A Birthday, Some Food and Some Fun

I didn't mean for this to be a food-focused post but those seem to have been just about the only photos I've taken this week so I must have been thinking about it a lot!

Free coffee and Pizza Express Snowball Doughballs to get me feeling festive.

Work hard and party hard was the theme of the week. On top of my usual teaching I had a meeting with Talking Therapies about the forthcoming Back to Fitness scheme, an evening at the Woodley Festival of Business on behalf of Barnes Fitness and a lovely meet up at Bisham Abbey with the ladies in the running (pun intended) for a place in the London Marathon.  The latter was of course the most fun. It was the first time the four had all met up and their enthusiasm was visible, despite a couple of injuries. I led a short RunFit session which everyone seemed to enjoy despite the drizzle.

Stunning morning sky

It was my dad's birthday at the weekend so while the Box Bell crew were stomping around in the forest laden with back packs on a military march, I was enjoying a meal out and a cinema trip with my parents in celebration. We even managed to catch a glimpse of the Christmas light switch on firework display at Bluewater as we left. We had intended to take part in the Glow in the Park event in London on Saturday (mum had stocked up on fairy lights and I'd brought glowsticks) but severe weather warnings meant that dad didn't really fancy it, and I can't say I blame him. It was meant to be a fun event and a birthday treat so there's little point if it's going to be a miserable experience. So instead, after doing a wet and windy parkrun in the morning and seeing a matinee performance of The Winter's Tale with mum, it was a night in with Craig Charles on the radio and a bottle of wine (or two).

Pre parkrun breakfast. Yogurt, grated apple and crunchy seeds alongside a custard apple brioche.

Continuing with the foodie theme and birthday celebrations, I took dad out for brunch on Sunday morning. It was a lazy affair, partly out of our control thanks to the speed of service, but a lovely opportunity to get some much-overdue father-daughter time. Another cinema trip to see Spectre and then home for a cup of tea and a slice of birthday cake made for a fine end to the weekend.

I wasn't as active as I'd originally planned, but I enjoyed what I did and am already improving on things this week! Last week's training:Monday: metafit
Tuesday: Rest day
Wednesday: Speedwork
Thursday: 6 miles
Friday: Strength
Saturday: parkrun
Sunday: Rest day

What was the last thing you saw at the cinema? What's your pre-run breakfast? Did the weather change your plans at the weekend?