One Holt joins the 25 club, another the 100 club

I suspect this summer is going to metaphorically resemble a juggler on a unicycle. Can I keep everything going whilst still not falling over & landing on my face? That's not even meant to be an excuse for my tardiness at updating this blog!
I'm now having to resort to Strava just to remind me of what I actually did last week!

6 weeks in

I'm now six full weeks into the Berlin marathon training. So far I've taken it relatively easy, my bastardised Hal Higdon plan calls for 3 runs a week & 2 quality cross training sessions. At this point I'm achieving the 3 runs but the cross training isn't quite there, or maybe it is, just in the forms of other exercise like cricket that I've not included into my plan. I'm also yet to include any speed work, concentrating instead on gaining confidence in my groin again.

Some Cricket

With a sunny bank holiday in the offering, I chose to head to the home of cricket, Fortress Chelmsford to take in a day of the county championship. Essex were hosting (and very generous they were too) Gloucestershire. A day of red ball cricket meanders nicely & having some time to reflect was very welcome. My last full day at the county ground was back whilst on Olympic shifts when Essex were wasting funds on providing Harbhajan Singh with employment. This time there appeared to be several young prospects in the team, including a quick bowler that evened the game up with some early wickets in the first hour.

A day at the cricket

Cross Training

Wednesday morning I was due to go for a gentle run. The weather outside was frightful so instead I headed into the lounge for a Fat Burner session of DDP Yoga & then made my first foray into using the Nike Training Club app.
The yoga is something I need to do more of. They are simple 20 minute sessions & given the clicks felt in my back, neck & shoulders, they are definitely helping. The Fat Burner session also raising the heart rate a bit more than the Diamond Dozen & Energy workouts.
Nike Training Club pairs nicely with the Chromecast so I could stream the workouts to the TV. I opted for an introduction, 7 minutes of core strength. There appeared to be a lot of downtime between the videos. I liked the idea of it, especially as the app is on my phone so I can do these workouts whilst away with work. It is certainly something to stick with & try out some more options.

Forest Shenanigans

The launch of the summer course at Hatfield Forest is imminent so I'd arranged for a core team meet up on Thursday evening so that we could run the route & see for ourselves how it was underfoot & what challenges we'd face with setup & marshalling. On the day both Sam & Paul were unavailable, so I met up with Karl & we took in an easy lap of the course.
The pace was nothing to write home about, Karl was in a bit of pain having defeated me in our showdown & after a day of work & fizzy pop I was happy for a nice slow run.
The course was in near perfect condition. Dry underfoot, no puddles to worry about & the ditches were dry. We have one ditch just after 2km that certainly looks deeper than when we first surveyed the course in September & the rabbits have really churned out some nice holes to content with. We might even have to get a custom "RABBIT HOLES" sign to warn the runners.
It was also nice to see the cows back grazing around the forest, they'll certainly add some fun into our parkrun efforts over the summer months.

A return to parkrun tourism - Lullingstone

We've had our Run Director rota in place well ahead of the launch event. Red & green, nice, easy ways to mark when folks were available. My first red block was Saturday May 9th, event number 8. This felt like very early on in an event's life to be leaving them for a day & ahead of the launch I was a bit nervous, especially when it looked like only Karl from our team would be around (air support was on standby from Great Notley). Paul then had a work trip cancelled so was available & took the reins the week beforehand to learn the role, taking to it naturally.
With the Forest taken care of it was time to cast my attention towards the parkrun map to see what options I had en route to Eastbourne. I wanted to get across the Dartford Crossing early. My 1st & 50th parkrun were at Greenwich so that was already ticked. Eastbourne parkrun itself I'd visited in January 2014 so that was also not an option.
The most logical destination would be Dartford, though this was cancelled for the week due to other activities in the park. The map suggested other options were Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells & Lullingstone. I asked my fellow parkrun tourists for their thoughts, ideally I wanted a nice easy route, bouncy tarmac perhaps.
Then Lullingstone was recommended for the scenery & hills. It was also a new event that is establishing itself, much like we are. So I decided to pay them a visit, my ED absenteeism guilt was building so when they asked for further volunteers I offered to help with post event close down. Tourism combined with volunteering would be a new experience for me & made me feel a little bit better for abandoning my guys.
Finding Lullingstone was fairly easy, taking the Brands Hatch exit from the M25. Given my weariness of the Dartford Crossing, especially in it's current form I'd factored in plenty of time. This meant that when everything went to plan I was there an hour early! The first thing I noticed was the hill. It was a walk up the hill just to get to the start! Did I still have time to find a flat, tarmaced alternative?
Having so much time to spare I wandered up the hill & said hello to the team. ED Giles & his guys could not have been more welcoming. It was great to chat to a team in a similar position to ours, finding their feet in the parkrun world. The best thing to hear is that they're enjoying the experience & getting to see their running community grow.
I left them to their final preparations & headed back down the hill to sort myself out ahead of the start.
After a quick briefing it was time to line up & take on this course (twice).Within a couple of minutes we were climbing the hill & negotiating quite a stiff cross wind whilst doing so, I was hoping that the course would level out once into the woods but it appeared to carry on upwards until thankfully a marshal was there to direct us downhill. The descend took us lower than the start point, so although enjoyable, I knew they'd be a consequence. After a U turn (probably a route for Len to avoid) it was back to the climb, gentle to start with, then through some tracks, towards the start & time for Lap 2.

A marshal kindly lied when I asked him if it was all flat (always nice when they realise you're a bit bonkers & play along) & the core team were at the corner for the start of lap 2 to cheer everyone on.

The second climb defeated me. I found myself getting slower & slower, like a cartoon character struggling for traction. I realised that walking would be less effort & just as fast. I also decided to take a photo to show just how insane the climb was. I started running once more only to stop & walk again, deciding not to attempt a further run until on the downhill.

Lullingstone profile!

The descend was a lot more enjoyable & I got chatting to another tourist from Poole, both of us admitted to preferring the flat (and in his case tarmac) of home! Even aiming for the finish funnel was tough as the camber & angle of the hill, combined with the cross wind made running in a straight line a challenge.

The view at the top of the hill

I crossed the line with a time of 29:05. Judged simply on time you'd call that result atrocious. With a course difficulty on the day of 5.0 (runbritain) it measures up comparably to Brentwood. I can probably run it faster, I could probably keep going up the hill & maybe push more down the hill, but I can't say that I didn't enjoy the challenge. The course will expose all of your running weaknesses & I'm sure the regulars will find themselves benefiting when the time comes to swap their tough course for a nice bouncy flat one.

