Woburn Forest & Nether Whitacre, UK

Maya's birthday weekend and we'd promised her something special, so we took her to Center Parcs in Woburn Forest with a gang of family in tow. We went via a phone shop to get a UK data SIM card for the router (onboard WiFi being essential for family unity, of course) and we also stopped for a really good pub lunch close to the site at The Woburn, a huge but tasteful hotel/bar/restaurant, right at the heart of its village.

For the kids and me, Center Parcs was a first, but for Faye and her brother Adam it brought back childhood memories aplenty, especially in the water park. Over the next few days we/they'd spend a lot of time there on the rapids and slides, even dragging grandad Roy along - although nanny Lynda body swerved it, along with me after the first day, gotta be honest! I felt I needed a bit of R&R after a busy week, and the forest lodges we stayed in were lovely, with deer, rabbits, squirrels and even hedgehogs visiting our garden to delight us (and of course to torment the dog).

On Maya's birthday evening, Adam and I cooked a barbecue for everyone round at ours, pushing our tiny campervan firepit/barbecue to its limits (it is more suited to four people, not 10!) but just about managing to cook burgers, sausages, chops and kebabs for everyone. It was actually a lot of fun, with some earnest discussions about heat distribution, useful cooking longevity, briquette types and flame control, Dylan also being drawn into the debate. What is is about blokes and fire? Meanwhile the dog was determined to make friends with cousin Grace, and Adam was determined to make friends with the dog - both things eventually occurring! The climax of the evening was a huge pink birthday cake that Aunty Katie had kindly sent along for Maya, which we managed to eat most of over the weekend.

The next day started with a table for 10 to eat pancakes down by the lake, and continued with the young and young-at-heart hitting the water park again, returning to share tales - over an evening of pizzas - of seven-person chains down the rapids, lifeguards giving up on telling them off, and assorted bumps and scrapes. Speaking of which, both Roy and Lynda had minor incidents on the heavy ebikes they'd hired, which put them off a bit, so it was good that the kids managed to make good use of them.

Running-wise, it's lovely countryside around the park, and I went on an easy but hilly out-and-back into the village of Ampthill, followed the next day by a hugely enjoyable 19k progressive repeats long run that took in lots of trails, bridleways and lanes, more than a few hills, and a couple of M1 under/overs for a bit of excitement. Meanwhile, Faye stayed reasonably close by for her hill session, heading a bit further afield to discover the parks of Ampthill for her 11k easy run the day after. Oh, and another thing: Faye also reported losing not one or two, but a full five toenails - including both big toes - after her extended pool session. It's something any experienced endurance runner will know about, and she says it happens every summer on her first long dip, but five is definitely a new personal record.

All too soon it was back to reality, albeit a rather picturesque reality, as we headed to Roy & Lynda's lovely cottage in Nether Whitacre to get the washing done and prepare for the next adventure. While we were there we ventured out for yet another pub lunch, this time to catch up with Faye's mum (I am pretty sure I'll weigh a stone more on my return, because I seem to have developed an obsession with both fish and chips, and any kind of tart on the dessert menus). We got caught up in the rush-hour diversions around the truly next-level HS2 work - you have to see it up close to realise the size of the project, scaled back though it has been.

A couple more runs before moving on: I did a challenging over-and-under 400s on tired legs, and Faye did a drop set, both close to Shustoke Water. The reservoir would be good for a slow run but is not suitable for intervals/repeats because the circumnavigation is grass, not gravel/tarmac. Pretty area, though. Faye snuck in an easy-but-hilly run the following morning on generally quiet country lanes, just before we packed the van (it seems to get fuller and fuller...) and set off to the north east chasing some seaside fun.