Saucepan Lids and China Plates!

Hello blog lovers.

What a lovely day it has been.  Ok, so not the blazing summers day that we all love and long for when the kids are on holiday, but at least it's not raining!

This morning saw the first holiday session of Kids Games.  As you, my readers know, school time means mums and childminders, can go running.  Of course taking your 6 year olds or reluctant teenagers on a run through the woods is just not practical.  So, as I can't run anyway,  I am not allow to 'sub contract' my little charges out so I offered to have the other mums and dads children instead, and then take them for a games hour!

Makes sense to me!  I still get out, the kids get exercises and the mums and dads can go for their usual 1 hour run!  A win win situation!  The rec was teaming with people, Adele was taking her boxercise classes on the rec as well, with all her mums bringing their kids as well!  I offered to have her lot in with the kids I was looking after, but the kids had bought cards and things to play.

So with ZippySherry we started our games hour.  We had 8 children, a perfect number for 2 teams!  Reds and Blues, I know very imaginative, but I was just going with the bibs that we have, which is red and blue!

It was a great time, we had sack race, Magpie, and pyramid races with warm up drills and cool down stretches as well.  I for one can't wait for next week!  It was great fun,  and I think the kids had a great time too.

And so to this evening.  Core training session with my mates!  Tonights session was led by the Iron Fist in a Velvet Glove aka Illustrious Leader.  I was going to go a bit more harder in the running sessions that I did last week!  I still only did one lap warm up, but I know that the drills that we do will be sufficient.

And I.L. did have some drills!  All about skipping!  There were about 3 drills that all involved some sort of skipping!  Girls love skipping, the boys just tried to look as macho as they could while skipping along!  At least they could assert the masculinity again with what I.L. called the 'Sumo Squats"

With another warm up routine done, (which I.L. was barking out orders as to how we were to run up to her, i.e. butt kicking our way to her) it was ready for the first of the running sessions.  And that was pyramids, a favourite of everyone.

After that it was the core training, trying to find out where those abs are hiding!  I know mine are in there, because of those planks and leg raises, I could feel them.....hurting!  I do enjoy these sessions.  And I must try and find time during the busy holiday time to fit in at least a half hour core training session!

With the parlaufs being the last of our running section, doing that for 8 mins!  I think I managed to do two laps.  The lads did at least 3 or 4!  I tried to keep my speed up on those laps though, and my shins didn't hurt!

A great session today, a great day today!  Enjoyed all of it!  Roll on next week!

Be Still And Know!

Hello blog lovers.

Sometimes I am real glad that group 0 is here.  Sometimes you really do need to 'Be still and know"  "How can you be still and yet run" I hear you all saying.  Well, today I think Auriol and I achieved just that.

Auriol's son is very poorly in hospital, and for the past 2 weeks that has been where her and the rest of her family have been.  There has been no running for her, there has been plenty of worrying, tossing and turning and toing and froing to the hospitals.

But today, this evening she took time out.  I picked her up in my car and we drove to the rec.  I already knew that Kim wasn't going to make it, and I wasn't sure if any new comers would be there, but we arrived early.  Which I was glad about, because there was time for prayer for her son and the rest of the family, and it was good to pray with her.

Be still and know! To have your mind not focused on anything, to be restful, relaxed yet running through the woods. Totally at peace and reliant on Him for just those few moments when you can put aside, feel free to able to run and let Him do his work!  That was todays run, just the three of us, Auriol, me and Him.

I had planned a short run, just about 2 ish miles, but with the option of an extra bit if Auriol was up for it.  Getting the hill out of the way at the beginning while we were still feeling fresh and strong.  My shins were not complaining too much so I wasn't going to push on through any sort of pain barrier.  I described the sort of ache I have to Auriol, and its like a bruise that you have on a fleshy part of you, like your gluteus maximus.  When you run and it wobbles, you just know that is a bruise there, well that is the sort of ache I have in my shins.