I can heartily recommend Lullingstone to anyone that wants to test themselves. The team are friendly, the course perhaps less so! Where is the fun in running something easy though? Maybe once I've covered all of the other parkrun events on the way down to my Grandma's I'll give this one another try & attempt to keep on running throughout.

Officially Hilly!

I assisted with the post event close down & continued to be impressed with the setup & efficiency the guys had for what is a very new event. I declined the offer to join them for a drink & a bacon roll as I needed to get on the road & remind myself that parkrun tourism was not the main aim of the day.
On my way from the event I realised that I'd joined the Volunteer 25 club as well by assisting with the post event close down. And to think this time last year I'd never volunteered. Now I appear to be a parkrun Event Director, enjoy both running & volunteering in equal measures.

Grandma's 100th

I didn't think Grandma would appreciate a black technical t-shirt for her 100th so opted for a more traditional bouquet of flowers instead. My uncle Richard had managed to get the entire family down to Eastbourne for the day with the exception of Clare & Dan who were back in America & made their visit a week prior. We were due to meet later in the afternoon but after calling brother John to catch up with him beforehand, I found myself saying hello to nearly all of the Holt clan, in Marks & Spencer next to the lingerie department.

Holt family meet up in M&S

As Eastbourne natives made their way around us, I couldn't help but find my mind drifting, giggling to myself that we were re-enacting the famous Father Ted scene! Luckily we weren't stuck there for days & all went off in different directions (the pier then the pub in the case of John & I) before heading to the Old Folks Home.

The boy tries some ale

My Grandma is quite remarkable. Orphaned at a young age, a nurse during WW2, a society wife out in Zambia. Her power of recall is amazing. If I tell her I've travelled somewhere, she'll often recall a trip there herself in the 50's, 60's or 70's. Despite her sight failing & hearing that means you sit right next to her AND SHOUT LOUDLY & SLOWLY, she still possesses a fine sense of humour. The past 20 years or so have seen her defy the odds on various occasions & the decision to move her into a home after my father's passing in 2010 has seen her enjoy company without feeling a duty to host. The fact she was nearly 95 & still living on her own was incredible.
After a couple of hours in the company of her family & friends she started to shoo us away, as someone able to project my voice a bit better than her I asked everyone to kindly bugger off on her behalf.

Family & friends celebrate Grandma's 100th

As the opportunity to meet up as a family when spread across various parts of England is a rarity, we headed back in Eastbourne for a drink & a meal together, although as a designated driver on a day trip I missed out on the wine that was flowing freely. Thankfully the news about my current situation had been communicated well in advance so the day was one for celebration & looking to the future rather than consolation. Despite being separated by distances & generations we all seem to possess a liking for the dark comedies of life, after all it is easier to get through everything with laughter. I appear to have arranged a night out in London with my brother & cousins in the next couple of weeks, I'm still sceptical that I won't end up being their chaperone!

Juggling

Sunday looked to have plenty of free time, but once you start looking at everything that was planned, another couple of hours in the day would have been handy.
Firstly there was the small matter of a half marathon run as the distance aspect for Berlin starts to increase. Secondly I had two loaves of cricket tea to produce ahead of my third assignment of the day, the first LMS game of the season.
With so much to cram into the day I was out on the roads fairly early. As my routes get longer I find myself sticking various smaller routes & variations together in order to tally up to the distances I need. After finding my way from Birchanger into Stortford the other week I decided that I deserved to do the reverse of that route & enjoy the long down hill, slightly smugly as I knew many would be climbing it twice for the Birchanger 10k later in the morning.
That was another reason to get out early, I didn't want to be running against a field for an event coming the other way. I made my way out of Stansted & west towards Farnham. This meant not only a climb adjacent to Farnham cricket club, but also taking on the the steep descend & drag of a climb at the ford. I have some history with this route, the only time I've needed to be picked up from a run was after taking on this series of climbs, even when I tried to conquer it earlier in the spring I needed to take evasive action around a field & the ford was still flooded.
Given the tough parkrun the day previously it was of no surprise that both achilles were complaining for the first 5km. They appeared to be finding no fun in the undulating route but the pain started to subside. Unfortunately the pain was replaced by numbness. Both feet went completely numb for a few kilometres as I tried to wriggle my toes and stretch out the arches as much as possible whilst carrying on with running. Some flatter ground in Stortford provided no respite so I took on Lindsey Road & decided to go discovering by taking a right at the top & found Dane O'Coys. A countryside like trail at the north of Stortford & a nice addition to the urban routes normally associated with the town.
I was halfway into the run when descending from the rugby club back into the town & the run felt like one of those that you just want to abandon & head home. At no point was I comfortable & I gave serious consideration to just turning north on several occasions. I'm also aware that not every day will be perfect within this training cycle & chose to gut this one out in the hope that there might be something of value by the end of it.
After traversing the town centre & heading out to BSRC I soon found myself at the A120 roundabout & crossing into Birchanger. The heat was increasing & my unhappy run was continuing as I passed Andrea our super marshal from the parkrun. I suspect I wasn't much for conversation at nearly 2 hours into the run & I quickly continued & briefly enjoyed the downhill. My inner sadist decided that I definitely had to clock the right distance so instead of taking the main road home, I opted for the dastardly climb back towards Forest Hall Park, before another downhill & then one final ascend of Chapel Hill before home. The one benefit to all of these hills is that Berlin is pancake flat, so at least that aspect of the race should be easier.
The run was by no means my finest work, but things got worse once I got home. The moment I took my shoes off my arches became immensely painful, necessitating some ice before I could get on with a shower & cricket teas. I suspect that despite only have 350km in them, my Saucony Kinvara shoes might be done. I can normally get 500-600km out of a pair, but given their racier profile & my weight probably being higher than their optimum user, it is likely I've taken them past their useful life. The various niggles on this run could also be due to the punishing parkrun the day before.

This marathon effort will need more peas.....

Either way, I carried on icing & slathered on some Voltarol before heading out the door for cricket, loaves of egg mayo & tuna mayo in hand. First game of the season & something bizarre happened just overs into the game. It has become a bit of a running joke that I will often wander to slip when in the field & see if our captain notices before moving me. On Sunday I was placed there & in slow motion the ball headed in my direction. So slowly in fact that I had too much time & the potential to get it wrong was immense! Thankfully I held the catch & took what from my recollection might just be my first slip catch from years of fielding there! As a team we bowled well (especially if you take my profligate overs out of the scorebook) & despite being padded up & ready to give it a slap if necessary the target was of no real trouble. The team won convincingly, a nice start to my club presidency!

