Easter Weekend in the Welsh Valleys

This weekend couldn't have come at a better time! Too much London air and work stress, what better way to get away from it all and breath in fresh air than in the Welsh Valleys. 

We headed off early on Good Friday and despite weather warnings and the beginnings of Storm Katie making the rounds, we had blissful sunshine the whole day. We pit stopped in Port Talbot, not known as a top tourist destination but for those seeking sea air and beach vibes, perfect! 

Next top the beautiful Rhossili Bay, also recognised as one of the top beaches in the world. Who'd have thought Wales would have made it along with the Seychelles, Maldives etc. If you're heading to Pembrokeshire, make sure you make a stop there.

Finally the sun began to set so we headed to our Cambriol cottage (link at the bottom), Carmathenshire and we were blessed with rolling hills and a cracking sunset located on a farm.

The farm owners showed us around as well as letting us pet the month old lambs and their donkeys. I'm not a huge animal fan, but these guys were adorable.

On Saturday we weren't as lucky with the weather, in fact it poured with rain all day long and of course I don't have a rain coat. We travelled further West to the lovely town of Tenby. Beautiful harbour with a low tide when we got there and cute candy-coloured houses, I can only imagine how amazing it would be in the sunshine.

We tucked into a late lunch in a quaint little cafe over looking the harbour, before heading back to the house for a glass of wine and a hot bath.

We had dinner at home that night and I cooked my favourite pasta dish from Zizzi's known as casserecha di pollo piccante yumm!

Sunday was Easter Sunday, so we were greeted at breakfast with some lovely chocolate treats from Mum!

The weather forecast predicted rain but the sun was shining through fighting a battle against the rain, lucky us. We headed to Penbry County Park which was recommended by the farm owners. It was gigantic and we got lost driving around, but eventually found the beach. By this point Storm Katie was throwing a tantrum and when we hit the beach we were practically blown away but it was beautiful.

After feeling seriously windswept we headed home via Burry Port and you could see a storm brewing.

After enjoying a bath with the view below, we headed to a local pub for a local pint.

And after struggling to find a restaurant we decided to head for an Indian in Carmarthen, always a crowd pleaser.

Monday was our final day in beautiful Wales, so packed up and said goodbye to our lovely house.

We stopped in Kidwelly for breakfast at the Gatehouse before exploring Kidwelly Castle.

Then it time to say not goodbye to Wales 100% see you later. On our journey home, we stopped on Bristol for a late lunch and walked up to Clifton Suspension Bridge and had a great view! 

 

What a lovely long weekend, I won't be waiting for too long until my next one...

Xoxo

http://www.sykescottages.co.uk/cottage/South-Wales-Pembrokeshire-Crwbin/Cambriol-916555.html

My name is Kate & I'm addicted to running

Primarily my blog is a travel blog, but as you can probably tell I'm kind of mixing it up when I have a spare second with everything and anything I'm passionate about and obviously all my different adventures. And today, I'm talking about my true love, running... 

Are you a runner? Training for a race? Getting some more fresh air? Trying to lose weight? 

Do you want to start running, but you're looking for the right motivation? Please let me attempt to help you out/be your motivation. 

I love running, I also hate running but I mainly love running. It's the best! I'm so super passionate about exercise in general, my colleagues are probably sick of me talking about it, but if it helps motivate at least one person we're on to a winner! I love inspiring people to make changes in their lives, to live healthier lifestyles. I haven't got one of those great inspiring stories, like I used to weight 20 stone and now I weight 10 stone. I just love trying different challenges. That's all there is to it. I'm lucky that I come from an exercise-mad family. My parents are both keen runners (mum more than dad) and they both play tennis, in fact we all can play tennis (but after playing for years I'm personally quite sick of it) and my brother is an awesome hockey player and lucky for him is as skinny as a rake.  We both played plenty of team sports growing up; tennis, hockey, volleyball, cricket and I did every type of dancing under the sun. So I guess it was just part of everyday life for us.

Back to the nitty gritty of running after indulging in a little background sharing. 

I first started joining my mum running as a cyclist, for something to do during the long school holidays. She then encouraged me to run with her to keep fit for all my sports. We started off with a gentle 10 minute. I say gentle sarcastically, at the time I saw it as punishment, I couldn't breath and I felt like my chest would explode so I suggested to mum I may have asma of at least a form of sport's asma. She told my dad and they found it hilarious and described it as 'unfit'! The cheek of them, me unfit! No way! Turns out their description of my self-diagnosed 'sport's asma was legit. But it wasn't until a few years later I started indulging in slightly longer than 10minute runs but I wasn't really that motivated. 

Then I joined uni and in my third year I went on my placement year and moved to London for a while. My housemates (found on spareroom.com) were weird and I didn't fancy all evening watching tv in my room, so I started running properly and signed up for my first half marathon (Bracknell 2012) as motivation. I lived in Richmond, so I got the pleasure of running along the Thames, to Kew, and around the park. I was spoilt for choice and I only realise now just how lucky I was. 