We had a great run through the woods.  Running up non stop with the first hill by the rail lines  taking a little walk once we got to the top.  We chatted as we walked a bit. and then as soon as we were ready we started running along.  The rain that we had at the weekend hadn't made the ground soggy, it was just perfect for running.  There were just a couple of muddy bits where the horses had churned it up, but otherwise it was just great.

We got to the top of the woods, with the middle path on our left, but I could tell that Auriol could go on for a bit longer, and I was feeling pretty good too, so we ran along to Botany Bay Lane.  We were chatting all the way, so it was a nice social paced run, perfect for me and perfect for Auriol.

We both were still not ready to go back to the rec so we ran along the path at the back of Coopers School to Goss Hill, bringing us to this fantastic scene really, a field with tall trees in the background, the top of a steeple reaching skyward.  The bored looking cattle lazily grazing on the grass they were standing on.  What a life that is, just go out side, stand and eat! Could it get any better than that!.......is what my old couch potato would be saying!

With just the run along by the river to do and the last half mile back to the rec, we ran, we talked, and at times we were still. Still in our minds, praying.

Psalm 46:10 Be still and know, that I am God.

Geeky stats.

Group 0 run by moosh001 at Garmin Connect - Details

Sunday Soggy Solo

Hello blog lovers.

I know I am a little late in writing up me blog, but what's a day between friends?  So yesterday saw me out running, on me own, in the rain!  I was a little jel when I read that SingstarJo and friends were all going our running early Sunday morning.  I can't do earlys as I go to church!  Or at least I could if I get up early enough, then be able to run get back in time and all spruced up ready for church!  But that has only ever happened once!.........I actually enjoyed it, and I should make myself do it again!

I was 'made' to think about running yesterday after reading through my FaceBook newsfeed and saw a mates status update, 215 miles on a bike, over night, 5 hours of rain!  My itsy bitsy little run through a 'heavy mist' is just not comparable,! "What is the hardship....eh..... no really?"  That is what I was said to myself, by the way!

Anyway, just as I always do, I procrastinate! I should get on with my writing.  I was the same yesterday when I decided that I was going to go for a gentle run.  I found things to do!  The washing needed loading, the bread needed throwing to the birds.  Anything but getting out in the wet.

Finally I got out of the house, wearing my old trainers, I was thinking that the extra bit of cushioning would help me with softening the impact on my shins.  I am still hoping its not the dreaded shin splints and it's something completely different.  But who knows.

My route was an old favourite of mine, just 3 miles or so, not through the woods and it has been so very wet these past couple of days, and I wasn't quite sure how slippery it would be in there!  So it's the Turpington loop for me.

Although it was raining it was kind of warm, I was glad that I didn't put on long pants and a rain jacket!  Totally unnecessary really, because no matter what, I am going to get wet!  At first I could feel the little niggles in my shin, it's only the right shin that is worse, the left I can hardly feel any sort of niggle.  But then my knee wanted to join in the moaning and groaning.  I just thought that if I just kept going all the complaining will stop.

And actually, to some extent, it did!  My shins didn't feel half as bad as they did when I ran on Tuesday evening with group 1and I had to abandon half way through.  So maybe it's all psychosomatic, it's all in my mind, my mind is procrastinating!  So I just carried on my run.

I went up Southborough lane and I saw Nicholas the Italian stallion, with his two little ponies, waiting for a bus.  I had a quick stop to chat and say hello and then I carried on.  Of course I had to make sure I was running along until I saw the bus past me!  I didn't want them to spot me walking along, he would totally talk about me on FaceBook!

So I just ran, and kept an ear out for the sound of a bus coming up from behind me.  They usually are about 10 mins or so apart, I was presuming they had been there for maybe five minutes already, so giving the fact that I was running about 12-12.15 min mileing, the bus is another 5 mins away,.............think.....think.......I am no good at maths!  I was just praying that the bus would come quickly!  It didn't. It  got to me when I was near the bus stop at Turpington lane!

I had to keep running while it parked up to drop passengers off, I couldn't see them looking out of the windows, but I just kept running, just in case they were!  So by the time the bus was out of sight I was on top of Turpington lane!  So that was good.  I was pleased with that.

