Down but not out!

It’s been a while since my last blog, so before I started writing I read through my most recent post from June last year. I kind of wish I hadn’t! That blog was written the day after an excellent run at the Worthing 10k. I was full of optimism and looking forward to a sub 30 minute 5k and even a sub 60 minute 10k, which seemed to be within reach.

Fast forward 9 months - I have been injured for the past 10 weeks. It hurts to run, sometimes it hurts to walk and on the really bad days it hurts to sit on the sofa or when lying in bed!

I have to accept this is not a niggle, this is a bona fide "real" injury. Which is really frustrating and extremely boring. It’s not even an interesting injury - just forefoot pain due to overuse. And because my right foot hurts more than my left I have become sort of lopsided so my left hip has decided to join the pain party together with the nerves running down the outside of my left leg. Based on the past few weeks, now is a very good time to invest in the makers of ibuprofen!

So I have now added a new medical professional to the team that keeps me moving, a podiatrist! I am sure most non-elite (make that very average) runners don’t need a whole team (osteopath, sports masseur, podiatrist) but I guess I’m doing my bit for the economy!

Gone are the days of running 3 or 4 times a week, my only run is now my weekly parkrun, and quite a lot of that is done in walk. I’ve even had to take a break from the gym. After a very sensible two week rest, I returned last Monday thinking that at least my hip was better, only to aggravate it and return to not being able to sit on the sofa without pain. Serves me right I suppose for getting overexcited and loading the bar for back squats. Guess that means I’ll be focusing on my upper body and core for a while then.

Non-runners will not understand the hardship that is not being able to run. They probably think that it is great to have an excuse, whereas the reality is that we injured runners gaze at people running with a longing akin to a child at a sweetshop window!

Thank goodness for parkrun, which means that I still get to feel like a runner every Saturday. It really is the most fantastic thing - if you’ve never been to parkrun, try it! You will never look back, who needs Saturday morning lie-ins anyway?!

Right, that is enough wallowing. Let me turn to the positives to come out of being injured.

1. New shoes!

My lovely podiatrist said that I was running in the wrong shoes and should buy new ones. Well, who am I to argue with someone who has spent over four years studying feet? Surely better to get a couple of new pairs just to be on the safe side. Apparently Hokas are the way to go because they have a rocking motion which reduces forefoot impact, and a bonus is that they are so pretty!

2. Wearing pretty new shoes to work

We’ve just brought in a “dress for your day” dress code for work. It expressly forbids running shoes. I wrote it. I presented it to the team. For medical reasons, I wear running shoes to work every day!

3. Toned arms and abs!

If I can’t do legs at the gym, then the upshot must be that I will have fabulous upper body muscle tone - no bingo wings for me!

4. I get a “do over” and I plan to enjoy the journey

I am going to start again from the beginning, but do it better. I am going to take this opportunity to improve my running form and try to iron out my previous bad habits. By starting from run/walk I am going to ensure that every time I am running it is good running, none of the jogging/shuffling that I used to do when I was a bit knackered.

I have always enjoyed interval training, so run/walk will suit me quite well. I have even found the perfect training programme - "Thor & Loki's 5k training" - so I will be playing at being a hero whilst improving my running!

Through concentrating on form I hope to come out of this a better runner, I just need to be patient!

I read a fabulous quote a few days ago which resonated with me.

“There will come a day when I can no longer run. Today is not that day.”

Words to live by.

Why do I race?

Somebody (my good friend Monica) recently asked me this question and it got me thinking.

Actually, the question should be why do I enter races and run round the course with lots of other people until somebody gives me a medal. I'm not sure there is actually much racing involved, at least not for me.

As I was running in the Worthing 10k yesterday, I had a lot of time to ponder the reasons why I had got up ridiculously early on a Sunday morning to put myself through a level of discomfort for slightly over an hour. I have long appreciated the benefit of having something to think about whilst running, as it distracts me from the actual running, so this was as good a train of thought as any.

So what were the reasons?

1. Because I can.

I am constantly grateful that I can run. I may not be fast but I can do it and there are many people that can't. I don't know how long I will be able to run so I want to make the most of being able to do it now.

2. Because I enjoy being part of something.

Waiting to start the race, I looked around at the crowd of happy and excited runners ready to go. I overheard their conversations and identified with many of the things that were said - a combination of nerves and just wanting to get going, discussions about training - what went well and what didn't, comments that it was going to be a hot one! We all had something in common and that felt great.

3. Because you get a shiny medal.

Somehow the novelty of a medal has still not worn off. Even though I now have so many that I am starting to worry about the structural integrity of my walls!

4. Because it makes me better.

This is the big one.

