January parkruns

Happy new year!

To kick off the year it was parkrun double time.  I decided not to run 2 parkruns this year as I didn't think I was fit enough to do 2 back to back.  So instead I volunteered at Pollok and if I had enough time nip across to Tollcross and run there. So I was dressed ready to run and I pointed the car in the right direction to get to Tollcross. But I didnt know what time I would get away from Pollok so it was just wait and see.

Pollok was a bit quieter on new years day compared to Christmas day. I think the fact that Victoria and Strathclyde had early kick offs too helped. Where as on Christmas day these 2 were off.  Normally in my blog I go through I few people I either ran with or chatted with. But this was no normal day.  So many folk I knew and also quite a few who I met for the first time.  Being funnel manager for the day also meant I got to greet people as they just finished the run which was fun.  The last runner came in just over 40 minutes and the other funnel manager kindly took my marshal vest and I jogged to the car realising I should make it to Tollcross easy.

And I did with 15 minutes to spare.  Again Tollcross was full of people I knew. Some were doing the double and others who opted for a lie in and just did Tollcross. I say "Just" but its really a challenge even on its own!  There was over 400 people there today and I think it was a record for them.  I started a wee bit further back so took a bit of time to get going but I felt good all the way round and was picking up the pace just finishing in over 30 minutes.

The first Saturday of the year - the 4th - I woke up feeling rotten so just decided to leave parkrun today.

The next Saturday - the 11th - I was back on top of things again.  Although today was back to checking which parkruns were on as it was torrential rain.  I was wanting to go to Pollok rather than Queen's in this type of weather. Because in my mind I still cant bring myself to drive to Queen's as its just too close. But at the same time I'd rather not run to it then be hanging about in that weather before it starts.  Where as Pollok being a bit further away, I can drive too without feeling guilty and also swing by the shops on the way back and get food.

So when Pollok announced it was on I headed there.  The rain was coming down hard. But I found the worst of it was actually walking to the start.  It was a lot quieter than usual too so no issues finding my pace at the start.  There were a few big puddles which were unavoidable but fun to run through at the same time.  It was one of those days I thought I was running faster than I was but still 31 minutes isnt too bad this early on in the year.

The next Saturday was my birthday run - the 18th.  Again this was a dodgy weather day but this time it was unexpected.  I had it planned to go to Queen's today and meet up with Brian and a few others.  I woke up at 8.30 thinking I had till 9 to get ready.  Then I find out that half the parkruns, including Queen's are called off due to black ice. So it was off to trusty Tollcross who were running their 4 lap alternative course.  There is no doubting this is a tough course but I was just pleased it was on.  I made it round in 33 minutes but I would say I wasnt pushing it maybe as hard as I could have.

25th and the final parkrun of the month I headed to Linwood with my brother and his family.  Ken has been running well at the moment so I wasnt surprised when he took off at the start.  I was expecting about 30 minutes today but I was surprised how well I was feeling after the first lap, so I gradually increaesed the pace over the 2nd lap and found myself picking off a lot of people. Till the final straight where I felt good enough to sprint for home.  I was still surprised and happy to dip below 29 minutes - 28.55.

A lot of work to do if I want to get below a 30 minute average parkrun time this year but its still early days. I did 4/6 parkruns available so also a decent enough start.  I had planned to go to Queen's more this month and ended up not going there at all.  Hopefully get back there next month :-)

July parkruns

06/07 - First parkrun of the month was back at my home parkrun Pollok for my 200th run.  I had told a few people beforehand but I didnt really see this one as a big one with 250 being potentially 1 year to a year and a half away. I got to the start and to my surprise my parents were there to support today.  I didn't tell the run director it was my 200th but I had told someone who I thought was going to tell him but forgot so didn't get a shout out. No big deal.  The run itself was the best run I have had at Pollok since they changed the course dipping in, in just under 29 minutes. Another person I told it was my 200th was my mate Alan who I didn't realise was there until 200 metres before the end when he sprinted past me.  Afterwards I made the stupid move of going to the run director who was doing barcode scanning and telling him it was my 200th run. I said it wasnt his fault as he didnt know but I still should have probably kept quiet. But a good day nevertheless, I got a good time and glad the parents and my mate came down to support. I'll be sure to email in myself for my 250!

