Hello Blog lovers
Yesterday was parkrun day, of course I was there, why wouldn't I be. So I had a busy day on Friday, with a very busy Friday night celebrating Auntie Eve's birthday! The gathering for Evies birthday should have started at 3 but me and Kirsty got there at 4 pm, at the pub that is. Of course I only had coke for the first three hours, just in case Kirsty wanted to be driven home by me early. But from about 7:30 the party started for me! It was a good party! Come Saturday morning I really wasn't feeling it! "Self inflicted headaches does not warrant staying in bed" is what I told myself, so I duly got up and got ready for parkrun.
I collected Tracy and Ade, Naggyneighbour was making her own way there as she had to do something to her car. All my other pals were there, J.J., LittleJ, Carole and Michale, K, Auriol and PinkladyJo. My run was a 'just get around without 'chucking chunks' run, but again I was just going to not try and keep up with anyone nor was I going to wait for anyone,
We all took off and found our own pace, spreading out through the field, Naggy Carole and Michael were all in front while the others were behind me, how long that long that will last I didn't know! I heard Ade catch up to me and we started running together, to be honest, he did keep me running longer that I would have done if I was by myself but then he fell behind. I thought about waiting for him, instead I just kept to my plan and just kept running along. I did eventually have a walk and Ade caught up with me again, he seemed to have found his running mojo, or maybe his mojo found him, he started to take the lead and just got further away from me. I knew it wouldn't have been too long before he started to get in front of me, just 3 parkruns and he has found his feet.
So there I was by myself again, I was going slower for the second lap. It was quite warm yesterday morning, but I made sure that I drank some water before I left the house! There was so much encouragement from all of my friends and running club buddies I almost felt like a celebrity! "Go on Old Girl, keep going" And then there was Michael, "Go on Old Girl, get them legs up" I've taught him well, the student has become the master! But evey time someone called out to me I smiled, and then I tried that little bit harder to keep going.
Then I heard, "Hello Old Girl" it was J.J. and LittleJ and Auriol, that had caught me up! I ran the rest of the way with them, cheered on by Helen, she told me that she had decided to be sensible and not finish parkrun today, she had a little niggle and thought it best to sit this one out and just cheer instead! She chose a perfect place to cheer from too, at the Hook Farm end of the park, well away from all the finishers, but still with three quarters of the park to run around, exactly the spot that you really need cheering on!
So the three of us all came in together, of course I had to do that little sprint to the finish, I think I probably took off a bit too soon, because that sprint seemed to go on for ever! I head Naggy, Carole and Michael cheering me on, and I just stayed focused on that orange funnel! There, I did it, hangover and all!
But that wasn't the only thing I did on Saturday! Just check out my cycling blog! Ride London(ish)
Geeky stats
Sunday, 30 July 2017
Thursday, 27 July 2017
In, Out, Left, Right? Which Way Zippy?
Hello blog lovers.
Just the one exercise to write about today. I was leaving Kirsty early, so I wanted to make sure I spent longer with her in the morning. I was feeling a bit down, and didn't know how to pick myself up. It's good that I have have Kirsty to take care off, as we do have a giggle together. I had planned on taking my bike to the rec today, on the way collect Tracy as well, obviously I wasn't going to give her a 'backie', she was going to be riding her bike, but the weather was against us again! I am not sure, but Tracy just didn't seem convincing when she said "Oh what at shame, I was just so looking forward to cycling there"
Anyway, we got there in time for the two lap warm up jog around the rec, I did the first one and the second one I did in the opposite direction to everyone else, as I wanted to finish at the same time as everyone else, which means that I would be doing just a tad less than two laps.
ZippySherry was in the lead seat today, with speedy1 and speedy2, her two girls! My goodness they are speedy too. The littlest one, doing the warm up lap, was half way around the rec and I hadn't even completed a quarter of a lap! No sense of pacing!
After the warm ups it was the drills, just the usual, skipping, sidesteps, drum majors, sidestepping and butt kicks. Then it was on to the fun and games. A bit of calf stretching I think we were practising as it involved an awful lot of jumping. I think I had got hold of the rules of the game. ZippySherry had us all holding hands for this! Most peculiar, there we were, all holding hands in a circle, Zippy does have a way of bringing out the child in all of us. So the game was, when she called out 'In!' we had to jump into the circle shouting out 'in' as well, when she called 'out' we had to jump out again calling 'out' as we jumped, and left and right of course. Sounds easy, don't it. Well that was, then she changed the rules. We had to listen to what she said, 'Out', but we had to jump 'in' while calling 'Out' and when we jumped left we had to jump right but call out left! So not only was we working our calv'es we were also working out our grey matter! Well, maybe not for me, because I always get my left and right wrong, so therefore in theory I was doing things right! Right? It was a fun game though, and then there was an even more complicated version, involving tagging someone, it was all good fun I think, my brain hurts!
After that it was time for bacon! I know, that's exactly what I was thinking 'yummy, bacon!' But the bacon in question was a baton! We were paired up with people of the same speed, more or less, then placed opposite each other. The bacon (baton) was placed in middle of the 'gaming area'. Two lines of runners, team A and team B, then we were given numbers, 1 to 5. When ZippySherry called out "1" both team A and B numbers 1's ran for the bacon and had to get back to their spot without getting tagged by the opposing number 1. Confusing, well, we all did eventually get it! At first, when Zippy Sherry called out mine and Tracy's number (she was my opposite by the way) I tried the 'war scream' approach to the 'bacon'. I did get the bacon and I started back to my starting position, but I got tagged, so the point when to the 'B' team. The next time my number was called out I tried a different approach, I let her get to the bacon first, and then tagged her before she got back! Another fun game, and one that we have not done before.
As we were in teams already, we had a relay racing, running from the patio to the cricket thingy! That was good fun too. I really tried to run really well, not too fast, I've seen too many of my pals pull up with injuries! But just enough to get the heart pumping and the legs moving faster!
So, core training section. It was two reps of Star Jumps, Lunges, planks and Squats, all thirty seconds long. Zippy was kind to us with only the one discipline on the wet grass, and if we were doing that right it will only be our arms that get wet!
