Doing the double.

My New Year's resolution is not to run while hungover or drunk in 2017.  There is a subsidiary resolution, that might not be practical, and that is that I will not enter races while under the influence of alcohol.  Not sure how long these resolutions will last, but so far at 7.10pm on 1st January everything is going well!  I've do two parkruns without even a wiff of a hangover.  

I did have tired legs.... legs that were so tired (after yesterday's Gutbuster 10miles) that I was really quite happy with our decision to stay in, plans for an early night were scuppered by teenage children phoning to say 'Happy New Year' and 'Can you send me some cash?' at midnight!   

Husbando and I had been plotting which two parkruns we'd run.  At first we thought Basingstoke and Alice Holt, but Basingstoke quite often start a little after 9am, which meant that we could be cutting it fine to get to Alice Holt, so we decided to go to Rushmoor instead.  As we drove over I complained that we wouldn't know anyone, only to park our car, walk to the start and bump into a parkrun friend from Abingdon who I hadn't seen for ages.  He was there with a group from Abingdon and Didcot who were planning to go on to Frimley Lodge, but we persuaded them to come with us instead!  

So, to the running part of parkrun.... my legs felt heavy, and I couldn't be bothered to warm up as I had no great expectations, Husbando and I were aiming to 'just get round.'  Turned out that my tired legs wanted to move a bit faster than I'd anticipated.  Husbando and I jogged around chatting away until I realised that I was on for a PB - which happened as we got to the finish straight - I was thrilled to go home with a 45second PB!  

Then it was into the car and off to Alice Holt.  Whereas Rushmoor is flat and fast, Alice Holt most definitely is not!  We arrived in plenty of time, which was lovely as it meant we got to see loads of people I hadn't expected to see.  There was a huge contingent from Basingstoke and more from Guildford, including my ex head of department - who I hadn't seen for ages.   Alice Holt is a lovely run, but it is not one that you can do quickly on tired legs, so I was happy to plod around.

parkrun is really all about the people, the volunteers, the other runners - the whole community aspect is why parkrun is so successful, so it was wonderful to sit in the cafe drinking coffee, eating bacon rolls and chatting with friends.  I'm looking forward to many more in 2017!  

I hope you all have a fantastic 2017 and that I'll see some of you in parkrun land soon.  In the meantime, if anyone fees like sponsoring me for the London Marathon, which I am running for a local charity, Treloars, please click on THIS LINK! 

250th parkrun

I heard about parkrun over 6 years ago, but didn't consider going along for at least 6 months because, although I'd been running for a couple of years, I did not consider myself to be 'a runner!'  I didn't want to be the slow one, plodding around at the back with everyone else tapping their feet as they waited for me to finish.  I can't remember what happened to make me change my mind but, on 21st May 2011, I took the plunge and found myself, barcode in hand, in War Memorial Park with a load of strangers.  This was A BIG STEP for me.  I am quite uncomfortable in situations that are new and that involve lots of people I don't know.  I need not have worried.  Everyone was very friendly and I wasn't last.  It was the first time I had ever run a timed 5k and I surprised myself by being able to finish in just under 25 minutes.  I ran, got my barcode scanned and drove home.

But I came back the next week and did it again.  By July, I was turning up almost every Saturday and had probably turned into something of a parkrun bore, telling everyone I could about this amazing parkrun thing.  I volunteered a few times, which was good as it meant that I got to know some of the other regulars - this meant I had enough confidence to brave going along for the post run coffee.  This involved meeting more and more parkrunners, and hearing about (and subsequently entering) lots of races I would not have even have heard of without parkrun.  

It is quite amazing how quickly parkrun became such a integral part of my life, and how many of my friends seem to have decided that it is easier to go to parkrun than to listen to me extol its virtues!  I've visited 51 different parkruns, mainly because they were near where I happened to be on a Saturday morning, and made loads of new friends.  Obviously I've missed a few Saturdays when I've been involved in Saturday races, have had to work on Saturday or been injured, and several runs have been given up in exchange for volunteering at parkrun, but in the main, if it was 9am on a Saturday, I was to be found in a park getting ready for a 5k!

Which brings me to this morning.  Although my 'home run' is Basingstoke, Husbando struggles to get to that venue as he has to work on Saturday. Alice Holt he can do and make it to work afterwards.  Alice Holt also has a lovely large gazebo for setting out cakes, a cafe and nice loos, and I was involved (a little bit!) in setting it up four years ago - so I decided that it would be the venue for my 250th parkrun.  I set up an 'event' on Facebook and sent out some invitations, thinking that a few people might be interested in coming along, especially if I bribed them with cake and fizz!  A friend I'd met via parkrun sent me a message saying that he was coming along and coincidently running his 100th parkrun - so double the celebration!  I stayed up late baking and icing cakes and arrived at Alice Holt fairly early.  As I laid out the cakes I saw a constant stream of familiar faces emerging from the mist - people I hadn't seen for ages and ages and who had travelled for miles and miles just to run 5k with me!  Some people hadn't even come to run - they'd just got out of bed early on a very chilly Saturday morning to come and watch the rest of us run!

Having run 249 parkruns without ever having forgotten a barcode, my 250th nearly had to be delayed - I realised that my barcodes were not in my pocket (I keep all 7 on a treasury tag and they have vanished).  Panic stations ensued!  Could I get home and back and still run?  Could I ask Husbando to give up his run and go home and print out spares?  Would he know how to do that without a tutorial?  Then I remembered that I am a parkrunner, and a parkrunner always has spare barcodes somewhere in every car.  Crisis averted with a mad dash to the car and a rummage round to find a tatty ziplock bag which had the required barcodes.

After setting a new Alice Holt PB last week, and with a 6 hour challenge tomorrow, I knew that I wasn't going to set any records today.  And I wanted to enjoy my run, not end up gasping for every drop of oxygen I could find at the end of the run.  Husbando and I had a nice, chatty run.  It felt so much easier than last week, but I was 44 seconds slower.  

It was wonderful to chat to so many people afterwards, I am really touched that so many people came to help me celebrate.  I really do love my parkrun family.  Huge thanks to PSH, whose love child parkrun is, to all the event directors, run directors and volunteers who make the many, many parkruns across the globe happen every week.  I'll see you in a park (somewhere) next parkrun day!  

P.S.  Is it wrong that I am wondering if the second 250 parkruns will take more or less time to achieve than the first? 

parkrun de Mandavit

It has been a while since I've run a parkrun.  School events, travel arrangements and races on Saturdays have conspired against me being on the start line at 9am.  The last week has seen me getting up at sparrow fart in an attempt to get something resembling a run done before the weather became too oven like (it hit 107F here on Wednesday).  I've 'run' slowly, with that nagging sense that I'd never be able to run fast again.  It is rather hilly around Saussignac so that might be part of the reason.

Today we got up early, and were in the car by 7am for an hour and a half drive to Bordeaux.  parkrun de Mandavit had been chosen as our destination as the course description sounded more picturesque than the other Bordeaux based parkrun.  We found the car park easily, arriving with plenty of time to spare, asked some men in running attire if we were in the right place for parkrun and they pointed us in the right direction, with mutters about 'the mad English!'  Off we trotted towards the start..... it was 8.45am and there was none of the normal pre parkrun hustle and bustle to be seen.  Were we in the right place?  We trotted off for a little look around, and found some parkrun arrows... but nothing that looked like a start.  We found other parkrunners though... which was as much help as a chocolate teapot as they were also here on holiday too (from Alice Holt, Conkers and Rushmore parkrun amongst others) and were as clueless as we were.  And then, at about 8.55am, a flag and a run briefing.  The run briefing was done in English as the majority of the runners were English, with a very quick check that the French runners knew what they were doing.

