Hello readers.
It was the last of our Thursday evening sessions and I was taking the lead. Usually at the end of these sessions there are just a few left, the light going, earlier start and holidays keeping people away. I was planning on doing the magpie game, but there just wasn't enough of us to do it, so it was the pyramid game that I had in mind, but first of that all important warm up.
I decided to the two laps in a different sort of way again, where I get all the people in a row from the fastest to the slowest, then I pair the fastest runner with the slowest, until we meet in the middle where they are equally matched. Then I send the pairs in the opposite direction to round around the pitch, high five when then meet each other and then run back to the start, high five again, and then do that one more time. It seems a good way to warm up and hopefully all finish without waiting for too long for everyone to get back. Straight into our drills to make sure our muscles are fully warmed up and ready for the pyramid running!
I had set out a course while the runners were doing the warm up laps, five lines of 4 cones. I am sure my course is short than DiscoRich when he sets out his course. Mind you, with only 3 in each group it might be better, we will deffo be required to run before we get out breath back! With the faster runners stepping up first, each choosing a middle runner and a slower runner. Should be a close contest! I had to do the pyramid run to make up the numbers. I don't think the team I was in the last one to finish though, but after that it was a fast pace 'race' to bring in the cones. The faster runs had to run to the furthest cone collect it and bring it back, the middle one get the next and the slowest runner to pick up the second cone leaving he faster runner again to pick up the first cone. Ingenious eh? Saves me collecting them, plus a little bit of extra running for everyone!
Then our core work out, with some squats, lunges, planks, push-ups and star jumps. I introduced a new style of lunge that I saw on the computer, I can't remember the chap that was doing it, but he said that it is better for engaging the glues, if there is anyone that needs their glutes engaging it's me! It is also better for me, at least better than the whole right angle that you usually do. It's like a lunge forward and a reach down, keeping the back leg straighter, instead of the 90 degree angle. Of course I gave everyone the option of doing that one or this new, glute engaging, knee friendly one!
A quick drink and we were ready for our par lufs (I am still not quite sure how to spell that) but its the relays for anyone that don't know what that is, I am sure you are all long time avid readers and know that. With 5 teams we had approximately 12-13 minutes of running. I think I said to them all about 10, but I just can't add up, but as soon as everyone was running the would soon not worry about how much time is left......right? Of course I had to run to too, I didn't do my Garmin though, it was low on battery, I didn't want to over run our relays!
With some cool down stretches it was all over and done with for our 2019 Core and speed training sessions. A great time.
Thursday 29 August 2019
Wednesday 28 August 2019
An Evening Run Around
This mojo maintaining stuff is hard, this fitness maintaining stuff is hard! Why is it so easy to get fat and flabby, and so much tastier too! But I have to keep it going. I was supposed to get up early this morning and go for a run with Naggy, but the weather put us off, "Turn back over Old girl" said Naggy in a text "It's pouring out" I snuggled back under my duvet with a huge smile on my face! But only for an extra hour, I had plans this afternoon to go see my stepmum, lovely lunch at the Grovner Hotel in Victoria. Now that was delicious!
On my way back though Pat text me to see if I would go for a run with her, PastorPaul has broken his toe, so there's no running for him for a while! I thought "Why not, I was totally lazy this morning, I should go" So went I did! (Is that even grammar?") Pat suggest a run around the local parks, but I like the discipline that I feel Normans Park gives me. As I have made my way there I might as well make it worth while. We got all out gadgets ready, music, Jabra, Garmin, Pat had her MP3 going. I think I run better to a beat, I can concentrate on the music rather than that little voice in my head that says "I can't do it"
We have a quick warm up walk while Satellites connect and then 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Go! Jabra counts down and we start running. For some reason, Pat wanted to race ahead, I had asked her if she had done some warm up exercises already! She did a few she said! Well, I hadn't, apart from the warm quick walk, so we need to start off at a slower pace and then get up to pace. I have Jabra set up for 12:30 m/mi, at the moment I don't really want to change that. I have also got Garmin set up for run/walk 4 min/1 min. That bit is to help my knees! I must really find someone who can possible help with that matter. I need a doctor who runs! Can you imagine how many patients a doctor like that would have on his books!
So there we were, nice and steady, get the breathing sorted, get the pace sorted, just ease into a nice couple of miles, just perfect for an extra mid week run. The fact that I am out running is good, think positive! I ignored the first walking stop, ran straight through it, well, my knee hadn't given me jip so just keep going. Pat seemed good with the pace too, now that I slowed her down! What was she thinking, racing off ahead like that! Take it easy, build up, maintain, sprint if it's in there, or just take it easy till the finish! All sounds pretty good, I have to stop putting the walking bits in there! Or at least the un-scheduled walking parts. I actually missed the first walking minute and carried on through to the second running bit, I was feeling ok and my knee didn't tell me it didn't like it! Pat seemed fine with it too.
I was just saying to pat, this time last year if I had said that she would be asking me to go for a run with her she would have pee'd her pants laughing! I can remember when she turned up at the beginners in her parker jacket and casual trousers, expecting with every week for it to be the last week! And now he she is, running pants, the most colourful ones she could find, running shoes and music to run to! That's what PWR does for people! What a bloody brilliant club we have!
Anyway, back to our running, we were running up the long straight, and the first mile nearly done. We were running in the opposite direction that we would normally run if it was parkrun. Well, I am going to miss the 500th park run birthday at Bromley this Saturday, the Old Boy has managed to book us a short break! I so wanted to do it, but me and Pat did our own 'widdershins' run. It's good to mix it up a bit! We only did two loops of the park but it was enough for both of us. I particularly enjoyed the last run up the long straight of the second loop because I ran past my mental stop, the place where I said in my head, get there and then a quick walk, run to the end. But I managed to run all the way to our official finish of our evening. I must have looked a sight though, because I noticed that I had my tongue out, panting like a dog! A bit like this I guess!
A blimmin good run, I am glad I got out. I just got to stay positive, keep thinking positive thoughts and get my arse out there and do it!
