Big Mug Of Tea

Saturday saw me back at parkrun. I was back at my local parkrun after my adventures at Woolacombe Dunes parkrun.

I went and found the 40 minute pacer and this time it was Kim from my running club. I like it when it’s someone I know as I feel like I can have a good natter and not focus on the running so much. There was a small group of people wanting to run with her. We saw the guy who dresses as a monkey with weights in his backpack and talked a little about how much money he’d raised for charity. He quite often runs our parkrun and local races. He’s in all my race photos from one particular race, where he just beat me. A nice reminder! I told Kim I’d quite like to beat him this time.

I started off alongside Kim and her group and then found Martin who is the ED of a nearby parkrun. I had a lovely little chat with him before he zoomed off in to the distance. By this point though I realised I was quite a way in front of the 40 minute pacer group. I’d gone from a 13 min/mile with them to an 11:30 min/mile! Oops!

So I thought rather than stop and wait or slow down too much I’d just carry on and see where I got. I find running so much harder on my own though. I had no one to chat to for the remainder of the run which was a bit of a pain.

It was nice to see Anna though, although she was already on her way back from the 2nd turnaround point when I hadn’t even reached it yet, and she has a bad knee!

I think it was also somewhere around this point that I overtook the monkey. I had a horrible feeling he’d overtake me again at some point though. As I went around the turnaround point to start heading back to the finish I passed by the 40 minute pacer group and Kim called to me “You’ve got about 400 yards on the monkey” I thanked her whilst in my head thinking “I have no idea how much 400 yards is” haha.

I soon finished and can proudly say I beat the monkey! It’s good to have a nemesis right?! I finished with a time of 39:07 in position 451. The monkey finished in 39:46! Close!

After getting my barcode scanned I went and topped up my run to 4 miles. Now I have that base I want to try and keep topping up my parkrun.

Do you have a parkrun nemesis?

Do people run your parkrun/local races in fancy dress?

parkrun on 18th January was a busy one. As two local parkruns (Fareham and Eastleigh) were closed due to icy conditions, it seems some of them had come to join in the fun at Lee-on-the-Solent parkrun.

I went and found the 40 minute pacer which turned out to be Jon. Jon is kind of Insta famous. Usually with the 40 minute pacer there is a small group but today it was just the two of us. We chatted about a lot about Instagram and how people use it for different things. We actually shared lots of the same views on Instagram which was nice. He’s met some of the owners of famous Instagram running accounts and it was interesting hearing about them.

We both work in education, although in entirely different settings, and it was interesting comparing notes on that and Ofsted. We also chatted about making the most of the time you have. Jon only needs 4-5 hours sleep a night and said he finds himself with more time than most. I however need 8-9 hours and find myself with less time than most due to work.

As we were approaching the last little bit Jon decided to hang back as we were ahead of schedule and he wanted to see if there was anyone that needed a bit of encouragement. I plodded on and finished with a comfortable  time of 39:21 and in position 640. There were 707 runners this week! It’s great that parkrun is becoming increasingly popular but it makes for a packed out course!

I think I look incredibly tired in this picture

Do you know someone “instafamous”?

Are you finding your local parkrun increasingly busy?

I’d just about recovered from the New Years Day Double parkrun when it was time to run again on Saturday 4th January. I love how the Christmas period allows quite a few parkruns in quick succession with Christmas Day and New Years Day thrown in the mix.

When I arrived at parkrun I looked out for the 40 minute pacer and saw it was Geoff, who was running with his daughter Laura. We had a lovely run together. Laura and I have mutual friends in common who we’ve both worked or work with, as we used to work in similar fields. We had lots to chat about as a result.

It was a lovely chatty run with Geoff dipping in and out as he was pacing so had to maintain his pace whereas we kept breaking away a little. It was a really comfortable run. 40 minutes seems to be a good easy pace for me! I finished in 39:34 in position 557.

Do you use the pacers at parkrun?

Does your local parkrun provide pacers?