The 2015 season begins

The Conclusion

A tough parkrun, a tough long run & an increasingly listless performance on the cricket pitch. Although the long run was at target marathon pace, it appears I'm no good at juggling.

Much needed bubbles at the end of a tough weekend

All in my head?

A blank page. Every blog post starts with a blank page & then I have to figure out what the story of the week was. Sometimes there isn't a story & it is just some rambling. Regular readers might be of the opinion it is always just some rambling.

The last week of April, first week of May did have a story, two in fact. One of an ankle that just wouldn't play ball. Another of a seismic duel between two gladiators (almost) in the condition of their lives.

Would using a hacksaw be easier?

Monday morning, inspired by the marathon, surely it was time for a long run? My ankle had other ideas, the pain down the side of it up towards my knee was not particularly fun. I opted for ice instead & the hope that it wasn't too serious.
Our Endure 24 team met up for the first time on the Monday evening. Gary had suggested The Oyster Shed on the Thames & we gathered to discuss just how we would approach the 24 hour event in June. Paul had been prolific in his preparation, a Risk Manager by day, he'd produced a full kit list & a couple of prospective running orders. The conversation flowed & I set about adding timing into our running order. I appear to be leading us off & due to run four laps, 20 miles within 24 hours, could be fun! Everyone wanted to run during the night, I appear to have the 1am shift.
With the kit list agreed over less than agreeable Cauliflower steaks for our vegetarians within the team everyone was soon checking Amazon to acquire their entire camping range! I've managed to get at least Fergie signed up for a slow saunter around the local parkrun before the event starts, hopefully more of the team will fancy it on the day itself.

A challenge is made

With the weather due to be poor with a bank holiday on the horizon we'd made the call alongside the National Trust to hold back on launching the summer parkrun course at the Forest. I was due to Run Direct for the course change over, so after some discussion within the team Paul started his first stint early by taking the reins.
This meant that I could run the course, which I was looking forward to as James was down from Burnley for the weekend & would be touristing, my sister Clare was also across from America & had been persuaded to haul herself out of bed for 9am to see what all the parkrun malarkey was all about.
Karl from the core team was also due to run, having done his couple of weeks as a RD. By coincidence we'd seen in the results that we'd both previously run a best of 27:40 round the winter course. A throwaway remark about a showdown turned into something rather silly as I posted a promo photo (Karl photoshopped an axe into my hands on one of my delightful running photos) on our Facebook page & it became one of the most popular things we'd done since launching! The question is, would I actually manage to run beforehand?



Taking on a Mountain

By Wednesday I'd decided that my ankle wasn't too bad & that most of the road to Berlin will be paved with minor niggles, there are times when I'd have to just grin & bear it. If I was to catch up with my plan, then finding 10 miles was on the agenda. I chose instead to return with a tough 8 miler.
The loop from Stansted to Manuden to Rickling & back is a route I've travelled on plenty of occasions. It includes the aforementioned Mount Manuden, a delightful 30-40 metre rise over half a kilometre that leaves you grasping for air, only to follow an all too brief downhill with another 2km of slow climb.
My performance was unremarkable but satisfactory. According to Strava it was my slowest over the route, not something that was of much concern to me as I was just happy to get out.

Post run the ankle pain moved right into the ankle joint! After all of the build up through the week for the Showdown, I wasn't sure I could run. The ankle appeared to be fine when running & painful when walking. By Friday evening whether I would run was still in the balance. Ice treatment on the Friday evening & even Saturday morning was effectively numbing the issue. I was going to have to take one of the team in order to deliver on a promise, can't be letting folks down after hyping it all week!

The Showdown

You know you have good friends when not only do they head down to try out your parkrun, but they're also happy to volunteer. With that in mind James got a delightful 6am wake up call as we headed to the forest still for crazy o'clock to setup the course & make Paul's first week of Run Directorship easy. Clare was also going to volunteer post run, sorting out our finisher tokens & my brother in law Dan was going to don the hi viz, combining marshalling with photography.
During the course setup we'd put together a mock up aid station at 3km for Karl & I. Gin & chocolate milk for me, cider for Karl, sausage rolls for us both. I decided to take the table down, just in case the temptation for a mid run tipple was too much!

Not many parkrun events have aid stations....

Quite how I'd run was open for debate. 2014 was a great year for me, with my 5k time getting down to 23:08. In theory if I was at my best I should beat Karl, who's lifetime best was a 25:51.
In reality I'm at the start of a new training cycle & not doing any speed work yet, where as Karl is in good form, focusing on pace having generally covered longer distances in the past. The fastest I'd completed a parkrun in this year was a 26:23 round Gladstone in February, other than the last km of my previous attempt around the forest & the back end of the Flitch 10k, I hadn't achieved anything of note in terms of pace.

The entire core team was on hand for the Showdown

The parkrun started with a completely new challenge, how to hurdle a mini as a car had decided to make it's way through our road closure at precisely parkrun o'clock! As we made our way onto the plain Karl was already stretching out a lead on me. He'd tactically started near the front of the field to get away nicely. Never mind, I could catch up on the downhill hopefully. Had I successfully negotiated the U turn perhaps I would have. Instead I found myself on the floor at a funny angle with no idea how I'd got there & more concern that I was in the way of other runners than my own well being! The U turn isn't even factored into our risk assessment, it should be simple but it turns out that Adam the leader of the pack at the time had also taken a tumble (and picked up far more grazes than me). I've no idea how I fell, don't recall ever falling beforehand in 5 years of running. Pay more attention to my footing I guess as the surface is a bit interesting at times around the course.
The impact of the fall was taken on my right ankle, just what I needed a whole 100% of my ankle allocation being dodgy. At this point I gave serious consideration to calling it a day, giving myself a few moments to see if there was damage by running lightly. Thankfully everything appeared in order so I continued down the hill, knowing that Mr Kisala already had an unassailable lead on me. I still pushed myself round the course to the best of my current ability, the first three kilometres were just over the five minute mark & I was pleasantly surprised with my pace. I passed Dan for the first time at 2.5km & commented that I was Flipping losing (or words to that effect) & then quickly apologised to those around me for the profanity, I'm an Event Director now, can't be dropping the odd F bomb whilst running!!!

Everything tightened up for the fourth kilometre, course wise this is where the run should it at it's easiest, yet I keep on slowing down! I've a long history of slow 4th kilometres. The theory that I conserve energy for a final last push appeared to lack credibility when I realised I had bugger all left in the tank! Thankfully Paul had produced a master stroke in this first week as RD by placing super marshal Andrea in the final position. Her enthusiasm is infectious. After some encouragement & a high five I was on my way, attempting to finish as strongly as possible, hauling myself towards the finish line.