Tuesday 27 August 2019
Club Run
Hello readers.
Getting back to normal, that's what they say isn't it? I guess it is, it just doesn't feel normal anymore, but then it will never be the old normal, it's going to be the new normal. I had run on Saturday, I did parkrun, the day after Kirsty's funeral. I think I needed to do it, I needed to know myself that I can still get up and do the things I normally do. Saturday morning was particularly hard for me. I just felt drained, even my body was physically hurting. I really didn't want to finish it, but Naggy wasn't having me not finish. She kept with me, kept talking to me, until that last 500 meters or so, I just cried and cried. It wasn't pretty, it was the first time I actually just sobbed and sobbed. It was why I didn't write up my blog for that Saturday, it would have been just full of snot and tears, you didn't need to read that, and I didn't want to write it! It also got a lot worse that Saturday, when I head about the death of someone else. I was not a good day.
So today I felt a little bit stronger, I am sure my fitness level has dropped ridiculously, I know I haven't been trying hard of late, I need to just try and push myself, try and get back to at least somewhere where I used to be. I wasn't leading this evening, Auriol was, me and Wendimoo were sweeping. I have to just move slowly back to where I was. Get some of those extra runs that I used to do, get my Psyche straight again. What I need to say to myself is 'I can do it'. moreover I got to believe it!
Sweeping for me at the moment is good, no pressure on me to look like I do this every day! I look like a total beginner, puffing and panting at the back as I make my way back to fitness again. I deffo got to believe that I can do it! That's the hardest bit for me at the moment, too much negative thoughts about 'I can't keep up, I can't run anymore, I am too slow' Negative, negative! It's not what I should be listening to! So doing a job at the back, I can do, that's positive.
I really enjoyed it today actually, we had some new people join us for the first time, one of them was a beginner from the course we had earlier this year. In fact there were a few newbies this week, some went into higher groups, Shalini brought her friend along, Paul, he went straight into group 10 I think! Yes, he had done some running! It's good to have new members, we really are a great group, people just love being a member!
Auriol took us on a 3 mile run, running through the 'posh' side of Petts Wood and the 'poor' side of Petts Wood, or the crinkly crinkly side and the jingly jangly side of Petts wood (crinkly meaning notes, jingly meaning coins!) She was taking it a bit easier as it was still very warm out, it will get even warmer as we run. Who needs to spend money on a sauna when you can just go out running with your buddies!
Auriol had planned some nice catch up points and walking sections (thankfully!) I really needed them, everyone else was doing really well. We did lose a couple of our gang of 13, as two of them decided to cut short their run. The rest of us carried on, down and up Shepperton and beyond! We came out on to Lakeswood Road, ran along their till we got Woodhurst Ave. Do you know what, I didn't even realise where I was or what road I was running on. I have had to look at my Garmin stats to check the route that we took. Just following blindly, not thinking about which road to take, it felt pretty good. We crossed over the high street and then went over the troll bridge, practising out nice and light running technique, Scooby Doo running! We ran all along Towncourt and then turned right and right again to run to the rec to finish. It was a really nice run, I enjoyed it, so that's a positive!
So as promised, the fourth time I am putting up this site, if you want to donate to a really fantastic cause please do this, the work that St Christophers does for the young adults is just amazing, I think you can ring fence your donation for St Christophers Young Adults.
https://www.stchristophers.org.uk/donate
Also for this fantastic new charity set up by the Cystic Fibrosis Supporters, doing some great work too, trying to set up charity shops to help fund raise money on a regular basis for research!
https://cysticfibrosissupporters.org/
Chose your charity! Or chose both, it's for people like Kirsty, lets try a beat this disease!
My geeky stats.
<iframe src='https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/embed/3996758469' title='Bromley Running' width='465' height='500' frameborder='0'></iframe>
Getting back to normal, that's what they say isn't it? I guess it is, it just doesn't feel normal anymore, but then it will never be the old normal, it's going to be the new normal. I had run on Saturday, I did parkrun, the day after Kirsty's funeral. I think I needed to do it, I needed to know myself that I can still get up and do the things I normally do. Saturday morning was particularly hard for me. I just felt drained, even my body was physically hurting. I really didn't want to finish it, but Naggy wasn't having me not finish. She kept with me, kept talking to me, until that last 500 meters or so, I just cried and cried. It wasn't pretty, it was the first time I actually just sobbed and sobbed. It was why I didn't write up my blog for that Saturday, it would have been just full of snot and tears, you didn't need to read that, and I didn't want to write it! It also got a lot worse that Saturday, when I head about the death of someone else. I was not a good day.
So today I felt a little bit stronger, I am sure my fitness level has dropped ridiculously, I know I haven't been trying hard of late, I need to just try and push myself, try and get back to at least somewhere where I used to be. I wasn't leading this evening, Auriol was, me and Wendimoo were sweeping. I have to just move slowly back to where I was. Get some of those extra runs that I used to do, get my Psyche straight again. What I need to say to myself is 'I can do it'. moreover I got to believe it!
Sweeping for me at the moment is good, no pressure on me to look like I do this every day! I look like a total beginner, puffing and panting at the back as I make my way back to fitness again. I deffo got to believe that I can do it! That's the hardest bit for me at the moment, too much negative thoughts about 'I can't keep up, I can't run anymore, I am too slow' Negative, negative! It's not what I should be listening to! So doing a job at the back, I can do, that's positive.
I really enjoyed it today actually, we had some new people join us for the first time, one of them was a beginner from the course we had earlier this year. In fact there were a few newbies this week, some went into higher groups, Shalini brought her friend along, Paul, he went straight into group 10 I think! Yes, he had done some running! It's good to have new members, we really are a great group, people just love being a member!
Auriol took us on a 3 mile run, running through the 'posh' side of Petts Wood and the 'poor' side of Petts Wood, or the crinkly crinkly side and the jingly jangly side of Petts wood (crinkly meaning notes, jingly meaning coins!) She was taking it a bit easier as it was still very warm out, it will get even warmer as we run. Who needs to spend money on a sauna when you can just go out running with your buddies!