And then, after a count down (in English!) we were off.  Two laps through the park, mainly in woodland, mostly on dusty trail paths with the odd tree root to avoid, just a short stretch of tarmac.  Some how the course seemed to be predominantly downhill.  I don't remember running up hill at all, although I kept thinking 'I must hold something back as we are going to have to go up again at some point.'   There was a little bridge that meant I had to slow down to a walk (because I am a chicken about bridges at the best of times and this one was a glorrified plank), but other than that and a missed turning at one point it was quite straightforward.

With only 28 runners there were long periods of time when I was running on my own, but there were lots of other runners in the park.  As I puffed by on my second lap, regretting setting off too fast and desperately trying to hold on to my position as first woman with no idea how close the second lady was, one French gentleman said (in English) 'You can do it!  I am 58 and I can run!'  I struggled with my school girl French to tell him that I have 5 children and I am exhausted!

I did hold on to that first woman place (by 18 seconds), despite coming around the building where I expected to find the finish funnel only to see that it was a lot further to go than I thought.  Husbando, who finished 6 places ahead of me, shouted 'Get a move on, she's catching you!'  which meant that I pushed a bit harder and thought I might just collapse on crossing the line!

At the finish, there was free coffee and BN biscuits.  A bit of chat with the organisers, visitors and some of the local participants and the volunteers followed before we went into Bordeaux for some touristy sightseeing.

It is a real shame that more locals don't take part.  There were loads of runners using the park, but not park running (only 6 of today's participants had run at parkrun de Mandavit before).  Is parkrun seen as something quirkily English?  I don't know, but hopefully more and more will start to take part.

Facilities in the park: convenient free parking (at least I hope it was free, I didn't pay!) remember to remove bikes from the roof though! There is one loo - but it is one of those nice 'self cleaning' ones, so worth waiting for the queue to go down.  There is a typical French pissoise on the other side of the loo building - but I didn't investigate that!

Thank you to the organisers for a great parkrun - I hope that this lovely venue goes from strength to strength!

Deary, deary me!

For months and months I have been parkrunning with children.  I love running with children, I really do, but I do miss my weekly 'me against the clock, all out blast of (almost) speed.'  From time to time I do get to run by myself.  This normally happens when Husbando and I are away by ourselves at a book fair or some other such excitement.

The last weekend of October saw us venturing to North Wales for a reunion at my old school.  The school closed a couple of years ago and has recently been bought and will reopen with a new name in 2016.  We were tempted north with the promise of food and fireworks!  We stayed on Thursday night in a former boarding house  - possibly the most luxurious B&B I have ever stayed in - ready for a quick run around the old cross country course in the morning.   We had a lovely day at the school, followed by a civilised dinner in the dining hall and some stunning fireworks.  Then we sat in the rec in our former sixth form boarding house and made a pretty good attempt at drinking all the alcohol in Wales!  It was all good fun, and great to catch up with friends I haven't seen for years, but at the back of my mind I knew I had to get up in the morning and get to parkrun.  

I'd done my research.  I knew that there were two parkruns in North Wales, I knew which one was closest and I knew the route to get there.  But when the alarm went off at 7am all I wanted to do was stop the infernal noise that was ripping my eardrums into shreds.  I did manage to throw my running kit on and Husbando and I crept out of the sixth form boarding house, into the car and we were on our way - until I called for an emergency stop at the edge of the A55!  Surely all athletes prepare by trying to consume their body mass in wine the evening before a run? Our second stop was at a McDonald's in Abergele for coffee and hash browns (the athlete's breakfast of choice).  I spent a few years living in Abergele - the idea that it has anything as cosmopolitan as a McDonald's is still something of a surprise to me!  

Conwy parkrun is dead easy to find.  You just drive along the A55 to junction 18 and follow the signs for the RSPB reserve.  Or that is what I am told - I had my eye's closed and was whimpering quietly to myself.  When I opened my eyes, to bright sunlight, we were in the car park right next to the start, a few steps away from the loos and the cafe.  Perfect.  And the views were stunning - across the River Conwy.  There were people in halloween costumes, so with my hungover pallor I probably didn't look too out of place.  Husbando said he would run with me.  I told him to run by himself as I didn't want to slow him down.  

The course was a flat out and back, running towards the castle (it is a beautiful castle) beyond it and then back again.  The only elevation was over a railway bridge.  It should have been a lovely, fast run.  Husbando had a lovely run, not pushing himself too hard but achieving a very good time.  Me?  Well, every time I put my foot on the floor my head screamed.  All I wanted to do was finish the damned run.  I could see it was beautiful, I even appreciated the smell of the sea, but I was sweating pure alcohol.  I struggled to keep going.  All the time I was cursing myself for throwing away a good running opportunity.  I managed to pull a little bit of pace out of the bag in the last few metres of the run to overtake a woman I had been following for ages.  Husbando was waiting at the end of the finish funnel (I had the barcodes in my pocket) and declared himself surprised that I had managed to run at all, let alone scrape in under 27 minutes (26.44).  I was just glad to stop running.

I am cross with myself.  Conwy parkrun is lovely, stunning scenery, flat paths, lovely cafe, great volunteer team and yet I wasted the chance for a good run by over indulging the night before.  I would love to think that I could come back and run this one again, but the realist in me knows that the likelihood of me being back in North Wales again is slim.  This is a shame.  I had forgotten how beautiful it is up there, but it is a long way away!  

I rather like this park!

Olympic Stadium from the start line

Last time I was in Victoria Park it was cold.  I've just looked at the blog post I wrote back then and I am wearing long running tights and a long sleeved top in the photos.  Today may have been overcast at times, but it was certainly vest and shorts weather!  I hadn't realised quite how close Victoria Park is to the Olympic Stadium until today.  I spotted The Orbit as I walked up from the tube station, and the Stadium itself was visible - just - from the start line.

I'd entered this event at the last minute.  I registered online last night.  Run Through organise loads of events around the capital.  I've done two of their events before, Greenwich Park 10k (cute medal with a clock on it) and Battersea Park 10k (cute medal with Battersea Power Station on it) and I had loved the relaxed yet organised feel of the events.  You can choose on the morning whether you want to run 5 or 10k (more of that later) and there is no messing about with goody bags.  A medal, a flapjack, a banana and bottled water are what you get - and let's face it, most races (there are exceptions) fill up the bags with junk that ends up in the bin!

I arrived in plenty of time, warmed up, and was heading back to the start area when I saw a woman in a Kent Road Runner vest at the registration desk collecting her number.  I ran up behind her and smacked her on the bum - it running through my mind only briefly that there could be another person who looked similar with the same top - she screamed with shock, but no one took a blind bit of notice!  She is a regular at these events, so it was a reasonably safe bet that it was her.  I believe she has a season ticket for these events - something I may consider investing in next year.

