Juneathon day 13/30 - Havant parkrun

Today we decided to drive down to Staunton Country Park in Havant to a) run Havant parkrun, and then drive a couple of miles to Queen Elizabeth Country Park (site of Queen Elizabeth parkrun) in order to b) shout some support to Louise. She was (and in fact still is) running the Centurion South Downs Way 100 mile race. Good to catch up with parkrun friends Kat and Jools too who were (are) crewing her.

 

Havant parkrun course - I measured it at 5.08km (we started a bit back from the start line)

Havant parkrun was lovely, Staunton Country Park is a really nice park with some interesting tracks and trails. It's an odd combination of laps, starting with one small loop, then two larger loops - both of which include the smaller loop again. I ran with Mrs who was going for 3x10 minute blocks at increasing pace. We completed the run in 31:30.

Just about every "way" seems to go through here

I particularly liked all the signs they'd put out

I forgot my usual Garmin watch, so had to run round with my phone recording the run with Garmin's "Fit" app. Downside was carrying my phone, but unexpected upside was some parkrun photos.

Run briefing

Thanks, I shall be sure to drop in again when I can :)

A short drive up the A3 to Queen Elizabeth Country Park. I ran the parkrun here back on December 27th 2014. It's a brutal course, it starts on a steep hill and has an amazing muddy descent, the second lap goes up the same hill but more of it! I bumped into the event director who ran with me for about 2/3 of the route meaning I had to chat as well as bust my lungs on the hills!

Queen Elizabeth parkrun course, looks innocuous enough...

...until you see the elevation!

I mis-timed my arrival at Queen Elizabeth Country Park and was still eating my breakfast when I saw Louise run past the window! Sorry I didn't see you in person, Louise, I did say out loud a little "yay, go abradypus!".

Breakfast!

Centurion Running put on a number of races each year, some "standard" ones like the 50 mile and 100 mile series, and some really bonkers ones like the Piece of String - where none of the entrants have any idea how long the race will be!

*unimpressed face*

I hadn't realised Garmin now do "segments", a bit like Strava. I was delighted (no, really...) to see that if I filtered today's parkrun to my age and weight, I am dead last on the table. I think it might be time for a flat-out fast parkrun soon... I'm going to a new one next week, I wonder if it'll be fast?

My Juneathon totals: 13 runs for 83.90km in 8:47:33

Juneathon has been inching along at 5km per day this week. I was hoping to go a bit further but it's about consistency not distance. Today was day 13 of Juneathon, and the 15th day of my run-streak - certainly by far the most number of consecutive run days for me. 17 more June days to go, and then the Croydon Ultra early in July.

Juneathon day 12/30 - in between drinkies

Went for a tipsy run - can you tell when I ran out of puff and needed a few walks?

A run walk strategy...

I've decided the odd glass of wine is incompatible with juneathon!

My Juneathon totals: 12 runs for 78.82km in 8:16:03

Juneathon day 11/30 - An exercise in consistent pacing

I'm getting bored of this route, I can't even be bothered to paste the map in any more... It's hard to be imaginative when you get in late and need to do other things, so I plodded out for the usual 5km. Knee was fine, but I didn't feel particularly energetic. I focussed on keeping my form good and pacing evenly from start to finish. 5km in 28:51.

1km laps - even pacing, nailed it.

Tomorrow I'm away all day for work and probably eating out straight afterwards. Looks like I need to go for a jog in the morning.

My Juneathon totals: 11 runs for 73.82km in 7:45:24

Juneathon day 10/30 - Battered, bruised, and taking it very easy

A very slow trundle around the 5km route with Mrs. Same route I fell over on yesterday - back on the horse and all that.

My local 5km route, in a very relaxed 

My cuts and grazes are doing fine apart from my knee which seeped through its dressing today and ran down my leg (apologies if that's a bit graphic...). Ran out this evening with no dressing to give it some air, but it needs dressing again tonight (sheets) and tomorrow (trousers). Will try to spend the weekend in shorts I think!

My Juneathon totals: 10 runs for 68.82km in 7:16:33

Juneathon day 09/30 - Never to old to trip over

5:30am start to get to Manchester for a presentation, got home at 6pm and went for a short, slow, distracted juneathon run.