Auriol had planned some nice catch up points and walking sections (thankfully!) I really needed them, everyone else was doing really well. We did lose a couple of our gang of 13, as two of them decided to cut short their run. The rest of us carried on, down and up Shepperton and beyond! We came out on to Lakeswood Road, ran along their till we got Woodhurst Ave. Do you know what, I didn't even realise where I was or what road I was running on. I have had to look at my Garmin stats to check the route that we took. Just following blindly, not thinking about which road to take, it felt pretty good. We crossed over the high street and then went over the troll bridge, practising out nice and light running technique, Scooby Doo running! We ran all along Towncourt and then turned right and right again to run to the rec to finish. It was a really nice run, I enjoyed it, so that's a positive!
So as promised, the fourth time I am putting up this site, if you want to donate to a really fantastic cause please do this, the work that St Christophers does for the young adults is just amazing, I think you can ring fence your donation for St Christophers Young Adults.
https://www.stchristophers.org.uk/donate
Also for this fantastic new charity set up by the Cystic Fibrosis Supporters, doing some great work too, trying to set up charity shops to help fund raise money on a regular basis for research!
https://cysticfibrosissupporters.org/
Chose your charity! Or chose both, it's for people like Kirsty, lets try a beat this disease!
My geeky stats.
<iframe src='https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/embed/3996758469' title='Bromley Running' width='465' height='500' frameborder='0'></iframe>
Thursday 22 August 2019
Core and Speed Training in the rec.
Hello all
Training time, we meet up a bit earlier too. The sun is going down way to quickly. I can't believe our summer is on the way out! Nigel and Auriol we doing the session today. I arrived just at around 7:15 or maybe just a couple of minutes extra, we are starting earlier so as to make good use of the available light.
The first thing of course was warm up jog, twice running around to high five our running partner and back to the start. It works really well, because then we all should, theoretically finish together, ish. It worked out pretty well, which means that no one was standing around too long getting colder again! Then it was the drills, warm up the muscles, ready for the running sections.
The running section Auriol split us into two groups, we made two lines, faster runners and slower runners. The weird thing is the teams seem to split into the boys team and the girls team! A battle of the sexes commences. Nigel chose the running game that Illustrious leader usually does. We were to run around the cricket pitch, the slower runners were going to be hugging the rope that's protecting the square pitch, and the faster were going around the cones about 5 or 6 foot from the rope! So they had further to run! First runners from both teams set off to run around the pitch, as soon as they got to the third corner the called out and then the second person started on their loop until all runners had a turn. The girls came in first! Nigel had us do it again, guess what? The boys came in first! So there had to be a decider, because Mary had pulled a muscle, she bowed out of the next circuit. We need have one of us run twice! We kind of nominated Liz, she was by far our fastest runner. We put her in the front, so by the time she has to run again she would have a rest. Guess what?!,..........GIRL POWER! We won! Well done Liz, an amazing sprint!
After a quick drink we did our core training, trying to engage our core, as Nigel said. engage my core, I'm not even friends with my core, let alone trying to get engaged to it! I am sure if I keep trying I will, one day!
Then it was our par luffs, or relays! We got into our teams of three, I was with Auriol and Mary. Mary had to take it easy though, she had pulled a muscle on the first running activity. We may only get a couple of laps between us, but at least it's something. It was on this activity that I remembered to switch on my Garmin! All that speedy bit of running around the rec, not recorded, not even the warm up lap, not recorded, the core training didn't get recorded either, but that's ok, it usually lowers the average speed anyway, because I always forget to do the whole switch on while running, switch off while not! The thing is, on my second leg of relays my ankle decided that it was going to hurt! No idea why, I didn't fall down 'Donnas Holes' which is apparently the name they have given to the hole that I fell down earlier in the year doing the beginners course! It just hurt, like a sprained ankle, but I hadn't done anything, I just ran! I had to limp along to Mary to hand the baton over. Mary ran slowly and carefully back to Auriol. I thought just a little rest, twiddle my ankle a bit, try and 'free' the pain and it will be fine. It's happened before and usually goes after a couple of minutes! But it didn't. I decided to limp back to the pavilion, and I do believe Auriol was running this way and that way, for some reason! Well, at least I had something recorded on my Garmin and Strava albeit not much!
So, all done, we will get one more session in before the light beats us to the finish.
Tomorrow is going to be a sad day. It's Kirstys funeral tomorrow, the last thing that we can do for her. I am struggling for words. It will be hard day, but later on we will remember the fun times, the places we been. The celebs she met over the years! The thing that will always be in those memories too is her struggle, Cystic Fibrosis is an awful disease, slowly killing the lungs. St Christophers (young adults) Hospice have been wonderful people, it's all funded by donations! Please give generasly or you can support a new charity, the Cystic Fibrosis Supporters.
https://www.stchristophers.org.uk/donate
https://cysticfibrosissupporters.org/
Training time, we meet up a bit earlier too. The sun is going down way to quickly. I can't believe our summer is on the way out! Nigel and Auriol we doing the session today. I arrived just at around 7:15 or maybe just a couple of minutes extra, we are starting earlier so as to make good use of the available light.
The first thing of course was warm up jog, twice running around to high five our running partner and back to the start. It works really well, because then we all should, theoretically finish together, ish. It worked out pretty well, which means that no one was standing around too long getting colder again! Then it was the drills, warm up the muscles, ready for the running sections.
The running section Auriol split us into two groups, we made two lines, faster runners and slower runners. The weird thing is the teams seem to split into the boys team and the girls team! A battle of the sexes commences. Nigel chose the running game that Illustrious leader usually does. We were to run around the cricket pitch, the slower runners were going to be hugging the rope that's protecting the square pitch, and the faster were going around the cones about 5 or 6 foot from the rope! So they had further to run! First runners from both teams set off to run around the pitch, as soon as they got to the third corner the called out and then the second person started on their loop until all runners had a turn. The girls came in first! Nigel had us do it again, guess what? The boys came in first! So there had to be a decider, because Mary had pulled a muscle, she bowed out of the next circuit. We need have one of us run twice! We kind of nominated Liz, she was by far our fastest runner. We put her in the front, so by the time she has to run again she would have a rest. Guess what?!,..........GIRL POWER! We won! Well done Liz, an amazing sprint!