Yesterday I knocked five minutes off my time from the same race last October, and that felt fantastic! I know that I could not have run at that pace on my own, I need the buzz and pressure of a race to make myself keep pushing when I want to slow down. Yesterday was helped by there being pacers, I spent most of the race hoping the 65 minute pacers didn't catch me, and when they did I was so near the end that it felt ok.

So I said above that I don't race but that's not true, I race myself. I race my previous times. I am at an age where I could accept a gradual decline but I am not ready. I can and will still improve. My PBs are not all in the past, there are more to be had. They will take work. But that's ok, because I love a challenge and a goal!

After the Surrey Half, I said I wanted a sub 30 minute parkrun. I still do, I am edging towards it but I still need to knock over a minute off my time.

Next I want a sub 60 minute 10k. And I really want it this year.

Guess I'd better get to work!

A half marathon, a half resolution, and a plan

Sixteen weeks ago, I said I would run the 2023 Surrey Half Marathon, and yesterday, I did it!

I have always thought that half marathons are about three miles too long, and that hasn't really changed, although yesterday it was only the last 3km that was really brutal. So brutal that when I crossed the finish line I almost cried with relief! Mostly with the relief that I didn't ever have to do another half marathon!

Compared to my last (fairly disastrous) Surrey Half Marathon in 2018, I was in good shape. I had actually trained and had increased my long runs to 18km. So I knew I could get round, even if it wasn't going to be pretty. I was hoping for a pace of between 7:15 and 7:30 per km and averaged 7:18 so it was a good result for me. My finish time of 2 hours 34 minutes was almost bang in the middle of my 2017 time of 2 hours 18 minutes and my 2018 time of 2 hours 48 minutes (as I said, disastrous).

I even had a race strategy which was to walk for 30 seconds after every 2km, in order to give my legs a short respite from relentless running. I almost abandoned this strategy when at 2km I didn't feel like stopping to walk so just kept going, optimistically thinking I might just run the whole way! Luckily, sanity prevailed and I reminded myself that deviating from how I trained was a flipping stupid thing to do!

But actually, was yesterday really that important? No, it really wasn't.

When reflecting on Saturday about the race ahead, and wondering why on earth I had entered yet another half marathon given that I hate half marathons, I realised that the race was just the end of a journey.

And the journey itself brought many good things:

• I lost almost 6kg. Helped by my gym running a 6 week accountability challenge conveniently leading up to the half!
• I adopted some really good and healthy habits, and started to view food as fuel.
• I did lots of long runs, the most memorable/enjoyable of which were running round Virginia Water, and arranging to bump into Lou, my sister in law, on the Downs Link on our last long training run.
• Short runs became much easier.
• My parkruns got faster by around 2.5 minutes, with a time of 31:35 for my most recent parkrun.

So for the above, I thank my brother Andy whose idea it was to enter the half in the first place. Even if he ended up not actually running it and he and Rob went for a lovely breakfast whilst Lou and I were running! Apparently, there was an injury involved ...

What do I like about the Surrey Half Marathon? It has to be the people, seeing so many familiar faces amongst the runners and such fabulous support along the route. Thank you to the team at the last water stop when I felt I had my own cheerleading squad at a time when everything was just starting to get hard!

So, will I ever run another half marathon? At around 11 miles yesterday I made a resolution to never enter another half marathon. But today, I begin to waiver. Maybe one day, when I've lost a bit more weight, when 10km races just get ridiculously easy, when pigs start flying? Definitely not for a while at least, but never say never.

Right now I am very much looking forward to running a few 10km races and to the Great South Run in October. Given a half marathon is about three miles too long, the Great South Run at ten miles is pretty perfect!

But first, a new goal, which is to get back to running sub 30 minute parkruns. Having this goal will help ensure that I keep up all the good habits and don't slide back into the unhealthy ones. Being held accountable will be key to this so thank you to Kirsten for agreeing to keep me on track and of course this blog helps!

I'll let you know how I get on!

Surrey Half Marathon - here I come!

Today was the Hampton Court Palace 10k, and decision day for the 2023 Surrey Half Marathon. So how did it go?

To be honest, I wasn't feeling particularly optimistic before the race. Although I've lost over 3kg since my last blog (which means my jeans keep falling down!) I have had a cold for the past week and have been getting out of breath walking up the stairs, so not a promising start! Also, my left knee has been grumbling since I foolishly ran up some hills in the Lake District last weekend. I definitely need to work on my mobility and start taking my stretching seriously if I'm going to up my mileage.

Although I suppose the benefit of having a cold is that I have had a few rest days so my legs were at least fresh. I was Run Director at Guildford parkrun yesterday so hadn't even done a parkrun, so as long as my lungs and my energy held out, my legs should be fine.