Finally the time came to run the half marathon and it's safe to say I was a nervous wreck but I was in the safe hands of my mum and dad and boyfriend who were running it too. Dad and Nath left us to it, being the competitive ones but my mum was a real gem she stuck by my side the whole way. When I wanted to walk, she would let me walk until the next lamp post then I had to run again. It was tough, in fact it was horrific. Although I had been running a lot my legs hadn't experienced that kind of distance, and after attempting to sprint up a ridiculous hill I well and truly hit the wall. This was around mile 8 and I can picture the moment even today, 4 years later. But being a trouper I carried on through the pain and jelly legs. The 11th mile I think I walked the entire mile but for the 12th I got this extra burst of energy, also known as adrenaline and managed to run the whole way even getting in a sprint for the last stretch. I finished in 2 hours and 13 minutes and couldn't even pick my foot up off the ground onto a bucket for a Marshall to take off my chip. I also didn't mention the weather conditions, in one word; horrendous. Torrential rain, tons of mud, wind and it was pretty cold, so that can't have helped! The walk back to the car was the longest 10 minutes ever and I couldn't walk for days afterwards. I hated running in that moment and for a few weeks after (I deserved a break, right?).

But a year later I signed up again and signed up Nath much to his disgust! I vowed to do more distance prior to the race and get a better time. The conditions were far more favourable for the Bath Half Marathon (which I think I may have done a blog about previously) AND I combined it with charity by raising money for Guide Dogs for the Blind (the company I worked for at the time) AND I got a better time of 2 hours 6 minutes. 

Still not quite the goal (minus 2 hours) but I was getting better! Then the year of PBs  arrived! I signed up for a few races; first being the Putney and Fulham Riverside Half Marathon which I absolutely nailed with 1 hour 55 minutes and I wasn't even stiff the next day and I could walk straight after (thank you Kayla - blog to follow shortly about Kayla). Then the Bracknell again, slower this time but still not bad, 1 hour, 58 minutes and it was a family affair again! 

I think you can tell I'm totally addicted, each time you just want to better yourself. The below pictures were from my first half marathon this year, the Wokingham. Working in London and having a mega commute means time is currently of the essence, I try to fit running in whether it's before work, to work, lunchtimes or weekends. However I unfortunately didn't get in enough distance training, so I completed this in 2 hours 3 minutes, I wasn't disappointed as it left plenty more room for improvement. Next race; April 10th Putney and Fulham Half Marathon!

Set yourself easy goals, start with 10 minute runs and build up to 20, then 39 then an hour and before you know it, it will be a breeze and then you can start working on speed. I try and mix it up a do a couple of interval training sessions a week (2 minutes normal speed and 1 minute speed) which really help!

With Spring arriving this weekend and Summer on the horizon get out there and enjoy it rather than being cooped up in the gym all the time! 

Xoxo

Sunday Funday | Chepstow > Cricklade

It's Sunday, the day of rest and our alarm wakes us at the crack of dawn a.k.a 6.15am, how better to begin your last day of the weekend before going back to the daily grind and waking up at this time for the next 5 days in a row. I'm not complaining though, not really. 

Nath made me toast (as he had finished my Crunchy Nut) on the most beautiful sourdough bread (bought from Southbank Market by Waterloo) with black cherry jam and on our way we went. We were travelling to Chepstow, just tucked in after the Severn Bridge for our anniversary gift of zip wiring! The whole drive down it was ridiculously foggy, so we were worried that we wouldn't be able to see where our zip wire was heading! However just before the bridge it miraculously cleared and we were greeted with bright blue skies and plenty of sunshine.

The zip wire took place at the National Diving Centre and over this spectacular quarry. We signed our life away and headed up the hill to the other side to get geared up and ready to go. For obvious reasons I didn't take my phone with me, so unfortunately you'll only get to see the quarry we went over. It was awesome for the 50 seconds or so that we were on the move! If you're in the area, well worth doing and if you get it on Groupon it's only a fraction of the price. 

Post zip wire we headed into Chepstow and we had the bluest skies and it was beautiful. Chepstow has a castle set on a hill on water by a cute little white bridge. It was peaceful, quiet and lacked tourists. Perfect for getting away from the hustle and bustle of London. 

We pondered for a while just enjoying the weather and quietness of it all, before heading towards the Cotswolds and as soon as we hit the motorway we regretted leaving as the weather took a overcast turn.

We arrived Cricklade ready for some more exploring. The Thames runs through this town and there is a path that  follows italong and you can walk for miles and finish off with some grub at a classic Cotswold pub. Not that we did much walking, our early start had us well and truly pooped! 

We lunched at The Red Lion, recommended on Trip Advisor and I think you'll be able to tell why by our photos. Quaint, cute and very Cotswold, the kind of a pub that you'd expect to see in 'The Holiday' (feel good movie with Cameron Diaz and Jude Law)!

We had some local ciders (half pint for me, I was driving) and Nath ate bubble and squeak and I had a beetroot and goats cheese tart and some chips (can't go to a pub and not get any chips)! The food took us over the edge and we decided that we had done enough exploring for one day... Homeward bound! 

 

I fell in love with the little taster we got of Wales and we'll be heading back sooner than expected, watch this space!

Xoxo