After a quick drink we did our core training, trying to engage our core, as Nigel said. engage my core, I'm not even friends with my core, let alone trying to get engaged to it! I am sure if I keep trying I will, one day!
Then it was our par luffs, or relays! We got into our teams of three, I was with Auriol and Mary. Mary had to take it easy though, she had pulled a muscle on the first running activity. We may only get a couple of laps between us, but at least it's something. It was on this activity that I remembered to switch on my Garmin! All that speedy bit of running around the rec, not recorded, not even the warm up lap, not recorded, the core training didn't get recorded either, but that's ok, it usually lowers the average speed anyway, because I always forget to do the whole switch on while running, switch off while not! The thing is, on my second leg of relays my ankle decided that it was going to hurt! No idea why, I didn't fall down 'Donnas Holes' which is apparently the name they have given to the hole that I fell down earlier in the year doing the beginners course! It just hurt, like a sprained ankle, but I hadn't done anything, I just ran! I had to limp along to Mary to hand the baton over. Mary ran slowly and carefully back to Auriol. I thought just a little rest, twiddle my ankle a bit, try and 'free' the pain and it will be fine. It's happened before and usually goes after a couple of minutes! But it didn't. I decided to limp back to the pavilion, and I do believe Auriol was running this way and that way, for some reason! Well, at least I had something recorded on my Garmin and Strava albeit not much!
So, all done, we will get one more session in before the light beats us to the finish.
Tomorrow is going to be a sad day. It's Kirstys funeral tomorrow, the last thing that we can do for her. I am struggling for words. It will be hard day, but later on we will remember the fun times, the places we been. The celebs she met over the years! The thing that will always be in those memories too is her struggle, Cystic Fibrosis is an awful disease, slowly killing the lungs. St Christophers (young adults) Hospice have been wonderful people, it's all funded by donations! Please give generasly or you can support a new charity, the Cystic Fibrosis Supporters.
https://www.stchristophers.org.uk/donate
https://cysticfibrosissupporters.org/
Tuesday 20 August 2019
Club Run
Hello readers.
Tuesday again, seems like time is just running faster and faster....unlike me! This week I have been mainly......lazy. I did go running on Saturday, but nothing since. Even though I can! I can only put it down to lazyitus. I am not going to beat myself up though. Time does need to slow down a bit though!
I was leading today, poor CarolWithAnE is still in recovery, she will be back, she is doing everything that she can to make that happen. But injuries need to heal at their own pace, not what we want them too! Nicola was in the introducers spot this evening, and she suggested that we all let everyone know our names as we step up to give our routes and speed, I'm telling ya, it felt a bit like therapy time, you know, the things you see on t.v. when you stand up and let everyone know 'your addiction'. I stood up when it was my turn "Hello I am Old Girl, I am....a runner". Goodness knows what the new people thought! At least they can see that we are a happy, friendly bunch of runners!
I had 8 runners in my group with a couple of newbies too. I love it when newbies come along, this is what group 1 is all about. A nice introduction to club running, nice and steady, nothing to difficult, no hills.....ok I lied about that bit! My route this evening started off with a hill! We all gathered together, as soon as group 2 left we were hot on their hills out of the gate. The nights are drawing in quiet quickly now, it just don't seem we have had much time for running in the woods! My route, however, had just a little bit of running in the woods, just the bit that runs up towards Oprington road. Then out of the woods and straight on to the pavements.
I led them to Marling Park Road, we were going to do the loop around the estate, with some more hills. Going down hill is brilliant, especially when we pass that lovely house with the chandelier, Still, it's good for building stamina! When we got to Kevington road I suggested they all run to the roundabout at their own pace. We were going to take a little breather and then I was going to introduce a little bit of hill training, well, they were all warmed up.......me?.......nah...... I didn't do the hill training, my knees are still playing up, not all the time now, but still it's there. I suggested if they were up for it, up the hill, twice and down again. Do you know what?....they all did it, all of them. Proud group leader here!
Of course we all had to run up it one more time, because at the top is where we need to be. I told them that we had finished with the hills now, apart from the last down hill, on Petts Wood Road. Once we got back on to Orpington road we turned left and ran towards the big round about ready for that lovely down hill section. It feels good those down hills. Once we all at Crossways I said they could all run at their own pace back to the rec for some stretching.
Well, there's my blog. Im not quite back to how I was, maybe we never do get back to the way things were. After all, if I went back to the way things were after my mum died I wouldn't be running now! I would have just carried on, eating and drinking to excess, no exercises at all. Who knows what the new norm is going to be now. Kirsty had a zest for life, she wanted so much to lead a normal life as she could, I hope in some way I helped her to do that, plus a few extraordinary moments too. Things changed when I started my running, things changed when I made best buddies with my running friends. Things are different again. My running is helping me to stay focused, I am so pleased I have my running club, the friends I have there is just amazing! On Friday we have Kirsty's funeral, a chance to say a final goodbye to Kirsty. That's going to be tough.
The charities that J.J. and Kirsty always supported are
https://www.stchristophers.org.uk/donate
and
https://cysticfibrosissupporters.org/
If you want to donate it's quite easy, these guys can make some lovely changes for others. Thanks in advance.
My geeky stats, (minus the hill training of course!)
Tuesday again, seems like time is just running faster and faster....unlike me! This week I have been mainly......lazy. I did go running on Saturday, but nothing since. Even though I can! I can only put it down to lazyitus. I am not going to beat myself up though. Time does need to slow down a bit though!