One question concerned me this morning, road or trail shoes? A no brainer you might say, have you seen the rain we have been having? But I hate running in trail shoes and love running in light and bouncy road shoes so road shoes it was.

If you haven't done the Hampton Court Palace 10k, I highly recommend it. You start in front of the iconic Anne Boleyn gateway, with Henry VIII himself starting the race. It is a one lap course, the first half goes along the river and the second half through Home Park so it is a pretty and varied route. And, best of all, it is mostly flat! Oh, and the medals are awesome!

As usual, I started with one goal, don't walk. And actually, it turned out that wasn't too hard a goal to achieve! I actually didn't want to walk! I wanted it to end, of course, I haven't transformed into some kind of elite athlete! But walking didn't cross my mind! So this must be progress! Even when, at around 8k, I started to question my shoe choice, when the course got very wet, muddy and slippery and most people chose to walk in the hope of staying upright. So I would have had every excuse to walk, but I still didn't!

I said in my last blog that I would enter the Surrey Half Marathon if I felt that I could keep going at the end of the 10k, and I did! Not for another 7 miles of course, possibly not for more than another kilometre, but I could have kept going for a little while. Probably helped by having to run kilometre 8 quite slowly due to my desire not to go splat into the mud, but it still counts.

So I have been looking up half marathon training plans. The Surrey Half is in 16 weeks and most 10k to half marathon training plans take 12 weeks so it appears it is quite doable.

I mentioned to my osteopath that I was thinking of doing a half marathon and he was completely in favour of it - I guess he'd like more of those foreign holidays!

However, I have not yet found an online training plan that incorporates parkrun so I have decided to make one up! Something along the lines of:

Monday: rest

Tuesday: cross training

Wednesday: intervals or easy run

Thursday: cross training

Friday rest

Saturday: parkrun

Sunday: long run

I might refine it but I think it is a reasonable starting point. Any comments or suggestions would be welcome!

In addition to the above, I will incorporate mobility exercises, stretching, and use the massage gun that I bought a few months ago and is gathering dust on the shelf.

And of course, I will continue to work on losing weight. But not today, today is a day for post run wine and pizza. Yum! 🥂🍕😋

10k challenge completed - what's next?

Two weeks ago, on 9 October, I completed the Worthing 10k, without walking and faster than expected, fulfilling the commitment the I made in my blog on 2 August.

It was a beautiful day for a run. We got there nice and early, it was easy to park and there were plenty of toilets so the queues were short. A pre-race glimpse of the medals showed them to be satisfyingly shiny and impressive, always excellent for that little bit of extra motivation! I was a little concerned about my energy levels as I had knocked over 2 minutes off my time at Edenbrook Country parkrun the day before, but other than that, all was good (well, apart from my left knee feeling weird after the parkrun, but I chose to ignore that).

So my race strategy was, as always, keep putting one foot in front of the other until someone stops you and gives you a medal - basic, but effective! With the added goal of NOT WALKING.

I started between the 65 and 70 minute pacers, with no expectation of staying there. Based on my training runs, I could reasonably expect to take 75 minutes.

Off we went, the sun was shining, there were lots of colourful runners, and the route was flat - all in all, very pleasant! It is an out and back race and I reached the turnaround point without incident. I prefer not to look at my watch in a race (if I'm doing well I feel under pressure and if I'm doing badly I get demotivated) so I had no idea of my time but I was running and that is what mattered. Around 6k I got overtaken by the 70 pacer which was a surprise, how had it taken them so long? I must be doing quite well! I briefly contemplated trying to stay with them and then remembered that all I had to do was keep running and the time was irrelevant so told myself not to get carried away. Around that time my left knee felt weird again which was a worry and put all thought of times out of my mind. Should I walk? No. I wasn't allowed to walk. I tried running strangely for a while to take the pressure off my knee but my right calf soon started making itself felt so I decided to just run as normal and hope that I wasn't doing my left knee any lasting damage. (Having a client like me means my osteopath will always be able to go on nice holidays!) Then I realised that I could still see the 70 pacer - that was odd! They should have been long gone by then. But no, they stayed there, just ahead of me for the rest of the race, and I did indeed finish in 70 minutes. I won't say the end looked pretty, I expect a few people were concerned as I passed them on the last few hundred metres, but it was done - 10k, no walking, shiny medal, 5 minutes faster than expected. Happy days!

I definitely think that this blog helped me to keep going, particularly when my knee was giving me every excuse to walk. So thank you to the people who said encouraging things after the 2 August blog - you really helped!

So what's next? Have I gone from strength to strength in the last two weeks? No. Some brutal gym sessions, as well as Covid and flu vaccinations, mean that I'm feeling pretty knackered!

