Category Archives: Parkrun

Valentines 10K

Since having my bike fall on black ice I have been unable to do much running, so training for my half marathon has not gone as planned.

I have kept my legs turning with an occasional couple of miles and Parkrun but then I decided if I had any chance of running the valentines 10k and half marathon I needed to give my back a proper rest and hope my legs would just remember how to run.

I also booked in for some treatment with Jane at Free your Body Therapy.

The first test for my back came on the 18th of February when in perfect weather conditions, I met up with my Norwich running friends for the Valentines 10k, we decided to run together take it steady and have a chatty enjoyable run and that is just what we did.

I was happy with the results, my time was 1.05 and my back just ached slightly.

We then went and enjoyed a Delicious Sunday lunch at The Marlingford Bell where many other exciting adventures were discussed.

Apart from Parkrun, I have now had another 2 weeks rest and a few more treatments from Jane, tomorrow she is taping me up and I hope I will be able to get around the Cambridge Half Marathon…..  legs, back and weather allowing !!!

A busy few months

While Geoff has been away touring around South Korea and Japan, I have been filling my time doing the things I love….. running, biking and walking.

First It was the LDWA Daffodil Dawdle, Gina and I have walked the Daffodil Dawdle before from Kirtling, in unforgettable conditions which included a lot of Mud, Rain and Snow, last year we gave it a miss opting to do the Flowers of Suffolk later in the year instead where Jo and Jayne joined us too. We enjoyed that walk so much that we decided to risk the Daffodil Dawdle again.This year it was from Stradbroke and luckily we were blessed with a lovely sunny day and a beautiful route. Many people run or run/walk these events and we were inspired by these people and have decided that a challenge for next year will be to run/walk the 18 miles

Easter and a 4-day break for me, I usually hate Bank Holidays when Geoff is away but thanks to Parkrun and SWNC I had a fab Easter break, filled with running biking and fun.

My Next adventure was a 200km Audax, something I have wanted to do for a while, so when the opportunity came up to join a couple of friends I jumped at the chance. It was an awesome day, starting from Seething, riding on lovely country lanes and roads, the route took us out to the Maglia Rosso cafe near Bury St Edmunds then we headed to the coast via Framingham, Saxmundham and Southwold before returning back to Seething. The miles just seemed to fly by and I returned home eager to book another 200km Audax with Geoff.

Amazingly my next big event was running Parkrun number 100, not such a big achievement when many have run 200 but for me it was huge as I was the person that was never going to do Parkrun, why would I want to set my alarm clock on a Saturday I told everyone but it took just one Parkrun and I was hooked, now I cannot imagine a weekend without a Parkrun

 

Then to top it all off there was the 10k GEAR run, I have done this run many times but had to miss it last year due to injury, so it was nice to be back running a home event with many lovely friends and Ladybirds. This year it was being run by the Asda foundation and as a runner, I can say it was very well organised with a great medal, T-shirt and goodie bag. There was also the most amazing amount of support around the route, which provided a magic atmosphere.Due to not running for 10 days and doing 250 plus miles on my bike I didn’t expect to run a good time, but my legs had other ideas, a great time of 56.53 missing out on a P/B by 10 seconds !! After the run we all went to the pub, enjoying food, drink and of course lots of chatting and it really did feel like I just about knew everyone.

Now Geoff is home for the summer and I have lots of exciting things planned for him !!!!!!

The Big 50!!

No not my birthday,that was a few years ago!

February 14th was not only Valentines day but the day  I ran my 50th Parkrun.

50th parkrun

A huge achievement for me, as I was quite adamant that parkrun was something I never wanted to do,why would I ever want to set my alarm clock on a Saturday 🙂

Encouraged along by Geoff,  I finally  gave in and went along to see what all the fuss was about on 11th May 2013, I enjoyed the friendly atmosphere as much as I did the run but it was well over a month before I did another one.

Then I was hooked and I cannot imagine a weekend without a parkrun, when Geoff is away parkrun is what makes my weekends bearable! Its not really about the running its more about the friendly people and how they become like a family to you.

If we are visiting friends on a Saturday the first thing I do is look to see where the nearest parkrun is and I even got up early on Christmas day to go along to the Ferry Meadows Christmas day run and its been lovely to have Geoff encourage and support me.

50th parkrun flowersI was disappointed that Geoff was going to be away for my 50th run but I made cake for all my running friends and I knew we would have a fun time, the biggest surprise of all was getting beautiful flowers delivered to me at parkrun from Geoff, letting me know he was thinking about me.

I have done 36 parkrun’s at King Lynn, 10 at Milton, Cambridge, 1 at Colwick, 1 at Peterborough, 1 at Hanley, Staffs and 1 at Clumber Park, no matter where you go there is always a warm and welcoming atmosphere BUT nothing is quite as special as doing a home parkrun.

My current Personal Best time is 27.19 🙂

Another Year Over !!

After my disappointment of not being able to do the Peterborough half marathon in October due to an achilles injury, I hoped i would be fit enough to do the Ely News Years Eve 10km

Once I was able too, around the beginning of December,I started back at parkrun taking it nice and easy, my achilles still ached but I could manage the 5km.

Christmas Day I was up nice and early to go to Ferry Meadows Christmas day parkrun, over 300 other runners turned up too, a great way to start Christmas day and a really nice running route,lovely that Geoff came along to support and take photos too.

Christmas day park run

I decided not to run again then till New years Eve to give my achilles time to rest.