I was trying to keep my running going all the way, that was my aim when I left, I do try and challenge myself!  But of course I didn't meet it.  I had a couple of walks on the way back, but not as many as used to have!  So maybe I am getting better with the stamina thing!  Just a blooming shame about the shins!!  I was a bit concerned though, when I got back to the bus stop the Nicholas and his boys were at, because now there were men in orange jackets repairing it!

What did you do to the bus stop Nicholas?!

I got back home, I didn't break any records, but then again, I wasn't planning too!  Maybe next time, when I find out whats wrong with these legs of mine!

Geeky stats.

Sunday solo by moosh001 at Garmin Connect - Details

Core Training!

Hello blog lovers.

Well, I know I should be resting, but I promise I did take things very gentle indeed.  I just had to do something, sitting around, on my chair is become all to easy!  I don't want to get to the stage where I find going out to be a chore.

I am really getting down about these aches in my shins.  Not knowing what the problem is and trying to self diagnose is not good.  I will be looking for a physiotherapist to try and help me figure it all out!  So in the meantime, with no diagnosis I am just continuing to do what I can, keeping my cycling as fun still, rather than a work out!  All though those hills are a workout of course.

Core training is obviously just that, getting this core of mine taught, like a washboard, strong!  I can dream!  But I do know that if I have a strong core it will help with my running and my cycling!  I really got to work as hard as I can!  The school holidays are playing havoc on my exercise regime.

Just before the holidays I decided to do some core training at home. Get home from a school run, work out for an hour and then get on with the day.  I think psychologically I must have chosen that day knowing that I couldn't continue it for a few weeks!  Lazy!

So, the running sections of todays session, which was led by the lovely DiscoRich, was taken at a very leisurely pace indeed, not even breaking into a sweat.  I didn't even run as far as the rest of them, I was just there keeping my muscles warm, and making sure they don't forget whose boss!

The disciplines we did I tried my very hardest to execute them properly and to keep up with everyone.  Everyone that is except Veeral.  The man is a machine!   He is fast, he is fit, and he seems to do the disciplines at double time!  I did find the side plank a little difficult, and I blame my thighs!  Although my hips were off the floor, and I tried my hardes to keep just to points of contact with the floor, arm and foot, my thighs are not made of muscle, they are made of fat, and all fat wants to is, have contact with with......something, whether its a chair, a bed or flat out on a field in my local park!

I think there may have been 2 or three centimetres between my thighs and the ground!  It's a gap, you can pass a fishing line under and I can only hope that soon, very soon it will be slightly thicker fishing line that can go under!

After that we did our favourite paarloofs or relays.  Both me and Hannah were surplus to requirements and so we became additions No.1's and No.3s.  At least I can run at my own pace and not leave anyone waiting for me to hand over the baton!  We were doing that for 15 minutes!  I was running along with Hollie, a young lady some where in between the age of 18 - 30 (according to her students) is just getting back to her former fitness level.  She has done brilliantly losing loads of weight and exercising frequently.  She was running faster than me as I was just taking it easy!  But we had a great time!  We didn't hold anyone up too long!

Well, I survived todays Thursday core sesh, my shins don't seem to be complaining anymore than they did before I had begun.  Maybe my self diagnosis is wrong, and they is something else that is causing these aches!  I hope so!  I can already feel the fat cells ganging up on me on the inside!  Couch potato is calling in all the favours to try and win the day!  But I WILL NOT LET IT!

ARRRGGGHHH!!

Hello blog lovers

I am just so disappointed, so annoyed and just a tad worried!  I went out to the rec for the 7 o'clock start, see who would be there for the zero group.  But no one new turned up.  I knew that my regular runner wasn't going to make it, but I turn up just in case.

I was going to go home, then I thought "No, go for a run, just a short one, before usual group "  And it was just as well.  My right shin was really playing up.  Just these spasms of pain coming and going, and hurting on impact.  But on every step, which was most peculiar.  I have no idea what is going on!  Is it shin splints, is it not? Easy solvable with a quick chat to a professional?  I do hope so.