We assembled at the start.  At Battersea the 5k runners had a 10 minute head start, but today we all started together.   This meant that there would be a temptation to jack it in at 5k.  I haven't been running well since April, so I had no expectations today, I thought it would be nice to get a time of around 52 mins.  I just wanted to get past all the slow people at the start.  The park is flat, one slight incline, but not really anything to write home about, and we were running 1.5 laps for a 5k and 3 for a 10k.   I didn't feel as though I was running fast, I felt like there was more in the tank (but I am basically a bit lazy and pushing hard doesn't come naturally), but when I got to 4k I looked at my watch and thought I could be on for a 5k PB.  I picked up the pace (pushing a bit hard for a while), thinking a 5K PB was much more fun than an indifferent 10k time.  I lost my nerve at the point where I would have to commit to the 5k as the finish looked a long way off, bending back around a corner.  I eased off and ran past the 5k marker in a smidge over my PB time - I'd probably have got a PB if I'd gone for it.   I ran the next 2 miles (can't think in kilometres as I am too old) quite slowly.  I knew I had no chance of a PB, so there was no point in killing myself.  But I couldn't help myself from picking up the pace towards the end.  I'd been overtaking, and lapping, people throughout the third lap which is amazingly good for the ego, and as I crossed the line my Garmin said 48:00:95 - that came down to an official chip time of 47:59, 68th overall, 14th lady and for the first time ever the first in my age category!  I am very happy with that - and the medal is lovely too!

Oh I do like to parkrun by the seaside!

Catching their breath after the run.

 With Basingstoke parkrun relocating to its alternate venue - Crabtree Plantation - this weekend, I decided to indulge in a little parkrun tourism.  Both the 100 boy and the 10 boy have told me that they will *never* run Crabtree again!  I cast my eye about for somewhere fairly local that we hadn't run before and Lee-on-the-Solent seemed to be an excellent choice.  I knew vaguely where it was and put my trust in the Sat Nav to get me there.  As we got closer I realised that it looked a bit familiar, it took a while to realise that it was fairly near Gosport Half Marathon territory!

Parking was a breeze - getting out of the car we were almost blown away by the wind!  I joked that we could see the Isle of Wight - the children laughed at me, but it seems I was right!  I spotted a runner with a White Star Running t shirt - so asked him which idiotic race he'd run with them!  (The Ox)  and found a sheltered spot to wait for the run briefing.  The boys availed themselves of the loos, which are close to the start.

100boy threatens to swim to Isle of Wight!

The course is almost entirely flat and almost entirely on tarmac.  There is an up and down bit at one point (I think it goes over the start of the old pier but would have to check on that) and there is a short section on the very top of the stony beach.  You run about 3/4 of a mile (with the wind behind you) to a turnaround point, then 1.5miles back past the start (wind in your face!) and then turn again to run the final 3/4 of a mile with the wind helping you along.  Nice and simple - with lots of opportunity to pass other runners.  I ran the first mile with the boys, then I left them to their own devices.   100 boy fell over, 10 boy took a detour to the loo, meaning that when I finished I felt duty bound to go back and run in with them.  I scooped up 100 boy and ran him to the finish and then went back for 10 boy.  10 boy does not like distance running, but does like anything up to and including 1500m.  I don't think he pushed himself at all until the last 400m when he just wound up the speed and fairly flew across the finish line.

After we had our barcodes scanned we made our way to Leon's Bistro for a drink and brunch for the boys, making use of the 10% discount offered to parkrunners.  Lovely to sit in the sun and relax!

All in all, a lovely new (this was the 4th event) parkrun!  I hope to come back soon - not sure I will enjoy it quite so much in the winter though!

Doing the double.

The week between Christmas and New Year is always a strange one.  Days spent wondering what day of the week it is, staring into the fridge trying to work out what to feed the children as it surely can't be healthy for them to eat chocolate for breakfast, lunch and supper.  We have had the added drama this week of my mother in law being taken ill.  A massive stroke on Monday evening.  This has resulted in even more confusion about days of the week.

Running has, as so often, given me time to get away from it all.  Time to process ideas and think through plans.  It also helps to counter the excesses of the Christmas period.  Some people claim that a good run will get rid of a hangover.   I've never found this to be the case but I keep on trying.  

After an excellent night, which took in a 50th birthday party and then dinner with friends and rather a lot of alcohol, the idea of getting up to run seemed slightly less appealing than it had done when I had made my plans earlier in the day.  Husbando needed to pop into the antique fair at Winchester, so we'd do Winchester parkrun and then, because we could we'd go on to Southampton parkrun at 10.30am.  Husbando had run neither before, and Southampton would be a new one for me.  Luckily I sorted out my kit before going out for the night - trail shoes for Winchester and road shoes for Southampton, and clean socks just in case.   I slept in the car on the way there… I did not feel at my best… I wondered if I could volunteer as tail runner, but if I did that we might not have time for the drive between the two locations.  Strangely it didn't occur to me not to run!  

Winchester is three laps of playing fields.  It could be a fast course but, while the weather was infinitely better than last New Year's Day, it was still muddy and the course is predominantly on grass.  As we set off I remarked to Husbando that I didn't like running on grass.  'Well run on the mud then!' was the witty reply from another runner.  It felt like hard work.  My head was pounding, my stomach felt queasy and there was mud EVERYWHERE I looked!  I chatted to a runner as we struggled around the fields - I think he was one of the run directors, and watched as Husbando got further and further and further ahead of me!  I slid across the line in 25:20, got my barcode scanned, used the loos and then we got in the car and on to the M3.  

Parking at Southampton Common was straightforward and free!  I always panic about parking at new events so it is always a relief to find a space.  We walked to the start with one of the volunteers - a throng of runners, many covered in mud splatters from other local parkruns, were all making their way to the start.  I bumped into friends I have made at running events last year, which was lovely.  

After the run brief we found ourselves at the very back of the field.  This was a bit of a mistake as it took a long time to get up to a comfortable running pace.  Husbando ran with me most of the time and we chatted as we ran, both of us agreeing that it was a lovely course.  All on tarmac and a bit like an Escher painting in that we seemed to go downhill a lot more than we ran uphill.  In fact I barely noticed the uphill on the second lap.  I was beginning to feel a little more human and wishing that I could do this run some justice.  No matter - the joy of parkrun is that I can come back another time and have another go.  I haven't set myself an impossible target to beat - 24.59.  And the cafe looks nice too - but it was closed today, so a return visit is a must in 2015.

Thank you to all the volunteers, both those standing around in the cold and wind today and all the behind the scenes people who do some sort of technical wizardry that makes the results appear.  Happy New Year, may your parkruns always be full of friendship and your running shoes always dry. 

Putting it into context.

I have a list of things I dislike.  It is quite a long list and, to avoid causing offence to too many people, I won't mention all my pet hates here.  I'll try to keep them relevant to today's run!  I dislike, in no particular order, running on grass, running in mud, through puddles and with wet feet.  I hate driving into or around or through Reading.  I have nothing against the people of Reading - but the roads are just too confusing - give me straight forward London driving any day.  And I really, really hate being late.

So today didn't start well when I woke up to discover that Husbando had gone out and taken the car.  I sent him a tex, reminding him that I needed to leave at 7.30am, and made myself a cup of tea - not realising that the text was not delivered until I went to pick up  my phone again.  Argh!  Panic!   Husbando hove into view at ten to eight.  TEN TO EIGHT!  Google maps said it would take me 55 minutes to drive to Thames Valley Park, and I have a history of getting lost in one way systems in Reading.  Adding to that I'd have to find parking and the start of Reading parkrun.  I was a little bit stressed by this state of affairs.

Luckily the traffic was good and I only took one wrong turn in Reading, and Google maps lied a bit (or I drove too fast - who can say?) and I had arrived and parked by 8.35am, phew!  Reading parkrun's course info page told me that 'regular road running shore should certainly suffice in most weathers' but I decided, on advice of other parkrun tourists, to wear my trail shoes.  This was the right choice - although in retrospect mud claws would have been a better choice… not that I own any because, as has already been stated, I don't like running on mud!

