Cornish Coastlines, Surf, Swims, Hikes & Hills

Holidays. Whoever invented them needs some sort of special recognition. It's amazing what difference a break away from home can make, even if you don't actually leave the country. Last week I spent some time in Cornwall with my mum for her birthday at the rather lovely Watergate Bay hotel near Newquay. Although child-friendly we went out of holiday time which meant it was relatively quiet with probably equal numbers of small children and dogs present. The rooms were luxurious, the food outstanding and the swim club small but well equipped. Those of you who follow me on instagram will have already been bombarded with pictures and I make no apology for that!

Over night chia, oat, banana and blueberry pots

Cornwall is one of our favourite places and because the drive is around 4.5 hours we try to make it part of the trip. On this occasion we did that with a picnic breakfast. We were also lucky that we had taken mum's car (I got to drive) and so were able to put the roof down and enjoy the sunshine. On our first day we did very little except enjoy the balcony and some of the fine eateries in the area including Wax for nachos and Fifteen for dinner. We did make it down to the beach to watch the last part of the King of the Surf tournament.

Finding a sheltered spot to watch the kite surfing

Although I'd planned to get in the sea with my bodyboard, it proved too cold and windy for it to be safe for me (with Raynauds) so I resigned myself to trying out my new Garmin in the pool, followed by a stint in the hot tub, of course! The pool was gorgeous and I racked up quite a few kilometres, although I do wish I'd remembered my goggles so I could have done front crawl properly. Live and learn.

We could see part of the coast path from the hotel and so one sunny morning, when we had no treatments planned, we decided to stride forth, pit ourselves against the wind and walk to Porth, around 2.5 miles each way. In doing so we discovered some lovely shops, more beach and a cute cafe for a rather indulgent hot chocolate.

Unfortunately time flew all too quickly and soon it was time to head for home again. In an attempt to extend the holiday vibe we stopped at Stourhead for lunch and a quick walk around the lake, something we probably wouldn't have done without our National Trust membership cards. We were only there an hour or two and it wasn't nearly long enough so we've already made plans to return at the end of the month for a more leisurely visit with a picnic.

Of course I had some making up to do in the way of running once I got home and I was thankful my mojo paid a fleeting visit for a long run around Bracknell, taking in Swinley Forest in a hill-scouting expedition in preparation for the RunFitUK Hill Running workshop (places still available - sign up now!) I found a few good'uns and I'm looking forward to putting our participants through their paces on May 22nd!

Will this be "the hill"?

My activity for the week ending 29th April looked like this:
Saturday: 7.5 mile run (including parkrun)
Sunday: Rest day
Monday: 2,000m swim
Tuesday: 1,000m swim
Wednesday: 1,000m swim & 4.5 mile walk
Thursday: 10.7 mile run
Friday: 2 mile walk

Do you work out on holiday? If so do you do the same things that you would do at home or do you try different things?