I was leading today, poor CarolWithAnE is still in recovery, she will be back, she is doing everything that she can to make that happen. But injuries need to heal at their own pace, not what we want them too! Nicola was in the introducers spot this evening, and she suggested that we all let everyone know our names as we step up to give our routes and speed, I'm telling ya, it felt a bit like therapy time, you know, the things you see on t.v. when you stand up and let everyone know 'your addiction'. I stood up when it was my turn "Hello I am Old Girl, I am....a runner". Goodness knows what the new people thought! At least they can see that we are a happy, friendly bunch of runners!
I had 8 runners in my group with a couple of newbies too. I love it when newbies come along, this is what group 1 is all about. A nice introduction to club running, nice and steady, nothing to difficult, no hills.....ok I lied about that bit! My route this evening started off with a hill! We all gathered together, as soon as group 2 left we were hot on their hills out of the gate. The nights are drawing in quiet quickly now, it just don't seem we have had much time for running in the woods! My route, however, had just a little bit of running in the woods, just the bit that runs up towards Oprington road. Then out of the woods and straight on to the pavements.
I led them to Marling Park Road, we were going to do the loop around the estate, with some more hills. Going down hill is brilliant, especially when we pass that lovely house with the chandelier, Still, it's good for building stamina! When we got to Kevington road I suggested they all run to the roundabout at their own pace. We were going to take a little breather and then I was going to introduce a little bit of hill training, well, they were all warmed up.......me?.......nah...... I didn't do the hill training, my knees are still playing up, not all the time now, but still it's there. I suggested if they were up for it, up the hill, twice and down again. Do you know what?....they all did it, all of them. Proud group leader here!
Of course we all had to run up it one more time, because at the top is where we need to be. I told them that we had finished with the hills now, apart from the last down hill, on Petts Wood Road. Once we got back on to Orpington road we turned left and ran towards the big round about ready for that lovely down hill section. It feels good those down hills. Once we all at Crossways I said they could all run at their own pace back to the rec for some stretching.
Well, there's my blog. Im not quite back to how I was, maybe we never do get back to the way things were. After all, if I went back to the way things were after my mum died I wouldn't be running now! I would have just carried on, eating and drinking to excess, no exercises at all. Who knows what the new norm is going to be now. Kirsty had a zest for life, she wanted so much to lead a normal life as she could, I hope in some way I helped her to do that, plus a few extraordinary moments too. Things changed when I started my running, things changed when I made best buddies with my running friends. Things are different again. My running is helping me to stay focused, I am so pleased I have my running club, the friends I have there is just amazing! On Friday we have Kirsty's funeral, a chance to say a final goodbye to Kirsty. That's going to be tough.
The charities that J.J. and Kirsty always supported are
https://www.stchristophers.org.uk/donate
and
https://cysticfibrosissupporters.org/
If you want to donate it's quite easy, these guys can make some lovely changes for others. Thanks in advance.
My geeky stats, (minus the hill training of course!)
Saturday 17 August 2019
Satur.........parkrun Day!
Hello all
I am still feeling a bit emotional, I should imagine I will be for some time, as well as Kirsty's family too. It's a hard thing to comprehend. Getting out of bed when there's really not a lot to do is tough! I thought I would go for a run yesterday, I noticed in the morning it was kind of ok, but then by the time I eventually got out of bed it was pouring! A right miserable day, so I ended up not going, of course. Even after telling others 'It's ok, rain is fine, we're not made of sugar!"
Anyway back to today, Saturday, ooops did it again, parkrun day, my alarm woke me up and then I waited for the buzzing on whatsapp about who is going and who isn't! It didn't happen. As I got ready I texted Naggy, she didn't answer me, I text Shalini, but she wasn't coming, clinging sick child was holding her hostage in the house. I text Tracy to see if she wanted a lift.....she was in Eastbourne! Darn it, if I had known all of that in advance I probably would have stayed in bed! I forced myself to get out of of the door and drive to Normans Park. I was a bit late, I drove into the car park, I thought to myself "If I can't find a parking spot I am not going to make it, I might as well go home!" It seemed someone was looking out for me this morning, there were a couple of places that I could easily get parked in.
Because I was a little late I had to run/walk up the long straight to the start line, trying not to get too puffed out. There were plenty of others still arriving, some were doing warm up drills as they made their way to top of the park. I just wanted to get there and then see how I do. I wasn't sure who was going to be there, but then I spotted Auriol, I made my way to her and then saw SnappyH, she had only just got there too!
I had all my technology at the ready, Jabra chatting away in my ears, with my music, my Garmin at the ready satellites found, now lets see if I am ready! RD Mattsmat got us under way! Me and Auriol ran together, SnappyH had her own agenda, busy healing from her injury, wanting to do a non stop 5k! She is getting better and better! She has really done well! I had asked Auriol who else was at parkrun today, she said that she thought RefMichael was there and maybe CarolWithAnE, but she hadn't seen them. The countdown, 3, 2, 1 go! We started running, SnappyH took the lead from the off, me and Auriol just plodded along. I had my music in one ear, with Jabra chatting away every so often. Mainly though me and Auriol chatted all the way around. We saw RefMichael, he called out to us, and there were a few other PWR's that called to us too.
The music helped me keep my pace, while Jabra sometimes told me to slow down! I may have to adjust my pace slightly, maybe I am getting a little bit fitter. I told Auriol that I had received my last payslip yesterday, along with my P45! I just looked at it for a few minutes, just staring at the words on the paper. When I put the paper down I realised I was crying. I no longer work for Kirsty, I no longer need to go and help get her ready in the morning, send of tons of emails to celebrities. It was a horrible feeling. If only there were a few more months! But I am sure even then it wouldn't be enough.
Auriol spoke about her son, Carl, he had leukaemia, he passed away a while back. It's not fair, losing your children, it's just not right! I can't even think about what it's like but I did love Kirsty, she was like an adopted daughter, with all that goes with it! Arguments, strops, fun, laughter, outings, sitting in watching films or playing video games. That's what I did for Kirsty, it didn't feel like work, it just felt like spending all day with a mate! So there was me and Auriol, running, crying and talking about these two young people! We didn't plan to talk about these to young adults, sometimes it just comes out, and it was so needed, we wasn't planning a pb today either, we were just planning on finishing, just to get to the end and that's it. Another parkrun done, just because we can, praise the Lord that we can too!
