Food, Curry Night, 50 T's and Week 4 Training

Me and Food

Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE my food and I always have.  I have always had what my mum would call a "healthy appetite" but my diet is not as good as it could be.  I am a sucker or a sausage or bacon sandwich for breakfast, a standard lunch would be sandwich, crisps and chocolate bar and for dinner anything with chips!

Since meeting Sarah my evening meals have improved with less "beige" food and more variation.  We try and eat a lot more veg, meat is kept to a minimum and we mix it up to keep it interesting.  We are busy people though and, despite our best intentions, we do get lazy with what we eat.   

In the past I have tried dieting and you know what...it makes me miserable! I tried Weight Watchers for a week once.  I calculated the number of calories I could have a day and I stuck to it for a whole 5 days before caving and going out for steak and chips.  

More recently I have tried cutting out the fried stuff for breakfast and switched to porridge instead, I swapped the sandwich at lunch for a healthy salad and Sarah and I ate better in the evenings.  The result was that I lost half a stone.  However it didn't take long before I lapsed back into my old ways and the weight has snuck back on (not helped with a period of non-running).

I recognise that my weight is a key factor in why I run.  Since starting running I have lost 3 and a bit stone and I feel great now that I am lighter, but I could do more.  

Over the next few months I am going to try and do three things:

1) Cut out the breakfast baps at work and save them for a weekend treat
2) Revise my lunchtime eating to cut out the crisps and chocolate
3) Go back to cooking more at home and putting the variation back into my evening meals

Hopefully these steps will see me lose weight and feel better about myself.  I am also hoping that this will see me run a bit faster and will make those longer runs just that little bit easier!!

Club Curry Night!!

Tuesday this week we had a post run club curry.  I had been drumming up interest for a couple of months and we had a great turn out of 22 club members.  It was fantastic catching up with my club mates and chatting away about recent and upcoming races.  I loved hearing about peoples experiences, especially the wide and varied Autumn marathon experiences.  It made me realise how lucky I am to be part of such a fun and supportive club.  (The curry was also great!!)

Training Week 4

The training plan for next week (Week 4) was a progression on last week.  It saw a slightly longer run on the Tuesday night club run and the introduction of a Thursday morning (pre-work) 10km.  I had intended to try and fit in a hill or interval session, however this did not happen!.   

Monday was probably the toughest run of the week.  Having run nearly 11 miles on Sunday evening my legs were just not up to the job on Monday and the  lunchtime run became a real slog.  Chairman Jury led the run and this brought out his masochistic side in the form of a hilly 4.7 mile run.  The route incorporated 3 large hills in and around Parkstone Golf Course and Branksome Park.  On each of the hills I got slower and slower and struggled to drag my leaden legs up to the top.  It was even pointed out that I was not really lifting my feet and was just "shuffling" along.  However I did get round and afterwards reflected that a bad run was better than no run.

Tuesday was the evening club run and with a team curry happening immediately afterwards (see more about that above) we had a larger than normal group out.  Spirits were high and so was the pace!!  After Monday's difficult run I felt surprisingly good and so was pleased to be able to push the longer distance slightly harder than I normally would.  The pace was assisted by a fairly flat course through Penn Hill, Lower Parkstone, and down to Sandbanks.  We then headed along the front all the way to the pier and then up through the gardens.  It was a beautiful evening and, coupled with the fantastic company, it was a great run. We didn't quite make the 9 miles I had hoped for but we managed 8.6 miles at around 8:20 mins/mile (including a couple of sub-8's).

Wednesday was another lunchtime run.  We again had a good group out, despite there being some rain in the air.  As we wanted a fairly easy, average length run, we decided on the Tedious route.  With the weather improving and a slight tail wind we managed a couple of sub-8 min/miles along the prom.  I paid for the early high tempo though and slowed up through the gardens and back to the office.  Anything under 40 minutes is good for a Tedious so 37:59 was superb for a lunchtime session, although I can't help feeling that I would get more, personally, out of a more focussed training session (hills or intervals) rather than a just a couple of quick miles followed by a drastic slowing.