Back to some more running, after all we are a running club, and so ZS put us into two teams, different teams this time, the fast runners and the faster runners! We in the fast team had the shorter route around the cricket thingy, hugging the rope as tight as possible, while the faster runners were on the outside about 2 meters further from the rope. We had to run against the other team, one at a time, around the square, as soon as we got to the third corner we had to raise our hand to send our next member running. First team back after doing 3 laps each was the winner! The faster runners just beat us, but it was pretty close!
Just a nice little cool down lap of the rec and stretches finished off a fun, brain hurting, calf stretching, speed encouraging session!
Just the one exercise to write about today. I was leaving Kirsty early, so I wanted to make sure I spent longer with her in the morning. I was feeling a bit down, and didn't know how to pick myself up. It's good that I have have Kirsty to take care off, as we do have a giggle together. I had planned on taking my bike to the rec today, on the way collect Tracy as well, obviously I wasn't going to give her a 'backie', she was going to be riding her bike, but the weather was against us again! I am not sure, but Tracy just didn't seem convincing when she said "Oh what at shame, I was just so looking forward to cycling there"
Anyway, we got there in time for the two lap warm up jog around the rec, I did the first one and the second one I did in the opposite direction to everyone else, as I wanted to finish at the same time as everyone else, which means that I would be doing just a tad less than two laps.
ZippySherry was in the lead seat today, with speedy1 and speedy2, her two girls! My goodness they are speedy too. The littlest one, doing the warm up lap, was half way around the rec and I hadn't even completed a quarter of a lap! No sense of pacing!
After the warm ups it was the drills, just the usual, skipping, sidesteps, drum majors, sidestepping and butt kicks. Then it was on to the fun and games. A bit of calf stretching I think we were practising as it involved an awful lot of jumping. I think I had got hold of the rules of the game. ZippySherry had us all holding hands for this! Most peculiar, there we were, all holding hands in a circle, Zippy does have a way of bringing out the child in all of us. So the game was, when she called out 'In!' we had to jump into the circle shouting out 'in' as well, when she called 'out' we had to jump out again calling 'out' as we jumped, and left and right of course. Sounds easy, don't it. Well that was, then she changed the rules. We had to listen to what she said, 'Out', but we had to jump 'in' while calling 'Out' and when we jumped left we had to jump right but call out left! So not only was we working our calv'es we were also working out our grey matter! Well, maybe not for me, because I always get my left and right wrong, so therefore in theory I was doing things right! Right? It was a fun game though, and then there was an even more complicated version, involving tagging someone, it was all good fun I think, my brain hurts!
After that it was time for bacon! I know, that's exactly what I was thinking 'yummy, bacon!' But the bacon in question was a baton! We were paired up with people of the same speed, more or less, then placed opposite each other. The bacon (baton) was placed in middle of the 'gaming area'. Two lines of runners, team A and team B, then we were given numbers, 1 to 5. When ZippySherry called out "1" both team A and B numbers 1's ran for the bacon and had to get back to their spot without getting tagged by the opposing number 1. Confusing, well, we all did eventually get it! At first, when Zippy Sherry called out mine and Tracy's number (she was my opposite by the way) I tried the 'war scream' approach to the 'bacon'. I did get the bacon and I started back to my starting position, but I got tagged, so the point when to the 'B' team. The next time my number was called out I tried a different approach, I let her get to the bacon first, and then tagged her before she got back! Another fun game, and one that we have not done before.
As we were in teams already, we had a relay racing, running from the patio to the cricket thingy! That was good fun too. I really tried to run really well, not too fast, I've seen too many of my pals pull up with injuries! But just enough to get the heart pumping and the legs moving faster!
So, core training section. It was two reps of Star Jumps, Lunges, planks and Squats, all thirty seconds long. Zippy was kind to us with only the one discipline on the wet grass, and if we were doing that right it will only be our arms that get wet!
Back to some more running, after all we are a running club, and so ZS put us into two teams, different teams this time, the fast runners and the faster runners! We in the fast team had the shorter route around the cricket thingy, hugging the rope as tight as possible, while the faster runners were on the outside about 2 meters further from the rope. We had to run against the other team, one at a time, around the square, as soon as we got to the third corner we had to raise our hand to send our next member running. First team back after doing 3 laps each was the winner! The faster runners just beat us, but it was pretty close!
Just a nice little cool down lap of the rec and stretches finished off a fun, brain hurting, calf stretching, speed encouraging session!
Tuesday, 25 July 2017
Club Run - Back to Normal
Hello blog lovers.
After almost a month a 7:30 starts due to mob matches, awards evenings etc, we are back to our normal start time of 8:00 pm. I was also looking forward to going through the woods too. I can't believe that we have lost a couple of weeks of not going through our woods due to rain, but today we just had to do it. The daylight hours are already going down, it seems totally wrong to me that we are already losing daylight hours when the kids have only just started their summer holidays! I am just going to have to make the most of it.
I wasn't sure how many people were going to turn up today, as I just mentioned it is the school holidays, people go away. So after I had told them about my route and all the other leaders had told them about their route we made our way to our post. There were 18 of us! A great number, we have been down on our numbers lately, but I am sure the weather has been a huge factor in that. J.J. was back, LittleJ was back, in fact the whole gang was here. Carole and Michael have decided to go up to the next group. Well, Michael is a leader in group 2 and he can run in group 3, but he is supporting Carole in group 2 today.
I wanted to do a bigger route with the group 1's, go from one side of the woods right over to Goss Hill side of the woods. I knew that it was going to be a challenge, but I know that we can do it, if we all just give a little extra. I know we can! We ran in through Dog Poo ally and then just stopped just at the map. "Ok all!" I said "Make sure you all memorise the map in case we get lost" Just a little bit of humour for the new guy! Yup, we had a newbie running with us. He found us on the 'tinternet, and came along for the first time this evening. He is a good runner, I think maybe he will be group 2 or three. But I am sure he will suss out exactly where he will be comfortable running. That's what I love about our club, we have so many groups to accommodate runners from 13:00+ mi/m runners to to the 7 mi/m runners. In fact we have decided that we need a new group too. A group 1.5 because group 1 has started to become a group of 2 halves! We just need a little step from group 1 to group 2 to help them on their way up to speedom!
