May parkruns

May was holiday time as I headed on a cruise from Southampton down to ports in France and Spain.  But due to the timings of the cruise, leaving on a Saturday and coming back on a Saturday, I did manage 2 English parkruns!

04/05 - First off was Newbury parkrun. There was no special reason for doing this parkrun. It was a case of discussing with my Dad which parkruns were on the way to Southampton as we drove down from Glasgow. Newbury parkrun had a Premier Inn nearby so ticked the box.  The parkrun is situated in a disused air field which means it has a very large space to use and they maximise it, as the course is a single lap.  The route doesnt go on the old runway but around it on reasonably widened paths.  When I looked around at the start it didnt actually feel like there were many people there, maybe a few hundred. Where in fact there was just over 600! Which is the second highest attendence for a parkrun I have ever participated in behind Edinburgh. Its such a wide space at the start that you feel that this parkruns capacity is not even nearly reached and there are plenty of car parks too to meet the needs.

I decided to start conservatively placing myself in the middle of the pack and never really had any problems. I gradually picked up the pace going round and ended up finishing in 28.23.

11/05 - This was probably the most planned/unplanned parkrun day I have ever had.  The ship I was on was due to get in about 4am but disembarkation was due to start till 7.30am. But we didnt really know how long it would take to get off the ship and then get the car. So the plan was to go to Southampton parkrun. I would just head straight there, getting the bus and mum and dad would take the stuff and get the car and meet me there. The parkrun was only 2 miles from the dock.  

But we ended up getting off the ship and got the car by 7.45am. So I suggested we could find a parkrun further up the road as we driving all the way up to Glasgow today.  Also Southampton parkrun is the second busiest parkrun behind Bushy most weeks. Today for example 1,200 runners so it may have taken a while to get out of Southampton. So anyway, my Dad started reeling off towns nearby asking if they had parkruns. After a few no, nos we settled on Winchester. Which wasn't too far from Southampton but gave us a wee head start for the day.  

We got to Winchester in plenty of time. The course is a bit mentally challenging with the all the loops and trying to work out the route. Although you run round cricket pitches a lot there is some extremely nice sections running along beside the river. I would say the course is about 80% grass/trail. 20% tarmac.  I had a good run today, again starting off conservatively and gradually increasing the pace.  Finishing in 27.09.  I did have one gym session duing the cruise, no running but a lot of walking which must have done the trick.

18/05 - No running of a parkrun today due to running a Millport 10 mile fun run on the Sunday. But I did volunteer down at Drumchapel parkrun for the first time.  I know the event/run director there from Rouken Glen and as he was run director at Drumchapel that I said I would help out.  I was number checker which is a very easy job at Drumchapel due to the low numbers they get. 34 today. But it does mean more time to chat and they have a really good bunch at Drumchapel.

The Milport 10 miler the next day went better than expected. I had a restless night the night before and felt rubbish when I woke up.  I actually phoned my brother to say I won't bother today but he talked me into going.  I hadn't done a long run since the start of April where training had been going really well up until that point.  But I still got round with a lot of thanks to my brother for running with me even though he could have gone a lot faster.  It was a good catch up more than anything. I managed to run 10k distance fine and took 3, 60 second walkbreaks to the end.  But a great day out with my brother and his family. Glad I went.

25/05 - Back to running parkruns. Today I went to Pollok for the first time since the start of March. I was half thinking I should be in line for my fastest Pollok time in while since my times have come down a fair bit this year.  On the other hand I haven't been doing many hilly parkruns recently so it was interesting to see how I would fair today. The answer though was positive. I paced it well and my legs felt good pretty much all the way round and the hills didn't seem that difficult.  Finished in 29.33 which is my first sub 30 at Pollok this year.

Overall a pretty good month for parkruns. I would say my training hasn't been as good during the week due to holiday and recovering from the Milport 10 miler. So hoping I can get into more of a routine again.

In terms of my challenge to average under 30 minutes over the course of the year things are going good and current average is 29 minutes 32 seconds and thats me up to 20 parkruns, run so far this year.

Jubious June

It's not been the best of months running wise but I have still managed 4 out of 5 parkruns this month meaning I have only missed 4 so far this year.

2nd June I headed to Drumchapel parkrun with Rouken glen pal Stuart. It was my 150th parkrun and also Drumchapel's 2nd birthday. It was busy for Drumchapel with about 80 folk there and as always as social, friendly as ever. The run itself was tougher than usual due to the heat so I was mainly walking the hills. But I was trying to go faster down them which made things more fun. Afterwards we went to the cafe to the awards where it was nice to see both runners and volunteers getting rewarded for their contributions to this magic wee parkrun.