We've established that I'm not a photogenic runner

I crossed the line in 25:29, my fastest time all year & though thoroughly beaten by Karl (who ran a lifetime best mid 24), I was very satisfied with my performance, although knackered by the end. I just wanted to collapse in a heap for a moment, but being an Event Director means that you're always on duty when at your own event so I was soon clapping in runners, helping to manage the funnel & chatting with various participants & volunteers.

The Eat

Friday night with James visiting from Burnley way we sampled Aldi's Wagyu Beef burgers for the first time. Excellent quality, especially when accompanied by good burger cheese & added to a Brioche bun.

These were rather decent

Saturday continued to be a busy day. In the afternoon Clare & Dan headed over following their parkrun adventure, accompanied by Mum & Steve with Aunty Jill to follow. I fired up the BBQ for the first time this year & laid on a range of burgers, German sausages, Parma ham wrapped asparagus, home made slaw. I also tried some honey nut cornflake coated chicken thighs & drumsticks. They were decent for a first attempt, room for further experimentation & improvement. Mum also brought her trademark pavlova along for desert, I had certainly recovered from the 5km by the end of lunch.
No sooner had the family left that James returned from the West Ham vs Burnley game & Burak arrived. We're heading off to Japan at the end of the year & we spent some time walking through the itinerary, looking at various accommodation options for our stops in Tokyo, Kyoto & Osaka. Burak also brought with him a triumvirate of deserts from The Pudding Stop in St Albans. He'd waxed lyrically about their offerings previously. I've not always been partial to treacle slice or ginger loaf, but these were perfection. With the waffle house also in town, if you have a sweet tooth it appears St Albans is the place to be!

The Long Run

After all of the copious calorie consumption the preceding day, there was a definite need to get some miles hammered out on Sunday morning. On drawing the curtains I realised that would not be a pleasant experience, cats & dogs would be an accurate description of the rain. I parked the running idea & instead hauled myself into Stortford to get a haircut & zoom round the supermarket before chauffeuring of Clare & Dan to Heathrow. They'd be the bank holiday after all for the long run.
The haircut was a bizarre experience, the first time my hair has been featured on someone's instagram feed. I've never found a regular barber, just gone wherever has taken my fancy. This was the third time in a row I'd been to CB's in Stortford, they'd done a good job previously. This time was the best of all three & the young lady cutting my hair was in awe of the naturalness of my quiff that she wanted a photo for her portfolio! After a bit of taming with some product I was able to leave the chair, for once my ridiculously thick hair had a purpose & in Johnny Bravo I had another potential fancy dress option!
Before Clare departed back to the US she took my Garmin with her. Over the course of the BBQ she'd mentioned how:
a) She wanted a Garmin
b) I hadn't got her a birthday present yet.
We also established that
c) My laptop was knackered
d) New Garmin's transfer runs by bluetooth.
With some blue sky thinking & high level solutioning from our innovation facility (the sofas in the lounge) the solution was obvious, Clare should take my Garmin 210 off my hands & I should buy a new watch. A perfect solution to the problem faced! I was in theory running in the morning so needed to pick something up that day. A phone call to Sweatshop in Hatfield established they had the 220 in stock (I wasn't going to go overboard with the 620). I called in after dropping the Americans off at T2 & it was good that I did as the long run was indeed going to happen on the Sunday & Emily was heading over to Stansted to meet me once I got home.

New Gadge!

I quickly got the new watch on charge as soon as I was home & with Emily en route I started to get ready. The run seemed unlikely though as a rain apocalypse happened, flooding the street & overloading our guttering. If earlier it was cats & dogs then this was the rest of the zoo joining them. Thankfully it was a very brief passing storm & by the time we headed out the sunshine was back.
My plan called for 12 miles, Emily's 10, so I decided we'd head out to Manuden & see how our various injuries would behave before making the call on which way we should return.

Rain rain go away....

My choice included attempting Mount Manuden for the second time in a week. At this point our conversation stopped until we'd made it up the hill. A car following us up wasn't overly helpful! I must remembered, especially with a summer of training coming up what routes have shelter, we were exposed to the baking sunshine for a few kilometres here as the track wound its way towards Rickling.
Once at Rickling we headed back South, running along the main road until the Ugley Checkers pub where we took a left & enjoyed a nice long down hill under the M11. From there it was into Elsenham & as we were both feeling reasonable we took the longer route back to Stansted on the main road rather than through Ugley. Our pace dropped off from about 12km, something I attribute to a lack of long runs on my part.
Entering Stansted from Elsenham meant that we had a climb to get back to my house, I explained the logic of Chapel Hill over Brewery Lane & we hauled ourselves uphill. 17.5 kilometres clocked, if Emily had run a lap of our road she'd have clocked just over the 11 mile mark on her Garmin.
No sooner than we'd finished my run was already on Strava, the new gadget working straight away.
Emily was quick to head back post run as Paul was readying a Sunday dinner so I got myself a chocolate milk & spent some time on the foam roller before sorting out some food & enjoying a much deserved bath.

Post run gurning competition

The Conclusion

For a week that almost didn't start, this was one of the most successful I've had all year. The parkrun performance was probably beyond my expectations. The recovery from the groin strain continues & there were no adverse effects following this foray into speed work.
I was also really happy with the long run. The past year I've changed a lot in my running & embracing the idea of running with friends has been a definite benefit. Both Emily & I had been procrastinating about whether to run or not & by heading out together it helped motivate both of us to get running. Starting to get miles into the legs & deciding to put minor injury niggles to the back of my mind can only be a good thing. I have to accept that I will pick up minor issues & I need to assess what will & won't genuinely stop me running.

HM Week 7 - Multitasking

I'm three weeks out from the Cambridge Half and I think everything has just clicked. For the first time in this training cycle I'm as happy as I can be with where I am and have adjusted my goals accordingly.
Last week just followed the script perfectly, I got what I needed to out of the week.