So the first hill is the more gentle of todays hills, it is the longest of course, but as its such a nice gentle incline I am sure everyone will do fine, it will hardly be noticed! We ran up there and then we waited for the sweepers to come along. i noticed that the light was fading real quick. I really can't believe that that our days are getting shorter. I don't want to even think about that!
Once we were all together we ran along the side of the woods, pass the woodmans place and then along the top of the woods. Slowing down at each crosspaths so that we don't lose anyone on the way. We were making good time, I was thinking that maybe we could all make it along Goss hill before running back to the railway lines. We ran along the top of the woods, pass the school, and then on to Botany Bay Lane. I had sent the faster runners along the path first while I waited for the rest of our group to catch up.
When we all were at Botany Bay Lane I had decided to give Goss hill a miss, I thought that maybe it will be just too dark by the time we have to go through the last bit of the woods. But J.J. and LittleJ said that it was fine! I should split the group into two, I take the faster ones down Goss hill, J.j. and LittleJ take the rest and we can meet at the little bridge. So that's what we did! Everyone had the best of both worlds then.
We met up again at the bridge. We just had the last bit of the woods to do. We only had about another half mile to do, so I kept the same two groups, faster ones and the slower ones to finish off and then to meet back at the rec for a head count, and hopefully I will have a count of 18 still!
Well we all got back to the rec, and we had a count up, the first wave there were 12 and then there was the other 6 making all 18 of us back safe and sound!
A great run! I totally enjoyed it. I think everyone else did too! Here's our geeky stats, oh and I forgot to turn it off when we got to the rec, we had done our warm down stretches before I had realised! But I do know that the faster half of the group had done 3.45 miles!
After almost a month a 7:30 starts due to mob matches, awards evenings etc, we are back to our normal start time of 8:00 pm. I was also looking forward to going through the woods too. I can't believe that we have lost a couple of weeks of not going through our woods due to rain, but today we just had to do it. The daylight hours are already going down, it seems totally wrong to me that we are already losing daylight hours when the kids have only just started their summer holidays! I am just going to have to make the most of it.
I wasn't sure how many people were going to turn up today, as I just mentioned it is the school holidays, people go away. So after I had told them about my route and all the other leaders had told them about their route we made our way to our post. There were 18 of us! A great number, we have been down on our numbers lately, but I am sure the weather has been a huge factor in that. J.J. was back, LittleJ was back, in fact the whole gang was here. Carole and Michael have decided to go up to the next group. Well, Michael is a leader in group 2 and he can run in group 3, but he is supporting Carole in group 2 today.
I wanted to do a bigger route with the group 1's, go from one side of the woods right over to Goss Hill side of the woods. I knew that it was going to be a challenge, but I know that we can do it, if we all just give a little extra. I know we can! We ran in through Dog Poo ally and then just stopped just at the map. "Ok all!" I said "Make sure you all memorise the map in case we get lost" Just a little bit of humour for the new guy! Yup, we had a newbie running with us. He found us on the 'tinternet, and came along for the first time this evening. He is a good runner, I think maybe he will be group 2 or three. But I am sure he will suss out exactly where he will be comfortable running. That's what I love about our club, we have so many groups to accommodate runners from 13:00+ mi/m runners to to the 7 mi/m runners. In fact we have decided that we need a new group too. A group 1.5 because group 1 has started to become a group of 2 halves! We just need a little step from group 1 to group 2 to help them on their way up to speedom!
So the first hill is the more gentle of todays hills, it is the longest of course, but as its such a nice gentle incline I am sure everyone will do fine, it will hardly be noticed! We ran up there and then we waited for the sweepers to come along. i noticed that the light was fading real quick. I really can't believe that that our days are getting shorter. I don't want to even think about that!
Once we were all together we ran along the side of the woods, pass the woodmans place and then along the top of the woods. Slowing down at each crosspaths so that we don't lose anyone on the way. We were making good time, I was thinking that maybe we could all make it along Goss hill before running back to the railway lines. We ran along the top of the woods, pass the school, and then on to Botany Bay Lane. I had sent the faster runners along the path first while I waited for the rest of our group to catch up.
When we all were at Botany Bay Lane I had decided to give Goss hill a miss, I thought that maybe it will be just too dark by the time we have to go through the last bit of the woods. But J.J. and LittleJ said that it was fine! I should split the group into two, I take the faster ones down Goss hill, J.j. and LittleJ take the rest and we can meet at the little bridge. So that's what we did! Everyone had the best of both worlds then.
We met up again at the bridge. We just had the last bit of the woods to do. We only had about another half mile to do, so I kept the same two groups, faster ones and the slower ones to finish off and then to meet back at the rec for a head count, and hopefully I will have a count of 18 still!
Well we all got back to the rec, and we had a count up, the first wave there were 12 and then there was the other 6 making all 18 of us back safe and sound!
A great run! I totally enjoyed it. I think everyone else did too! Here's our geeky stats, oh and I forgot to turn it off when we got to the rec, we had done our warm down stretches before I had realised! But I do know that the faster half of the group had done 3.45 miles!
Monday, 24 July 2017
Late News!
Hello blog lovers.
I have been a bit late posting my last couple of blogs. So here they are! I hope I can remember what I was doing, and how I felt!
I had text Tracy to see if she was coming along but she was away for a couple of days! I had forgotten. No one to pick up, it really was so easy to sit down, But still I got ready, and went out, not to the car but to the shed. To help me warm up I got my bike out, I was going to ride there! Feck knows how I had time to do that and to get to the rec for the beginning of the first two laps of the rec, but I did. There were not as many people as there usually is, but then summer is here (honest, it is, the schools are off and everything!) so holidays have take a few of our usual Thursday rec'ers. After locking my bike up I managed to do a lap and a half with the rest of them and then it was straight into the drills.