Thursday was the first of my early morning 10kms.  I used these earlier in the summer to allow me to get a slightly longer run in that I can't do in a normal lunch hour.  It does mean waking at 530 and leaving home at 6 to get down to Bournemouth early enough to get the run in so it means dragging my bum out of bed!!  This week I got to Westbourne at around 645 which gave me plenty of time to get a good run in.  I decided to keep it fairly simple by running down The Avenue and along the front to Bournemouth pier.  I then continued along the front towards Boscombe Pier.  I reached the 5km point in good time, but I felt good so decided to run a little further and eventually turned around the 6.5km mark.  It was then I realised that I felt good because I had a strong tailwind blowing me along the front and that I was heading back towards the incoming rain!  By the time I got back to the bottom of The Avenue I was knackered and it was raining.  I slogged my way back up to the office (passing the wonderful Jacqui Ives) and finished in a little over an hour.    

Friday I had to drop my car off for repairs in Winchester, so decided to run home after dropping it off.  As the garage was at Winnall I had a nice downhill first half mile.  I wanted to make sure I ran around 4.5 miles so I ran a circuitous route along the river, around St Cross, back into the city, past the Cathedral and then home.  It was a good way to finish off a stressful week at work!

Saturday is parkrun day!!  This was a special run though as it was the first in my shiny new 50 club T-shirt!!  Sarah and I were going away for the weekend so I ran in Winchester before heading off.  I got down to River Park just before 8:45 which didn't leave me long to warm up.  After chatting with the run team I was left with even less time to warm up so I started the run a little on the cold side.  Not wanting to risk further injury I took the first lap fairly easily.  With some overnight rain the course had become a little slippy in places and the tree line on the far side of the course had to be navigated with some care, which naturally made lap times slightly slower.  I picked the pace up a little on the second lap and started passing a few runners, which is always a shot in the arm!  On the last lap I pushed the pace again.  I had a 100 Marathon Club member in my sights and decided to try and take him before the finish.  He made me work hard for it but I managed to take him at the 200m to go sign.  A strong sprint finish saw me finish in 24:30 and 95th place.  No way near my fastest but a very pleasing run!!  

Sunday and Sarah and I were staying in the Cotswolds in a beautiful town called Bourton-on-the-Water (known as the Venice of the Cotswolds due to the 5 bridges that cross the river in town).  I aimed to get 10 miles in before the breakfast shut at the hotel. The clocks had gone back the night before so rising early was not an issue and I was out on the roads before 7am.  I had had a quick look at Google maps and picked out a loop of what looked like roughly 10 miles.  

I ran through the centre of town, criss crossing the bridges and stopping for a few pictures before the tourists descended.  I then headed out of town along the river.  I turned off of the main road and started heading towards a small village called Clapton on the Hill.  The road wound through some lovely British countryside before turning uphill.  A mile of climbing and some 440ft of elevation later and I reached the village.  From here the route went along the ridgeway that overlooks Bourton-on-the-Water.  I stopped for a number of photos before the road started heading downhill towards the town.  This was a nice section of downhill where I managed to up the pace and reduce the effort.  Before realising it I was back in the centre of town, however I had only covered 7 miles (my guesstimating was a bit out), so I ran a few laps of the town to get the distance up to 10 miles before heading back to my hotel. 

Summary


I was pleased overall with the week's training.  I was slightly shorter on Tuesday and Wednesday but longer on Monday, Thursday and Friday.  I recovered well after the longer runs but felt that the higher paces were a struggle. I was hoping to put in either a hill or interval session but for one reason or another this didn't happen.  

Here is my summary of the week. 

	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN	Total
Target	4.5	9.0	4.5	6.0	4.5	3.1	10.0	41.6
Actual	4.73	8.60	4.46	7.29	4.83	3.09	10.03	43.03
Time	42:43	1:11:59	37:59	1:07:06	47:20	24:30	1:31:39	6:23:16
Pace (Min/Mile)	9:01	8:22	8:31	9:12	9:48	7:55	9:08	8:54

So far in October I have run nearly 125 miles in 20 sessions.  That is just over 19 hours of running!!