Having picked my way between muddy patches to the start area, I bumped into friends I know via the parkrun show and lovely Gary - with whom I have run a couple of marathons in the past.  Soon we were on the start line and raring to go.

And then… squelchy, squishy, slippery, slidey mud.  And lots of it!  I didn't know what my feet were doing half the time.  I revised my hoped for finish time and concentrated on staying upright!  The views along the Thames were lovely - but I couldn't look up and see them as I was terrified of ending up flat on my face in the mud.  And kicking myself for not bringing an entire change of clothing with me just in case of such an eventuality!  Part of each lap was on gravel paths - sheer heaven after the mud, and a chance to claw back a few seconds, but with paths came puddles and there were choices to be made.  Pick one's way gingerly around the puddle, through the mud, losing time or plough straight through the middle.  I went for the latter option.  Once your feet are wet they can't get much wetter (but it was bitterly cold and a bit of a shock to the tootsies!)  The last 600m are back across grass, just when I wanted to put on a bit of a sprint I found I was struggling like Bambi on ice (but far less graceful).  I overtook someone, then realised I could not work out where the finish funnel was - there were loads of people but I couldn't spot the tape, so I let him overtake me again (having established he knew where he was heading) and managed to get across the line in 24.59.

I was disappointed with my time.  It had been hard work and I always want to take advantage of my child free parkruns to run as hard as I can.  I chalked it up to experience, met up with friends and went for coffee.  We left our very muddy trainers outside the doorway to the David Lloyd gym and had a very nice coffee and a natter.  Putting ice cold, wet trainers back on is somewhat unpleasant, but it didn mean that the pleasure I felt at changing into warm and dry socks and trainers when I got back to the car was immense!

Back at home, looking at the results page, I realised that I was 4th lady to finish - I've only bettered that at Pymmes parkrun (very small field) and first in my age category.  So maybe it wasn't such a bad run after all.  And, at the end of the day, I was out there doing something I love, with people who share my passion.  There are thousands of people who couldn't run if they wanted to. Thousands of people who go for days and days without any meaningful interaction with other people.   I get to do this every single week.

And today I came home to madeleines made by my 10 year old son...

A merry parkrun Christmas.

In the words of one of my favourite performers "I am hardly religious, I'd rather break bread with Dawkins than Desmond Tutu, to be honest."  And I am not a huge fan of Christmas.  It generates a huge amount of stress just a couple of days after the end of a long and stress filled term at school so I tend to feel a growing resentment towards the whole shebang.  Why, I ask anyone who has the misfortune to be in my vicinity, should I be expected to spend a small fortune on presents after the stress of trying to decide what would constitute a suitable gift for someone who already has everything that they could possibly need?  Believe me, when you get to trying to buy an original gift for your 5th child it takes more imagination than I can muster after a 16 week term when I still have a pile of marking and planning hanging over my head.

So, this Christmas I resolved to keep things a little more low key, a little less excessive, with a little more focus on what really matters.  I am not convinced that we succeeded.  There was still a huge pile of presents under the tree, but I had only purchased things that the children actually needed - so the youngest girl got a new coat, middle child got jeans and a hoody, that type of thing.

Some Christmas traditions couldn't be ignored.  One relatively new tradition is parkrun.  And on a beautiful, crisp morning like today it was no hardship to go for a run with 327 other people.  For me it is a lovely way to break up the morning - a pause between stocking presents and tree presents, and a very social interlude at that.  I got to run with one of my best friends this morning.  I've never run with her before although she is responsible for me starting to run.  My husband and two of my boys ran with me and my older daughter volunteered as a time keeper.   Afterwards we had cakes and crisps and prosecco and sloe gin as we chatted with friends before heading off home to continue our day.

But I was reminded of an edition of Woman's Hour I half listened to last week about people who are lonely at Christmas, and the latest episode of the parkrun show.  I thought about those people for whom parkrun might be their only contact with other people over the holiday period.  And then I thought about the man who walks with his dog in the park every Saturday and never interacts with anyone unless it is to moan about us.  He was there again this morning, I wished him a merry Christmas as  passed him - in much the same day that I always say good morning to him, and got exactly the same response - which was no reply!  I love my parkrun family.  I love the welcome I get when I visit new parkruns from people I have met via the parkrun Facebook pages.    I can't imagine a better way to start a day that is, for me, all about connecting with people we love.

I hope that, whatever you did today, you had the day that suited you.  I guess for me parkrun gives me the sense of community that other people get from being part of a religious/church community.  I meet up with people once a week to pursue a shared interest and mark successes and failures along the way.  And that is a good thing.  So thank you parkrun, and merry Christmas to you all.

This one was for you...

For the last two and a half years I have been running most parkruns  with the Fredster.  It is lovely that he enjoys running but it does mean that I have put my own parkrun journey on the back burner.  One of the many joys of parkrun is that you can use it to see where your fitness is on a weekly basis and, if you are too lazy to do speed work on your own, you can use it as a weekly speed session.  But last Saturday the Fredster earned his 100 shirt and I decreed that he should have this week off.

There have been a few other parkruns I have done without him recently but I have always been a bit disappointed with my performance.  My parkrun PB was set at my home run, Basingstoke, on 17th September 2011.  Over three years ago - and since then my solo parkruns had been somewhat mediocre.  I'd got close a couple of times, but normally ended up running around the 24 or 25 minute mark.  I'd got within a minute of my PB when running at Fulham Palace parkrun just over a year ago (I ran 23.58 against a PB of 23.16) so when the chance came for a return visit I didn't hesitate - despite the fact that it was going to involve leaving the house at 5.30am.

My previous visit had been for a very special occasion.  parkrun is a wonderful community that brings so many people together, and it was through parkrun that I met a lovely couple called Steve and Zoe.  I met them first in Basingstoke and warmed to them instantly.  Zoe's smile would light up the greyest of days.  What I didn't know then was that Zoe was dying.  You don't expect people younger than yourself to be dying do you?  But such was her personality that she wasn't going to let this fact ruin what was left of her life.  She set herself goals she wanted to achieve, one of them was to run 50 parkruns and receive her coveted 50 tshirt.  That Saturday at the end of November last year was the day that her tshirt was going to be presented to her.  parkrunners who knew Zoe turned up to support her and cheer her on as she completed what was to be her last parkrun.  It was chilly warming, but full of love and friendship and there was much laughter in the beautiful cafe inside the Bishop's Palace after our run.

Roll forward just over 12 months, and I find myself walking from the tube station to the park in the coldest weather of the year so far.  The thermometer read minus 2 and there was ice on the paths.  My Garmin strap was broken, I didn't know a single person there and did I mention it was cold?  I had 5 layers on and was still too cold.  It was very different to the party atmosphere of my previous visit.  I chatted to a few people, went for a warm up jog, almost falling on an icy patch and decided that a PB attempt would be a bit silly.

Fulham Palace parkrun is nearly 3 laps of the park, it is as flat as a pancake, although you do have to keep your wits about you as there are several sharp corners.  I set off, with my Garmin in a pocket, and just ran.  I fell into a pace and noted that I was about 10m behind a dad who was coaching his son around the course.  I felt comfortable and, using my wrist watch and the fact that I knew how long the laps were, calculated that I was running 'about 8min/mile pace' - that felt about right for the effort I was putting in, and decided that I would just enjoy myself.  As I ran down the bank of the Thames, I thought about Zoe and how proud she had been to wear her 50 club tshirt.  I couldn't help but grin at the thought.