I made it back home from Whiteley parkrun with enough time to get a drink, nip to the loo and walk down to my local parkrun. When I got there I could already tell it was busy!

I went and found Phil who was pacing the run/walk group. I haven’t ran 10K since the The Breakfast Club Charity 10K so figured, after running the first parkrun, it was probably sensible to run/walk the 2nd. We were so far back from the start line because there were so many people there. With my local parkrun not starting until 10.30, it made a good choice for people to be able to get to after a 9am parkrun.

There was quite a group of people choosing to run/walk to I chatted to various people in the group which was lovely. Some had been to a different parkrun first and some people were parkrunning for the first time. It was really lovely being able to chat to new people.

As the crowd thinned out slightly the running portions of the run/walk were getting quicker. I was needing the walk breaks to catch my breath. I ended up splintering off and running the remainder at a much more comfortable pace with someone I’d just met. She was attending with another one of my parkrun friends who was just ahead of us. We had such a lovely natter about the different tourisms we’d done. It’s amazing how much you can find to talk about with a complete stranger when you have parkrun in common!

I finished that parkrun with a time of 43:20 in position 942!! There was a new attendance record set on New Years Day of 987! It was so busy, but enjoyably so. Everyone just seemed in such good spirits with it being New Years Day.

Confession: I was really sore that afternoon from my double run! Thankfully going back to work on the 2nd January sorted me out. I have an active job and it really helps aid recovery.

I was so relieved not to have gotten ill this year and finally been able to tick off the New Years Day Double!

Do you meet new people at parkrun?

Seems a while since we had a horribly windy parkrun so nature decided the 14th December seemed as good a time as any!

I was partially dreading this run as I was running alone and it seems like such a long time since I ran on my own. I got down there and did the usual natter with my friends before finding the 40 minute pacer in the starting pen and positioning myself just ahead of them.

We set off and although it was windy it wasn’t too bad at the beginning, probably because my local parkrun is so crowded at the start so I had some protection from the crowd around me. Honestly, I timed the other week how long it took to get over the start line and it was 45 seconds!

As we hit the first turnaround point and the crowd thinned, the wind picked up. As we passed the finish funnel there’s then a really open bit and the wind was brutal there. It blew me sideways as I fought to keep moving forwards.

As we progressed onwards towards the 2nd turnaround point I thought the wind would be behind me then and give me a little push along. It didn’t! Granted it wasn’t as strong but it was still really windy.

I finished in 38:54 which was exactly a minute slower than last week, which considering the winds, actually wasn’t too bad.

After parkrun I dashed home to shower as we were going flat hunting with my Mum again. I’m pleased to say she put in, and had accepted, an offer on a lovely flat. It’s such a good location for her too.

My hair shows just how windy it was

Do you run alone at parkrun?

On 7th December, I went along to my local parkrun again. I actually almost overlaid! On a parkrun morning I set an alarm for 7.30 so I can have a coffee and ya know, let bathroom things happen. I leave the house about 8.40. On this particular day I turned the alarm off, and then, fell back asleep! This never happens to me. I woke up at 8.10 so necked a coffee and got ready. You know what, it wasn’t that bad! I still got there in time so it didn’t turn out bad.

I met up with Rachel there and we had our usual chatty run. We were chatting about the weather, work etc and enjoying the run. There was nothing really to report, but after the 2nd turnaround point I could feel myself starting to flag a bit. I apologised to Rachel and said I couldn’t talk anymore. She said it was fine and she’d do the talking, which she did!

When we finished I looked at my finish time and was amazed to see I’d cracked back in to the 37 minute mark. I finished in 37:54, no wonder I was flagging. I haven’t finished in the 37’s since May! I was so pleased. I don’t know how I did it though! Maybe it was getting up late that worked well for me! Who knows?!

After we finished I had a lovely catch up with Paula who is returning from a huge injury and absolutely smashing it.

Have you ever overlaid on a parkrun morning?

Do you ever have a surprisingly quick run?