Next week

So next week's training plan is very similar to week 4s.  It sees the Tuesday night run back up at the full 10 mile distance and sees Sunday's long run up to half marathon distance.  It also sees the Interval session back on the Wednesday.  

	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
26-Oct	4.5	10.0	4.5	6.0	4.5	3.1	13.1

In next weeks blog I will talk a bit about interval and hill sessions what I get out of them and how much they hurt!!

Training Week 3 and Me and Food

Me and Food

This week I was going to write about food and how what I eat affects my running.  I was also going to cover what I eat in the lead up to a race, what I eat on race day and how I gorge after a race.  

It is therefore ironic that I should pick up a stomach bug which basically prevented me eating for two days!!  I have therefore decided to not write about that this week!!  So this is a shorter than normal blog covering just my training. 

Training Week 3

This week saw some normality returning to my training.  The plan was to run at lunchtime Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the longer club run on Tuesday, parkrun on Saturday and a longer run on Sunday.

Mileage for the week was aimed at around 35 miles.  Intention was to run the lunchtime runs at around 8:30-8:45 pace and the Tuesday and Sunday runs at around 9:00-9:30 pace.  parkrun on Saturday I was aiming to run in around 23 minutes.

The bug I picked up meant I didn't run on Wednesday but apart from that the week pretty much went to plan.  

Monday was a standard Tedious route with Aaron and Simon.  It was a good start to the week with a nice steady even pace.  Anything under 40 mins for a tedious is good so we were pleased with a 39:46 for the 4.5 mile route.  

Tuesday was my first Tuesday night club run for some time and it was nice to back out.  On a Tuesday night we usually do a route which is called "The Meandering", so called because it meanders around Branksome Park, Lower Parkstone and Lilliput.  It then goes up and over Evening Hill, down to Sandbanks and along the beach front.  The route is good for a club run as it offers opportunities to cut short at regular intervals, meaning the run can be anywhere from 5 to 10 miles.  There was group of 8 of us out so it was a nice social run.  I had aimed to run 8 miles but ended up running slightly further. We also set off slightly faster than normal which I paid for in the latter part of the run.  

Wednesday I was unable to run due to a sickness bug and Thursday was always scheduled to be a rest day.

Friday I managed to drum up a good group of runners.  We decided on the Cliff Top tedious route which, as the name suggests, is a Tedious route but instead of running along the beach front we run along the cliff top, before dropping down to Bournemouth Pier.  Having felt awful for the two previous days I was surprised that I was able to keep up with the strong early pace.  The first three miles were completed in just 24:30.  We managed to keep up a good pace through the gardens and, despite feeling sick for the last mile, finished the 4.7 miles in 39:25. 

Saturday is parkrun day!  As I had Olivia this weekend I was running "at home" in Winchester.  I had also volunteered for set-up again so was down at River Park at 08:15.  I love being there that early...it is great to see a parkrun take shape and then, at around 0:85, suddenly see 200+ people materialise out of all corners of the park and assemble for a run. I was trying to run around 23 minutes this week, but I just wasn't feeling it.  I started off steady for the first 2 miles and then decided to push myself for the remaining mile and a bit.  I finished strong but again felt sick at the end.   It turned into a good progression run with each mile being faster than the previous.  I finished in 24:34 and 104th place (out of 269 runners).

Sunday I was scheduled to run 10 miles but had a busy day planned so if I was going to do it it was going to have to be in the evening.  So at 6pm I laced the trainers up and got out onto the streets of Winchester.  Aim was to run the 10 miles at about 9:30 a mile.  I set off at a steady pace with the first few miles being fairly undulating.  Once I got onto my more familiar loop of the water meadows I pushed the pace and managed to get a few miles in at target marathon pace.  I got to mile 8 feeling relatively good however it was here that the wheels came off.  I AGAIN started feeling sick and fairly dehydrated, unfortunately it coincided with hitting the huge hill that is Stanmore.  1 mile all uphill with a couple of steep sections.  It was a hard slog...and I had to walk some of the harder points.  Once at the top I started running again but my body was shot and it was more of a shuffle back home.  