13/07 - I was off on my travels again and it felt like this one wasn't really about the parkrun itself but the journey to get there. I headed up to Aberdeen after work on the Friday and stayed in the city centre.  In the morning I got the bus out to Crathes castle which should have got me there for 9.05 to the entrance of the grounds then a 15 minute stroll to the start.  But about half way there the bus pulled over and the driver got out and it looked like the bus may have had a flat tyre.  It wasnt a flat tyre but a small pane of glass at the bottom of the door, had not shattered but it was cracked.  So he took a photo of it and sent it to the engineer who said to him the bus couldn't continue the journey and said to everyone to get off the bus.  At this point I was wondering what to do - should I just head back to Aberdeen as how long would it take to get another bus? It was every half an hour the bus so waiting for the next one would mean missing the parkrun.  I asked the driver how long it would be and he said he should be able to get to Crathes castle by 9.30.  I was still thinking I would miss the start and dont know the route. But I thought if I turn up late I could always volunteer at the finish and scope the place out.   The bus came and I arrived at the castle entrance at 9.26.  At this point I knew there was a chance of making it. I had scoped it out on google maps beforehand so knew the way to the start.  I ran pretty hard and reached the large grass section where the castle is to see the field assembled at the start with a car going right through the centre of them.  This bought me some time as I ran across the grass and it was litrally 3, 2, 1 Go. 

The run itself felt like an afterthought as I was already knackered.  Thankfully the first k was downhill. I had a chance to catch my breath a bit. Then after a k you turn around and go back up the path.  Then you hit the trails and go on quite a big loop. This bit was a wee bit lumpy but generally flat.  I quite enjoyed this bit.  Once you do the loop its all uphill to the finish. I have heard from people saying that its the toughest finish to a parkrun in Scotland whereby it is definitley up there but I think Camperdown is up there with it out of the parkruns in Scotland I have done.  I finished in just over 32 minutes which I was pretty pleased with considering it was a hilly course and the journey to get to the start!  A very nice parkrun though and well worth the trip.

20/07 - I wasn't quite sure where I was going to end up this morning but I eventually opted for Linwood because it is a nice and flat course.  I wasn't really feeling that up for it so decided not to go for it today and just take it easy. Well after the first mile I was walking and I just got slower and slower. I just wasnt feeling good at all. I made it eventually in 40 minutes which is easily my slowest time of the year.  The thing is it never really clicked I was ill at this point, I wasnt sure what was wrong.  I also have the challenge going of trying to average under 30 minutes for parkruns across the year and this has put a bit of a dent in that!

27/07 - On the Monday I went into work and had to go home at 10am as I was feeling unwell. I was off work for Tuesday, Wednesday tooo. I was back to working from home on the Thursday and then went into work on the Friday. I was meant to go up to Aberdeen to run Ellon parkrun but I was still in that zone on Friday where I wasnt sure if I was fit enough to go.  The only time I would find out was when I was actually doing it and for me I didn't feel like it was worth the trip to find out during the run that I wasnt 100%. So I opted for Pollok instead.  It was nice light showers and to be honest I was just pleased that I ran all the way round considering how was during the week and that Pollok is a tough course.  I ended up finishing in just over 30 minutes.

So an up and down month. In terms of the challenge to average under 30 minutes. I was doing pretty well and was under 30 minutes but this month my average has been pushed up to 30.06! So I have work to do to try and get it back down again. I am also doing the 11 for 11 challenge which is 11 different parkruns running then 11 volunteering stints. Thats what is required to get silver so I have done the volunteering now and just got a few more runs to do.

March parkruns

02/03 - Back at Pollok for the first time in 3 weeks. Did something a bit different today and started my watch when I crossed the start line rather than when they shout go and their timers started.  I wanted to see how long it took to cross the start line which was 30 seconds today.  As usual the first k was a bit slow as pace is very much dictated. But I got into my running after that and ended up just under 30 minutes watch time and 30.22 official parkrun time.  The official time was actually my second fastest time on the new route at Pollok.  I'm slowly getting used to it!

09/03 - Out for another adventure today as I was up to Dunfermline for their parkrun in Pittencrief park.  I stayed in Holiday Inn Express the night before near Dunfermline Queen Margaret station.  It was about 2 and half miles from the start so decided that was a bit too long a warm up so took the train from queen margaret to Dunfermline town and had a 0.7 mile jog warm up from the station to the start via the abbey to arrive with 10 minutes to spare to the start of the run.  At the first timers briefing the guy made it clear it was a hilly course and it was 3 laps so it was good to be mentally prepared in that respect.