The usual 5km route

4.5km into my 5km and just as I was daydreaming about complaining in today's blog about being tired I tripped on some uneven paving and went down hard.

Ouchy hand...

...ouchy elbow...

...and ouchy knee!

Mrs was lovely and broke out the pain-wipes, I mean, antiseptic wipes - but oooooh it doesn't half sting!

My Juneathon totals: 9 runs for 63.81km in 6:42:04

Juneathon day 08/30 - Wimbledon common

I want to get a bit more familiar with the 2nd Sunday 5-mile course ahead of Sunday's race, so I drove up to the windmill, jogged the few km down to the start, ran the course (sort of, I got a bit lost on one lap...), then jogged back to the windmill (sort of, it's a bit of a hill to get up there so I deployed a run/walk strategy). So today saw 13.59km in 01:19:49 added to the Juneathon running total.

Today's route - trail paths all the way, rivers, and golf courses - bloomin' lovely!

I covered the 5-mile course in 44:14, compared to when I ran the race a few weeks ago in 43:47. 27 seconds off race pace is perfectly respectable time for a familiarisation trip (probably a bit fast, even), and so I'll target myself to beat my previous 43:47 this coming Sunday. Longer term I'd like to get round the course in under 40 minutes but, just like my dream of a sub-20 parkrun, that's going to take a while...

Up the "toast rack" (between 2 and 6 on the map above), and down again. Twice.

Today's run felt good. Less good were the scales this morning. My birthday zone week of indulgence has pushed me over 90kg for the first time since 12th November 2011! I know why - it's been cakes and wine a-plenty, and as far from LCHF (low carb high fat) as you could imagine. The problem with being well adapted over a few years now to low carb is that when I eat other things the rate at which I gain weight is phenomenal!

The trails that criss-cross Wimbledon common are beautiful places to run

Thankfully as I adopted LCHF as a lifestyle choice (i.e. for ever) rather than a fad diet I don't need to "get back on the diet", I just need to stop eating the non-foods that have crept in. Refined sugar, grains, and other carby foods don't even make me feel good, it's just that we're so conditioned to see sweets, cake, and pastries as "treats" that it's hard to break that link. I had a big birthday, I had a lot of "treats" :)

Sweaty cool-down selfie

Just need to go back to not seeing such things as food - I nailed it a while ago and dropped to well under 80kg with very little effort, no hunger, and no shortage of energy (more than I have now for sure). Let's see how it goes! But for now, it's all about running every day in June!

My Juneathon totals: 8 runs for 58.81km in 6:10:33

Juneathon day 07/30 - Week one completed

Back home after my week of driving around England catching up with friends and relatives. I've had a lovely week, it feels like it's lasted a lot longer than a week too. But like many good things, it has to come to an end. And that means arriving home and running in some more familiar surroundings.

Last trip of the #BirthdayZone - off to a cuppa with my Dad before driving The Beast back to London #Mercedes #AMG pic.twitter.com/GvdMPf34LR

— Norm Driskell (@n0rm) June 7, 2015

My birthday present to me was hiring this 5.0 litre V8 beast for a week to tour the country #zoom!

So today's run was my normal 5k loop from home. I warmed up with the first kilometre in 5:59, and then decided to try for a royal flush (Marathon Talk terminology for when each kilometre or mile is faster than the one before).

I'd last attempted a royal flush at Gadebridge parkrun in Hemel Hempstead - it was a hilly two-lap course and I left myself with the 4th and mainly uphill kilometre as a real challenge, needing to as it was to be faster than the previous three. I just about managed it there, and I just about managed it today too, despite running my third kilometre in 5:02 (bit faster than intended).

Today's royal flush with gradually increasing pace (green line)

Splits were 5:59, 5:15, 5:02, 4:50, and a lung-busting 4:48 during which I had to walk twice due to stitch and then flat out sprint the final 50m to try and get under 4:50 (walking and finishing sprint quite clear from the pacing line above!).

My Juneathon totals: 7 runs for 45.22km in 4:50:44

The first week is done! I've run a little over a marathon distance at a relatively easy average pace. I'm not out to break records in speed or distance, this is about consistency. I briefly toyed with the idea of running 1km on day 1, 2km on day 2, up to 30km on day 30 - but I think I'll save that challenge for another month.