Then next exercise was really a team effort. Illustrious Leader had put us into two teams. The fast runners, and then the really fast runners! I was in the fast runners!.......What?.......What?...... Anyway, the two teams were handed a ball, a foot ball. We were going to be running around the cricket square thingy all in a line, with the slowest runner at the front (me in our case) and then while we were running we had to pass the ball back to each member, then pass it forward again and then back again and the pass forward again, all before the other team got back to the start.
We had a team talk while the faster runners had their team talk, then Illustrious leader blew her whistle and we were off. Our team started to pass the ball back immediately, the other team, who by the way were on the outside lane of the cricket thingy so had further to run, kept hold of the ball! I couldn't quite figure out what their game plan was! But it soon became clear when we both got back to the starting position and they quickly sent their ball back and then forward and then back and then forward again! Well, their plan didn't work, because we still won. We had to do that again, this time the faster team had tried another plan, but guess what, we still beat them! That concludes the 'Ball part of our session!.
After that it was a pyramid speed racing. Again two teams were chosen, by Illustrious leader. A mixture of fast runners and really fast runners into two teams. I.L. had laid out two rows of four cones in a row. Each member of the team had to run to the first one, run back and the next runner had to run to the first cone until all runners had done it. Then it was to the second, to the third, fourth and then back to the third, second and first. It's what we have done before, but to help with our running posture I.L had bought along bean bags, which we were to place on our heads and get to the first cone only, as quick as we can before passing the bean bag to our team mates! That was fun! And it really did make you think about our posture! And so that concludes the Bean part of our session!
After that we had our core exercises, some star jumps, lunges, push-ups, bicycles and squats. That was my Thursday evening. I didn't manage to get out on Thursday morning, so I really tried hard to push myself on the Thursday evening. I am glad I went. My mood picked up immensely after that, and I was really glad that I went to the rec and not just vegged in front of the telly.
I have been a bit late posting my last couple of blogs. So here they are! I hope I can remember what I was doing, and how I felt!
Ball and Beans
So the first is about Thursday evening. We had Illustrious Leader being our tough but fair leader in the speed and core training session. I was a tad late, I very nearly just collapsed on my chair and took root that night. I was a long day! But the Old Boy said, "Go on, go and run!" I knew I just had to get out and do it! It was just too easy to sit down and watch mind numbing telly.I had text Tracy to see if she was coming along but she was away for a couple of days! I had forgotten. No one to pick up, it really was so easy to sit down, But still I got ready, and went out, not to the car but to the shed. To help me warm up I got my bike out, I was going to ride there! Feck knows how I had time to do that and to get to the rec for the beginning of the first two laps of the rec, but I did. There were not as many people as there usually is, but then summer is here (honest, it is, the schools are off and everything!) so holidays have take a few of our usual Thursday rec'ers. After locking my bike up I managed to do a lap and a half with the rest of them and then it was straight into the drills.
Then next exercise was really a team effort. Illustrious Leader had put us into two teams. The fast runners, and then the really fast runners! I was in the fast runners!.......What?.......What?...... Anyway, the two teams were handed a ball, a foot ball. We were going to be running around the cricket square thingy all in a line, with the slowest runner at the front (me in our case) and then while we were running we had to pass the ball back to each member, then pass it forward again and then back again and the pass forward again, all before the other team got back to the start.
We had a team talk while the faster runners had their team talk, then Illustrious leader blew her whistle and we were off. Our team started to pass the ball back immediately, the other team, who by the way were on the outside lane of the cricket thingy so had further to run, kept hold of the ball! I couldn't quite figure out what their game plan was! But it soon became clear when we both got back to the starting position and they quickly sent their ball back and then forward and then back and then forward again! Well, their plan didn't work, because we still won. We had to do that again, this time the faster team had tried another plan, but guess what, we still beat them! That concludes the 'Ball part of our session!.
After that it was a pyramid speed racing. Again two teams were chosen, by Illustrious leader. A mixture of fast runners and really fast runners into two teams. I.L. had laid out two rows of four cones in a row. Each member of the team had to run to the first one, run back and the next runner had to run to the first cone until all runners had done it. Then it was to the second, to the third, fourth and then back to the third, second and first. It's what we have done before, but to help with our running posture I.L had bought along bean bags, which we were to place on our heads and get to the first cone only, as quick as we can before passing the bean bag to our team mates! That was fun! And it really did make you think about our posture! And so that concludes the Bean part of our session!
After that we had our core exercises, some star jumps, lunges, push-ups, bicycles and squats. That was my Thursday evening. I didn't manage to get out on Thursday morning, so I really tried hard to push myself on the Thursday evening. I am glad I went. My mood picked up immensely after that, and I was really glad that I went to the rec and not just vegged in front of the telly.
parkrun!
As usual I was out on Friday night! Just the usual 3 pints of lager, but then followed by pizza when we got home, probably not the ideal preparation for Saturday morning parkrun! But it is what I usually do. But still, it was no.1 reason for just staying put in my bed. No.2 reason, you just had to look outside the window to know that that was! It was raining, not my favourite thing to do on a Saturday morning. I got dressed regardless! I texted NaggyNeighbour to see if she was coming but her little boy was sleeping soundly and there was no way she was waking him up, no.3 reason for staying put. I texted Tracy to see if her and Ade needed picking up! They had come back really late from the time away they were not 'feeling it' for parkrun, no.4 reason! I really had to drag my ass out of the house.
My mind was not really into parkrun mode, but I knew that I would feel better. The nagging voices in my mind, the still quiet voices telling me to just 'do it' is what got me out on Saturday. Endorphins work! Even just a few minutes, but the fitness levels stay, and hopefully get better each time!
I had no one to run with, I was helping no-one, I planned on helping no-one! I just wanted to run. So after meeting up with all my buddies, J.J. was back to running, LittleJ had come back from her holidays and Carole and Michael were there because they just love it! PinkladyJo had joined us too. Everyone will be running together with someone but I was just going to do my thing. See how I could do it!
The usual chat before the start was done and then we were off "See you at the end" said J.J. and the rest. Some will be there first, some will be there after I get in. I settled into a pace and just stayed focused, I didn't want to run off with the fast runners, but I was going to go just a bit faster than the other girls behind me. Then PinkLadyJo joined me! She normally runs with K and Tracy but she was on a mission I think. We were chatting for the whole of the first mile, but then she just kept on going while I started to flag a bit! I tried to catch up with her but by then I had lost the momentum. I was really annoyed with myself.