At the start, I posistioned myself about half way down the pack. And got into my running straight away, absoultely no problems during in the entire run of getting stuck behind people or anything like that. The paths are nice and wide and there was 138 runners today.  There is one main hill you go up on each lap which I adjusted my pace for and made it up pretty comfortably each time.  To be honest I couldn't tell you how bad it was as I make a habit of looking at the ground when going up hills rather than looking up as I tend to find it mentally easier not seeing how far I have to go up it.  But to give you an idea of difficulty there were people around me that were walking up it on the first lap.  There are many undulations dotted around the loop but apart from the main loop the rest does feel quite flat and downhill.

I was delighted with my time as I dipped below 29 minutes with a 28.51.  Its my best time on a hilly course for quite sometime and as my Dad says considering I didn't know the course before hand its harder to know what pace to set out at so a good run.

16/03 - I wasn't sure what parkrun I was going to do today. The weather was dodgy so it was a case of waiting till 8.30am and seeing who was going to cancel and who was going to be on.  Drumchapel, Pollok, Ruchill and Linwood all cancelled but noone else had declared they were actually on so I gambled on the least likely to be off and headed for Tollcross. I thought it might be the alt course due to ice but it turned out the grass was actually slippier than the paths. So it was normal course. Although the run director in the briefing did say to take care as it was a bit slipply in places.

I took this on board and set off pretty conservatively.  The weather was pretty wild with sleety rain pouring for the majority.  But after the first lap I realised the underfoot conditions weren't really that bad and I could pick things up in the second lap.  I finished just over 30 minutes which I'll take on that course but I know if I was I bit more free flowing on the downhills on the first lap I would have been under 30.

23/03 - Today's adventure was back up to Aberdeen for Hazlehead parkrun. My hotel was about a mile and half away from the start but I decided just to walk rather than have a jog warm up to save myself for the actual run. It was a glorius day.  Its an out and back course up a wide trail path which runs along beside a golf course.  The first mile is a gradual uphill and I was a bit surprised when I looked at my watch to see I had done it in 10 minutes.  I know I wasn't going all out but I did think I was going a wee bit quicker than that. At the same time I was running well within myself but I did think it might be a slow one today.  The next mile which included the turn around I picked up the pace a bit and ran 8.50.  Then I really got into my stride when running down the hill to the finish and ended up finishing in 27 minutes and 11 seconds.  30 seconds quicker than my time up in Aberdeen the previous month and my fastest time in any parkrun since June 2017. My last mile was 8 minutes.  Delighted with it.

30/03 - Today was a last minute decision to do Linwood parkrun as I hadn't done it for a while and its one of my favourites. Met Finola from junior parkrun at the start and after half a mile we realised we were going the same pace so chatted for a bit. After the first mile I started to pull away. She could have gone a lot faster I think but she was saving herself for Tom Scott 10 miler the next day.  I felt pretty good all the way round and gradually increased the pace in the second and third miles. I ended up with a time of 26.41. 30 seconds quicker than the previous week. A great way to end what has been my best month of running in some time.

In my challenge to get my parkruns below 30 minutes on average this year. Overall I am now 29.49, thanks to some quick times this month.

July update - where things went slightly wrong

I have been doing pretty well getting to parkruns pretty much every week this year with the odd exception. But July in terms of running wasn't to be my month.

7th July. In the 2 weeks leading up to this run I had started a 10k plan doing 4 runs a week. This specific day I was to do 40 minutes. So I decided on a 10 minute warm up then do Linwood parkrun. During the warm up my legs were feeling the effects of during the week. But during the parkrun itself I felt good and was gradually increasing the pace on the way round finishing in just over 29 minutes.

On the Monday I was back out again for 25 minutes easy. I don't know exactly when it happened after this. But the next day I found it extremely sore to walk, nevermind run. My achilies were agony. I talked to people about it and they recommended icing it and it would go away. I did do that occasionally but probably not as much as I should have. 2 weeks later it was still sore so I went to the physio to get it checked out. She did an assesment and basically she said I need to start stretching! This is something i used to do but since I have been back running didnt really think I needed to because I was doing such short distances.

So the whole of this week I have been doing various stretches 3 times a day.  I'm finding that the pain has reduced considerably and its only really sore when I get up in the morning or get up from my desk at work. So she says I can start introducing running again which I'm happy about.  I think the Paisley 10k in August is too soon to build up to now but maybe a 10k in October would be achievable. I'll just take it one run at a time. The most important thing is to get back parkrunning again!  I haven't been neglecting parkrun though. Through volunteering and even pulling some double shifts some weekends.