Oh, just a quick footnote, as you probably know, I am not a morning person, I have been known to run in odd socks, even ran in odd shoes once! This morning however, it was my jog pants, I had them on back to front! It reminds me of that scene in MIB2 where Will Smith's character says "I pulled my pants on!" A bit like how I felt when I noticed this morning when I got to the park ready to start running! At least I didn't have them inside out as well! I only noticed it when I couldn't find my pocket to put my key!
As promised, two charities that J.J. is supporting in Kirsty's memory, you don't have to, but hey, just a quid or two, you probably wouldn't miss it! I bet if you look down the side of you sofa, you will find a couple of quid, or.....in the fluff collector of you tumble dryer.....housewives credit I call it! Stick in in the pot.
https://www.stchristophers.org.uk/donate I am pretty sure if you say it's for young adults at St Christophers it will go into the pot for the young people who need St Chris.
https://cysticfibrosissupporters.org/
<iframe src='https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/embed/3959277784' title='Bromley parkrun' width='465' height='500' frameborder='0'></iframe>
I am still feeling a bit emotional, I should imagine I will be for some time, as well as Kirsty's family too. It's a hard thing to comprehend. Getting out of bed when there's really not a lot to do is tough! I thought I would go for a run yesterday, I noticed in the morning it was kind of ok, but then by the time I eventually got out of bed it was pouring! A right miserable day, so I ended up not going, of course. Even after telling others 'It's ok, rain is fine, we're not made of sugar!"
Anyway back to today, Saturday, ooops did it again, parkrun day, my alarm woke me up and then I waited for the buzzing on whatsapp about who is going and who isn't! It didn't happen. As I got ready I texted Naggy, she didn't answer me, I text Shalini, but she wasn't coming, clinging sick child was holding her hostage in the house. I text Tracy to see if she wanted a lift.....she was in Eastbourne! Darn it, if I had known all of that in advance I probably would have stayed in bed! I forced myself to get out of of the door and drive to Normans Park. I was a bit late, I drove into the car park, I thought to myself "If I can't find a parking spot I am not going to make it, I might as well go home!" It seemed someone was looking out for me this morning, there were a couple of places that I could easily get parked in.
Because I was a little late I had to run/walk up the long straight to the start line, trying not to get too puffed out. There were plenty of others still arriving, some were doing warm up drills as they made their way to top of the park. I just wanted to get there and then see how I do. I wasn't sure who was going to be there, but then I spotted Auriol, I made my way to her and then saw SnappyH, she had only just got there too!
I had all my technology at the ready, Jabra chatting away in my ears, with my music, my Garmin at the ready satellites found, now lets see if I am ready! RD Mattsmat got us under way! Me and Auriol ran together, SnappyH had her own agenda, busy healing from her injury, wanting to do a non stop 5k! She is getting better and better! She has really done well! I had asked Auriol who else was at parkrun today, she said that she thought RefMichael was there and maybe CarolWithAnE, but she hadn't seen them. The countdown, 3, 2, 1 go! We started running, SnappyH took the lead from the off, me and Auriol just plodded along. I had my music in one ear, with Jabra chatting away every so often. Mainly though me and Auriol chatted all the way around. We saw RefMichael, he called out to us, and there were a few other PWR's that called to us too.
The music helped me keep my pace, while Jabra sometimes told me to slow down! I may have to adjust my pace slightly, maybe I am getting a little bit fitter. I told Auriol that I had received my last payslip yesterday, along with my P45! I just looked at it for a few minutes, just staring at the words on the paper. When I put the paper down I realised I was crying. I no longer work for Kirsty, I no longer need to go and help get her ready in the morning, send of tons of emails to celebrities. It was a horrible feeling. If only there were a few more months! But I am sure even then it wouldn't be enough.
Auriol spoke about her son, Carl, he had leukaemia, he passed away a while back. It's not fair, losing your children, it's just not right! I can't even think about what it's like but I did love Kirsty, she was like an adopted daughter, with all that goes with it! Arguments, strops, fun, laughter, outings, sitting in watching films or playing video games. That's what I did for Kirsty, it didn't feel like work, it just felt like spending all day with a mate! So there was me and Auriol, running, crying and talking about these two young people! We didn't plan to talk about these to young adults, sometimes it just comes out, and it was so needed, we wasn't planning a pb today either, we were just planning on finishing, just to get to the end and that's it. Another parkrun done, just because we can, praise the Lord that we can too!
Oh, just a quick footnote, as you probably know, I am not a morning person, I have been known to run in odd socks, even ran in odd shoes once! This morning however, it was my jog pants, I had them on back to front! It reminds me of that scene in MIB2 where Will Smith's character says "I pulled my pants on!" A bit like how I felt when I noticed this morning when I got to the park ready to start running! At least I didn't have them inside out as well! I only noticed it when I couldn't find my pocket to put my key!
As promised, two charities that J.J. is supporting in Kirsty's memory, you don't have to, but hey, just a quid or two, you probably wouldn't miss it! I bet if you look down the side of you sofa, you will find a couple of quid, or.....in the fluff collector of you tumble dryer.....housewives credit I call it! Stick in in the pot.
https://www.stchristophers.org.uk/donate I am pretty sure if you say it's for young adults at St Christophers it will go into the pot for the young people who need St Chris.
https://cysticfibrosissupporters.org/
<iframe src='https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/embed/3959277784' title='Bromley parkrun' width='465' height='500' frameborder='0'></iframe>
Tuesday 13 August 2019
Club Run
Hello readers.
Some blogs just come out, the words just flow, (spelling and grammar obviously just stay well back into the grey matter) and yet other blogs I just can't find the words. Nothing comes, so I just write a pretty boring piece, just like a note for a diary entry.
