Club Run

 Hi blog readers.

I don't want to say anything to loud, but look!  Another blog! Shhh, we don't want to frighten it away!  I had already 'prepped' my team at work, that if we had just a few kids then I will be leaving early, to get to club run.  Mind you, it's been quite a while since I got away during school term to run with the club, I almost thought, "I'm tired, maybe let one of the others go early instead"  I mean, my mind still thinks that this is the norm now, work = no run, school half terms = run.  Muscle memory, right, (is a brain a muscle... I should have paid attention in biology class).   

Anyway, I completed another run yesterday, with my club.  I wasn't leading, Tara was.  She had planned a route that she hadn't done before, it's always good to try new routes, keep things fresh.  There we 6 of us, Tara leading, J.J. who also hasn't been running for ages, Tina, Lesley and Mary.  Thank goodness Tara is quite happy to stick with the 60 60 routine that we have been doing!

We started off walking, well the carpark is quite dark, and there is this huge pothole just as we need to go through ally way, not as big as one in Godstone, but still an ankle snapping size hole!  Once out on to the roads Tara lead us up Birchwood! Up Birchwood! The first of a few hills!  My mantra, which I used to tell everyone to say while running up hills, just would not pop into my head.  "I hate hills!" is my new mantra.  Fortunately we are doing the 60 60, so we didn't have to run up the whole hill!

Once at the top we turned left.  It looked like we were doing one of my routes, but Tara did say that we were heading toward Leesons Hill, so maybe there will be another road that we will be turning down instead of the one I usually do. I was feeling pretty comfortable, the group were all still together, we were all running at the same pace.  That makes a change!  Usually group 1 is quite a diversity of runners.  But were have had some injuries and illnesses and work issues keeping us away from running!

We turned down Mapling Road, deffo still one of my routes, we turned left at the end of that, yup, deffo one that I have taken group 1 on.  But then instead of taking the next right we carried on straight.  Well, that's new.  This should be interesting.  Of course, now I am just following blindly, just 'enjoying' I want to say, the run.  The enjoyment was of course just being with my pals, my mantra, my new mantra, " I hate running" still escapes my lips.  

I can't really remember the 'lefts and rights' that we did, but I do remember the hills!  Tara did warn us there were a 'couple of little' lifts in the route, it's what we expect in Petts Wood.  There is always a 'little lift' somewhere on our routes, even on the flattest route.  What we didn't expect, not even Tara was to go slighty awry from where she had planned!  And guess what?  There was an unexpected hill involved! Oh well, there are supposed to be good, right!  We had ended up at St Mary Cray station! 

On our 60 second runs, some of them last just as we got to the foot of some of the ups, also some of them started as we were walking up the hills!  Boy, did I not like that!  I said out loud at one point "ok, run everyone, but I'm walking"  Tara said "Come on Old Girl, you got this!" Sigh, so I ran, but just not all of them.

We kept to the 60 60 mostly, all the way to the rec.  There were a few times I missed the start of a run, or, surprisingly the start of the walking bit, can you believe that!  I even suggested that once we were running back down Birchwood, we should ignore the 60 60 and and just see how we all do on the downhill. Me, I said that.  Maybe mojo is just peaking out from where ever it is hiding to remind me that I actually enjoy running!  It's good for you, it's free, it's mind easing exercise.  Plus with a club you get tons of friends and encouragement and banter and a whole lot of stuff!  What's not to like!

Beckenham Place parkrun

 Hi again blog readers.

It's me again!  I went running (obviously), at Beckenham Place Park parkrun.  A little bit of parkrun tourism, and the location was because there were a couple of milestone runners. That means cake!  You gotta love cake after a run!  

I was looking forward(ish) to this one as it was just a one lap route!  I don't think I have ever done a one l lap parkrun before. That means no one will be overlapping me, that will make a change.  There were only one other Normans Angel with me yesterday morning and that was NaggyNeighbour.  I had forgotten to mention that it may have been a bit muddy as I thought it would be on grass.  