I started to beat myself up for the rest of the next two miles. I kept catching up to a couple of girls, there were my 'targets'. I caught up with them and then over took them, then I had a bit of a walk and then they took over me! For the two miles left of the route that was how it was. But again, when I had left it too long to be able to catch up to them again I beat myself up! I knew that I wouldn't be able to beat them to the funnel this time! I took a look at my watch. Now it is all against me and time. If I try hard enough, for the last half mile or so, I could at least beat my PB for this year. So I tried to stay focused, I just kept on running, trying to pick up the pace. I looked behind me, towards Hook farm car park and I could see J.J. and LittleJ, they were waving to me! I waved back and then just put my head down, metaphorically of course, because our heads should be up, always when running, and kept on running.
I was so pleased to be able to see the finish funnel and I just started running as best as I could. People who had finished were calling out saying, 'nearly there, keep going' I could see the orange of the funnel, I stayed on the pavement for as long as I could. A runner overtook me about 10 feet from the finish funnel, he had taken the grassy approach, I tried to catch him up but I am not as fast running on the grass as the pavement! He beat me by about 5 seconds!
The now familiar feeling of nausea was coming over me, as I walked through the funnel to collect my finish token. I had to concentrate real hard on not throwing up, try to get my breathing under control again and just wait for the feel good little magic stuff to do it's thing!
I did, it. Two days of not really feeling it, but I managed to drag myself out. I felt good, I felt really pleased that I had got out and did exercises, I usually do. No, let me correct that, I always feel better after exercises. It's when I don't do exercises that I feel yucky! I really need to try a lot harder!
Geeky stats for parkrun, which by the way wasn't the faster for the year, second fastest though!
Wednesday, 19 July 2017
Mob Club Run!
Hello blog lovers
Yesterday was our annual mob match with the Orpies! Just for your information........ WE WON! I am just a little bit proud of our club right now! And more importantly, every group was well represented from our club! Group 1 through to group 11, and we all made a difference! That is what mob match means! There were 174 PWR's and 85 Orpies and 26 BVAC who joined as guests. Which means that 85 members of our club were in with the scoring, and all of the Orpies runners were in the scoring. How it works is the first person back gets 1 point, the second get 2 points, the third 3 points, etc etc. The team with the least amount of points win! I know, it's strange, but it works! All our 85 of our fastest runners were of course in the 'scoring zone' and the whole of the Orpies were in the scoring zone, which of course means all their slower runners collecting more points! Confused yet, well I was for years! But I think I now get it! We over ran our friendly rivals, with a huge sea of black and white vests, and we retain the cup!
So to the run itself.
All 285 of us squeezed on to the start line in the middle of the path at Jubilee park, the marshals were all set all over the place, the registration team were either running or doing other marshaling duties, DiscoRich had taken over the mic from Illustrious leader who was our tail runner. And the count down began, 3, 2, 1, GO! The front runners flew from the start the rest of us funnelled through on the path and the the race began! I was running next to Claudia and another lady, "Oh good, you're here, you can pace us!" said Claudia. I don't think she realises just how well her running has come on! "I think you will be in front of me" I said, and she just gave a little laugh! I don't think she believed me! Tracy and Kay were behind, me, and the rest of the group 1's and 2's were scattered through the pack.
The weather had been threatening to rain, I felt just a couple of 'spits't of rain but thankfully that was all there was, I can't think of anything worse than turning up to the Bickley Manor, after a warm 5k run and wet through from the rain! (of course there is always celebratory drinks after a mob match!) I was running along with Selena, one of my group 1 members, her running is coming along just brilliantly, by the way. it is also her first mob match. She just didn't know what to expect and was a little apprehensive. But we ran along together, chatting, we were doing quite well actually. There were people passing us, but not that many as we were at the back anyway!
The first mile was done, through some lovely paths through Jubilee park, I do like this route. The first of the front runners came passed us, Roger Vilardel, a PWR followed by the second front runner, and Orpie, Matthew Steere. I couldn't quite believe it, we hadn't even finished our first lap, (there were two laps of the park) and there they were, almost at the end of their run! Talk about speedsters. We had the first two ladies back too, in 26th postion was Rachel Bently and Hannah Robertson was 36th postion!
All I thought about is that ass soon as we pass the finish funnel at least we won't be in the way of the finishers! We got to the finish funnel with cheers and whoops and we passed it by, of course, because we still had one more lap to do. Me and Selena were still together chatting away, pacing each other. I kept her going when she was flagging and she kept me going when I was flagging!
But there did came a point I though, right, I need to do this, I need to see if I can run by myself in a race situation, and not 'use' the excuse of 'I shall run with you, if you want". I know I have been hiding behind that for quite some time. Maybe by running mojo is getting strong again, because some where along that second lap Selena fell behind. I kept going. I so wanted to go back and encourage her to keep on going, but I really wanted to see if I could do this to! So I kept on running!
I managed to catch up to three people, I think they were ORR because on of then had already completed and was just running along with the other two ladies to keep them going! I was kind of 'slip streaming' at their heels. I was feeling pretty good and was doing some good running, but then I did flag a bit and fell behind, I was once again running by myself, being cheered on my our fabulous marshals of course. Without them it just wouldn't be the same!
Just the last couple of corners, I could hear the crowd at the finish! I just fixed my mind to just run, no walking, just run. The last path, the path where we started seemed to stretch out before me. I could hear my name being called out, the music from the speaker that we had set up and I just looked straight ahead to the finish funnel. There were people milling about, people cheering and Kev on the floor with his camera! No jumping this time, I want to power on in to the finish line and I just went for it, with what I had left. I still think I could have pushed myself a bit more, but I didn't fancy puking in front of everyone!
Mob match done! I felt proud of myself, I stopped my Garmin and noticed that I had finished quicker than my parkrun on Saturday! I can live with that! After that it was all down to the Manor for celebratory drinks and the presentation of the cup!