I struggled on the 1 mile little loop around the block.  I walked, jogged, walked my way around the short route, carefully making sure I didn't do anything silly!  It was a struggle, and to be honest I was quite glad of the fact that I was alone!

With just a mile around the block I was wondering how I was going to cope with group 1!  I got back to the rec, and stretched out, I didn't want to get cold muscles and just kept walking and making sure I didn't stiffen up.

It was good to see the girls, Jo, J.J. Wendimoo, Janet and Paula and Hannah!  With Illustrious leader leading tonights run I just felt right at home!  I just hoped that my legs would have the staying power.  I.L. took us through the woods, which I was really pleased about as my earlier route was on the road.  I was hoping the soft floor of the woods would be better on my legs than the pavements were.

I took my place at the back of the pack, sweeper mode,  being up at the front these days seems so far from my goals!  I am just going to have to go back to basics myself!  Little, gentle and definitely see some sort of physio!

As soon as we started up the hill towards Orpington Road I knew that running on the softer ground is not going to make any difference.  But being the stubborn runner that I have become, I kept going towards the top of the woods.  We took a quick break at the Woodmans house and then carried on along the top towards the middle path.  This is where we were going to go back down towards Poo Ally and it's where I decided I would finish my run.  I.L. will be taking the rest of the group for a further mile and a half!

So, two to three miles for me this evening, and a wise decision made, i.e. seek professional advice, and feeling a tad disappointed.  Blimey, how very British is that "A tad disappointed" what I really meant to say is "I am bloody disappointed!"  So disappointed that I could stamp my feet, if I thought it wouldn't do any damage to my already sore bloody shins!

Ring up tomorrow, check out the docs, get myself sort!  I have a race to do, and a 3 year running winning streak on my clubs Grand Prix to defend!

One More For Today!

Hello blog lovers.

It's Thursday evening which means Core Training and Speed Training! I was looking forward to it, I like to push myself on the Thursday evenings, whether its in the rec or on the track.  Jenny was in the hot seat today with her second in command Drill Sergeant Pinky, ZippySherry's little daughter!

There must have been about 18 or so of us there today all eager to do well in todays session, do all the tasks that there is going to be! I had bought my car along today as I had to get petrol on the way back but the car park was chocka block with cars!  I had to park on the road, So I ran up the entrance just in time as I saw the rest of the group start out on the warm up laps!

We had the usual drills after that and then there was this little speed session, jogging for 10 seconds sprinting for ten seconds, then jogging for 15 seconds and sprinting for 15 seconds, all the way up to 45 seconds sprinting!  That was tough!  I was struggling a bit with the short distance between the cones that I struggled with.  I found myself running along a square rather than back and forth, one cone to anther.

Then it was the games section.  British Bulldog, as asked for by Drill Sergeant Pinky!  I did notice, however that she didn't put herself in the bulldog position!  That was down to Jenny.  I remember when I was first in the bulldog position on the first run I didn't actually 'tag' anyone, so I had to do another one by myself!  Where as Jenny 'tagged' someone straight away, meaning she had help for the next run!

Core training is always a great section, and we started off with those dreaded burpees straight away.  I amuses me that we all moan like anything when we are doing it, but we do it with a smile on our face!  It's tough, and I was trying my hardest to do the best burpees I could so that I could get maximum benefit from each one!

We had about five or six disciplines to do which we all did, and then Jenny said "Right do it all again" What!?  So there we were, doing more burpees, squats an everything else! While we were doing this Drill Sergeant Pinky was wandering about the circle of people telling them to "do more, do the full press ups"  "She will be poking us with a stick next" I said to all my fellow exercisers. and with that she went of towards the trees and came back with the biggest stick that I ever see a little girl could pick up!

After all of that we did some relay running for about 20 minutes, with the batons and boy was that tough!  But good fun, I did have a little bit of competitiveness when I was running along against my fellow no.2,  all I could think was thank goodness that my team mates no.1 (there were two number ones in our group as we had extra man), as he could fly round and hand me the baton.  Mind you, by the end of it I did wish that pinkshirt lady (the other no.1) had the baton, then I could have rested longer!