Passing the start line for the final time I decided that, if I could run 8 min/miles in the dying stages of a half marathon I could certainly run a bit faster for the final three quarters of a mile in a 5k.  I passed the boy and his dad and pushed on for the finish, thanking the marshals (they must have been so cold) as I passed them for the last time and even lapping a fair few people.  I threw myself across the finish line (which is painted onto the tarmac) and fumbled to stop my Garmin.

I was stunned to see the time - 22:43!  The man who finished behind me came up and congratulated me on an excellent run, the father of the boy commented that I had run really well.  He'd been aware of me on their tail, and said that he'd watched me as I'd sped up - I'd just noticeably lengthened my stride as I'd glided past them.  After that at I couldn't get my extra layers back on fast enough and, after thanking the volunteers, I made my way into the Bishop's Palace to get warm and have a coffee.

Thank you to all the volunteers who stood in sub zero conditions just to allow us to run.  And Zoe, this run was for you.  You may no longer be with us in body, but your spirit lives on in many forms.

Slippy, slidey mud sections

Last night I went out for supper with friends to celebrate my birthday.  Not just any birthday, but a birthday that takes me into a new age category for parkrun.  My intention had been to run as fast as I could at parkrun to mark this momentous occasion, but I scuppered that idea last night by eating more than I normally eat in a week and drinking enough alcohol to constitute what government guidelines would probably deem binge drinking if I'd shared it with the five other diners… but I didn't share.  I wanted nothing more than to roll over and go back to sleep when the alarm went at 6.30am.  But parkrun beckoned, and I'd made arrangements to go to Horsham parkrun with a friend to meet up with some other friends.  And The Fredster needed run if he was to make his 100th parkrun on target.

So off we set.  Thankfully I was not driving and navigating was enough of a challenge for me.  We got to Horsham Park with plenty of time to spare, parked our car and found the loos and then made our way to the start.  The weather was dry, but the wind was chilly and we tried to keep warm while the small boys climbed a tree.  TheFredster planned to 'run' with a friend who was planning to walk as he is recovering from knee surgery, which freed me up to run.  Great, I thought, what a wasted opportunity - I felt sick and a wee bit fragile!  We listened to the run brief - there were about 200 runners, not bad for the 10th event, and then made our way to the start, where we observed a minute's silence for Remembrance Day.

The start was on a fairly narrow path, which made for a bit of congestion, but we were soon underway with a gentle downhill on a tarmac path.  And then we were off the path and on the grass.  Well, I say 'grass' but it was more of a bog in sections, which made for heavy going and much slipping and sliding!  There was one short, muddy, uphill section that was particularly challenging, with my feet just slipping backwards as I made my way up it.  It was tough going.  I looked at my watch and realised that the pace I was struggling to maintain was the same pace I'd found so easy to maintain for a half marathon last weekend!  Part of this was due to the conditions underfoot, but a lot of it was self inflicted!

Hearing that a parkrun is a three lapper normally fills me with dread, but there was so much going on in the park that it was a really interesting run.  There were children playing football, people being beasted by ex-army PT instructors (who on Earth wants to pay to be shouted at and do press-ups in a wet field?) people riding bikes and a silver sculpture thing!  And each lap seemed shorter than the last - which is odd, because I them all at the same pace!  As I ran I realised that TheFredster was not with the person I thought he'd be with, or his wife, it was only about half a mile from the finish that I caught up with him running with my other friend and her son.  

I ran past them and tried to pick up the pace a bit to make it to the finish.  I still felt ghastly and wanted to stop running more than anything on the planet.  I threw myself through the finish funnel and was convinced that I was about to chunder.  I staggered to a nearby fence and leaned on it while I regained my composure and checked my watch.  24.17 - not bad,  second fastest time this year!

Post run coffee (and breakfast for the boys) was taken at The Conservatory Cafe.  It was lovely to see so many parkrunners chatting and getting to know each other.  The food looked pretty good too!

The results came through pretty quickly - I was thrilled to see that I was first in my new age category, which was a nice start.  I am sure that I will be back to run at Horsham again sometime soon - but maybe I will wait until it is dryer underfoot.  And when I am a little less fragile!

Thank you to the Horsham parkrun team for a lovely event.

Cranleigh parkrun

Today is the 10th anniversary of parkrun.  10 years ago the notion that I would get out of bed at 7am on a Saturday morning to go running would have been laughable.  I am still a bit bemused by the transformation that running has wrought in my life, but can only assume that it is generally a good thing to be more active.  Not only has parkrun increased my enjoyment of running, and the number of races I have entered, it has also greatly increased my circle of friends and acquaintances.  It was a bit of a shock last weekend to turn up to a race and not recognise anyone at the start.  In the UK I am more likely than not to bump into someone I have met before, or know online.  These friends have enriched my life more than I would have thought possible when I first, rather nervously, made my way to my first parkrun.

Today I considered going to the birthplace of parkrun - Bushy Park to celebrate with many other parkrun friends.  Then I thought about the numbers of people who would be there.  On an 'average' parkrun day there are about 1000 runners.  Today was looking as though it would be closer to 2000.  I don't like crowds.  I get a bit stressed about going to parties where there will be more than a handful of people - especially if I don't know everyone.  To be fair, I normally go to the party anyway and either have a miserable time not talking to anyone because I get a crippling attack of nerves, or I anaesthetise the inner social nerd with enough alcohol to take out a small village and have an awesome time - or at a least the bits I remember are great!  Alcohol doesn't mix well with a 5k run, especially if you have to drive to the start line, so I started to look for somewhere smaller.

A few weeks ago some running friends had mentioned that there was a parkrun starting near them.  In fact they had organised their holiday flight to ensure that they could make the inaugural Cranleigh parkrun.  Now inaugural parkruns normally attract quite a crowd.  But the canny bods who make parkrun magic happen had planned quite a few for this morning.  This, I assume, was to take some of the pressure off Bushy, but which also had the effect of reducing numbers at all the first time events.  And even a 'bumper turnout' for an inaugural is 'only' about 300 runners.  I can cope with that!

Cranleigh, according to my sat nav, was 55 minutes away from home.  I bundled the running child into the car (resplendent in our anniversary tees), picked up a friend and set off.  It took us 35 minutes (less time than it takes me to get to work most mornings - and we almost drove past my school) and a swear I don't drive that fast!  We found some free parking and some loos.  I had a minor contact lens disaster (had to remove one, decide it was too overcast to wear my prescription sunglasses so the only option was to run with one good eye and one blurry eye) and then we set off across some football pitches and a road to the start.

There were people at the start - but not the masses we get at Basingstoke ever week.  There were familiar faces and new people, there were 100, 50 and 10 t shirts and a smattering of anniversary t shirts too.  We chatted to people we knew (and a few we didn't), had a warm up lap of a field, listened to the run briefing, made our way to the start and then we were off.

Two grassy laps of a fairly convoluted course starting at Bruce McKenzie Memorial Field with some stunning views over the surrounding countryside.   There is one significant climb - which isn't too bad as it is fairly short, at the top of which the most amazing views were to be had, and also some amazing echoes.  I would like to apologise to any residents of Knowle Park Nursing Home who were trying to have a lie in - my booming voice echoed impressively back to me as I encouraged Freddy (and other runners) at the top of the hill and the start of the steep decent!   Freddy was a wee bit too enthusiastic on the downhill, and did an impressive head over heels tumble.  Where is a camera man when you need them?  He cried a bit - through shock more than anything - and on we went, Freddy covered in grass and mud!