As I said before, it really is a run for all our groups, and just as before, look at this brill picture, taken by Kev, group 11 runner (our mens captain) with me and Tracy, group 1 runners, we all won this trophy together as a fantastic club!
Not to forget the fantastic social afterwards, standing side by side with our friendly rivals
Here's my geeky stats for the run,
 |
| Our captains Steve and Emily |
Yesterday was our annual mob match with the Orpies! Just for your information........ WE WON! I am just a little bit proud of our club right now! And more importantly, every group was well represented from our club! Group 1 through to group 11, and we all made a difference! That is what mob match means! There were 174 PWR's and 85 Orpies and 26 BVAC who joined as guests. Which means that 85 members of our club were in with the scoring, and all of the Orpies runners were in the scoring. How it works is the first person back gets 1 point, the second get 2 points, the third 3 points, etc etc. The team with the least amount of points win! I know, it's strange, but it works! All our 85 of our fastest runners were of course in the 'scoring zone' and the whole of the Orpies were in the scoring zone, which of course means all their slower runners collecting more points! Confused yet, well I was for years! But I think I now get it! We over ran our friendly rivals, with a huge sea of black and white vests, and we retain the cup!
So to the run itself.
All 285 of us squeezed on to the start line in the middle of the path at Jubilee park, the marshals were all set all over the place, the registration team were either running or doing other marshaling duties, DiscoRich had taken over the mic from Illustrious leader who was our tail runner. And the count down began, 3, 2, 1, GO! The front runners flew from the start the rest of us funnelled through on the path and the the race began! I was running next to Claudia and another lady, "Oh good, you're here, you can pace us!" said Claudia. I don't think she realises just how well her running has come on! "I think you will be in front of me" I said, and she just gave a little laugh! I don't think she believed me! Tracy and Kay were behind, me, and the rest of the group 1's and 2's were scattered through the pack.
 |
| It's only us, at the back of the pack! |
The weather had been threatening to rain, I felt just a couple of 'spits't of rain but thankfully that was all there was, I can't think of anything worse than turning up to the Bickley Manor, after a warm 5k run and wet through from the rain! (of course there is always celebratory drinks after a mob match!) I was running along with Selena, one of my group 1 members, her running is coming along just brilliantly, by the way. it is also her first mob match. She just didn't know what to expect and was a little apprehensive. But we ran along together, chatting, we were doing quite well actually. There were people passing us, but not that many as we were at the back anyway!
The first mile was done, through some lovely paths through Jubilee park, I do like this route. The first of the front runners came passed us, Roger Vilardel, a PWR followed by the second front runner, and Orpie, Matthew Steere. I couldn't quite believe it, we hadn't even finished our first lap, (there were two laps of the park) and there they were, almost at the end of their run! Talk about speedsters. We had the first two ladies back too, in 26th postion was Rachel Bently and Hannah Robertson was 36th postion!
All I thought about is that ass soon as we pass the finish funnel at least we won't be in the way of the finishers! We got to the finish funnel with cheers and whoops and we passed it by, of course, because we still had one more lap to do. Me and Selena were still together chatting away, pacing each other. I kept her going when she was flagging and she kept me going when I was flagging!
But there did came a point I though, right, I need to do this, I need to see if I can run by myself in a race situation, and not 'use' the excuse of 'I shall run with you, if you want". I know I have been hiding behind that for quite some time. Maybe by running mojo is getting strong again, because some where along that second lap Selena fell behind. I kept going. I so wanted to go back and encourage her to keep on going, but I really wanted to see if I could do this to! So I kept on running!
I managed to catch up to three people, I think they were ORR because on of then had already completed and was just running along with the other two ladies to keep them going! I was kind of 'slip streaming' at their heels. I was feeling pretty good and was doing some good running, but then I did flag a bit and fell behind, I was once again running by myself, being cheered on my our fabulous marshals of course. Without them it just wouldn't be the same!
 |
| Just little ol' me! |
Just the last couple of corners, I could hear the crowd at the finish! I just fixed my mind to just run, no walking, just run. The last path, the path where we started seemed to stretch out before me. I could hear my name being called out, the music from the speaker that we had set up and I just looked straight ahead to the finish funnel. There were people milling about, people cheering and Kev on the floor with his camera! No jumping this time, I want to power on in to the finish line and I just went for it, with what I had left. I still think I could have pushed myself a bit more, but I didn't fancy puking in front of everyone!
 |
| Look at that concentration! Running for the funnel |
Mob match done! I felt proud of myself, I stopped my Garmin and noticed that I had finished quicker than my parkrun on Saturday! I can live with that! After that it was all down to the Manor for celebratory drinks and the presentation of the cup!
 |
| Our mens and ladies captains with the trophy! |
Not to forget the fantastic social afterwards, standing side by side with our friendly rivals
Here's my geeky stats for the run,
Saturday, 15 July 2017
Parkrun
Hello blog lovers
This morning my alarm went off way to early! It was the Old Boys work alarm! I turned it off and tried to get back to sleep. I don't think I was 'feeling it' this morning! But I got up, it's a good job I say that I am picking up Tracy otherwise I could quite easily have stayed in bed!
I got myself ready and went over for NaggyNeighbour and then we went to go pick up Tracy, Ade was also joining us today, and he deffo wasn't feeling it! He said he didn't go to sleep until 4 this morning! A good run is just what is needed then to kick start the day! I said that to myself as much as to Ade! At Normans park we parked up and walked over to the top end of the park to the start. There was also a cycling event taking place this morning, that would be starting at around 10:15 I think Matt (Run Director for today) said. So it was quite busy in the park.
We waited at the top of the park and then everyone else met up there, Carole and Michael, Dave, Kay, Mat! And an awful lot of blue shirts! It's the Zero to Hero's graduation day today! A new influx of runners into this crazy sport, keep fit malarkey! After all the preliminaries had been done the count down started, 3, 2, 1 go! We all started running, Naggy and Carole were running together, Naggy was going to pace her to help Carole get a new shiny PB. She didn't think she could, but by the way that Carole has been running, she has deffo not reached her peak yet!