Which means I need another goal. The day before the Worthing 10k, my brother and sister-in-law mentioned entering the Surrey Half Marathon on 12 March 2023. Despite the fact that I hate half marathons, I am tempted. 5 months is a long time and it would be a good goal. But is it crazy? Will I break? Will I hate it? These are all good questions.

One thing is sure, if I am to run 13.1 miles I need to weigh less. Otherwise it will be a grim experience.  OK, it might be grim anyway but being heavy definitely won't help!

So here's the plan. My next 10k is Hampton Court Palace in 4 weeks. I will spend the next 4 weeks eating a clean diet, with maybe two "cheat meals" a week, in the hope of dropping a few more kilograms. I will then see how I feel at the end of the 10k and I will make a decision.

If I feel that I could keep going at the end of the 10k, I will enter the half. If I feel that 10k is absolutely all I could have done on that day, I will not.

I would also be interested in people's thoughts. My trainer at Patch PT said definitely do it! But he is a personal trainer so it's pretty much his job to challenge me. Other people I have mentioned it to have said that half marathons are really long - thanks for pointing that out! But then I guess that's kind of the point, no point in having a challenge that isn't challenging!

Right, time to buy some super healthy food and hide the wine ...

250 parkruns and an update

On Saturday I finally completed my 250th parkrun, about 14 months later than planned due to the pesky pandemic but worth the wait!

When I ran my first parkrun on 23 May 2015, I had no idea that it would become a huge part of my life, and that Saturday mornings would never be the same again. I had just completed a Couch to 5K programme and parkrun seemed like a good way to mark the end of the nine weeks of training. But as soon as I finished, I was hooked. After learning to my disappointment that I was too old to earn a 10 parkrun t-shirt, I resolved to earn my 50 t-shirt as soon as I could, which I did 14 months later on 23 July 2016. 100 parkruns followed on 25 November 2017 and then 250 on 10 September 2022, around 70 weeks later than planned due to parkrun pausing during the pandemic.

Over the last 7 or so years, I have consistently taken around 14 months to complete 50 parkruns. Even with the "Julie parkrun law" of never missing a parkrun (either running or volunteering) unless I cannot physically get to one, I cannot do it any quicker. Although I do take every opportunity to find a parkrun if I am away, and my 250 parkruns were completed in 52 different locations in England, Scotland, Wales (well, it started and finished in Wales), Canada, France, Poland, Germany, Italy and Denmark.

So, after so many parkruns you'd probably think that I'd have got hang of them by now?  Well, you couldn't be more wrong! 😂  I thought I had, when I got my PB of 28:13 in Guildford on 19 November 2016, but then things went downhill, and then uphill, and then downhill ... in fact, it would be fair to describe my parkrun performance as "undulating"!

To demonstrate the undulations, I made a little graph:

It doesn't take a statistics expert to see a correlation between my parkrun times and my weight! But right now my times and my weight are both reducing so let's focus on the positives!

The next t-shirt is 500 and is a beautiful blue colour. Based on my past progress, and absent any more global pandemics, I hope to reach 500 in around six years. Hopefully by then the above graph will look less like a mountain range and more like rolling meadows - fingers crossed!

Which brings me to the update part of this blog. Around 6 weeks ago I posted that I had entered the Guildford 10k and that I was planning to lose weight so that I could run the whole thing. An excellent plan, what could go wrong?

Erm, well, the Guildford 10k got cancelled. What a relief, I thought! No more having to lose weight and run further than 5k, I can go back to eating all the food and drinking all the wine - happy days!

Actually, that is not what happened - did you really think it did? Instead I scoured the internet for an alternative 5k, and settled on the Worthing 10k instead. The downside - it is a week earlier than planned. 😨 The upside - it is flat and by the sea! 😎

Since my last blog, I have lost over 3kg, my parkrun times are reducing, and I have completed a 7k training run with no walking and no breaks - it wasn't pretty but I did it! So I think I'm on track, not for a PB (not even close!) but hopefully to be able to run the whole way.

I don't know what the 2022 medal will look like, but the 2021 medal looked pretty great! #bling

With three weeks to go, I have an 8k training run planned tomorrow, incorporating my 251st parkrun - just another 249 to go!

In my next blog, I'll let you know how I got on in the Worthing 10k. Hopefully knowing that I have to write a blog will keep me going when the going gets tough!

Just keeping on!

I almost called this blog “Here we go again!”. But that seemed a little negative, if also rather accurate!