I managed to hit my target pace (just under 9:30 a mile), but was disappointed with the way that I got there and the way that I felt at the end.

Summary

	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN	Total
Target	4.5	8	4.5	REST	4.5	3.1	10	34.6
Actual	4.51	8.46	0	N/A	4.69	3.21	10.93	31.8
Time	00:39:46	01:14:18	N/A	N/A	00:39:25	00:24:34	01:43:32	04:41:35
Pace (Min/Mile)	08:49	08:47	N/A	N/A	08:25	07:39	09:28	08:51

Next Week

The training plan for next week (Week 4) is a progression on Week 3.  It sees a slightly longer run on the Tuesday night club run and the introduction of a Thursday morning (pre-work) 10km.  In addition I also intend for Wednesday's lunchtime run to be either a hill or interval session.   


Here is the summary:

	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
19-Oct	4.5	9	4.5	6	4.5	3.1	10

     
The next blog will cover my week 4 training and...me and food (2nd attempt)

Thanks for reading!

James

Training Week 2 and the 9bar9 27km Trail Race

This week I have conflicting emotions. (Soppy way to start a blog, but it does get better!).  This week I was supposed to be running my first ever 50 mile race, but, as I have written before, I am just not in the right physical condition to do so, I therefore dropped down the more manageable 27km option.  I'm gutted to have let the people who kindly sponsored me down and I am extremely disappointed that I wasn't able to achieve the goal I've worked towards all year.  

On the flip side of the coin I am thrilled and overjoyed that I finally feel like I am getting back towards fitness.  I have run every day this week, I have managed to increase the pace at which my runs were at and I have managed to run/walk a fairly tough 27km trail race.  With me only being 2 weeks into a 30 week plan (culminating at the London Marathon) this sets me up for a good winter's training and gives the confidence to continue to push myself harder. 

For this weeks blog I thought I would give a more detailed breakdown of my training and my report from the 9bar9 race.

Training Week 2

Monday

I was working from home in Winchester on Monday and so after I had stowed the laptop away for the night I ventured out into the wind and rain to my favourite local running location at St Catherine's Hill.  From the car park there is a 4.75 mile loop that runs along the River Itchen into the centre of town, up the High Street and then along St Cross Rd, past the Hospital of St Cross up to the park and ride, down to the Hockley Railway Viaduct, back along the river to the start of the loop.  

The scenery along the river is lovely and I really enjoy running past all of the historic buildings that Winchester has to offer.  The route also offers chances to cut short if I am not feeling it, and opportunities to run longer if I need the additional miles.  If I'm feeling really strong there is also the option of running up the St Catherine's hill steps at the end. 

As mentioned, on Monday it was blowing a gale and lashing down with rain.  The loop offers some protection but I was still soaked within a mile of starting. 

I managed to keep my splits fairly consistent throughout the run and pushed the pace on the last half mile or so.  Despite the rain it was a good run and a great start to the week.

Tuesday to Friday

Part of the fun of being in Westbourne RC is the names that they have for the running routes. "Meandering", "Tedious", "Outside Branksome Park", "Inside Meyrick Park", "Short Library", "Onion Bag" and who can forget the classic "Glenn's Back Passage" (don't ask).  These all start and end at the LV Offices in Westbourne, and, due to the office's location, invariably involve one or more hills.  The location also means that during the summer we spend a large amount of time running along the promenade in Bournemouth, one of the most beautiful places to run in the country (in my opinion).  This all means that training is always varied and can be tailored to fitness level or intensity of session that you require. 

Tuesday I ran the "Tedious".  This is basically a route from LV straight down The Avenue to the beach front, along the front to the pier and back to the office via the gardens.  It is a little over 4.5 miles and a good "go to" route.  The run was helped by the lovely company of Glenn (he of aforementioned back passage fame) and Richard "Molly" Mollen.  Again pacing was pretty consistent, although the last half mile up the Prince of Wales Road hill saw the pace drop off somewhat.  