I just started to run by myself, Tracy and Kay would be running along together. Then Ade came up and said that he would run with me again. Oh good, I have someone to nag......encourage to get round. We started chatting as we were running, it's good to help take your mind off the actual running! And I guess going to bed at 4 in the morning is going to take a lot of effort! Ade really was struggling but I just kept at him to keep going! We were still gaining on some people though so I overtook a them expecting Ade to be next to me. I carried on running, and checked behind me....no Ade! I even looked up in front of me to see if he had over taken a few extra people. But no! He was even further back than I thought, and he was looking for Tracy and Kay. I don't think so Ade, "Come on, get back here with me" I said to him. We carried on a bit more, just around the other side of the little brook. A quick stop type stop was needed for him to do his shoe lace up but then we were back to running.
This week though, Ade was really finding it hard to get to the first mile, again he was just a bit behind me so I got him back to my side to get to that first mile. My legs were feeling quite tired, but I knew if we just keep on running this will soon be all done, that rush of endorphins will come and a big smile on my face will be guaranteed! We got to the first mile and Ade took a little walking break but only for a short while. The faster runners started to pass us by as we ran along the long straight! Their run nearly over, we still had to do one more lap!
The second lap was a bit slower, but I tried to keep Ade going, he wanted me to go on without him, but you know me! That wasn't going to happen, well, not yet, not while we still had the whole of the lap to do! Once we got to the Long Straight again we ran together, Ade again said "Go on, you go I'll see you at the end" Well I did have a place in mind where I would take off by myself if Ade had said that, but we were still only half way along the Long Straight, so I stayed by him until I got to the top end of the park "Ok, I'm going from here, see you at the end" I said to him and I just picked up the pace. Ade had only one way to go, there really wasn't and room for him not to finish now so I felt confident that he will finish todays parkrun.
I picked up the pace a bit more and crossed the top of the park and started on down the short straights. I dare not walk now, Ade could see if I did or not, after the nagging I gave him I just had to keep on going. I could see the pavilion and now started to get a bit faster, then I heard the gang, Naggy, Carole and Michael "Come on Old Girl, you can do it" Naggy started to run next to me, and you know what that means! "Come on a bit more, you can give more" I started to push a bit fast, I caught up with the blue shirts of the Hero's group, the people that me and Ade had passed earlier but then they over took us "Oh look a race" they said, I expect the encouragement from Naggy is all they could hear! I managed to get past them and got into the funnel. Then that familiar feeling came over me, the feeling that maybe I shouldn't have pushed so hard! Nausea! But at least it wasn't as bad as that first time I really felt nauseous, heaving and farting! So lady like!
I just stood bent over for a few seconds to recover! It was a good run! I enjoyed it! I enjoy the finish, and the beginning, it's the middle bit that I struggle with!
Here's the geeky stats.
This morning my alarm went off way to early! It was the Old Boys work alarm! I turned it off and tried to get back to sleep. I don't think I was 'feeling it' this morning! But I got up, it's a good job I say that I am picking up Tracy otherwise I could quite easily have stayed in bed!
I got myself ready and went over for NaggyNeighbour and then we went to go pick up Tracy, Ade was also joining us today, and he deffo wasn't feeling it! He said he didn't go to sleep until 4 this morning! A good run is just what is needed then to kick start the day! I said that to myself as much as to Ade! At Normans park we parked up and walked over to the top end of the park to the start. There was also a cycling event taking place this morning, that would be starting at around 10:15 I think Matt (Run Director for today) said. So it was quite busy in the park.
We waited at the top of the park and then everyone else met up there, Carole and Michael, Dave, Kay, Mat! And an awful lot of blue shirts! It's the Zero to Hero's graduation day today! A new influx of runners into this crazy sport, keep fit malarkey! After all the preliminaries had been done the count down started, 3, 2, 1 go! We all started running, Naggy and Carole were running together, Naggy was going to pace her to help Carole get a new shiny PB. She didn't think she could, but by the way that Carole has been running, she has deffo not reached her peak yet!
I just started to run by myself, Tracy and Kay would be running along together. Then Ade came up and said that he would run with me again. Oh good, I have someone to nag......encourage to get round. We started chatting as we were running, it's good to help take your mind off the actual running! And I guess going to bed at 4 in the morning is going to take a lot of effort! Ade really was struggling but I just kept at him to keep going! We were still gaining on some people though so I overtook a them expecting Ade to be next to me. I carried on running, and checked behind me....no Ade! I even looked up in front of me to see if he had over taken a few extra people. But no! He was even further back than I thought, and he was looking for Tracy and Kay. I don't think so Ade, "Come on, get back here with me" I said to him. We carried on a bit more, just around the other side of the little brook. A quick stop type stop was needed for him to do his shoe lace up but then we were back to running.
This week though, Ade was really finding it hard to get to the first mile, again he was just a bit behind me so I got him back to my side to get to that first mile. My legs were feeling quite tired, but I knew if we just keep on running this will soon be all done, that rush of endorphins will come and a big smile on my face will be guaranteed! We got to the first mile and Ade took a little walking break but only for a short while. The faster runners started to pass us by as we ran along the long straight! Their run nearly over, we still had to do one more lap!
The second lap was a bit slower, but I tried to keep Ade going, he wanted me to go on without him, but you know me! That wasn't going to happen, well, not yet, not while we still had the whole of the lap to do! Once we got to the Long Straight again we ran together, Ade again said "Go on, you go I'll see you at the end" Well I did have a place in mind where I would take off by myself if Ade had said that, but we were still only half way along the Long Straight, so I stayed by him until I got to the top end of the park "Ok, I'm going from here, see you at the end" I said to him and I just picked up the pace. Ade had only one way to go, there really wasn't and room for him not to finish now so I felt confident that he will finish todays parkrun.
I picked up the pace a bit more and crossed the top of the park and started on down the short straights. I dare not walk now, Ade could see if I did or not, after the nagging I gave him I just had to keep on going. I could see the pavilion and now started to get a bit faster, then I heard the gang, Naggy, Carole and Michael "Come on Old Girl, you can do it" Naggy started to run next to me, and you know what that means! "Come on a bit more, you can give more" I started to push a bit fast, I caught up with the blue shirts of the Hero's group, the people that me and Ade had passed earlier but then they over took us "Oh look a race" they said, I expect the encouragement from Naggy is all they could hear! I managed to get past them and got into the funnel. Then that familiar feeling came over me, the feeling that maybe I shouldn't have pushed so hard! Nausea! But at least it wasn't as bad as that first time I really felt nauseous, heaving and farting! So lady like!