The Run #1

This was a deferred long run from the Sunday just passed. A couple of extra days off had allowed my persistent cold to clear up again & not needing to get into London until 12 gave me some admin time at home and the opportunity to get out for a long run without time pressures. At half six I left the house with my headtorch on and took to the streets towards Bishop's Stortford. Even with some light the run alongside quite a busy B road in the dark was a bit hairy. At least this is the one pavement the local authorities have bothered to tidy up so I wasn't having to play with the traffic.
After crossing the A120 I took on the Parsonage Lane estate, my old home territory. A slow climb all the way up to the senior school, followed by a downhill along Dunmow Road, through the Hockerill lights and into the town.
I was soon on Rye Street, trying to keep my pace even on the relatively flat section before heading back into Stansted. My total distance was still a bit short so I threw in some diversions on the route home, clocking 15km. Once home I was straight onto the foam roller, easing out the quads, happy with the slow, but steady work.

The Run #2

Later in the working week I broke up the day with a lunchtime jaunt to Battersea Park. Once more I used the run to go easy and increase the pace where it felt right. Getting out over halfway through a work day breaks up the routine nicely. Bizarrely the short section in Battersea Park can be the worst part of the run, all depends on how many dog walkers are determined to herd ever increasing groups of unleashed dogs through the park. Traffic fumes, cyclists, vehicles lacking in indicators, walkers without a sense of direction I can generally cope with, groups of dogs raises the heartbeat though.
The run itself passed without consequence. This time I didn't push too much, just used the occasion to join the hordes of lunchtime runners escape the office.

The Run #3

After a stint of volunteering at Great Notley parkrun on Saturday it was time to fit a long run into Sunday. Our core team were due to meet at the forest for 1000 & I'd further condensed my timeline by offering a lift, so I'd need to be out of the door by 0925. Regular readers know I'm no fan of afternoon or evening running, this meant trying to get my 18km long run in before heading to the forest.
I counted back from 0925. Say 30 minutes to get showered takes me to 0855, allow two hours for running gets to 0655, the mandatory half an hour of pre run faffing takes the alarm setting to 0625. Knowing the penchant for procrastination I opted for a reluctant 0600 Sunday morning alarm. Technically a lie in, but I don't think 25 minutes is cause for much celebration.
I actually hauled myself out the door just after half six, head torch attached for the first half hour or so waiting for daylight. My route had a definite 16km and the need to add a bit of free styling upon my return to Stansted. I headed north, through Quendon and towards Newport before turning back to Elsenham. The section from the B road into Elsenham always surprises with its length, seems to take as absolute age!
After a slow first click, my pace settled into a nice easy rhythm, just over the 6:00/km mark. The goal once more was distance rather than pace, this week had been a light bulb one for me. I had realised that (yes it took a while) that the PB wouldn't be threatened at Cambridge despite that being the original intention. My job for Cambridge is to finish, maybe at best sneak a sub two hour, but generally run without pressure. It will serve as a long training run for the following weekend's Larmer Tree half, surely the toughest event I'll have taken part in. They'll be no point flogging myself around Cambridge for something that isn't achievable only to compromise the race the next week. This year is all about the marathon effort & for that slow & steady leads the way.

A stunning day down the Forest later on Sunday

I had to complete a couple of laps of the railway station car park in Elsenham, waiting on the barriers to be raised (didn't fancy the multiple flights of stairs) & then once back in Stansted I felt fresh enough to run up Chapel Hill & take myself towards Bentfield Green before heading home. The 18th kilometre was the fastest by 40 seconds on the average & included a recovery post hill climb. To finish strongly felt great & I got into the house & straight onto the foam roller to start recovery.

Such a pretty face post run!

The Eat

The past week was a feast of some sorts, seemed to consume some rather good food throughout the week. I started with a visit to Wimpy on Monday evening whilst away with work. Regular readers will know how much I love the consistency to mediocrity that Wimpy strive for, nothing like a throw back to a bygone age. Of course combining with a large shake meant that I was regretting the meal within an hour, but sometimes the feast is worth the torture!

On Wednesday evening I finally paid a visit to Sticks N Sushi in Covent Garden. I'd been trying to line up a meal there for a while & plans have not quite come off. So with Burak & I needing to do some planning for our Tokyo trip, it seemed like an ideal choice. The concept is simple. Sticks - yakitori style cooked sticks of food & sushi - standard sushi plus some more extravagant options. The food was sublime. We started with a sashimi platter, then dived into a plethora of sticks & some sushi rolls. Scallops on a stick, beef & crunchy garlic on a stick, asparagus wrapped in bacon & emmental cheese wrapped in bacon, all kinds of awesomeness. You could easily go crazy in a place like this & just keep ordering, we almost did but chose instead to opt for desert.

Sashimi

I had a espresso cup filled with a white chocolate & licorice mousse, topped with a raspberry froth. This was just about perfect, the tartness of the raspberry matched the mousse perfectly & the licorice was a very subtle undertone. This was indeed a treat of a meal & one that will be repeated when pocket money allows. The menu presents an ideal introduction to those on the sushi fence. Just try a bit, if it isn't to your liking there are plenty of other good quality options.

Sticks

Throughout the week I was supplementing my intake with limited addition Toffee Kitkats, as noted already Nestle, happy for you to send me a box or five so that I can carry out some quality assurance!

Offering my services to Nestle for taste testing....

When the weekend arrived I decided to try something else from my encyclopaedia style Mexico cookbook. I opted for pork ribs, cooked in a mango, tequila & chilli salsa. I served this up with a huge dish of mac & cheese. The ribs were excellent. I was really happy with the fruity sauce, had a nice flavour to it & then packed a bit of a chilli punch towards the end. The mac & cheese served a second purpose as I used some on Sunday evening to create my own take on the mac & cheese sandwich I'd tried from Grill my Cheese. In fact, nearly a week later we still have leftovers, might have to give that another attempt tonight :)

My attempt at Grilling my cheese...

Oh Tequila, it makes me happy....

Despite all of this gluttony, I actually had a decent week of eating & the weight has dropped back down a bit, here's hoping that's a corner turned.

Forgot about this cheeky donut on Sunday afternoon.....

The Conclusion

A week of running I was really happy with. After the disappointment of waking up with a cold last Sunday, I was able to get two long runs in & feel very comfortable throughout both. The strong finish on Sunday tells me that I can turn it up a little bit for the Cambridge Half, which is natural under race conditions. For a training cycle that has been quite stop start, I feel in decent form over distance. Paying little attention to pace has definitely worked on this occasion.

HM Week 5 - The tourist returns

The last update included some optimism, I'd got back on track with my training program & was starting to add some distance in hope of recovering form for the Cambridge Half. It also mentioned that I'd started to be struck down by the winter lurg.