It’s been a while since my last blog in April 2021, when things were going so well! After an early lockdown weight gain, I had turned things around and even managed a sub 28 minute 5k! Oh, those were the days …

Fast forward 16 months and I’d be pretty pleased with a sub 34 minute parkrun. So what went wrong? Well, the pesky pubs and restaurants re-opened and life has pretty much returned to normal, allowing me to pick up again all those pre-Covid habits:

• Cheeky pub visits mid week after an evening dog walk.
• There’s nothing in the fridge so let’s go out for dinner.
• Snacking on the treats in the office kitchen.
• Not taking lunch to work then making “poor” choices at the sandwich van.
• Being freely able to access crisps and chocolate at pretty much any time.

Lockdown and all those restrictions weren’t fun, but they certainly made it easy to stick to a healthy eating plan!

So the lockdown weight loss has been undone, and then if I’m being completely honest, there has been a bit of weight gain as well.

Those who have known me a long time will not have been surprised by this, most will probably have expected it. And some will wonder why I even bother to try if it is just going to go wrong again.

But that is the point of this blog – the only thing that matters is to just keep on trying! What is the alternative? Give up? Accept that I will always be overweight and a slow runner? That, to me, is unthinkable.

And, whilst running might be pretty hard right now (you have no idea how hard) at least I’m doing it. I still obey the “Julie parkrun law” and never miss a parkrun if I can physically get to one. I also run in the week. I have joined a new gym and am strength training three times a week. (Ladies, if you haven’t tried lifting heavy weights – give it a go! It is the best fun! Maybe a blog on this later.)

So whilst I am living proof that “you can’t out train a bad diet” at least I am keeping on training.

But it is time to fix that bad diet. So I need a goal. Being overweight isn’t stopping me running 5k (even if it is grim and a slog) but it is certainly stopping me running 10k! So that is what I will do.

The Guildford 10k is on 16 October, just over 10 weeks and 4 days away. I did that race in 2019 and loved it, despite the first half being all uphill, as that meant that the second half was all downhill!

10 weeks is enough to make a difference. 10 weeks of not doing all the things I listed above. 10 weeks of making good choices. 10 weeks of portion control. 10 weeks of putting my health and fitness first.

I mentioned before that my excess weight is my running “super power” – as I can just keep getting faster by getting lighter. Well, I certainly have a lot of super power now! And I’m going to use the next 10 weeks to unleash some of it.

Accountability is the key to success so I will report back! Watch this space …

I did it!

When I started this blog two years ago I said I would lose weight and beat my parkrun PB of 28:13 within a year. COVID-19 may have put actual parkruns on pause but last week I completed a (not)parkrun at Littlehampton in 28:01! Strava even kindly recorded a 5k time of 27:57, thank you Strava!

A windy morning at Littlehampton

I admit, Littlehampton is a flat course, but a PB is a PB! And there was quite a headwind!

As I have previously admitted, although I had made good progress, it was not looking likely that I would beat my PB at the end of the first year, even if parkrun had still been happening. And whilst I have loved running throughout the pandemic, for the first 7 months or so I mostly got slower.

The reason? The usual one of eating all the food and drinking all the wine! Like so many, I used the stress of the situation to justify the indulgence. After all, what harm could come from a few weeks of pigging out? Probably not much, but by October it was clear that the pandemic was here for some time yet. It was time to take back control and get into shape! So back to MyFitnessPal - after trying many different approaches, I find that counting calories is the easiest way to lose weight. It might not be new or trendy or exciting, but it works!

As a runner, there are many benefits to losing weight. The first, of course, is that running gets easier! And you get faster without even trying. The second is that when you see people you know out running they say lovely things to you! Then there is the reduced risk of injury, I am certain that my joints appreciate the lighter load. The final benefit is that some of my running clothes are now too large, so I shall have to buy new ones! Luckily, the shops are about to re-open - quite serendipitous!

As I write, it is hoped that parkrun will return on 5 June, just 8 weeks away. It would be awesome to manage a good time in that first post-pause parkrun, although as I hope to be in the Lake District (not very flat) I doubt it will be sub 28 minutes!

That first parkrun is going to be emotional, when it paused I don't think anyone expected it to be over a year before we could return. The current (not)parkrun count is 58, so we will have missed 65 by the time it returns, assuming the 5 June return goes to plan.

Before that I have an actual race coming up in four weeks - the much postponed Jigsaw Run - a flat 10k round an airfield. I ran this race at about the same time as my parkrun PB, so it will be a good test of how I am doing. I think I shall be so over-excited at running in a real race with real people that anything could happen!  Hopefully that excitement will result in a good time rather than in starting off too fast and running out of puff!

So, two years into my blog and things are looking good. I would like to lose some more weight - I call my excess weight my "super power" - until it runs out I can just keep getting faster by getting lighter. To my slim running friends, who do not have this "super power", you may need to watch out! I could be about to catch you ...

A busy few months!