Wednesday there was a bigger group of us, including my nemesis and title character of the blog, Mike Pennock.  A number of the group had just completed the Bournemouth Half (in superb times I might add) so we decided on the "Outside Branksome Park" route as it offered good opportunities to cut short should people wish to.  This route, as the name suggests, basically runs around the outside of Branksome park down to the beach front at Branksome chine, all the way up to Penn Hill before heading back to the office. The group featured several faster runners so the pace was natural higher than previous runs.  It was a good sign that I felt comfortable at the faster pace and was really pleased to be able to push harder on the final mile.  It was great running with the boys and as always the banter was superb.  Mike, Aaron, Simon and Marcus...Thank you!

On Thursday, due to meetings and work generally getting in the way, I ended up running on my own.  I don't mind this.  It gives me a chance to relax and to clear my head.  I decided to do the "Flaghead Chine with cliff top loop" route.  This is nearly 5 miles and has some lovely views over Poole Bay.  It also has a large portion of the run along the sea front.  Having run for the 5 previous days I planned to set out at an easy pace, however I felt strong and so pushed myself a little.  The last stretch up the Avenue (a fairly long hill that starts sharply, but then climbs steadily for maybe a quarter of a mile) was a bit of a slog, but was pleased to see that it hadn't slowed me massively.  Again I felt strong at the end and pushed the pace a bit on the last few hundred yards.     

Friday was supposed to be 5km very steady with Sharon, however she was unable to make it so I headed out with Aaron, Simon "The Chairman" Jury and Glenn to do the "Short Library" route.  The Short Library route is a 5 mile loop (one of the longer lunchtime runs), which takes in 3 leg sapping hills and a nice stretch along the beach front. We again set off at a brisk pace averaging between 8:27 and 8:41 per mile for the first 4 miles.  Along the way we met up with Scott Harris who joined us for the final couple of miles.  He helped us push along, up the Onion Bag (so called because of the wild garlic smell in spring/summer) and back through Westbourne to the office.  The last mile was our fastest at 8:11.  The weather was glorious, the company excellent and it made me feel great to be alive!!

Saturday - 9bar9 27km race (see below)

Sunday - REST DAY!!  Yippee!


Week 2 Training Summary

	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN	TOTAL
Target	4.5	7	4.5	4.5	REST	17	REST	37.375
Actual	4.88	4.58	4.44	4.92	4.98	16.88	REST	40.675
Time	43:27	40:31	37:07	43:32	42:20	3:07:58	N/A	6:34:55
Pace (Min/Mile)	08:53	08:51	08:20	08:51	08:29	11:14	N/A	09:06

9bar9 27km Trail Race (http://www.9bar9x9.com)

RACE DAY!! There's nothing quite like that thrill of waking up and preparing for a race.  That mix of nervous anticipation and excitement that starts from the moment you wake up and builds until the gun goes off.  

The race venue was Loseley Park, near Guildford in Surrey.  Loseley Park is a 16th Century stately home set in magnificent grounds.  With a backdrop of the North Downs and the Hogs Back it is perfect location for a trail race.  The race itself offered 4 distances; 81km Super Ultra, 54km Ultra, 45km Marathon and 27 Half Ultra.  Each race was made up of a number of 9km loops.  

As I was now entered in the 27km Half Ultra I had the latest start time of 10:30.  Registration was straightforward and before long we were called forward for our run briefing on the start line.  There were a couple of people celebrating their birthdays so after a quick rendition of "Happy Birthday" we toed the line and waited for the countdown. 3, 2, 1 and we were off!!

The race started at the front of the house and the first kilometre was all downhill so controlling pace was difficult...especially as I forgot to start my watch!!  The lap started by the house and went down the main drive for half a km, before turning and entering a field that looped around to the back of the house and across the grounds. The course then turned back up until we were almost back at the house.  