A great session, really enjoyed it!  And I am sure I did as much as I could!

My Own Colour Run!

Hello blog lovers.

It's Thursday and it's probably the last Thursday that I can run at 09:30 until September when the kids go back to school!  I am planning on doing something with the kids, instead of my running, but mainly I will be the one with the whistle!

My colour run, and no, it's not that I left a red sock in my washing machine and turned all my whites pink, it's me getting arty farty and looking at the colours on my run today.  As you can probably guess, I am running solo again.  DiscoRich's group is still going strong, and again there was the invite to run along behind them....way behind them, and this time I wasn't tempted, not when D.R. mentioned a huge hill!

My run took me through my beloved woods. it wasn't a nice bright day, the sky was a non discript white/grey and I was missing the sunshine.  But no matter what the weather, running is running and I just love it! I went in through Poo Ally and turned left.  I thought I might as well get in a long hill as DiscoRich and his crew will be attacking a huge one somewhere!  My hill was Botany Bay Lane, all the way up to the very top!

I know in the winter running through the woods, all there is to see are the bare branches of the trees, a few evergreens trying to look as bright as they can in the almost sepia colour of the woods. But now at least I have the greens to look at.  And there are quite a number of different greens.

I ran along to the bridges that go over the rail lines and I stopped and smiled, now there is some colour!  Some gorgeous flowers just growing there, looking their best, doing their job of attracting bees and insects.  I stopped and  took a photo, this is going to be my very own Colour Run.  I decided that I would take pictures of anything that looked pretty and colourful.

pinks!

Ok, so the sheep in this picture are not colourful, but by the way they were all tucked under the shade of the tree, did then no something, were they expecting rain or even sunshine?

Hiding!

Just then on the opposite side I saw two parakeets on the ground, I tried my hardest to get my phone to start working before they flew off. Just as I was about to take the picture of the pretty green parakeets a black crow flew towards them and scared them off, you can just see the bird in this picture!

There he is, flying!

I continued up the hill to the very top, and thats my hill training done!  I took a picture to show off!  Well, it was going to be a selfie but I didn't want to bend down!  There were quite a few female solo runners about this morning, and we all were smiley, and even had some breathless good mornings!  I was glad that I was actually running whenever I met up with them.
I hadn't really seen any other flowers, I was beginning to think that maybe all the colours had finished.  But as I was running along the road, creeping over the garden wall was some beautiful pink flowers.

More pinks

Ok, it's cheating when they have been planted, but they had to have been grown in the wild first for man to have picked up on it, right?  I crossed over the road and ran into Scadbury, just the edge of it.  I noticed a sign that I hadn't really taken any notice of before, Holwood House.  I decided to just go and have a look.  It was a house!  A very nice large house that is obviously now some very nice flats or apartments, or whatever we call them these days!

I turned back and continued on my way through Scadbury.  All the different colour of greens were all around, I just wished I had a good camera to try and capture all of it.  I did try! Here look

Some greens.

Running down Orpington Road (I always thought it was Chislehurst road) I saw a tree in a garden, with red leaves!  Of course I had to get that as well!

Reds!

Just as I had finished taking the picture I saw Moy!  The only other female solo runner that I happened to see today was a PWR and I was stopped, taking pictures!  Typical!  But we did have a little chat, she is back to running again which is great news!

I crossed over the road and continued on my way through Petts Wood, running down along the rail line.s  I saw another lady, one of the dog walkers, but we had actually met before on a bike run, with the Panagua Ladies!  Small world!

With just the little bit of road work to do after leaving Poo Ally I ran along to Crossways, turned the corner and saw some yellow flowers!  Something I missed on the way into the woods, I obviously was colour blind then!

Yellows

And then getting home and looking outside my patio windows there was more colour!  You gotta love summer, even if the sky is not blue!

On my Patio

Geeky stats.

Petts Wood and Knoll Ward Running by moosh001 at Garmin Connect - Details