brownie - wow!

Considering the Premier Inn was in a business park, it was a very nice business park, with lakes and fountains and gardens, all very nice.

As we were very hungry, we only made it until about 4pm before having dinner in the Hungry Horse next door, which was actually pretty good, and even had a TV in the booth with cartoons on to watch. Plus, discovered you can order form the kids menu, which is perfect for a mini ice cream (with flake! 😉)

Had a good chat to the man on reception in the hotel - turns out he has run over 50 marathons (with a PB less then 3 hours!) and used to run for England, until he was diagnosed with a heart condition which means he can't run any more. He last had a heart attack only two months ago and is already back working. An absolutely inspiring guy.

Sunday 17.04.22: The Chocathon with SVN Running (#215)

Easter Sunday and a chocolate themed marathon! Same route as yesterday, but it was a few degrees cooler, which was nice. Congratulations to Richard on his 100th marathon, and everyone else celebrating milestones today!!

Ran my fastest time for a while, which was a nice feeling.

Monday 18.04.22: The Invincible Key Run with Phoenix Running (#216)

Back to Walton this morning for the last of the Phoenix 10 in 10 runs, and also Sarah's Birthday Run! On the Blue Bridge route, there was a definatley a pary atmosphere going on, as the TiTs became TiTs and the TwiTs were getting pretty close to turning into proper TwiTs as well in a couple of days. Huge congratulations to all the TiTs and TwiTs!

The run was lovely in the sun, by the sparkling water, spring flowers, and the trees which are becoming ever more green each day. There seemed to be a lot of swans taking their Easter break on this part of the river, there were many more than usual, the river was packed! 

Lovely cathing up with everyone afterwards and thank you Annabel for our birthday chips extravaganza!

Thank you Pheonix and SVN for a wonderful weekend!