When I wrote my last blog post we had just entered lockdown - it was all new and scary and everyone was figuring out their own way through.  I naively wrote about staying (getting?) fit to compete in all the races which were rescheduled to take place in September.  Well, today, the last of those has been cancelled.  To be fair, my lockdown has not been one of getting faster and lighter, so there were no PBs on the cards, but it would have been lovely to be able to run in a race again, even if I came last!

So, for me, 2019 was the year of races, and of course the bling.  So what was I to do when all the races were cancelled?

Well, I have been busy!  It turns out that there are loads of fantastic virtual challenges out there and I have replaced my love of (obsession with) races with virtual challenges!  This is what I have been up to so far.

(not)parkrun

Every Saturday at 9am(ish) since parkrun was paused I have completed a 5km run, mostly at our home alternative course at Witley and Milford Commons but I have also done some (not)parkrun tourism at Merrow Downs parkrun.  I highly recommend the cafe at Merrow Downs although the capacity is extremely limited at six socially distanced people.

Waverley Harriers Chain Relay

From 1 April to 28 April we kept a member of the running club running at all times between 6:30am and 8pm.  It got hairy at times but the chain didn't break until 28 April although it was definitely showing a bit of wear and tear for a day or two before that!

Harriers Go To Spain

We all missed the Chain Relay so much that we decided to run to Spain to have a party on the rooftop of the apartment of Alexandra, a member of the club who was stuck in Spain.  We arrived in Spain after 12 days for a Zoom party, then decided to run back again.  The return leg took a lot longer, possibly due to a few detours in the French wine regions!

Virtual Spring 10k

I will be honest, I only entered this to get a medal!  I combined the run with the Fitstuff Scavenger Hunt so it was pretty slow!

Virtual Endure24

One of the races that was cancelled was Endure24, an event I was both looking forward to and dreading in equal measures, a 24 hour team relay with 5 mile laps, described as Glastonbury for Runners. This usually runs from noon on Saturday to noon on Sunday meaning runners camp overnight and most get to do a nighttime lap.  The lack of sleep scared me almost as much as the running, but only almost.  This was replaced by a virtual version where I was in a team of twelve with two one hour shifts to do and the luxury of sleeping in my own bed.  It was such good fun that I now cannot wait for the real event next year!

There followed an aimless month or so of just running and walking although a relaxation to lockdown did allow me to meet my friend Jane for a run - funny when you think of all the things we used to do that we just took for granted!

Then I discovered two new challenges:

Operation Bletchley

This 100 mile codebreaking challenge kept me happily occupied throughout July.  I flew to France aboard a Halifax bomber where I parachuted into Nazi occupied France.  My mission was to make it to Paris on foot, decipher codes and deliver a message to Winston Churchill.  I am pleased (relieved) to say that I was able to solve all the codes although some had me scratching my head for a day or two!  Throughout the mission I was prone to quoting from 'Allo 'Allo - how could I not?!

Great North Run Solo

This seemed like a great idea at the time.  The Great North Run had been cancelled but a shiny medal could be earned by just running 40 times in 78 days, how hard could that be?  For me it simply required the addition of one run per week, so instead of running 2-3 times per week I have to run 3-4 times per week.  The problem is that does not allow for niggles or injuries.  As I write I have completed 21 runs and am about 3 runs behind where I should be with less than a month to go.  I guess I had better start stretching and foam rolling a bit more consistently if I am to get through this in one piece!

Now the Great South Run has been cancelled there is also a Great South Run Solo starting on 1 September - this one is 25 runs finishing with a10 mile run on 18 October.  I am trying really hard not to enter this.

Lands End to John O'Groats (LEJOG)

After the end of Operation Bletchley I again felt a lack of purpose so thought I'd tackle the 1,084 miles from Lands End to John O'Groats.  Both running and walking count and I have given myself 40 weeks to complete the challenge. After 15 days I am in St Austell and about a day behind where I should be - I need to pick up the pace!

Zombies, Run!

This is my latest discovery and I am loving it.  I now run whilst being chased by zombies and doing heroic deeds for the people at Abel Township as Runner 5.   Luckily the zombies run quite slowly so sometimes I even outrun them! 

How am I not broken?

This is a mystery to me.  Before lockdown I saw my osteopath every 3 weeks and had a sports massage most weeks and thought that was the only way I could keep doing the running that I wanted to do.  I now run more often than ever before (if a little more slowly) with nobody fixing my niggles!  I really hoping I can keep getting away with it - Scotland is calling!

Over the past few months, I have felt more like a runner than ever before, albeit a slow one. The joy of running and not looking at the clock has been a wonderful thing to discover.  I shall have to make the most of it as, once parkrun returns, there is that PB to chase!

What a difference a year makes!