We chatted with several other runners as we completed our last lap.  I started singing to encourage Freddy to get a wiggle on, he hates my singing (the boy has taste) and so put on a spurt towards the end.  As ran through the finish funnel and collected our finishing tokens we were congratulated by the Mayor, who, wearing her chain of office, shook hands with every finisher.

There were 111 finishers - a lovely number for this venue.  We got to chat to people and get a feel for what this event will be like over the next few months.  There was coffee and cake at the finish, provided by the local leisure centre and the volunteers.  The sun shone while we ran - although the heavens opened on the way home.  Thank you to everyone involved in this lovely event.  I am sure I'll be back to run with you all again someday soon.

Run The Vyne

I think I must have signed up for this race pretty much as soon as I heard about it.  That would account for me getting bib number 14.  I obviously didn't read the web page too closely because I really hate trail running.  When I did realise it was a trail run I thought that, as it was on National Trust property it would be the sort of paths that would be suitable for elderly ladies in wheelchairs and yummy mummies with their buggies and not 'proper' trail.  So it was with a degree of trepidation that I laced up my trail shoes and set off for The Vyne this morning.   

I got there far too early of course - I always do, but I'd much rather be early than late.  Arriving early gave me a chance to get my bearings, work out where the loos were - all those important things!  Registration was in front of the house - and seemed to work smoothly with Chineham Park Running Club members manning the desks and greeting all the eager runners.

Shortly before 10am we made our way to the start and after a short run briefing we were off.  I immediately remembered why I don't like trails.  I like to put my foot down on the floor with a degree of confidence that it isn't going to wobble and twist!  I like to run without thinking about where the safest path is going to be.  We ran across a bumpy field, through a gate and into the woods.  The tree roots were clearly marked, but this did not stop me taking a tumble before we got to the first kilometre marker.  I felt a bit stupid, so got up and carried on!  Soon there was a lovely bit of concrete path - but it didn't last long.  I was aware that we seemed to be running downhill for a large proportion of the time.   This worried me a little as we'd have to get back up to the start at some point - but I decided to put that out of my mind and enjoy the amazing marshalling stations!  We had Scots' Corner, Halloween Hill, Teddy Bears' Picnics, Legoland and what I am naming Valentine's Corner - complete with pink flamingoes and fairy lights.  I wish I'd had time to take photos and thank each marshal personally for such an amazing effort!

I didn't take in much of the scenery I'm afraid.  I was too busy concentrating on staying upright.  At the water station I decided it was prudent to stop and drink rather than trying to run down hill while drinking from an open cup!  I never take water with me on a 10k run, but somehow running past a water station always makes me feel terribly thirsty!  

There was one short, sharp steep hill - where a parkrun friend and CPRC member stood capturing photographic evidence of how hard we were working - and another longer, less steep hill.  For those of us running the 10k we had to do these twice.  I spent most of the second lap trying to remember where the hills were and failing miserably!    At the end of the second lap we turned right and were back in the field, as we did this I overtook a man from Bramley Trail Runners, thinking that we were just a short sprint from the finish line.  Funny how the mind can play tricks on you - it was quite a long haul over the uneven ground and mainly up hill too.  I managed to hold my place until we crossed the line - he managed to nose ahead of me but only just!  

I stopped my Garmin at 54:26.  My road PB is 49:16 and I haven't been close to that all this year, so I am happy with my time.  I had no expectations of how I would get on this morning, and after taking an early tumble I definitely erred on the side of caution - especially on the steep downhill sections.  I am not a convert to trail running - it requires far too much concentration for me, but I would definitely run this one again, just for…er…fun...  

I met up at the finish with various running friends.  It was a pleasure to run a race with the woman who got me into running.  She was completing her first 5k race today, and has decided that she will enter the Bupa 10,000m next year!  It was lovely to cheer people over the finish line and watch the prize ceremony for the top finishers.  That done we made our way back to collect our bags and enjoy a post race massage thanks to the guys at North Hampshire Sports Massage - they kindly plonked my sore foot in an icy boot thingy while I waited for my friends to have their turn on the massage tables.  

This was a great race, with excellent organisation and nice medals (not sure if you can call wood 'bling').  It was lovely to see so many people I know both amongst the runners and the marshals - it is such a boost to have someone call out your name as you run, and the marshals were very good at lying and saying that I was looking good!  

Thank you to everyone at CPRC and The National Trust who made it all happen.

    

Woking inaugural parkrun

In a radical break from tradition, and by prior arrangement with Elaine, I decided not to wear my 100 club tshirt to the inaugural Woking parkrun.  Instead we were pretty in pink!   Our 'Don't be sh*t!' tops were sold to celebrate the achievement of Steve Way and to raise money for Julia's House Hospice.  They come in many colours, but we'd both chosen pink.

Due to a rather late night on Friday I had not checked the directions to the start and decided to rely on my Sat Nav, which got up almost there.  We were less than quarter of a mile from where we needed to be, but the road was blocked by bollards!  Luckily we'd left enough time for such emergencies and were soon parking in the free carpark at Woking Leisure Centre.   My first impression was that there were hundreds of parkrun shirts! I then realised that I knew loads of people.  I think it is quite possible that I knew more people at Woking today than I know at my home parkrun.  parkrunners had descended on Woking from far and wide and it was lovely to see so many friendly faces.  I just wish that there had been more time to catch up with people.  

The run briefing took place at the start line.  I think the start line must boast the closest loos to a start line at any parkrun (although I am happy to be corrected) as they are just a couple of steps away from the start.  The briefing covered all that needed to be said, thanking volunteers, mentioning the sponsors etc. without going on too long.  And then we were off…. 

Three laps of the park sounds very simple and straightforward, but it was a twisty, turny route that wend its way into and out of woodland and over bridges.   Most of the course was on tarmac, with the bit through the woods being on trail.  The marshals were amazing, unfailingly cheerful and supportive as they cheered us on each and every lap.  I ran with the Fredster.  He wasn't happy as he was tired and grumpy following a very late night on Friday.  Still, thinking about how to cheer him up did take my mind off my hangover.   I got to chat to runners while I ran, meeting a lovely lady who was running her first 5k.  The twisty nature of the course meant I not only got to cheer on/hurl abuse at the the speedy runner as they lapped us, but also to see people I knew on various bits of the course as they ran around the convoluted loops.  

After scanning our barcodes and collecting bags, dealing with a fainting child and taking photos we made our way to the leisure centre for coffee.  I am not sure that the coffee shop there were quite prepared for an influx of parkrunners all in need of post run coffee, tea and cake!  

Thank you to all the organisers and volunteers who made this morning possible for me and 289 other runners.  I hope your event goes swimmingly and grows in popularity.  I'll be back soon I hope!

Chichester inaugural parkrun

'I'm doing a book fair in Lewes on the 2nd August, would you like to come along for the day?' asked Husbando about a week ago.  I thought about the two Brighton parkruns and said 'Yes!'  I haven't done either of those yet and this seemed like an ideal opportunity.   A couple of days later I remembered that Chichester's first parkrun was coming up soon….. And after a little bit of investigation I found that it was the same day.  I have probably mentioned before that I didn't do geography for O'level, and that I can at times be somewhat geographically challenged.  I thought that Chichester and Lewes were quite close together…..