I wrote a few days ago about starting to feel the effects of running every day through achy legs, but the last two days have been most enjoyable. No aches or pains, relatively quick to warm up, and very enjoyable runs. Running every day seems to be working well for me. Let's see if I'm still saying that on day 30... Now I'm back home and back to work I expect running every day will take a little more planning.

I feel bad for glossing over Fountains Abbey parkrun so quickly yesterday, in all the 123 different parkrun courses I've completed it really is one of the most beautiful. So here's a bit more about it.

Google maps satellite view of Fountains Abbey, together with the parkrun route

The run is round the grounds of Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal water garden which is in a valley created by what was one day a much larger River Skell than the one we see today.

The grounds are immaculately maintained by the National Trust, the grassland is perfect, and the water garden is beautiful. It's also the only parkrun I've ever been to that has a bridge over water with no handrail - I wonder if anyone has ever fallen in?

The Bridge - single file only! (taken from this photo in their parkrun flickr pool)

The facilities are excellent with a huge café/restaurant serving a wide variety of food and drinks, including fully cooked breakfasts. The cafés at National Trust locations are always excellent, I'm reminded of the brand new building at Lanhydrock Park - what a treat that was!

Juneathon day 06/30 - Fountains Abbey parkrun

Fountains Abbey parkrun, just outside Ripon, is one of the most beautiful parkrun out there, you should put it to the top of your list immediately.

Definitely a "fabbey" parkrun

Now, on my way to a birthday barbecue! The one-week-long birthday zone is almost over... Including warm up and cool down, today's Juneathon contribution was 7.36km in 47:05.

My Juneathon totals: 6 runs for 40.21km in 4:24:45

Juneathon day 05/30 - Harrogate Valley Gardens

I wanted to find a different bit of Harrogate to run in before we hopped in the car to drive up to Newcastle. I noted some other green area, and decided to head for it. It turned out to be Harrogate Valley Gardens, and it was beautiful.

Harrogate Valley Gardens

The morning sun was out, the temperature had come up nicely despite it being only 8am. There were a few other park users around, but not many.

I ran through the park, up a kind of golf course area, through some woods, and back down a path to the North of the park - where I went round a second time.

Added a squiggly bit to get to 5km

I'm starting to feel the effects of running every day. Although this is only day five of Juneathon, it's my seventh consecutive run day. I'm not sure I've ever run seven days in a row before. It's taking longer to warm up, and more bits are complaining - it was only the last one or two kilometres this morning during which I really relaxed and was warmed up.

Taking longer to warm up, hence the gradual increase in pace throughout the run

So, another 5.33km done. Twenty-five more days to go!

My Juneathon totals: 5 runs for 32.85km in 3:37:40

Juneathon day 04/30 - Harrogate again

Short sharp run round the park in Harrogate, needed to get it in before retiring to Betty's Tea Rooms for some civilised tea and cake (and maybe some uncivilised booze!).

Today's one-lapper

A similar route to yesterday but only one lap, and at a bit more of a pace - got a real sweat on, it's a beautiful day and very warm.

I was clearly getting a move on, lots of Strava PRs (Personal Records) compared to yesterday

My Juneathon totals: 4 runs for 27.52km in 3:05:06

Juneathon day 03/30 - Harrogate

This morning I went for a walk on the trail I ran yesterday - took my phone this time, so here's a snap, though the picture doesn't do it justice - it really is beautiful. I must explore Derbyshire more in the future.

Derbyshire, 10x more beautiful in real life than in this photo

Continuing our drive around the country this week sees us in Harrogate for today and tomorrow. Mrs had a 70 minute easy run on the plan, so I joined her. A nice run up from the hotel to a large grassy area, and we trundled round two long laps at a nice even pace. The sun was out, the birds were singing, all is good with the world.

Today's Juneathon run

We're staying here tomorrow night too so tomorrow's run will also be in Harrogate. Mrs has a rest day scheduled tomorrow so it's up to me to see if i want to go up and run round the fields again, or try something new.

Turns out we also did a bit of the three-and-a-bit lap Harrogate parkrun course without realising it!