I started this blog just over a year ago with a clear plan for what I was going to achieve - which was to beat my parkrun PB within 12 months.  At that time, I was frustrated with how my running was going and felt I needed a goal and some accountability (that's you lovely people who are reading this) to help me improve.

I could never have imagined that one year on not only is parkrun not happening but that I am so grateful every day just to be able to run.  Worrying about times and personal bests has become completely irrelevant.  Instead I worry about tighter restrictions being imposed on our daily exercise and, of course, about getting sick.

One of the reasons that I wanted to get better at running was so that I could enjoy the social side of it - after all, most of my friends are runners - and again this is something that has gone out the window, if only temporarily.  The technological wonder of Zoom may allow me to take part in my weekly Pilates class and post "not parkrun" coffee but I have not yet seen anyone successfully leading a club run over Zoom.  Although both my running clubs are being very creative and setting challenges for people so that we all still feel part of a community.

For Fitstuff this has included a timed mile (to help keep track of the effect of lockdown eating maybe?), sprint intervals and a hills session.  Waverley Harriers has set up a virtual chain relay.  This is a competition between two teams and is now into its 6th day with teams running consistently from 6.30am to 8pm each day.  I am in the Blue Team and, aside from the impressive running, there have been some very creative virtual baton hand overs.

An added and new challenge to running is having to stay at least 2 metres away from anyone that you pass.  There has been a bit of criticism of inconsiderate runners on social media and I am determined not to be thought one of them, even if this means scaling banks and running in the road - a kind of extreme interval training!

About that PB ...

So how did I get on with my 12 month goal?  Not bad, actually!  I have lost over 10kg and brought my parkrun time down from 35:39 to 29:11, just 58 seconds slower than my all time PB of 28:13.  I also managed a parkrun pace which would have been a sub 29 minute 5km so all was looking promising.  However, as the last two parkruns of March were cancelled due to the COVID-19 crisis, we will never know if I would have hit my target ...

After my fastest parkrun in three years!

Being brutally honest, it wasn't likely, and would have required a downhill course, a strong tailwind and a lot of luck, but I am still very pleased with my progress.  I am hoping to beat 28:13 later this year although right now we have no idea when parkrun will be back.  On the one hand, that means I have a lot of time to get lighter and faster.  However, without my weekly parkrun time to keep me focused, I may well get slower!

That said, pretty much all of my Spring and Summer races have been rescheduled to September so this is no time to slack off.  I shall have to think of all the bling that is to come!

The medal for my "virtual" London Winter Run - this one cancelled by Storm Ciara!

Stay safe everyone and keep running!

2019 - my year of 10k races

A little later than planned, here is my review of the year of 10ks! Late in 2018 I decided that it would be a good idea to run a 10k race every month of 2019 as this would really help me to improve my running. I am also (as you have probably gathered by now) addicted to bling so the thought of 12 shiny medals was very appealing. I actually ended up with 16 shiny 10k medals as I got a bit carried away in May and June and decided to run three 10k races in each month. Note to future self - three 10k races a month is too many.

The plan, such as it was, was to get faster each month, although as with most plans, it didn't exactly pan out as hoped. However, the good news is that I did end the year a faster runner than at the beginning of the year. I got slower in the first three months which led to me starting this blog. I then sped up a bit in April and May before deciding to cut carbs from my diet which was a big mistake and meant that June's times were pretty bad. However, since July my times have steadily improved to my best time of the year which was 1:02:29 at Bushy Park in November. For these purposes I am ignoring my time for the Wimbledon Santa Run due to the somewhat challenging course conditions!

I shall not bore you with a rundown of 16 races, as most of them have been mentioned at some point in my blog, but thought I would recap my five favourite races of the year. I guess it should be no surprise that four of the five were also my best times of the year.

Bushy 10k Series

These are such lovely races, they are basically twice round the parkrun route so lovely and flat. They are quite small so you can turn up and collect your number and have a wee without having to allow loads of time. The medals are fabulous and they are excellent value for money. Plus I got my fastest time of the year in the November race at 1:02:29 so of course this makes my top five.

London Winter Run

Well, what can I say about this run? I love a big London 10k as you get all the fun and crowds and music and landmarks of a marathon but only have to run 10k! And this one has polar bears, penguins and huskies. And it is mostly flat. And there is a cool medal. Even after all my races this year, this may still be my favourite race ever. I am excited to be doing it again next month - I hope it lives up to expectations!

Hart 4 Relay Race

OK, so this is not a 10k, but I ran four 4k laps so more than 10k, and it is one of my top races of the year. It consists of teams of four people running 4k laps for four hours. There is a great atmosphere, it is fun being part of a team, and a 4k lap is very manageable, particularly since the last 2k is mostly downhill. But I think what really made this race for me is that it is when I first noticed the benefit of having lost 8kg.