I just stood bent over for a few seconds to recover! It was a good run! I enjoyed it! I enjoy the finish, and the beginning, it's the middle bit that I struggle with!
Here's the geeky stats.
Thursday, 13 July 2017
Thursday Core Session!
Hello blog lovers.
I have only been to the rec today, I didn't manage to get out running this morning as I was having to wait for repair men to come along! And guess what time he turned up? One o'clock in the afternoon! I had plenty of time to go for a run, get back, get showered get everything done that I usually do in the mornings! I do hate that 'You time slot is 09:00 to 12:00' because you know they never turn up when you really need them to!
So the evening is the only exercise for today. I got back home and just sat down for a what I thought was a few minutes and then I looked at the time, I needed to be out! I quickly got ready and was out of the door again on my way to pick up Tracy, she was waiting outside her house. I could tell she was clock watching! We got to the rec and I pulled into the car park, just as they were all finishing the first warm up lap. Michael was pointing to his watch!
I was still not quite ready to run, I still had my hair down, my run pants were still undo and my booband wasn't comfortable! I am giving this boobuddy ad thorough testing! I have even forgone my fav sports bra to test it on one of my old ones that I should have thrown away, because I never use it. But I must have known that one day they might come in handy for testing such things as this!
Anyway, back to it. I was finally prepared for the session and DiscoRich was in Leader Mode today. There was no rest for the wicked here! We started on the drills. Butt kicks, side steps, knee highs, all the way to the line of cones with jog back to the beginning each time. No resting, no 'let me show you how to do it' it was, bish, bash, bosh! Then it was our fist speed session. DiscoRich split us up into 3 groups of 4. We were going to do relays, between the four of us we will be running twelve lots of 60 meters!
We did ok! I even think the team I was in came first on the second rep! My boobuddy was beginning to annoy me though! It actually annoyed me when I first put it on with this old bra, this 'Upper Decker, Knocker Checker' black boobuddy was not being very 'buddy' like! I kept it on, giving it the full testing experience.
After our speedy 60's we had a drink and then straight into the core strengthening. We did, mountain climbers or stair master as DiscoRich called it, and then there was planks, spotty dogs, push ups, burpees! I tell you we did it! The burpees were the last ones that we did, I think DiscoRich let us of a few when he took one look at us, all struggling, making the most unusual noises every time we did one! "Ok, that's enough" he said "Look at you all" Well, we were not polished, and looking like those fitness videos that's for sure! It was after that bit of my exercise session today that I found my 'Upper Decker, Knocker Checker' was no longer checking the knocks but heading down, and became a middle decker, flabby checker' instead as it was trying to contain my waist line! Hmmm, I don't think this BooBuddy is the thing for me! Back to my fav sports bras for me, Shock Absorber, I am sorry!
After that it was a usual Farlek or relays again for 15 minutes! Some cool down stretches and that was it! Done! A great session as always. I must try harder next time!
I did put my Garmin on, just to keep an eye on my heart rate. it's at the bottom, although I some how switch it back on for the journey home in my car! Oops!
I have only been to the rec today, I didn't manage to get out running this morning as I was having to wait for repair men to come along! And guess what time he turned up? One o'clock in the afternoon! I had plenty of time to go for a run, get back, get showered get everything done that I usually do in the mornings! I do hate that 'You time slot is 09:00 to 12:00' because you know they never turn up when you really need them to!
So the evening is the only exercise for today. I got back home and just sat down for a what I thought was a few minutes and then I looked at the time, I needed to be out! I quickly got ready and was out of the door again on my way to pick up Tracy, she was waiting outside her house. I could tell she was clock watching! We got to the rec and I pulled into the car park, just as they were all finishing the first warm up lap. Michael was pointing to his watch!
I was still not quite ready to run, I still had my hair down, my run pants were still undo and my booband wasn't comfortable! I am giving this boobuddy ad thorough testing! I have even forgone my fav sports bra to test it on one of my old ones that I should have thrown away, because I never use it. But I must have known that one day they might come in handy for testing such things as this!
Anyway, back to it. I was finally prepared for the session and DiscoRich was in Leader Mode today. There was no rest for the wicked here! We started on the drills. Butt kicks, side steps, knee highs, all the way to the line of cones with jog back to the beginning each time. No resting, no 'let me show you how to do it' it was, bish, bash, bosh! Then it was our fist speed session. DiscoRich split us up into 3 groups of 4. We were going to do relays, between the four of us we will be running twelve lots of 60 meters!
We did ok! I even think the team I was in came first on the second rep! My boobuddy was beginning to annoy me though! It actually annoyed me when I first put it on with this old bra, this 'Upper Decker, Knocker Checker' black boobuddy was not being very 'buddy' like! I kept it on, giving it the full testing experience.
After our speedy 60's we had a drink and then straight into the core strengthening. We did, mountain climbers or stair master as DiscoRich called it, and then there was planks, spotty dogs, push ups, burpees! I tell you we did it! The burpees were the last ones that we did, I think DiscoRich let us of a few when he took one look at us, all struggling, making the most unusual noises every time we did one! "Ok, that's enough" he said "Look at you all" Well, we were not polished, and looking like those fitness videos that's for sure! It was after that bit of my exercise session today that I found my 'Upper Decker, Knocker Checker' was no longer checking the knocks but heading down, and became a middle decker, flabby checker' instead as it was trying to contain my waist line! Hmmm, I don't think this BooBuddy is the thing for me! Back to my fav sports bras for me, Shock Absorber, I am sorry!
After that it was a usual Farlek or relays again for 15 minutes! Some cool down stretches and that was it! Done! A great session as always. I must try harder next time!
I did put my Garmin on, just to keep an eye on my heart rate. it's at the bottom, although I some how switch it back on for the journey home in my car! Oops!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)