Hopefully this explains where the update for Week 4 of the training plan went! After the long run on January 18th, it wasn't until Saturday morning of the 31st that I laced up once more, more in hope than expectation that I'd beaten away the winter cold. In truth I'm now midway through week 6 & still having to dose up as the lingering aftermath of the manflu keeps trying to pull me back under its shroud.
Week 4 was indeed a complete bust. I spent the rest of the day after the long Sunday run feeling sorry for myself & the entire week was filled with Lemsip & a whole line up of treatments taken before bed. My throat was bad enough on Saturday that I needed to use the megaphone whilst on Run Director duties at Great Notley parkrun. So the total mileage for week 4 was a nice big fat zero.
The start of week 5 wasn't much better. I was still opting for Lucozade / Berocca / Lemsip chasers when arriving at the office, though by the end of the week I was at least weaning off of the Sudafed inhaler & plethora of Robitussin solutions we appear to have stocked in the house. Saturday was a chance to get out & run again. In truth I had started to feel better towards the end of the week, but I didn't want a relapse to scupper my parkrun plans.
The fortnight of Run Directoring at Great Notley was a great experience. Not only did we get to spend time together as a core team, we managed to learn more about each of the roles & by getting to direct I was able to establish a greater understanding of what is needed to make an event successful. Great Notley have been superb in helping us establish & providing both assistance & advice. Though it won't be possible to ever return the favour, should future events want our help, I've been set an example in how to assist.

Run #1 - Harlow parkrun

After three straight weeks of race & run directing I'd earmarked the next few weeks for a bit of parkrun tourism, interlaced with a bit of volunteering at Great Notley. Suggest tourist destinations of Harlow, Wanstead, Brentwood & Pendle to your average person & they'd presume you're a bit crazy. Thankfully rather than being crazy, I'm merely a parkrun tourist!
 It had been over three months since I'd ventured out for some parkrun tourism, an unheard of break between new courses. During that time two further local events had started. I'd already volunteered at Harlow parkrun as a photographer in their second week, but had scheduled myself a visit in January or February. Brentwood had also appeared on the parkrun map after a long journey to initialisation & I'd been liaising with their ED, Leigh in order to make a visit & catch up with them to understand what their experience had been like. With that visit pencilled in for later in February, I decided to make the short drive to Harlow.
The event is nearly three months old & already a local community is starting to establish itself. Event Director Vicky was actually up at the Cambridge 5th birthday celebrations & this was the first week where she wouldn't be present. I could sense a nervousness like a mother dropping their child at school for the first day from Vicky when we'd chatted during the week. In truth she had nothing to fear, all of the team at Harlow know precisely what they're doing, you'd not be able to tell the event is still in it's infancy.
I'd visited previously for Event #2, Harlow being the first event that I'd volunteered at before running the course. On my previous visit I was aware that the funky configuration of two full laps and then a mini lap led to some confusion at the bridge, as long as I was still coherent enough to count to three I felt safe in the knowledge that I should be ok. Seeing the course map it was hard to visualise, I only knew of the grassy hill towards the end of the lap as that's where I'd been on photographer duty. Explaining the course as a multi lap out and back with a switchback and a smaller third lap on multi terrain almost feels like the rules to Go Johnny Go Go Go Go from the League of Gentlemen! In truth it was far simpler, especially from the middle of the pack.
Onto the run itself and it would be fair to say I had no illusions of grandeur. Taking time off at the end of 2014, combined with two weeks of illness had reduced my expectations to merely finishing, sub 30 would be nice. Of course pride plays a part in proceedings and I was determined to at least push myself, despite the lack of training this wouldn't be an easy paced plod. The multi lap configuration gave the option to thank the marshals on multiple occasions, also for high five opportunities as Robin one of the core team had donned foam fingers to direct traffic.

Such a happy face :)

The course was intriguing. Enough tarmac to give the impression of being fast, but looks can be deceptive. Harlow have managed to provide a challenging course, three 180 turns, a nice downhill stretch in both big laps, but an uphill uncompacted grassy climb. Every lap starts with a short uphill as well. The hill wasn't too bad, but the surface meant that you'd want at least trail shoes, though the rest of the course wouldn't suit mudclaws unless you ran alongside the paths. The truly enjoyable downhill comes as you cross the bridge a third time & get to turn right for a short burst to the finish. Despite my fellow core team member Paul urging me to sprint finish, there were no such shenanigans on this occasion. I just wanted to stop, get my token & try to get away from people before I started coughing my lungs up.

The Eat

The reward for the run was to call into Tezzos, get a nice small loaf of tiger bread & make myself some Welsh Rarebit. My last effort wasn't great, this time the consistency was a lot better & the taste was close to spot on. A nice belly of pork was shared in the evening, proper winter food!

Hmmmm, Welsh Rarebit

The Conclusion

On paper, a 27:11 is frankly awful. But my current form & lack of miles leave me with a time that I'll take, with every intention of smashing it to pieces on my next visit to Harlow.

The Run #2

Sunday morning gave an opportunity to get out for a nice long run. Ten miles would be the order of the day. The temperature had finally risen slightly, so I headed out towards Farnham with the intention of dropping back into Stortford before heading northbound home. This would mean plenty of hills & negotiating the ford en route to Farnham. Part of the course was included in the Stansted 10k, but the last time I ran through the ford was in 2013, when I ended up calling the wife to get picked up from the side of the road, this would be a chance to take that monkey off of my back.
In retrospect, the choice of route wasn't the wisest. The thaw had meant a lack of ice on the paths, but also resulted in runoff all the way down into the Ford, it was impassable on foot. I found myself trying to walk alongside it & then had to u-turn & run around the adjacent field instead. The uphill climb from the ford was therefore on heavy legs from the muddy field & it took a while for them to recover.
Thanfully there were no further pitfalls on the road into Stortford & I added further kilometres around the town centre and up onto the Stansted Road. Crossing the A120 I realised that I should have added further distance whilst in Stortford, I wasn't going to pick up the required mileage by running back directly. Instead I diverted towards Birchanger & up Tot Hill to punish the legs some more, then lapped Forest Hall Park to top up the totaliser.
I was soon home & onto the foam roller, happy to have got out for a long run. The pace was pretty horrendous, 1:40 for 10 miles, but I've already realised that Cambridge will not be a PB for me.