9th June I went to Pollok and it was another landmark run as I completed the 10 for 10 challenge and got the gold medal. I completed 8 parkruns in consecutive weeks and also volunteered at Rouken Glen junior parkrun and Victoria junior parkrun to make it up to 10.  To be honest going into the run my head wasn't really in the right place. And I mean specifically to the Pollok course. It was the first time in 3 months I have been at Pollok and I haven't really had the best of times at Pollok this year. It seems to be a challenge of how far I can get without walking. What made it easier today is that I started chatting to Chris right from the start and we ran together. After about a mile we bumped into Rob and the 3 of us chatted just until about halfway. This was where we heard someone coming from behind to keep left meaning the leaders were coming through. Chris and Rob didnt want to be lapped so upped the pace and that was the last I saw of them. I made it to about 2 miles without walking then ran walked the rest.

The next week I didn't do parkrun as I had a sore throat, not enough to be off work but enough to know I should be taking it easy.

23rd June I was back at Pollok. This time because a few of my uni friends Viv and Stu decided to give it a go. Stu has done it before a few years back but for Viv it was her first time. Today there seemed to be loads of people there I knew which was great. I settled into a very easy pace and again got to about 2 miles and ran/walked in from there. Viv and Stu seemed to enjoy it so hopefully they'll be back.

30th June back at Pollok again as thought Stu might be back today but texted this morning to cancel as his wife is immienent so didn't want to risk it. It was absolutley boiling today and I ran with water for the first time ever during a parkrun. The heat and the hills meant I was walking a lot sooner than usual.

Times this month were 34 mins, 31 mins, 32 mins then 35 mins. So a bit disappointing after such a good May but 2 of these I put down to the heat. But I do really need to work on my mental approach to Pollok as its almost like there are certain mental trigger points where I feel the urge to walk. Which I don't generally get when doing other parkruns.

In saying that I have started a 10k plan this week so I'm hoping I can build up my fitness a bit in the next few months so hopefully I will be ready for the Paisley 10k in August.

The February crack

February wasn't as good a month as January as outside of parkruns I only managed 4 other runs. This is mainly down to not being able to work from home the whole month. May seem like a piddly excuse but when I commute to the office its 4 hours travelling a day so it takes it out of you. When I am able to work from home I find it easy to get out as litrally I get changed and out as soon as I clock off. It really does make a massive difference to my running. In saying that the times I did get out during the week were during lunchtimes which I really need to do more.

But anyway in terms of parkruns it's all good as I managed 4/4 parkruns this month which means in the first 2 months I have only missed one which is positive.

3rd February - The month started off really good down at Pollok parkrun.  I pushed the pace for starter and I did pay for it in the 2nd and 3rd miles. But I kept going all the way round and even got chatting to a guy from down south explaining the route to him. This one I finished in 30.41 which is my fastest parkrun since October I think.

10th February - After volunteering at junior parkrun the previous week, one of the guys Jack who runs a jog Scotland group called the Runbetweeners said I should come along to Ruchill parkrun the following week as they were taking their group there. I didn't need any persuading and I rocked up to join them.  I knew quite a few people since a lot of them volunteer down at Roukenglen too.  I had an ok run but still found it tough. Especially on the 2nd and 3rd laps where I took more walk breaks up the hill. But it was good having encouragement on the out and back section from other runners and also the volunteers.  33.07

17th February - Back at Pollok again as I continue to do my "Home" parkrun every second week. This one was a bit weird as the first mile I was really struggling and had to walk just after the first kilometre. But picked up a bit in the second mile. Then I saw Claire, again one of my volunteer buddies from Roukenglen and all of sudden I had a second, or should that be a first wind. We ran and chatted all the way to the finish and even managed a sprint at the end! It was great. 32.44

24th February - Today I went to Drumchapel. A course I do really like as its all trails (gravelly trails) and it is a small, friendly event. I knew how tough the course was and as always I set off easy. On the hills today though I realised I just had nothing in my legs and pretty much walked all of them. I don't know if its my weight or something but I do really need to work on this as it was slightly worrying. I was absolutley fine on the downs and flats and I wasn't out of breath or anything. Its just as if the muscles in my legs were just asleep for the hill sections. I know the only way to improve this is maybe losing some weight and keep doing hills though so will try and make some changes.   34.52.

The thing I have enjoyed most about parkruns this year though is that I seem to be talking to more and more folk before and after, even during the parkruns.  Before this year I would speak to people every now and then but this year I have been doing this more and more. Which is a major positive to finish this post on.