This blog, is the first blog I have written even though I have been running last Thursday, and yesterday with Wendimoo. Both of those runs I did, I needed to do. Thursdays run was the last official core training session in the rec, yesterdays run and talk was with Wendimoo. A run/walk that we both needed. You see, we both cared for Kirsty, I had the Monday to Friday shift, Wendimoo had the Sunday shift. I cared for Kirsty for 4 years, it was an absolute pleasure and privilege to do so. She used to find it funny that I went running, but I am sure she was secretly happy about both her carers went running as well as her mum! Kirsty passed away, last week, on Tuesday 6th. Although we knew this time would come there was always that 'Just a few more months'. There were still more celebrities on her list that we had to get. But that wasn't too be. Kirsty passed away peacefully with her family and friends around her. Such a dreadful disease Cystic Fibrosis.
Every time I ran and I get to that point of struggling to breathe, get that huge bit of air into my lungs, to fill them up, I thought of Kirsty. She once described how it felt lie to be her in an article she wrote for her local circular, 'It's a bit like trying to breathe through a straw all the time. Kirstys lung capacity just got worse and worse. I saw the slow decline of this lovely young lady, it was extremely stressful but the most rewarding work that I have ever done!
The two runs that I have done so far, I just didn't think about, the Thursday even rec training was just me letting off steam. There was no parkrun for me last Saturday, I was away, up to my friends for just an overnighter. It was good to just chill for a day. On Monday, Wendimoo and I went for a nice slow run/walk and talk through the woods.....in the pouring rain! Then popped in to see J.J. who is Kirsty's mum, to give her hugs and support.
Petts Wood Runners brought us three together, through the love of running, PWR was instrumental in bringing us lot together as friends where we can ask for help and support from each other. I also believe that God had the plan already written out before any of us decided that were were going to be runners! Believe me, if you had asked me this time 12 years ago that I would be a member of a running club, a leader in said running club, have some amazing friends from a running club let alone find gainful employment because of all of that, I wouldn't have believed it! I wouldn't change a thing!
Todays club meet just goes to show what a great club we are. There were big hugs from my friends there, bringing about some wet eyes, but I managed not to cry. There are going to be tears, lots of them, me and Kirsty had an intense 4 years together, but I must keep on running, I need to be even more determined to run at every opportunity. Kirsty would have loved to just keep on going, bloody disease had other ideas. Back to basics, run for running sake, run just because I can, run because I am bloody lucky that I can run!
I ran in group 1 again, just because I need to build up my fitness again, get my head straight, keep my running mojo happy by not pushing too hard just yet. I ran in a group of 7, Auriol was leading and had a lovely route planned, a bit of road, a bit of park and finish on the road. There were two newbies with us too, I hope they find PWR as friendly and supportive as ........well as everyone who has every joined PWR so far.
So not so about my running, but just letting you know what's been happening.
I will find the link for the two charities that J.J. has set up in Kirsty's memory and I will add them to my next four blogs, if you want to contribute. Rest in peace now Kirsty, breathe easy my lovely friend and run pain free!
Some blogs just come out, the words just flow, (spelling and grammar obviously just stay well back into the grey matter) and yet other blogs I just can't find the words. Nothing comes, so I just write a pretty boring piece, just like a note for a diary entry.
This blog, is the first blog I have written even though I have been running last Thursday, and yesterday with Wendimoo. Both of those runs I did, I needed to do. Thursdays run was the last official core training session in the rec, yesterdays run and talk was with Wendimoo. A run/walk that we both needed. You see, we both cared for Kirsty, I had the Monday to Friday shift, Wendimoo had the Sunday shift. I cared for Kirsty for 4 years, it was an absolute pleasure and privilege to do so. She used to find it funny that I went running, but I am sure she was secretly happy about both her carers went running as well as her mum! Kirsty passed away, last week, on Tuesday 6th. Although we knew this time would come there was always that 'Just a few more months'. There were still more celebrities on her list that we had to get. But that wasn't too be. Kirsty passed away peacefully with her family and friends around her. Such a dreadful disease Cystic Fibrosis.
Every time I ran and I get to that point of struggling to breathe, get that huge bit of air into my lungs, to fill them up, I thought of Kirsty. She once described how it felt lie to be her in an article she wrote for her local circular, 'It's a bit like trying to breathe through a straw all the time. Kirstys lung capacity just got worse and worse. I saw the slow decline of this lovely young lady, it was extremely stressful but the most rewarding work that I have ever done!
The two runs that I have done so far, I just didn't think about, the Thursday even rec training was just me letting off steam. There was no parkrun for me last Saturday, I was away, up to my friends for just an overnighter. It was good to just chill for a day. On Monday, Wendimoo and I went for a nice slow run/walk and talk through the woods.....in the pouring rain! Then popped in to see J.J. who is Kirsty's mum, to give her hugs and support.
Petts Wood Runners brought us three together, through the love of running, PWR was instrumental in bringing us lot together as friends where we can ask for help and support from each other. I also believe that God had the plan already written out before any of us decided that were were going to be runners! Believe me, if you had asked me this time 12 years ago that I would be a member of a running club, a leader in said running club, have some amazing friends from a running club let alone find gainful employment because of all of that, I wouldn't have believed it! I wouldn't change a thing!
Todays club meet just goes to show what a great club we are. There were big hugs from my friends there, bringing about some wet eyes, but I managed not to cry. There are going to be tears, lots of them, me and Kirsty had an intense 4 years together, but I must keep on running, I need to be even more determined to run at every opportunity. Kirsty would have loved to just keep on going, bloody disease had other ideas. Back to basics, run for running sake, run just because I can, run because I am bloody lucky that I can run!
I ran in group 1 again, just because I need to build up my fitness again, get my head straight, keep my running mojo happy by not pushing too hard just yet. I ran in a group of 7, Auriol was leading and had a lovely route planned, a bit of road, a bit of park and finish on the road. There were two newbies with us too, I hope they find PWR as friendly and supportive as ........well as everyone who has every joined PWR so far.