We arrived there not knowing where the start was, fortunately it was quite near the carpark, perfect.  We arrived just a little late for the one of the group photos, but I managed to sneak in to a few others, just to show that I did indeed turn up. 

Naggy and I went over to the first timers briefing, that is where we found out that some of the route was not accessible and we were going to have to do a loop through the woody bit.  Darn it, that means I will be getting lapped! Oh well.

We went over to the start, everyone ready with the various watches and timers, their Stravas and other mapping tools, waiting for the off.  I found my place, at the back, let the fastest runners get to their place and then we were off.  Naggy set off at her pace, (She had already done a mile and some just before she met me by the car earlier) while me Auriol and Mary set off at our pace.  Both of these ladies were quite happy to stick to the 60 60 that we had been doing over the last two runs we did this week.

What we found on the route.  Mud, more mud and I believe there were also some slippery mud!  As you probably know from my last blog, I seemed to have turned back into a townie, the thought of getting wet and muddy was not what I signed up for!  I do remember a good few years ago I would have been the first to go right through the middle of the puddles, find the stickiest bit of mud to step into, laugh at the slipping that was going on. Not yesterday though. Yesterday I was squealing like a baby on RedBull, like the brakes on runaway train coming down the side of mountain!  I had no confidence in my footing, I slowed up completely and I was checking my Garmin after only 20 seconds on the run time to see if it was time to walk!  As you can imagine, I wasn't a happy bunny!  We had more walking time when the going was particularly slippy and going up hill we also walked.  Oh I didn't tell you that bit did I, there were hills!  Me and hills are not friends, me and hills fell out when my mojo walked out on me.  I couldn't even think about the mantra "Hills are are friends!"  It didn't enter my mind!  

Auriol seemed to be doing well and was ahead of me and Mary, but she stayed in 'radio contact distance' when I called out "Ok walk now" or "Run now"  As we were running I did think to myself "This could be a lovely run in the summer months!"  Of course that means at some point me and the Angels will have to go again to BPP to try again, hopefully when the whole route is opened, it will be nice to do a one lap parkrun!

We were just on the last mile or maybe less, we had just passed the little lake and was going down the other side of it.  I was fed up of slipping all over the place, my core was fed of trying to keep me upright (I had forgetten I had a core)  and I listened to the tiny voice in my head saying "just walk it now, it's not going to be one of your best or prettiest parkruns".  Mary was just a head of me and I yelled out "Just keep going, I have kind of lost it now".  Did she listen to me? Nope, just like us all in PWR, she came back and encouraged me to keep on going, she helped me to ignore the voice in my head to just walk it, so I carried on running as best as I could.  

We saw the finish line.  It was hardly hidden, in fact it was 'flying high'!  It was at the top of the last hill! ON TOP OF THE LAST HILL!  How mean was that!  I dug as deep as I could, trying to ignore my Garmin telling me it was time to walk again, I just wanted to get to the top, to the finish, to the cakes!  

At the top, by the finish was the PWR's celebrating Premas 250th and Steves 300th parkrun.  There cakes being passed around, the cameras was angled at the finishing line I had to look as if I was running, blimmin eck, who's idea was it to finish at the top of a hill!  It was blimmin lucky I didn't 'make room' for cake when I eventually got there.  I couldn't, not in front of all those people!  

By the way, there was plenty of cake going around.  I managed to get a bit of this most delicious piece of millionaires shortbread!  I even remembered to take some pictures, (still can't remember how to get them on here yet, but I will do soon.  Then it was time to get in the car and come home!  Hmm, that was a bit of a dilemma too.  The finish was not in the same place as the start.  Naggy and I headed off, looked at each other and said "Which way?"  We had to go and find Auriol to find the way back!

Loved it tho......well the shortbread, the finish, the getting back home, the smug mode that I had done another run on my week off.  And look, another blog to boot!

