After the shenanigans of the last term, this halfterm I had decided that it was to be full up with stuff. And it was. I had homework to complete.
Plenty of parkrunning and long runs, Samaritans, gigs, meals out, reading, allotment action and general merry making was had.
I’m feeling ready for a very important term back at school.
When doing a Parkrun on a Saturday morning, you generally have just one thing to remember: don’t forget your barcode.
I forgot it.
Day 7 RED January
After not running at all in December (and barely in November) because of the niggle in the calf, this RED January is a godsend. It means I can very slowly increase distance and speed.
So today I was at the gym – 4 miles on the treadmill – slowly increasing the speed of each mile.
I’m hoping that by the end of January I might be somewhere need where I was about 3 months ago so that I can start building up the mileage and getting back to some faster parkruns.
RED January stats:
Today was one of those days that are just full up with stuff.
Firstly, #Juneathon day 27 was a Parkrun. Peterborough Parkrun. But more importantly, Helen's first ever Parkrun. It was a lovely morning, the sun was shining, in fact it was a very warm 5k. Good start to the day.
That was followed by a trip to buy some plants for the garden. Which was inevitably followed by actually planting the plants. That done it was BBQ time…
It was a really enjoyable afternoon/evening, plenty of food and beer. Although the majority of it was spent deciding whether or not we would actually continue with the planned holiday to Tunisia! I'm sure there will be more to come on the subject in the coming weeks!
Janathon Day 3
I woke up to a miserable morning in Lincolnshire. I had plans to attend a parkrun, but that never happened, due to the fact that I didn't actually wake-up until 9.30am. But with parkrun in mind I decided to get straight out and do a fast few miles. And that is exactly what I did; I hit the streets of Bourne.
The dog was disappointed that I didn't take him to the woods with me for the run – but I wanted to avoid the rain that was on its way – he didn't speak to me for the rest of the day.
Today's mileage = 2.92
Total Janathon mileage = 12.48
Project365 #3
Today's photo is pipe work. Not just any old pipe work, but the sort that leaks, the sort that has leaked in the past, the sort that ends up taking over your life. Argh!!! The day has been punctuated with calls to various plumbers in an attempt to get it sorted. The lovely Shaun will be round on Monday to take a look.
In other news….back to work on Monday.
I like Parkrun, I think it's a fantastic idea: a free 5km timed run local to pretty much everyone. Despite thinking it is a great idea and enjoying them, I must admit that actually getting out of bed on a Saturday morning in time to make the start line is pretty rare.
So when I found myself once again at Ferry Meadows Country Park for another Peterborough Parkrun I had my eye firming set on beating last week's time. Thinking back to last week I had started reasonably easy, due in part to starting in the main pack. Not this morning, I was prepared, I positioned myself reasonably close to the front. I wasn't going to start off easy today. The thing with a 5km is that if you want a good time you've got to be prepared to go off hard. That I did. In fact I ran the first kilometre at about 3000mph – you may think this is an exaggeration – but it's not.
After 2km my legs were feeling the fast pace, the voices in my head asking, “Why do you run 5km? It's too short. You're not fast enough!” It felt like I was running through treacle, and bloody thick treacle at that! However, it is at about this point that you begin the second lap and start lapping people – that's always good for self-confidence.
By 3km I had calmed down, of course my legs were still struggling, but less than ten minutes running left, I might be ok. The positivity began to pump through my veins. I looked ahead – I could see a girl – I don't like being beaten by girls. I had a target to chase. It took a while but I caught her up – and passed her – things were going well. It was at this point that it dawned on me that I wasn't wearing a watch – no big deal – sometimes it's nice to just run as well as you can and see what time it gets you. But it would have been nice to see how it was going.
As the 4km marker came into view I finally worked out what had been bugging me for most of the race – there was a fella ahead with something stuck to his back. What was it? It looked like a number. It was the 20-minute pacer! I wasn't even that far behind him!
Suffice to say that I never caught him up. I crossed the finish line about 10secs behind him. My legs were knackered. My chest felt like it was going to explode. But I was happy. Finishing time 20.08. Position? Amazingly… it was 28th again. Lovely jubbly!
Although saying that, do you remember I don't like getting beaten by girls? Well I was. By two! And one of them was only 14 years old!!! Oh well, like I said, I am a middle-aged old git.
How is the training going for the half-marathon I hear you ask? You still on target to beat your PB?
Well….'sort of' is my reply.
Over the last couple of weeks I've completed a few long runs at a pretty decent pace. Although all slower than my target pace for the half. The furthest I've run at target pace is about six miles and that was a struggle in the last mile or so. So still of plenty of hard work required in the next few weeks.
This morning I attended Peterborough Parkrun and I had decided to run it without a watch. This meant starting off running fast and trying to maintain it. It paid off, new Parkrun PB: 19.37.
Lovely jubbly!
At last I have a local Parkrun, well not exactly local, still 20 miles away, but it will definitely become a regular fixture of the weekend. I've done a few of these events over the last year and they are always great fun and really well organised. My first experience of Peterborough Parkrun was no different.
It takes place at Ferry Meadows in Nene Park and is basically a couple of laps of the lakes, and because it is slightly out of the city centre, there is not a Chav in sight.
Results email…..
I was slightly disappointed with my time of 20.20. I ran 19.57 at Tilgate Parkrun last weekend, and that was a hilly course in places. This morning I worked hard from the start, but come 3km my legs felt very tired, I tried to up the pace for the last couple of kilometres but couldn't get under 20mins. But that does give me a target when I visit Ferry Meadows again next week.
I was a parkrun tourist today.
I'm visiting my sister in Kent and her closest parkrun is Tilgate Parkrun near Crawley. So we planned to set off at 8am to give it a go. When I say 'we', I was the only one planning to run it, but my sister and her two kids were coming for the ride. It's been a while since I've had little ones, so had forgotten just how crazy things can be when you're trying to get out the door, Grace is 22 mths and Stanley is 8 mths, so this morning was not a matter of get up and go.
A few things needed doing before we could leave: nappies changed; bottles drunk; breakfast eaten; changing bag prepared; pushchair sorted; clothes on; spare bibs in bag; snacks and drinks in bag; nappies changed; toys in bag; pushchair in car; kids in car seats; car seats in car; and we were ready to go, only a couple of minutes behind schedule.
Tilgate Park is about 15 miles away, despite having no idea where we were going we made it in good time, and after unloading all the stuff (and kids), walking in the direction of everyone else, we arrived at the start with ten minutes to spare. A quick warm-up and we were off.
As is usual with every other parkrun I have been to, it was well organised and well attended. The 5km course began near the boathouse and does a lap of Tilgate Lake before heading to Titmus Lake, up a short sharp incline (which is not particularly short, but definitely sharp), before turning back towards Tilgate Lake for a second lap, at which point I managed a high five with Grace as I sped whizzed ran past, before reaching the finish in 13th place in a time of 19.57.
After the run we headed to the fantastic looking playground at the top of the hill….
This playground may have looked fantastic, but the items in the playground had a dark side: they were slightly more tricky than they looked. Standard swings: no problems. Springy bouncy jeep thingy: fine, until a lad jumped on and began rocking the thing like it was traversing the moon. Slide one: no problems. Slide two: huge metal corkscrew slide, which was vey high, had one go but too scary to attempt again. Slide three: steeper than it looked, Grace even managed a bit of free fall at one stage whilst travelling down it. Scramble net bridge: tried but too difficult, one step on and feet fell through holes.
After the playground we settled on the grass for a little picnic, a little relax, and three 'little' trips to the bin.
Lovely morning! Cushty!
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