So not so about my running, but just letting you know what's been happening.
I will find the link for the two charities that J.J. has set up in Kirsty's memory and I will add them to my next four blogs, if you want to contribute. Rest in peace now Kirsty, breathe easy my lovely friend and run pain free!
 |
| Kirsty and her mum J.J. |
Thursday 1 August 2019
Thursday Training - Guess Who Was Leader!
Hello readers
Thursday training sessions in the rec are continuing on through the summer, but we are coming to the time where there will be less people, less leaders so we kind of stop the official meets and then just turn up and all muddle through. Mind you, talking about muddling through, I made just a little booboo this evening, I thought I was leading next week, it turns out I was actually leading this week! Ooops! So I quickly tried to conjure up a plan for this weeks speed and training session......alas I couldn't so I decided to re-use my old plans, and as there were a couple of little PWR's (well, it's school holidays now!) I thought that they would like it! I stood up tall, spoke to them all and tried to look like I had things well planned, and I was totally in control and ready for this! I think I got away with it!
My plan was, two lap run warm up, drills, magpie game, then find Jabra work out for core, end with par luffs and stretches! For the life of me, I couldn't remember how long we should do each discipline, I usually have it planned on my phone, but I deleted my last one because I was going to work on a new one on my next lead, which of course I thought was next week!
Warm up laps done, drills done and then on to the magpie game. I asked for four team leaders, then they stood in front of the 24 other runners to start choosing their teams, I made sure that each of the team leaders knew where the faster runners were so they all chose from the fast runners as well as the slower runners! Not only that, but its a great way to introduce ourselves to each other, as I suggested that when they got chosen they just say who they were! I like to be friendly, this core session is a great way to meet our fellow PWR's and to be running along side each other in teams!
They game was set up, I was in Cliffs team, with 7 in each team it was perfect. It's always a very competitive game this one, with all sorts for strategies going in there to try and build up their pile of cones! The idea of the magpie game is to have four teams, all the same distance apart from their neighbour and the big pile of cones in the middle. The idea is to grab and to keep as many cones as possible, winners are the ones with the most. To get cones, you run to the middle of the pile grab a cone and then run back put it in your next. Once all cones disappeared from the middle then you can start 'stealing' from your neighbours, just one cone at a time, or from your opposite neighbour 2 cones at a time! I did that for 6 minutes. (I think I should have done that game for longer)
Time up with the magpie game (Cliffs team won by the way!) we had a drink and then I got them all ready for some core training which I used a set from my Jabra App! All good fun! I found I had plenty of time, too much time for par luffs (I think) my maths not very good, so I quickly come up with a shorter field for Pyramid running. Another speedy running session. But once that was started the minutes seem to be disappearing, I won't have enough time for par luffs at this rate. I was going to have to keep them 'after class' doing the stretches!
Once the pyramid running had finished I quickly arranged everyone into Tuesday groups, then into threes. We just had about enough time for a quick blast around the green for our relay running! Stretches done and we finished everything around 8:38.....ish! Just a little late, but not bad for thinking on my feet!
Note to self, always check on rotas and emails to see who is leading!
I didn't start my Garmin, mainly because I was keeping an eye of everything and the time!
A great session though, I enjoyed it anyway!
Thursday training sessions in the rec are continuing on through the summer, but we are coming to the time where there will be less people, less leaders so we kind of stop the official meets and then just turn up and all muddle through. Mind you, talking about muddling through, I made just a little booboo this evening, I thought I was leading next week, it turns out I was actually leading this week! Ooops! So I quickly tried to conjure up a plan for this weeks speed and training session......alas I couldn't so I decided to re-use my old plans, and as there were a couple of little PWR's (well, it's school holidays now!) I thought that they would like it! I stood up tall, spoke to them all and tried to look like I had things well planned, and I was totally in control and ready for this! I think I got away with it!
My plan was, two lap run warm up, drills, magpie game, then find Jabra work out for core, end with par luffs and stretches! For the life of me, I couldn't remember how long we should do each discipline, I usually have it planned on my phone, but I deleted my last one because I was going to work on a new one on my next lead, which of course I thought was next week!
Warm up laps done, drills done and then on to the magpie game. I asked for four team leaders, then they stood in front of the 24 other runners to start choosing their teams, I made sure that each of the team leaders knew where the faster runners were so they all chose from the fast runners as well as the slower runners! Not only that, but its a great way to introduce ourselves to each other, as I suggested that when they got chosen they just say who they were! I like to be friendly, this core session is a great way to meet our fellow PWR's and to be running along side each other in teams!
They game was set up, I was in Cliffs team, with 7 in each team it was perfect. It's always a very competitive game this one, with all sorts for strategies going in there to try and build up their pile of cones! The idea of the magpie game is to have four teams, all the same distance apart from their neighbour and the big pile of cones in the middle. The idea is to grab and to keep as many cones as possible, winners are the ones with the most. To get cones, you run to the middle of the pile grab a cone and then run back put it in your next. Once all cones disappeared from the middle then you can start 'stealing' from your neighbours, just one cone at a time, or from your opposite neighbour 2 cones at a time! I did that for 6 minutes. (I think I should have done that game for longer)
Time up with the magpie game (Cliffs team won by the way!) we had a drink and then I got them all ready for some core training which I used a set from my Jabra App! All good fun! I found I had plenty of time, too much time for par luffs (I think) my maths not very good, so I quickly come up with a shorter field for Pyramid running. Another speedy running session. But once that was started the minutes seem to be disappearing, I won't have enough time for par luffs at this rate. I was going to have to keep them 'after class' doing the stretches!
Once the pyramid running had finished I quickly arranged everyone into Tuesday groups, then into threes. We just had about enough time for a quick blast around the green for our relay running! Stretches done and we finished everything around 8:38.....ish! Just a little late, but not bad for thinking on my feet!
Note to self, always check on rotas and emails to see who is leading!
I didn't start my Garmin, mainly because I was keeping an eye of everything and the time!
A great session though, I enjoyed it anyway!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)