We route then turned away and headed along a trail and towards a house called Polstead Manor.  From here the hills started!!  The first hill was a dirt/sand track up through the woods.  I had made the decision before the race to walk the sizeable hills and to run the flatter and downhill sections. I tried to keep some pace in my walking so that I was always moving forward.  Whilst I was overtaken by a number of runners on the hill I was fresh when I got to the top so was able to push on. 

At the 3km marker it levelled out and we ran through some lovely woodland (called West Warren Woods), before dropping down to Conduit farm.  It was here that for a short spell we were running in the opposite direction to the runners already on the course so there were plenty of Hi-Fives given and received!


This was also the point that we turned and started the long slog up to the Hog Back.  Again I resorted to walking (as did most runners).  The ground underfoot was slippery and chalky and was tricky to navigate, even when walking.  The hill seemed to go on for a while, but once we reached the top we were rewarded with stunning views over the valley.  

We ran along the spine of the hogs back for a kilometre before starting the fast descent down to Piccard's Farm.  This is where we re-joined the North Downs Way (along with the elderly hikers, ramblers and dog walkers).  This section was good for running, with the trail being firm and having sections of tarmac near the farm.  We went past the 7km mark and got more hi-fives from the runners coming the other way.  


It was here that we then hit the really steep bit up through East Warren Woods. This section was a real "hands-on-knees" job.  The hill was only short but it was technical and leg sapping.  Once at the top, the path wound slowly downhill through the woods until we reached the grounds of Loseley park again.  We ran down the hill and past the lake and turned to run back up the the start/finish area.  

Just before the finish the organisers had set-up the only water and feed station on the course.  It was well stocked with 9bars (a nutty seed bar in various flavours) as well as sandwiches, sausage rolls, salami, pretzels and haribo! Water and squash was also available to quench your thirst.  I stopped here for a couple of minutes to refuel and have a chat with some of the volunteers, before crossing the start line and starting lap 2!  

By the start of lap 2 the field had strung out and small groups had formed and it became much more of a social run.  There were lots of conversations going on and a good bit of running banter.  It was all very supportive and really added to the relaxed nature of the event.  I also used lap 2 to take some pictures and "selfies" on the way round.  

I maintained my run/walk strategy and found that I was keeping my energy levels up and not destroying my legs.  By this time the morning chill had lifted and the sun was trying valiantly to poke through.  It was fantastic conditions for running and I found myself really enjoying myself!  The marshals throughout were very vocal and always on hand with a hi-five and a supportive comment.  

Before I knew it I was rounding the corner to complete my 2nd lap.  I once again stopped to re-fuel and chat before cracking on with the third, and final, lap.  

As I had taken it relatively easy and had walked all the hills I was still feeling fairly fresh.  Despite starting to slow and walking the hills, I was still running (where possible) so I started to catch and overtake a number of runners who weren't fairing as well.  It wasn't long before I was climbing the final hill and I was into the final couple of k's.  I ran it in to the finish for a 3:07:58.

My final splits were as follows:

Lap 1 (0-9km) - 58:02
Lap 2 (10-18km) - 1:03:24
Lap 3 (19-27km) - 1:06:32
Total (27km) - 3:07:58

Summary

The race was great fun!  It was a lovely setting and great course.  The course was the right mix of challenging and runnable; it was also well marked and well marshalled.  

The organisation was superb with good pre-race instructions, an easy registration process and a good pre-race briefing.  In addition on crossing the line we were immediately given a print out with our finishing time and lap splits on.  Something I think other races could benefit from doing.

The water and food station was well stocked and varied, although the race would've benefitted from second water station around halfway.

The facilities were good with nice clean toilets (always a bonus), bag drop, massages and changing areas.  There was also a cafe offering hot food and drink before and after the race.  

Car parking was free and plentiful for both runners and supporters.  

All runners got a decent medal and a nice technical T-shirt as well as a 9bar goodie bag.  

All in all, an excellent day out and a race I would love to do again.  Marathon next year anyone?

