October review

Well generally I would say October has been a pretty good month!

It all started with a trip up to Dundee to do Camperdown parkrun.  I had been advised to "just go for it" at the start as there is quite a long hill at the far side of the park. I thought I was taking this advice on in the 1st mile when I realised after half a mile that the 35 minute pacer was in front of me!  Turns out the way its done in Dundee is to go all out in the first mile. Which is good because it does spread out the field and even with the 200 runners today you have got your own space to run in instantly. I actually ended up running with the 35 minute pacer up until the 1st mile point.  Then turning up the hill, it went on and on, but it was gradual which meant I did manage to keep running for the majority of it and overtook loads of people. When I got to the top I was now running with the 32 minute pacer. I continued to overtake till the final hill where I had to walk bits but I actually ended up nearly catching the 30 minute pacer coming home in 30.20.  So I was probably not cut out to be a pacer judging by today but I was pleased with my effort. I loved this course which is mostly on trails and its pretty much one loop and you hardly go on the same path twice. At time of writing I think this has knocked Falkirk off its perch as the best parkrun I have done.

Next up was Pollok parkrun. I had a good run here, ran all the way round and generally felt pretty good. My time was 30.56 which is a course best for the alterntative course. I am starting to like the course more. The second mile is the hardest as it starts at the bottom of the glade is a net uphill mile finishing at the pond. But if you get to the top of the pond with something left it means I know I have paced it well which happened today. I have heard a few complaints about the new start but I actually think its better. There is no bottleneck till the turn left off the road onto the path and by that time everyone is in to their running and near enough in the correct position in the pack.

Next adventure was down to Newcastle where I was in Northumberland on holiday. So it was basically a case of finding a Premier inn which was right beside a parkrun start. That parkrun was Rising sun. A very nice park with a nice loch and some nice paths and trails. There was nearly 300 people there and going down to the path at the start it became clear the path probably wasnt built for that many people going down it at once. There was no room to even weave your way through people. It was a case of going the speed of the people in front of you. After about a mile the path gets wider and then it spreads out. For the 2nd mile you are basically going in a loop. Then the third mile you take the same route in reverse as the first mile. I made the mistake of pushing the second mile too hard trying to make up time. Which meant the 3rd mile I ended up having to walk a short section before pushing on to the end. It is a pretty flat course but there are long straight sections which can play on your mind a bit as it seems you are never quite getting to the end of it---------- but you do!  Managed 29.51 so nice to get a sub 30.

Final parkrun of the month was back at Pollok as I try to run Pollok every second time. Meaning half of my total parkruns are at Pollok. I am just short of this at the moment with 83 runs done at Pollok and Im at 167 in total. But that should fix itself next week and then I would be 84/168. This run was not a good one from me after a busy start to the week on holiday, I had a few very lazy days before this one. Which I think was the reason for this bad run. It was very cold and I was struggling to catch my breath. But I still got round and hopefully it will be back to usual next week and this was just a one off. 33.49.

Today I was at Rouken Glen junior parkrun doing some tailwalking for their second birthday. This year the core team decided it would be nice to give out prizes for the most regular runners and volunteers. Finola did a great job presenting all the prizes and giving a bit of history on each of the prizewinners and the history of our parkrun generally. One of which was myself :-)  I got a nice mug which will probably go on the mantlepiece.  I know parkrun is a team effort and all volunteers are heroes but being part of the core team you realise just how much work run directors put in and they should be applauded especially the ones at Rouken glen for making it such a great event to be part of.

Now thoughts begin to turn to what next again. And yes I did go through that phase of entering races 10k/half and a marathon.  But now I am not so sure again. Far too addicted to parkrun at the moment and generally finding it difficult to get in the right mindset to do the longer distances knowing the training it requires, especially for a marathon.