4/9/21 - First up was my home run Queen's. I didn't really know what I was aiming for today but started off at a decent pace considering the course. I managed the first 2 laps ok but duing the 2nd and 3rd hill of the final lap I had to take some walk breaks so maybe didn't pace it as well as I could. I was yo yoing with folk quite a lot for the whole thing as people would fly past me on the downhill and I would catch up on the ups barring the last lap. On the final downhill I let go a bit and actually felt pretty comfortable which made me think I might have been braking too much going down the hill on the first couple of laps. I finished in a time of 30.48 which is nearly a minute off my PB at Queen's. So pleased with that.
11/9/21 - Today was my volunteering for the month and I was given tailwalker so got a run credit too. Two ladies were at the back who didn't come together. I always try and work out whether they want to chat or not when I'm tailwalking. While they didn't run it completley running together all the time. They did chat on occasion. So I joined in and chatted with either or both of them most of the way round. From memory one was from Hereford and the other Penrith area. Although they were at the back, both didn't walk once so was actually quite a quick tail walk at just over 42 minutes.
18/9/21 - Today I wasn't really sure where I was going till quite late. A few folk from the Wednesday group were heading to Stranraer to do a 10 mile trail race. In the middle of the week they found out the start time had been made later so they realised they could do the parkrun too. But by the time I got round to looking into it, all the hotel rooms had gone. So I then looked at Perth but again the Premier Inn there had no rooms left. So I then looked at Stirling and the Travelodge had rooms so I booked up there. It was about 2 mile walk to the start and when I got there a bus was pulling up which made me realise I should have investigated that option. I remembered the previous day that my gig buddy Craig was always talking about doing a parkrun so I put a message on the gig chat seeing if anyone fancied it. And Craig was up for it since he lives in Stirling so we met up at the start and I explained the ins and outs of parkrun. We then went to the first timers briefing followed by the actual briefing and we were off.
As expected Craig went off ahead and I settled into a decent pace. Its slightly undulating but generally flat, 2 loop course round a lake. There are points going round you think you are further on than you are due to the shape of the lake and this messed with my head a bit. But its a really nice course. On the second loop I did have to walk bits but was still inside 30 minutes at the finish coming in at 28.37. Craig was about 25 minutes.
25/9 - Today's run was in Pitlochery on the north side of the town in Faskally forest with the Wednesday social crew. I stayed in the southern end of Pitlochry as I think due to September weekend a lot of the hotels had sold out. But the hotel I did stay at was very nice. Blythe offered to give me a lift in the morning to save the 2 mile walk to the start. When we got there, there was lots of recognisable faces at this relatively new parkrun event as it was their 9th one. We found the start and you could see instantly the course started with quite a hill. I had heard it was a tough course so I just planned to take it easy today. When we started Kirstin had obviously decided the same and we spent the parkrun chatting all the way round. It is a really nice setting for a parkrun in the forest with all the lakes and its all trails. Yes the course is tough if you "go for it" as the hills are steep but if you just jog round its an enjoyable experience. Still managed 33 minutes and its nice to have a long downhill to finish. Although I still felt fresh at the finish. I have to say it does take a few minutes to get my breath back at the top of each hill. Afterwards we headed to Pitlochery golf club for a roll before I headed back on the train.
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