Then on a cold Icy  morning I met my friend Gina in Little Downham where Geoff surprised us both by turning up unexpected 🙂

Although Gina is a much faster runner than me she decided she wanted to run with me to make sure I was ok and much to my delight after not running that distance since September I managed it in just over an hour.

A fun way to end the year with a great friend for company too 🙂

Cold Icy Ely 10km 2014

That evening Geoff and I went out for a lovely dinner at d’Arry’s my surf and turf, steak and lobster was to die for and a perfect way to see the new year in 🙂

 

My Birthday Weekend

As my birthday fell on a weekend it was easy to decide what I wanted to do, Kings Lynn Parkrun and SWNC club ride, two things that have become very important to me.

My lovely friends Gina and Jayne were going to come over from Norwich and join me for parkrun and lunch and with Geoff having returned from his travels it was going to be a lovely day but even I never expected the surprise Geoff had in store for me.

Geoff gave me an unexpected parcel which when opened was a Belkin WeMo Switch, now as we are into gadgets I thought great something else to play with !!

After a few minutes Geoff said are you not going to open the box…..  I was thinking my friends will be here in half an hour maybe I should open it later…   but I opened it and almost died with shock when inside I found another box……

Which was a Garmin Edge 1000 !!!!!!!!

IMG_1695

When Gina and Jayne arrived at 8am I was in a dizzy excited mood to say the least but we managed to get ourselves and the cakes I had baked to parkrun on time. Where we enjoyed a lovely chatty run and much to my delight everyone enjoyed the carrot cake I had made.

IMG_0430

In the afternoon we enjoyed a lovely lunch at Marriotts Warehouse then I hobbled home as my achilles was very sore by this time 🙁

Gina and Jayne left around 5pm and I spent the evening playing with my Garmin and setting it up ready for Sunday’s club ride.

Earlier on in the week SWNC had asked me where I wanted to ride too, I knew straight away that I wanted to go to the Bedlingfeld Arms, a club ride I had always missed before.

We woke to a cold still morning so wrapped up well and set off at 8.30 I was so excited about trying my new Garmin out which had the route on ready to follow

We had a fantastic ride out to the Bedlingfeld arms in brilliant Autumn sunshine, the landlady laid on lovely tea/coffee and cake for us and my Garmin worked so well I was shouting out the directions at most junctions, when not too busy chatting !

10409229_1485646361694751_4283102126512586533_n

A great weekend shared with lovely people 🙂 and I am so lucky not to just have a Garmin but the Garmin 1000 which is totally amazing

Run up to Christmas..

As you can see from my header, we had a great, fun, Christmas parkrun.  What really made my day though was discovering an e-mail offering me a place in the Ely 10k on New Years eve 🙂

Geoff and I then went off to have a fabulous 3 nights at The Ship in Dunwich, a truly excellent place to stay if you enjoy the coast in winter.

We managed 2 great walks avoiding all rain,although plenty of the footpaths were flooded and foot bridges had been washed away in places !!

We arrived back in Cambridge today after stopping at the Emmerdale Farm shop, in Suffolk, where we managed to buy everything needed for our Christmas day feast, no queues no hassle no fuss !!

I then had time to pop into Advance Performance for a new pair of running shoes, where I am always impressed with the advice and knowledge they offer.

IMG_1129It was nice and quiet in the shop today so they had plenty time just for me…… it seems my lower back/hip ache is caused because I swing my hips when I run instead of lifting my knees !!

Apart from the fact that my shoes were totally knackered they had been a very good fit.

So after trying on a few shoes, including a lovely pair of ladies, purple Mizuno,  which just didn’t feel quite right I opted for yet another pair of men’s Saucony, in a boring blue !!

I was also advised to change my running shoes after 500 miles or a year depending on what comes first..

Now lets see if I can end the year with a P/B when I do my Ely 10km

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas   x x

Chrsitmas fancy dress parkrun

Before Geoff  goes off on his travels again I am so looking forward to spending some time with him over Christmas and the new Year.

We are booked to go and stay at The ship in Dunwich for a few days right before Christmas, its very exciting as I love being near the sea in winter time and have always wanted to stay here.

1456742_670670809639250_511206697_nAlthough it did mean I was going to miss the Christmas King’s Lynn Parkrun Fancy Dress .

King’s Lynn Parkrun is something I have become to love,its fun and full of lovely friendly people whose company I enjoy,which helps me cope with the weekends while Geoff is away travelling…

But Geoff has saved the Day by changing our booking so now we can go after Parkrun and stay till Christmas Eve…

Not that I am becoming Fanatical about parkrun !!

Clowning around at Parkrun

Last Saturday 14th September was Kings Lynn’s parkrun’s second birthday.

Parkrun Doing the parkrun is something new for me but it can become highly addictive as its so much fun and very sociable.

Many of the park runner’s have already clocked up 50 runs and received their 50 t-shirt which I think is fab 🙂

Last week to celebrate their birthday it was a fancy dress run and many people turned out in the pouring rain to have some fun and eat cake …

I never usually dress up but decided to join in the fun and ran dressed as a clown, complete with wig, which gave many people a smile on a dull and rainy day.

and of course I also took cake , triple chocolate brownies, which I think were enjoyed because I didn’t even have a crumb to take home 🙂

It even made it into the local paper the EDP but I thought the photo was disappointing, all those people turning up in Fancy dress and just a photo of runners  🙁