The Slippy One

Race 4 of this year's Tempo Events winter series can only be described as "the slippy one!"  It's normal to walk up the hills on this event but this is the first time I've also walked down a hill on a road race.  Now I need to wash the mud off my road shoes where I walked down the muddy grass verge.

On a different subject RED (Run Every Day) January is going ok, with all runs completed.  Runs on what would normally be rest days have been limited to 20 mins easy running.  I've also been focussing on hill repeats since the start of the year.  I'm not sure they are doing any good - I didn't get any further up Campden Hill today than I did a couple of months ago before I resorted to walking.

It's also been particularly wet a couple of times this week resulting in a good soaking while out running.  Still when you watch the Spine Race it all fades into insignificance compared to what those people go through.

Total miles so far this year:  76.54
Elevation gained this year: 1252m (Almost to the top of Mount Vesuvius (1281m)

Dennis

29 March 2004 - 31 December 2019

Mr D, Captain Diddles, who had the roughest, raspiest tongue in the whole world and loved to give licks and bite your nose if you dared to ignore him.

Never put an empty bag or a box down or you'd find Dennis curled up in there.

On a good weather day he'd be sat on the wall outside, getting strokes from anyone who passed the house.  He'd come to greet you as you walked down the lane, tail in the air and the tip curled over to form a question mark while meowing loudly to make sure you'd seen him.  

And when you stroked him he'd stick out his little pink tongue and purr away, then shake his head spraying you with slobber!

1000 miles and Christmas Day Parkrun

At the beginning of the year my goal was to do a virtual Land's End to John O'Groats.  That landmark passed at the beginning of October so I reset the goal aiming to cover 1000 miles this year.  Tuesday's run finished with exactly 1001 miles recorded.

Wednesday was Christmas Day and Christmas Day parkrun.  It was touch and go whether Evesham would be on or not as the course was underwater on Monday.  Tuesday lunchtime they posted a video showing one of the core team sweeping the mud and gravel off the path - Evesham parkrun was on!

It's a few years since I'd done Evesham parkrun and they'd made a few changes.  There's now a winter route which keeps entirely to the riverside path - good job as the course I knew had standing water on it still.  The path is very narrow and with runners going in both directions, plus dog walkers, over-taking is near impossible for the first mile - I think 10:10 must be the slowest mile I've ever done in Parkrun except for the time I was tailwalker.  Miles 2 & 3 were faster as the runners were more spread out and overtaking became possible.  

Another change was they'd tarmaced almost all the riverside path - and I'd worn my trail shoes 😖.  Not the best combination.

Now the next question - where to go for a New Year's Day double?  

Chipping Norton School Parkrun #1

A baptism of fire (or rather rain and sleet) for the first Chipping Norton School Parkrun.  I spotted it as it popped up as a new NENDY* in my Parkrun Challenges.  The photo, taken just before the start, doesn't show how cold, wet and windy it was to become within a few minutes!

Torrential rain had turned to sleet by lap two and marshalls were warning everyone to slow down on the corners.  The narrow and rutted Glyme Lane, linking the two halves of the course was deep puddles and everywhere churned to mud.

Despite the weather there were 149 finishers, most being tourists from elsewhere with just a handful of people for whom it was their first parkrun - who could blame the rest for staying at home in the conditions.

Not the greatest course in my view as there's too much running round the football field and not enough interesting bits to make it one I'd want to keep going back to - though in spring and summer the small woodland loop will be lovely.  But that's not the point of Parkrun - the point is to get people out in the fresh air, taking exercise and talking to each other.  On the latter it will be successful if the conversations at the first event were anything to go by.

Treated myself to some new sealskinz winter gloves this week.  They were certainly tested by the weather today.  As I expected in torrential rain the water gets through the seams if you're out long enough.  They are still warm but extremely difficult to put back on again once you've fished your bar code out of your pocket.

*NENDY - nearest event not done yet

Parkrun Tourism

A pre-Christmas family visit meant a chance for a spot of Parkrun Tourism at Crosby Parkrun.  It's another very flat course being on the beach, but it's not easy going as there is some soft sand and some compacted sand with deep ripples in it which don't make for easy running.  

Starting on the beach and heading east towards Seaforth the route gives a close up look at some of Anthony Gormley's figures in Another Place.  The look is so close up to two of the figures that they are adorned with hi-vis Parkrun jackets so people don't run into them.  One of the figures marks the turning point where you head back to the start before leaving the beach to run along the "promenade" to run as far as the old coastguard station when another 180 degree turn heads you across the car park and onto a very uneven grass path back towards the start.

Another Place, another Parkrun

Overall a good running week having managed to run 6 of the last 7 days with a couple of interval sessions thrown in.  26.36 miles for the week - though only 158 m elevation gained as most of the routes were quite flat (last weeks Winter Series #2 was 186m elevation in just 10k)

Winter Series #1, 50th Parkrun, and a very wet 51st parkrun

Three weeks worth of catch up's coming up.

First was the start of this year's Winter Series races at the end of October.  I'm not sure a 3 hour flight followed by a 4 hour drive to arrive home at 0500 after no sleep the day before is good preparation for a 10k so I definitely appreciated the relative late start of 1030. 

Despite a little hill (156m of climb in the first two miles) or two (another 30m at mile 6) this series of races becomes more popular each year.  The Stratford Big 10k only has 33m of ascent over the whole course.  

The race itself is around 10k though it's not a PB course with that little hill in it which most people end up walking at least part way.  It doesn't help once you get to the top as it's as steep downhill which hammers the legs as you're braking all the time.

The quirky bit of the race is that you don't get medals or t-shirts at the end but a packet of sausages (veggie ones are available too, as well as chocolate this year).

As the race is so popular parking is a bit of a struggle so I got dropped off and ran back afterwards - back up that hill I'd just run down - another 136m in the first two miles.  Only now I've got a packet of sausages to carry as well - not the easiest item when you're running.

The following week was my 50th Parkrun (actually my 51st as I forgot my barcode one week and didn't get a time - I'm not making that mistake again and now have a barcode in the car).

Obligatory 50th Parkrun photo

It had rained a lot the previous week and there was standing water on the course so it wasn't going to be a PB day.  It actually rained on the morning right up until the start of the run when it suddenly stopped for about 40 minutes before starting again as I was heading back to the car.

I wasn't so lucky on this week's Parkrun.  It was blue skies at 0615 and heavy rain at 0900 along with strong, gusty winds.  It's got to be the wettest Parkrun I've done, full waterproof jacket wet - I almost went for the waterproof trousers too though decided I'd just be too warm and stuck with just shorts.  Usually there's around 200 runners and walkers but this week there were just 65.  The small matter of a rugby world cup final involving England at the same time might not have helped.  The small field meant I got my best ever overall finish position at 16 this week.  

I've also now run at Parkrun at least twice in every month of the year and achieved a bronze level obsessive for 2019 (unfortunately I'll be one run short of the silver level even if I make it to every remaining run unless I can find a Christmas Day run nearby as well).  If I hadn't forgotten my barcode that week I'd have made it.

Total miles for the year so far: 865

John O'Groats

Reached John O'Groats in my virtual run and now heading back south.  The weather is typically bleak for the location, very windy, raining and cold.  Remnants of hurricane Lorenzo

Elevation gained: 10765 metres

New target is 1000 miles by 31 Dec.