Next Week

Week 3 of my training schedule sees me settling into a more normal training week.  3 lunchtime runs (Mon, Wed, Fri), a club run on Tuesday night, parkrun on Saturday and longer run on Sunday and should look something like this:   

	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
12-Oct	4.5	8	4.5	REST	4.5	3.1	10

Next week's blog will cover my training of the week and I will write a bit about my love-hate-love-love-love relationship with food.

Thanks for reading...tune in next week!

James

A bit about parkrun (and training week 1)

parkrun

Anyone who follows me on Facebook will be used to seeing my regular Saturday morning posts about parkrun.  So I thought I would write a bit about it!

For those of you who are unaware parkrun is a weekly (every Saturday 9am) timed 5km run.  It is free to register and free to run.  It started 11 years ago this weekend with just 13 people in Bushy Park.  Now over 1.2 million people are registered, 110,000 people participate weekly and it is in over 700 locations worldwide and in 11 countries.  

Once you have registered you get a barcode.  You take this along every week and it is scanned when you finished, along with a position token, to give you your position and time.  This is uploaded to the parkrun website and you get a text to tell you your time and position.  

At the time of writing I have run 64 parkruns at 31 different venues (all in the UK).  I have a fastest time of 21:01 and a slowest time of 32:40 (run today).  So what keeps me coming back week after week?  There are a few main reasons.

Firstly, I love the parkrun community.  Young, old, fast, not so fast, big, small, male, female you get a true cross section of people participating.  The volunteers, out there rain or shine, cheering every runner on.  The friendly early morning chats pre-race and the post race banter of people out enjoying their hobby.  It is the same at every parkrun I have been to and it is a pleasure to be part of.

Secondly, it's a family event.  I love that Olivia and Sarah now come down from time to time to run with me. When we run together we are normally in a group at the back with other families out running.  The kids love it and for me, as a parent, having Olivia outside, active and enjoying herself is fantastic.  

Thirdly, I like the fact that I am only ever running against myself.  As I am never going to finish first it is only ever me vs. the clock.  I can therefore use the weekly trot out at parkrun as a good barometer of how fit I am and, when fully fit, as a good opportunity to bring my 5km time down.

Fourthly, variation.  I am very lucky to live in a location where I have a number of parkruns close-by.  Because of this I have started to do a bit of parkrun tourism and have been lucky to visit a number of different venues.  With the only cost being my petrol money it makes it a cheap and enjoyable way of seeing different parts of the country.  Each parkrun is different; I have visited normal parks, woodland parks, National trust properties and coastal paths.  They are run on different surfaces, they range from 1 lap to 4.  In short no two parkruns are the same. 

Lastly, it's free!!      

Training Week 1


So...first week of a 30 week training schedule and it hasn't quite gone to plan.  Despite feeling good last week my legs felt really heavy and my calf a little tight.  I therefore decided to take the week a little easier than I had hoped.  I put in an extra couple of rest days to allow my legs just a little longer to recover and took all of the runs extremely easily, averaging just over 10min/mile for the week. 

The week was topped off with a lovely (albeit hilly) 10km run around Winchester.  Even made time for a selfie at the cathedral (see left).

It felt great to be back out and running and hopefully bodes well for the next few weeks.    


Here is the breakdown for the W/B 28th September:

	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
Target	4.5	6	4.5	REST	4.5	3.1	6
Actual	4.4	REST	4.54	REST	REST	3.24	6.39
Pace (Min/Mile)	09:51	N/A	10:17	N/A	N/A	10:11	10:22

and here is the plan for next week:

	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
05-Oct	4.5	7	4.5	4.5	REST	17	REST

The run on Saturday is the 27km 9bar9 challenge.  This was supposed to be my 50 mile race (81km) but I'm not in the right shape so I will use the shorter distance as a training run.

Check in next week for more running ramblings...Happy running everyone!

James

Footnote

Today it was the Bournemouth and Clarendon marathons, both of of which I have run.  Seeing the results come through on social media and receiving texts from team mates made me realise how much I bloody love running!  I can't wait to get back out there pounding the streets.  

Congratulations to everyone running today, regardless of location or distance.  You are all an inspiration and it was lovely reading your stories.