Still running come what May

This overall has been very positive month for my parkruns. Probably my best month since this time last year. And the funny thing is my midweek runs have disappeared somewhat again but somehow this has made me faster.

5/5 - First up was Falkirk parkrun. 3 years since I was last here which is really far too long considering how much I like this parkrun. In terms of course it is my favourite. I started quite easy and as I started asscending the first hill, the trail narrows meaning you can get stuck behind people. I thought this was good at the time as it meant it held me back from going too fast too early. But I think in hindsight I should have really asked to go past and just go at my natural pace. The second hill which is the infamous "Heartbreak Hill" I found interesting. I got about 3/4 of the way up before having to walk the rest. But I looked around me and everyone was walking. This was quite unusual. I would love to be fit enough to do reps up this hill after parkrun. It would be a great session. Once at the top of the hill I really let go on the long downhill and it was very enjoyable. I sustained the pace around the loch and to the finish meaning I was just over 30 minutes. A course best. Afterwards I met up with friends Campbell and Mico and had a nice walk with their dog round Callendar park which was good.

12/05 - Next up was Tollcross. I met running buddies Ian before and Chris after. First time seeing them since one spent the winter in Thailand and the other in Australia so it was good to catch up. I've been struggling with the hills at Tollcross the last few times I have done it so I was pleased today to keep running most of the way round. It was only the very last hill which defeated me and had to have a few walk breaks which isn't too bad. Also I managed to sneak under 30 minutes, coming in at 29.59. Always good to get a sub 30, especially on a hilly course! First time I have gone sub 30 on a hilly course in a few years I think.

19/05 - Then I went to Linwood. Caught up with another few running buddies at the start, Stuart and Rob and his wife. Also John K was supporting on the way round, so gave him a congratulations on the way past as he had completed the 190 mile Northern Traverse race the previous week! Not bad. My run wasn't bad either. In fact I ran my fastest time since getting a course best at Linwood last June. I paced it really well and was just generally having a really good day. 27.15 is 2 minutes faster than I have run for any parkrun this year.

26/05 - Finally Greenock parkrun. I had been ill half the week and only been out the house twice really during the week. So I think the reduction in activity meant parkrun was going to be tough today. And it was. But I managed to grind it out and still get a sub 30. Coming in at 28.55. It is a very fast course Greenock along the promenade. Overall a good finish to the month.

I think the improvement has come from diet changes as its clearly not because Im running more. I'm eating more fruit, porridge for breakfast and cut down on crisps and sugary drinks. Hopefully I can keep this going although still buy the odd fizzy drink when I'm at home. But as they say, everythings fine in moderation ;-)

March Madness

I think that title pretty much sums up this month full of highs and lows.

March 3rd - No parkrun. This was during the period where the beast from the east hit and all parkruns in the Glasgow area were cancelled. In fact Troon was the only parkrun that was on in the central belt. I did think about it and was told that the roads to that way were ok to drive on. But it was getting on to the A77 plus I'm not really comfertable driving longer distances at the moment.

March 10th - Pollok parkrun - Today it really wasn't happening at all. I started run/walking from just after the first kilometre which is something I haven't done in a long time. I'm still not quite sure what went wrong. But the next day I did 2 miles and it was fine. Then I did a 5k on the Monday and did it in under 29 minutes. I did the parkrun that Saturday in over 36 minutes. A 7 minute difference in 2 days! Very weird.

March 17th - Linwood parkrun - I was hoping for a sub 30 today given the run I had on the Monday. But I ended up starting too fast and on the second lap had to walk parts. But I finished in 30.03 which I have to be pleased with given Pollok the week before.

March 24th - Pollok parkrun - Again I had to walk parts today but it was still progress as I was walking a lot later into the run. Finished in around 31 minutes, so pretty solid.

March 31st - Pollok parkrun - This was a very similar run to the one on the 10th in the way it was really bad. It was around 36 minutes again but I know why this time. The day before I was starting to stress out about some things going on and it meant while I was running I wasn't really in the right frame of mind and it was clearly affecting my performance. 

Looking forward to April for some more tourist parkruns and I really need to get out during the week and hopefully it will mean I will be able to de-stress a bit more and get back on top of things. Then try and get my parkruns back under sub 30 again!