Have a happy relationship with my foam roller

Claimed by the Hill of Doom

Saturday morning was a sobering dose of reality. Everything had been just fine on Xmas day, potentially all too easy. Perhaps I should have headed back to Chelmsford, kept running there for a little while, I'd have not realised my current limitations for a little while longer. The parkrun route in Chelmsford is everything a runner like me could want: tarmac, flat, well drained so no standing water. Nothing too energy sapping, perfect time for masking my current lack of training.
Instead though I took the car to Great Notley. I wanted to challenge myself, take on the hill of doom and get a true understanding of my current capabilities.
I was second to arrive on site, there to assist with pre event setup, ticking both the volunteer and running boxes. I'm a temporary addition to the GNPR core team to give me ED training so when the volunteer roster was short I was eager to still help whilst not sacrificing a run. So there is was, in shorts and a ludicrous Turkey Trot jumper, trying to comply with the Xmas jumper theme.
Saturday became a waiting game. The core team and volunteers waiting for someone from the on site cafe to arrive so that the event could get setup. Things weren't looking good when we'd noticed the amended opening times and Len, GNPR's ED was none the wiser. So it was time to make phone calls.
By 9am there was still no one in attendance so with a bench as the finish funnel it was time for the minimalistic parkrun. After a short briefing urging tourists and first timers to try and buddy up, it was on the start line. To say I was cold by the start would be an understatement! Under my Turkey Trot sweatshirt was a hot base layer as I'd presumed I would overheat, so with nothing to do but shiver beforehand, the cold was really getting to me.

The Run

It was a far smaller field that usual for the run, the cold temperature and windy conditions kept many people wisely in their beds. Time to start the insanity though.
I opted for a wide right route to try and at least keep dry for the first then metres! The trail path was littered with puddles, I'd probably add distance to the course just with my zigzagging. My first lap was reasonable, there was no doubting just how much hard work the conditions were. The final field of the lap was horrendous as you turned into it, muddy on the turn and then the option to either so substantially inside and cut the course, go straight and get soaked, or turn further and run in the longer, less saturated grass. I opted for the latter and then took an even wider line at the base of the hill of doom. 

All smiles at the start of the first lap. Deluded muppet.

Oh the hill of doom, how I've not missed you. Negotiating the climb was tough, the two runners just in front of me were also struggling, but I had more grip. Avoiding their slips whilst also striving for a vertical base was hard work, I eventually went to the long grass once more, a bit more purchase was available there. The photo of me towards the peak tells you everything about the run on Saturday. I was determined to not stop during the climb, but also aware that the sheer effort involve in achieving this would come back to bite me.
Being a man made hill the Garmin never picks up the climb, but at the peak I took a moment to veer off course to touch the bird, not many of my fellow runners showed such eagerness. The descend was all about not hitting the slick grass, any more rain and I suspect the route would be run without the hill, just a standard two lapper. 

Hill of doom - there to break you

After the climb and following downhill I was completely done, shame there was still another 2km to go. I had completely overcooked the hill. Though commendable to not stop on the climb, my pace had gone, like a cyclist with only first gear, everything was moving but very little was being achieved. My second lap high five to Andrea the bridge marshal was substantially weaker, more being used as a means to get myself going. After the relatively easy return on Xmas Day, this was a crashing back to earth. The lack of miles in my legs & cardio in my lungs was coming back to get me here, the treacle like conditions not making my life any easier!

The remainder of the lap was just a struggle. I was thankful for the low turn out, it meant the underfoot conditions didn't deteriorate too much. My pace was a write off, a 5:58 third km was followed by a 5:34 & 5:39. In fact only a quick first km was under the 5:30 mark. I crossed the line / reached the table in 27:34, over three minutes slower than my previous effort at Notley. Lesson learnt. Stopping was tough, the finish area completely saturated. Had I a change of clothes on me then I'd have been very tempted to Klinsmann my way through the funnel!

Such a happy face

The Eat 

GNPR is surely the foodie capital of parkrun. I regularly contribute a box of sausage rolls & with attendance significantly down, a number made their way home to Stansted for consumption throughout the day. One half of the new RD team Jenna had also attempted Tiffin, something GNPR is famous for. Nothing can be better than finishing a 5k and gorging on some tiffin & sausage rolls. Both were excellent (though I am biased).

Once home it was back to the Xmas carb loading (is nine months too early for Berlin). Fair to say this rest period combined with the festive period has led to a bit of weight gain. Thankfully nothing too drastic & restarting the cycle of training and cutting out the white carbs will return me to a happier weight.

That said, Saturday night was all about the rare roast beef, crispy potatoes (gave them a proper fluff up, though might have cooked at too lower temperature), parsnips, veg. So much food that it is now Tuesday & I'm only just realising we forgot Yorkshire Puddings!

Hmmmmm Beef

The Conclusion

If you don't like the truth, don't make a visit to Great Notley, especially during the winter. The course is tough (Run Britain gave it a SSS score of 5.0 - anyone?), unforgiving & a true test. Can't blame anyone that stayed in bed on Saturday morning, they were the sane ones.....

A Festive Return

November 16th. 

The last time I laced up my running shoes with the intention of racing. I've not been completely out of action, despite the rest period I've taken a few trips to the Forest as the planning continues. This has included finding and testing new routes as a very wet and muddy route run in November made it clear we needed alternatives. I've also started playing squash again, though my swimming has stopped, need to pick up on this as we enter 2015. 

During the time off I've also volunteered as work commitments have allowed me. With Event Directorship in my future it has been imperative that I've continued to learn the various roles required to keep an event going, even if it does mean getting chuffing cold on a December morning! That in itself is a lesson, if you're just standing around you need more layers. I'll be investing in some decent gortex boots to get me through the wet and cold mornings. 

Of course I had promised myself I'd stretch and rest and of course I've done one of those and it certainly wasn't stretching!

Chelmsford parkrun - Xmas Day special

A banana for breakfast on Christmas Day? Surely not! Normally by 9am on Christmas Day I've consumed multiple chocolate bars & am already slipping into my first food related coma after a combination of eggs and salmon (recently the benedict variety). Last Christmas I ventured out locally for a run, before settling in to the usual overfeasting that is expected.

Though I'd started to properly get into parkrun towards the second half of 2013, 2014 really was the year of the parkrun for me. My total stood at 35 at the end of 2013. By October 18th it had increased to 62. Yet it would be another 9 weeks before that total would increase. I hadn't since a gap between parkrun attendance that large since 2012, had I fallen out of love with parkrun?

Not quite. Statistics only tell you the part of the story you want to hear. Since that time I'd had my enforced break, but also been in attendance half a dozen times to volunteer. In addition I'd made plenty of trips to the Forest & spent countless evenings in meetings or putting together paperwork & here I am moaning as if I don't enjoy it!