Oh! Hi Remember Me?

 Hello blog readers!

Let me tell you all about it!  You will never guess.  There I was minding my own business, when all of a sudden a bright light was outside the window.  I went to investigate like any good neighbour would do, I was suddenly drawn up by this beam of intense blue light!  It took me into this great big, bright room where they asked about "What do I know about Stars" "Why do you were a green top with Stars written on it"  "Who is my leader" "Where can I find a good Burger King"  It was horrendous.

They then put in this room with glass all around it which turned out to be like tv screens which they changed to look like places on earth and I had to play along to each scenario that was shown on these tv screens! Honestly!  I had to work, come home, eat, sleep!   Honestly! JUST HORRENDOUS

Ok, its a bit far fetched, I know!  I just can't give you any real reason why I have not blogged since....well, whenever the last blog was!  So here I am, blogging again. Now lets see if I can remember how this thing works!  I can't remember how to put the Garmin route in, I can't remember how to add photos in, but I shall look into to it all, again.

I have been running since the last blog, honestly, my Garmin or Strava will show that! Just not as much.  Usually, if I get a run in on a Tuesday, during school term weeks then I am simply too knackered to blog that night and then the momentum is gone!  

I am going to try and change that though.  I have noticed that if I run I blog, if I blog I want to run more.  It was my way of keeping the Mojo going.  Hmm?  Maybe my blogging is my Mojo!  That's a thought!

Enough of that anyway.  This week, during the half term, I have been on two runs already! Yup, two!  Both of them with the fantastic club that I still belong to Petts Wood Runners.  I hadn't been running for a good few weeks before Tuesday, (today is Thursday) I just didn't know how I would manage.  My parkrunning has been still going, ok apart from the last few weeks, and I have been running with my pals, NaggyNeighbour and SnappyHannah.  We had been doing a bit of parkrun tourism, our local parkrun is just sooo busy! I digress again!  Blimey, I've even forgotten how to blog!

Back to this week.  I was leading group 1 this week, yup, I am still one of the leaders at PWR.  I knew we had some runners coming back from injuries and whatnot. No, I didn't sigh with relief.....well maybe I did, it means I HAD to go at a nice easy pace. Anyway, I decided to do the easy route plus interval running, 60 60!  It gives us a good run, if a bit slow, but also gives us all that little bits of recovery time during the run.  I think we all did a great job! Pat on the back for all three of us on that day!

Todays run was led by Anne (I am sure I had a nickname for her but for the life of me I can't remember it) Anyway Anne is DiscoRich's wife.  She took us on the cinder path route.  The three of us who where out on Tuesday, Mary and Auriol, and Selena who is also suffering a bit, followed the leader.  I still decided to do the 60 60 though, Mary and Auriol also decided that intervals were better for them at the moment too. We followed Anne and Selena along the roads doing our 60 60.  I was impressed with ourselves as we were not that far behind them.  I knew Anne and Selena where also doing walk/run as well just not as disciplined as the three of us at the back.  We got to the end of the cinder path and Anne started to make her way around the 'lollipop', its just a road that goes all the way around a little estate.  It goes down, which means you have to run up!  The three of us who were doing 60 60 said we would go in the opposite direction and then meet them as they came up the last bit, where Selena said that she would be walking that part. 

I am sure were we all met up at the half way mark!  We might have well have followed them all the way around.  We made our way back to the cinder path we  stuck (kind of) to the 60 60 till we got back to the rec to meet the faster group that also started from them!  We beat them back! Not that I am boasting about that....obviously they took a much longer route.....still.....smug mode switched on!

I must say, if felt good.......at the end.  Getting up early on my days off is blimmin tough.  Running is blimmin tough...... but the stretching at the end and going home feeling accomplished is all that is needed to make me look forward to the next run!

See you all again......soon.....I hope....yes....soon.....I promi.......well we'll see.  No promises, no pressure just accomplishments!

Now, where is that spell checker?