No matter, Husbando needed to be in Lewes at 7am.  Lewes is about an hour and a half away from my home, which meant an early start for me, young Freddy and Husbando.  We had a quick coffee with Husbando in Lewes and then headed off along the A27 for the 50 minute long journey to Chichester.   The parkrun takes place in Oaklands Park, which is located just behind Chichester Festival Theatre.  Many years ago I saw an excellent production of 'When we are married' starring Dawn French and Roger Lloyd Pack at Chichester.   I recall that the theatre has excellent acoustics and good vision from all seats.  I must go back one day.  Anyway - back to parkrun… the Sat Nav took me directly to the free carpark at the Chichester Rugby club, and from there it was about a minute's walk to the starting/run brief area in front of the cricket pavilion.  The Fredster was desperate for a wee so I asked a volunteer where the loos were.  I was told that they were in the pavilion, but that they were mens's only, but that it was OK for women to use them too, as it was a cricket pavilion.  I did, jokingly, mutter something about the fact that women are allowed to play cricket too these days - and the England Women's team actually did rather well in The Ashes!

Pre run wees taken care of, we bumped into some familiar faces.  There were far fewer of the regular 'tourists' than usual, but it was lovely to see friends from Basingstoke, Queen Elizabeth, Reading and Roundshaw Downs parkruns as we waited for the run brief.  Event director Mike Houston struck just the right note with his briefing.  Thanking all those who needed to be thanked (sponsors, local supporters and volunteers), giving out all the necessary information and informing the many new new registrants of the procedure to follow at the finish with wit and humour and some oversized barcodes and finishing tokens.

Then we were off!  As you can see from the screenshot of my Garmin trace, it is not the simplest of circuits!  I ran to the bottom of the course (about half a mile) with the Fredster.  The Fredster was VERY TIRED, not just from his early start, but also because he had run four miles the day before.  I could sense that this was not going to be a fast run for him or a fun experience for me.  Luckily, for me if not for him, a friend had volunteered as tail runner for this event, and he was just starting the short out and back section as Freddy and I finished it - so I asked if Freddy could run with him and off I went.  I am not running well at the moment, due to carrying about a stone and a half more weight than I should be, but it was nice to be able to have a tiny bit of a burst of speed.  It was lovely to be able to work my way through the field a bit.

Most of the course is on grass, apart from the long straight bit you can see along the side of the A286 - lovely tarmac, but also a 400m long hill.  So swings and roundabouts there!   The second time up that hill was when we got lapped by the front runners.  I was doing my customary shouting of 'Fast runners coming through - keep left!' When someone asked 'Who is the girl with the lungs?'  It took me a moment to realise they were talking about me!  I guess you can take the girl out of the Artillery Regiment - but she doesn't lose the ability to run and shout loudly enough to be heard the length of a gun position easily.    By the third time round, the incline was starting to make itself felt, but I was spurred on by the sight of the tail runner and Freddy up ahead.  Not only had I worked myself a considerable way through the runners I was going to blooming well lap someone!  Hurrah!  I kept going, then slowed down a bit as I had run off with Fred's water bottle and he was hot and thirsty.  We had a bit of a chat, Fred was happy, the tail runner had to keep calling him back as he was faster than the last person, but all was good.  I left the water bottle and made my way to the finish.  Despite my slow start and slowing a few times to talk to people as we went around, I squeaked in under 30 minutes (29.19).

After collecting my token I looked up and saw that Freddy was just about to start his final lap.  I knew he could run faster than the pace being set by the final runner, so set off to run the last lap with him, because I really needed another 400m long incline!  He did pick up his pace, finishing 3 minutes ahead of the last runners, and still managing to put in a sprint to the line.  After sorting out barcodes etc. we made our way for a post run drink and natter at Bertie's Cafe.  Chichester parkrun is another of those lucky venues that have a cafe right near the finishing line - fabulous and brilliant for building a real community.  The cafe is on the first floor and has a terrace with fabulous views over the park - which was lovely, until it started to rain!  But at least the rain stayed away until well after parkrun finished.

Huge thanks to Mike and his team of volunteers for organising another brilliant parkrun!  I am sure I'll be back to run in Chichester again soon.  Oh, and I hope token number 8 found its way back to its rightful spot!

parkrun in a shopping trolley.

Finding ourselves near Tewkesbury for the wedding of friends this weekend it made sense to find a parkrun to do in the morning.   After a full English breakfast at our hotel we headed to Cheltenham to find their parkrun on Tommy Taylors Lane.  I don't normally eat breakfast before parkrun, but as it was included in out hotel room rate I thought I ought to get value for money!

It was overcast and threatening to rain as we assembled at the start.  The run brief, from event director Malc and first time run director Clark saw distribution of club t shirts and the normal pre run information was announced.  What was noticeable was how attentive the runners were.  It seemed that everyone was actually listening.  As the briefing progressed the Sun came out and I began to regret leaving my sunglasses in the car!  CLC Striders were providing all the volunteer roles this week, including pacers.

We were soon under starter's orders and we all charged across the grass to get to the path around the lake.  I had worried that this would be a boring run.  It is 3 laps which on the course page looks like it might be around a field.  In reality it was a lovely route, mostly on paths around a lake, over bridges, under trees and around a football field.  Husbando was able to run with me this week as he had taken a day off work for the wedding.  I say 'run with me' but what I should really say is 'run at the same parkrun as me' as he had a fantastic run - he spent most of the run with the 24 minute pacer.  He is full of praise for her - she ran a near perfectly paced run and encouraged him throughout, until he struck out for the finish line to complete his run in 23mins 18secs - a parkrun PB for him.  He is a little put out that this is 2 seconds slower than my PB - but I doubt that it will be long before he runs a lot faster than my PB!

My run, on the other hand was not great.  Don't get me wrong, I had a lovely time.  Wearing a 100 T-shirt at a relatively young event (the 69th Cheltenham parkrun) does attract a bit of attention, and I chatted to several people as I ran around, including event director Malc and several of the pacers.  But I was so slow!  I'd wanted to take advantage of not running with a 10 year old to really go for it, but that was not going to happen.  I think that the Ultra and the Marathon I ran last month really have taken their toll.  I just could not run anywhere near as fast as I wanted to.  And everything seemed to ache.  I've never wanted a parkrun to be over so much in my life.  This was not really helped by me starting to run a 4th lap rather than turning off for the finish.  I was a minute a mile slower than Husbando.  

We hung around for a while chatting with fellow runners while we got our barcodes scanned, enjoying the sunshine and, in my case, getting my breath back, before heading to the leisure centre to use their loos and grab a drink.  Sadly we couldn't hang around for coffee and a chat as we had a wedding to get ready for.  I am not sure that turning up 'parkrun fresh' would have been acceptable.

All in all a great little (well not so little with 350 runners) parkrun!  Maybe I'll get to do a return visit sometime soon, and at least I haven't sent myself too hard a target to beat!   If I do come back I think I will have to allow more time to look around Pittville Park - it looks much bigger than I thought from running around part of it, and I didn't even see the Pump Room!

Jingly jangly runner

It isn't often that I don't feel like parkrunning.  There are many weeks when I would quite happily do an extra parkrun or two every week, but this morning was different.  It had been a very long week at work, I'd had emergency dental work done, I'd dealt with all my exam classes going into stratospheric levels of stress and just about managed to get out and run all my scheduled runs.  I am still suffering the effects of the 50k race I did and my training runs had been at a pace that would not have worried a snail.  Added to this, three of the children had to be at a school open day, so I wouldn't have my son with me and therefore no excuse for a slow run.  The temptation to stay in bed was very real.