One thing I was certain of, I'd certainly be slower than the last time I went to Chelmsford & took home a lifetime best over 5k. Although one forest run had shaded under 30 minutes, realistically I didn't know what to expect. I'd promised myself not to start too quickly, blowing up after a stupidly quick 2km would be ridiculous.

My first visit to Chelmsford since volunteering in November also provided a couple of interesting sights. Event Director Gerry was resplendent in a Santa Claus outfit & brother in law Alec was donning the fluorescent vest for the first time & volunteering as a marshal. As I was parking in Meteor Way for the first time & unsure of how far the walk was I ended up being one of the first on site, so lent a hand with funnel setup, finish cones etc. The parkrun itself would be minimalistic, zero signage & just a handful of on course marshals. Thankfully the A route was runnable so there wasn't a need for too much guess work by the runners.

The Run

I lined up alongside fellow Core Team member Jim who is in the form of his life at the moment. I'd last seen him dressed as David Hasselhoff at Notley's fancy dress day, this time he was in standard running garb & ready to attack a PB set on the far harder Notley course.

Easy to spot when I have bright blue legs (Smurf outfit one day perhaps)

We did initially run together, but after the first corner I told him to go on without me, I didn't need to drag myself along & I didn't want to cost him any time. I settled straight back into a rhythm, through a kilometre in 5:02 despite my best efforts to slow down! I was able to apply the brakes a little during the second click, only ten seconds slower but I was feeling more comfortable. This was the first time I was using trail shoes at Chelmsford, on Alec's advice as he runs there more regularly than I do. The stretch 2-4km does include a fair amount of grass & I was thankful for a bit more grip certainly. With their recent Forest exploits I've now covered 100km in my trail shoes. If you'd have suggested this to me at the start of 2014 I'd have laughed at the idea of even owning trails!!!!

My pace continued to be reasonable & I was soon out of Admirals Park & heading through 4km & onto the finish. This was a well known path to me, Christmas Day being the occasion on which I ran a single event for the tenth time. Chelmsford has been good to me this year, 8 visits so far I believe, the adaptability of the team to the issues the many parks present has led to many different course configurations during that time.

I still felt reasonable as I entered Central Park & readying myself for the final lap. Despite having no intention to race I was still checking over my shoulder, old habits I guess.

As I said, no intention to race, just get home. Then I spotted Alec as the last marshal. I beckoned him to come a bit closer and with a high five I turned onto the grass and kicked into an almighty & completely out of character sprint finish.

Sprint finish - A return of my happy running face....

The Result

Turns out the sprint, though ill-conceived, was worthwhile (in my mind at least), I'd clocked an unofficial 25:01 (nearly going through the funnel), but Jim was certain I'd ducked just under 25. Given that I always start a couple of seconds early, that was certainly plausible. Until that text message came through, nothing was certain.

Mid morning, the phone bleeped & there was confirmation, 24:59! Surely, nearly 2 minutes over PB, but a result I was exceedingly happy with. After nearly two months off, I really wasn't expecting to be that quick. Bizarrely, the Run Britain handicap system (and the SSS & vSSS ratings that I still don't get) put this effort in my top ten. Guess that means that it was tougher on the day than I'd originally thought.

Jim not only broke his PB, he ran up behind it, tapped it on the shoulder & knocked it to the ground. I'd promised Chelmsford was fast & I was true to my word, a mid 22 for Jim. A PB for Christmas, nice start to the day (well less of a start when you have two young children)!

The Eat

Christmas Day, even with 500 extra calories from a 5k, it was going to be a day of gluttony wasn't it? Be it a refuel with a bag of Snow Bites & an Orange Lucozade (they should really sponsor me through Berlin) on the drive home. Toast with a slab of butter upon my return home, a full Turkey roast at my Mother's place, the completely unnecessary but predictable 4pm table of extra food or an evening of Celebrations & Sausage Rolls, it was a day of complete overfeeding.

But I ran a 5k at the start of the day so that makes everything all right yes?

The Conclusion

A very satisfactory return to running, what could possibly go wrong after this Xmas Day effort (bit of foreshadowing there as another blog post is to follow)?

After seeing the camaraderie & enjoyment the event brought, it reminded me that by this time next year, my core team will have a decision to make (if the venue allows for us to run an event). Holding an event on Christmas Day might seem like lunacy, but can mean a lot to those who run & volunteer.

Not running, honest.....

Well mostly honest. I'm itching to get running again having hung up the trainers after the St Neots Half in November. Since that time I've been keeping activity to a minimum. Other than a couple of games of squash and some route tests around the Forest, I've kept myself away from actually running, but found plenty of fulfilment.

Time keeping duty at GNPR

Over the course of November & December I've volunteered at Harlow, Chelmsford & Great Notley parkrun events covering all kinds of roles, even the event starter at Notley on the Saturday just passed. I've learnt that I don't have the camera or the skill to be an event photographer, that I need to talk at a slower rate when giving briefings (nerves & confidence) & that you can never have enough layers of clothing.

Xmas Fancy Dress at GNPR

With Christmas Day approaching it is time to get the trainers back on & aim myself at the Cambridge Half marathon in March. By lunchtime on the 3rd I'll have added five parkruns to my total & volunteered three times as well! My schedule currently looks like this:

Xmas Day - Chelmsford Central
27th - Great Notley (+ pre event setup)
NYD - Great Notley (+ tailrunner) & Chelmsford
3rd - Chelmsford Central (+ 30 minute pacer)

Six months ago I'd not even volunteered, when I picked up my 50 shirt at the Great Notley inaugural, I still hadn't donned the florescent vest. Sure I had reasons of distance, but in truth I knew it was time to start paying back to parkrun. Then I found out just how enjoyable volunteering can be, although I'm pretty confident with people I know, but actually forcing yourself outside of your bubble to engage with strangers is no bad thing. It doesn't come natural to me at all to just strike up conversation with people I don't know, but the warmth that is the parkrun family has shown me that it's not that hard. Once you have an icebreaker of being insanely stupid to be out of bed and running or volunteer at 9am on a Saturday morning you can pretty much talk to anyone.

Starting Great Notley parkrun

I'd encourage anyone who regular runs at a parkrun (or club or other) event to consider volunteering every so often. Don't ever feel burdened by it, the experience can only be enjoyable if you're not resenting being there, so if it is not for you, so be it. Many events have pacers or tailrunners, why not combine the two? On Saturday I really fancy running, but as a temporary member of the Notley core team I'm also aware of the volunteer roster & it's need to be filled. The solution? Pre Event setup. I get to lend a hand, volunteer & still run. Who knows, there might even be a sausage roll left by the time I finish!