Guildford 10k

Wow - what a race! I had such low expectations as I had a niggle, the course was going to be boring and started uphill and it was forecast to rain. But I absolutely loved it! As it was an out and back course there was always someone to wave to which meant I got to 5k without really noticing the running getting hard, and then there was a lovely downhill finish. I was thrilled with my time of 1:02:33 which was 2 minutes faster than my previous 10k and the medal was glittery! I was a very happy runner after this.

Wimbledon Santa Run

This race made the list not because of my time but because it was a lot of fun. It was the Sunday before Christmas so most people were in festive fancy dress and in the mood to enjoy themselves. There was even a womble helping with the warm up! The course was mostly flat but very muddy and with a lot of puddles and therefore a few detours through undergrowth, so there was no point worrying about time. This meant I could just enjoy the run in the sunshine round a pretty common surrounded by happy Christmassy people! I was extremely grateful for my Salomon Speedcross shoes which meant I was unlikely to end up actually in any of the puddles, it was interesting watching people in road shoes trying to navigate the course!

So my takeaways from 2019 are:

• Running is easier when you are lighter! I know, not exactly rocket science! I reckon losing another 5kg will really help so that is the current plan.

• Running is more fun when you don't obsess over times.

• But getting a good time always feels amazing.

• Running with friends is great, as long as you can keep up without thinking you are going to die. Maybe next year I'll manage to keep up and hold a conversation at the same time!

• I will never stop wanting shiny medals, no matter how many I have and how many extension bars to my medal hanger I need (thanks Rob!).

Best of all, I am going into 2020 knowing that I have so much more in me - I can't wait!

I love running

After September's ups and downs, October has been a great month for me. I realised that I had been getting a bit (ok, very) obsessed with my times and that this was detracting from my running experience. I decided it was time to take the pressure off and just enjoy running for its own sake.

I still recorded my runs as I love to reflect on the stats but I stopped looking at my watch when actually running. I stopped setting myself targets for a particular run and thereby putting unnecessary pressure on myself. The effect of this? I began to enjoy my running again and even managed a couple of amazing and speedy runs!

Guildford 10k

I was not looking forward to this race. It was an out and back road course with an uphill start. So it was going to be both hard and boring. However, I needed an October 10k and it was local and lots of my friends were running it.

To further depress my expectations, I picked up a hamstring/ITB niggle at the gym on the Monday before the race. Oh, and it was forecast to rain. I also ran around 7km on the Friday and did parkrun the day before the race on Sunday so my legs were far from fresh.

I fully anticipated that I would need to walk part of the route and feared that I was risking my niggle becoming an actual injury by taking part. I therefore resigned myself to a slow time.

What actually happened was that I finished the race in 1:02:33, almost 2 minutes faster than my September 10k, and enjoyed every bit of it! The out and back course meant I saw loads of people that I knew which kept the race interesting. The uphill bits were offset by some lovely downhills. My legs felt strong and my niggle held off. And it didn't rain until after I'd finished!

The Guildford 10k has now become one of my favourite races and I can't wait to do it again next year!

Sub 30 parkrun

Fast forward a couple of weeks (with a Caribbean holiday in between) and I was back at parkrun after missing the two previous Saturdays due to St Lucia not yet having a parkrun.

We ran up and down the beach for 5k in lieu of a parkrun

The weather forecast was shocking, consisting of strong winds and rain. I had just started back at work and I had enjoyed a few glasses of wine on the Friday night. I decided just to get round and not worry about a time.

A few friends and I went to Ifield Mill Pond parkrun as my local run was cancelled due to fireworks. This is a relatively new parkrun; it was appealing to me because it was on tarmac paths and was flat. It also suited some of my friends who needed an "I" for their parkrun alphabet challenge.

Before the run - slightly damp

After the run - drowned rats

It was an unusual course with several out and back sections. As I was running with quite a few friends this provided a great distraction from the driving rain. It also meant a few tight turns which were not so ideal. Again, I didn't check my watch, but I did notice that my speedy friends did not seem to be too far ahead which boded well for a decent time. I also noticed that they all looked like drowned rats - it really was a grim morning. However, this did provide an added incentive to get the run over with!

My official time was 29:14, which was much quicker than I thought possible and I was thrilled. I spent most of the day annoying my other half by reminding him of my amazing time!

Lessons learned

• Running is much more fun when you take the pressure off.

• I love out and back courses.

• When you have low expectations and then have a good run, the high is amazing.

• I am in great danger of getting obsessed with times again and will have to try hard to avoid this.

• I love running.  I love running.  I love running.