But, I did get out of bed and I did parkrun.  Three weeks ago a new parkrun started locally: Rushmore parkrun.  I couldn't go as I was doing this instead, so decided to go today instead.  I went with a friend.  I still find it much easier to go along with someone rather than on my own, and we found our way to the start without too much problem.  We did miss the very clearly signposted carpark, but we do know where it is for next time!  Hanging around at the start someone came up to me and said 'Are you MrsBridgewater?  You must meet our Event Director!'  I was a little taken aback - turns out that this was someone who read my blog and said lots of nice things about it.  The event director, Chris, was lovely and very welcoming.  I am sure he is far more relaxed now than he was three weeks ago.

There was a briefing for new runners, a pre run brief near the start line and then we were off.  I had been concerned that this would be a 'twice round a sports field' type of run (which always reminds me of being punished for being naughty or skiving games at school) but it was much more interesting than that!  Yes we did run across a sports field, but we also ran along a path at the edge of the road, down and along a canal tow path and through a wooded area and underneath a tree lined avenue to the finish.  Part of the route was on tarmac - sweet! Some of it was on grass and on (what could be had it not been hot) a muddy towpath - to be expected on a sports field, but there did seem to be quite a bit of gravel.  I HATE gravel.   I really do dislike it!  My friend, who was running with her son, said she thought of me when they got to the gravel bits!  Still - it could be avoided quite easily by running on the grass - so that's what I did.  The course was brilliantly marshalled by friendly volunteers.  There are 2 short downhill sections, but no noticeable uphills - which make this a course with great PB potential.

One thing I hate about as much as gravel is running near someone who has jangly keys in their pockets.   I ran too fast in the first mile trying to get away from the pillock who was running near me with keys jangling.  It was only when I found myself running on my own and I could still hear the jangling that I realised I was the culprit!  Normally I give my car key to my older daughter to look after while she volunteers, but she was at school and I'd shoved the keys in my pocket with my barcode tags and a ten pound note!  I took the key out of my pocket and things were much better after that, if a bit slower!  I was pleased that I maintain a reasonable pace, not too concerned that it was way off PB pace as I haven't set myself an insurmountable target to beat next time I run at Rushmore.  I was the 5th lady home - been a long time since I've finished that high in the rankings.  I'm quite pleased with that, even if I only achieved it by summoning everything I had left to overtake a lovely lady in the final 150m!  My guilt at this is made worse on discovering that she is a teacher at my middle child's school!  Oops!

Sadly the coffee van man failed to materialise again.  A huge shame as with over 150 people there (runners, volunteers, supporters) on a lovely sunny morning he'd have sold a few drinks!  There are plenty of park benches near the start/finish too for those of us who are too old to sit on the floor (or too old to get up again once we've sat down on the floor).  If anyone local has a coffee van or knows someone who has one, why not get in touch via the Rushmore parkrun page and see if you can offer your services?

Thanks to all the team for a great run!  You even laid on fantastic weather.  I'll be back with a short person soon!

#backtothestadium

Way back at the end of 2011 I entered a ballot for a race that billed itself as being a 'once in a lifetime event,' and was fortunate enough to get a place in the the The National Lottery Olympic Park Run.  The experience of running around the emerging Olympic Park with 5,500 other runners was amazing.  It did resemble a building site in some areas, but it was a hustling, bustling building site that was full of promise.

A few months ago I got an email or saw a Facebook status (I can't remember which!) that advertised the National Lottery Anniversary Olympic Park Run.  A similar run, 5 miles, finishing in the stadium, to celebrate the anniversary of the start of the 2012 Olympic Games.  This time it wasn't a ballot for places, this time there were 10,000 places up for grabs on a first come first served basis with a price tag of £27 (compared to last year's entry price of £15).  That's quite a lot for a 5 mile race, but the experience from last March was so amazing that I signed up and got Husbando to sign up too - he'd not managed to get a ballot place last year.

We travelled up on the train, when we boarded at Woking we joined a throng of runners that I know and a party atmosphere ensued!

This year, of course, we knew what the stadium would be like, there wasn't the novelty factor that we had experienced last time when we first walked into the stadium.  We had 'been there, done that and bought several souvenir t-shirts' over the course of several visits to the Olympics ask Paralympics.  It was a shock to see how much has been dismantled as we walked to the stadium.  The airport style x-ray security machines were gone and, despite dire warnings to arrive 2 hours before the start of the race, we got through security pretty quickly.   The stadium itself was as imposing as ever, the aquatics centre was still there, but with loads of scaffolding, the Orbit was in place but with a huge pile of rubble in front of it.   The boys were most disappointed to dissever that the MacDonalds had vanished!

We settled the boys in their seats and Husando and I made our way to the start.  After a week or two of really hot weather it was overcast this morning.  We waited at the start area, half heartedly took part, along with 12,500 other runners (2,500 extra places had been released as a ballot) in a mass warm up, and after a short delay Sir Chris Hoy sounded the claxon and there first wave set out.   We were in the second wave, so we had to wait a little longer - watching the big screen to see if we could spot people we knew!  We saw several people stop just after the start, mobile 'phones at the ready to grab a photo of themselves with Sir Chris!

Soon it was our turn to cross the line.  I was raring to go.  The early stages of the route were very narrow with lots of twists and turns, so there was little chance to get into a good pace.  We ran on every kind of surface: tarmac, grass, sand, gravel!  There were lots of runners wearing headphones who seemed to have absolutely no awareness of what was going on around them.  As soon as we started to run we realised that it was actually still rather warm!

It was an odd run.  Constantly looking for space to run into, wondering where Husbando was - we were running together, but it was hard to keep track of him as most people were wearing their blue t-shirts, keeping one eye on the uneven surface underfoot while trying to work out where we were in the park and what had been demolished!  We crossed the first mile marker in 8mins 31 secs - so at that point we mentally kissed a PB goodbye.  We just couldn't get a good run of speed, so thought we would just enjoy ourselves.

At three miles we were on an out and back section and we saw a dinosaur running back towards us.  Husbando decided that he was going to 'take the dinosaur.'  I thought this was ambitious, but hey - at this point I was just about hanging on, going through a mid race lull with a foot that was giving me a bit of bother (my 'good' foot which was worrying!)  As we got to the 4 mile marker the 'Asthma dinosaur' was in our sights and we passed him very soon afterwards.  How he managed to run in that costume in today's heat is beyond me - it was hot enough running in a tshirt!  

The end was now, if not in sight, but within contemplation.  I picked up the pace.  I kept thinking that Husbando was ahead of me so speeding up, when actually he was behind me!  The tunnel into the stadium was a sweaty sauna - music blaring out and a 'last lap' bell ringing as we approached the track.

And here we were, back on that track.  Husbando said 'Let's run on the outside so the boys can see us and get photos.'  I was doing some running maths (always a bit dodgy) and figured that there was, miraculously, a chance that I could better my time from last year, so wanted to run on the inside.  I compromised and ran in the middle while Husbando ran nearer the outside.   We'd talked about crossing the line hand in hand, but when Husbando took my hand about 60m from the finish I am ashamed to say I shook him off.  There were vital seconds at stake and I couldn't run holding hands - I said 'Too soon!' and fully intended to grab his hand again as we crossed the line.  I didn't quite manage it, but we did cross the line together.  And I did get a PB!  By five whole seconds!

Paula Radcliffe was still at the finish line, shaking hands and signing autographs, there were also paralympians forming a sort of honour guard that we passed through on our way out of the stadium.  A nice, chunky medal and a goody bag were very welcome, as was the breeze when we left the stadium!

Photos will follow soon.  We had to dash back, have a quick shower and change before going down to Cowdray Park to watch the finals of the polo!  What a day!  The team we were supporting won, lots of champagne was consumed and a jolly good time was had by all!