The Harrogate parkrun course on the same map

It's very nice here, and judging by the cars and cherished number-plates, very expensive!

My Juneathon totals: 3 runs for 21.29km in 2:30:12

Juneathon day 02/30 - Matlock Bath

I enjoyed yesterday's route so I wanted to try it again, but faster. The nice thing about Strava is you can easily do things like this and it recognises you're running a route you've done and assigns cups (awards) for bettering your performance.

However, unfortunately yesterday was my birthday so instead of getting up and going for a run I sat and nursed the hangover that Dan-the-amazing-barman had given me. It was a lovely evening, followed by a slightly less lovely morning.

Loving Dan the barman at @limewoodhotel - thank you for making my birthday drinks :) pic.twitter.com/wDPoTJS7Ag

— Norm Driskell (@n0rm) June 1, 2015

Instead I lounged around a bit before heading on up to the in-laws for a recharge of tea, and then on up to Matlock Bath for the night. We're driving around this week, catching up with people and taking it easy.

Looks like a walk in the park...

Up, down, up, down, etc.

So today's Juneathon run was in Matlock Bath, not known for being flat. I found a little park to run round, down by the river fora  few hundred metres, then up, up, up a winding trail to run along a ridge (amazing views, but didn't take my phone so no photos), before dropping back down to the river.

My Juneathon totals: 2 runs for 11.09km in 1:18:48

Juneathon day 01/30 - Short run in New Forest

Juneathon sounds like fun so I thought I'd give it a go. You run and blog every day for a month. I could do with a little consistency, so let's give it a shot.

What better time to start than today, the glorious first of June, and my 40th birthday! I'm staying in the always glorious Limewood Hotel in the New Forest for a few days. They have a few running routes, so today before breakfast Mrs and I went for a short run in the forest.

The (not quite) 4-mile route

Coincidentally it's also the first day of her new run training plan. She's been running a bit since recovering from her operation, but nothing structured until now.

My Juneathon totals: 1 run for 5.82km in 0:39:55

New PB strategy working out well

After ramping back on, well, basically everything in order to focus on work and my (now not so) new job, I've been running for fun lately. Sometimes many miles in a week, sometimes not so many. And it's been fun! I've even enjoyed a few parkruns lately after an average of one per month in January and February. It's been good to see the parkrun family again.

Me & Mrs, fun touristing at Gadebridge parkrun in Hemel Hempstead (photo by Tony Streams)

Lately though I've missed the buzz of racing, running with a number pinned to my t-shirt. Mrs has been away a lot lately (she has a new job now too) so I found myself at a loose end a couple of weekends ago. Turns out Thames Hare and Hounds, one of the many local running clubs, were starting a new series of 5-mile events. To be held on the second Sunday of every month they named the series 2nd Sunday 5.

The "2nd Sunday 5 pioneers" (photo courtesy of Thames Hare and Hounds)

I signed up for the first one, turned up, and ran it. It was small and low key, with just 22 entrants I came a respectable 14th after busting a lung or two trying to catch the person in front of me for the last mile and a half (I did, with just 20m to the finish line). My 43:46 time sets a new PB for 5 miles (by default, as I've never run a 5 mile race before!). Strava log is here.

Run down, complete the loop twice, then back to the start for a total of 5 miles (a little over 8km)

I enjoyed the course, and learned a new bit of Wimbledon Common. I shall certainly return on June 14th to try and better my time - and every other 2nd Sunday I can make it. I reckon it'll be a mud-bath in the winter, great fun.

Yesterday I again ran with a number pinned to my t-shirt. This time it was the Bupa Westminster Mile - a 1-mile event round St James's Park. I was running in the parkrun wave so there were many familiar faces. After a very enjoyable and scenic ride down the Thames Path I ended up in a bit of a panic jog to get to the start on time! I was really bringing my personal parkrun spirit to the day.

The start pen for the parkrun wave (photo by Steve Darby) - me in the middle talking to Mike!

So it turns out running a mile is really hard. I had set myself a target of under 7 minutes - based on some finger-in-the-air estimation of finding a time in between my fastest ever 1km (3:45 but in much better/lighter shape than I am now) and my normal "fast last km" at a parkrun, which at the moment is around 4:40. 7 minutes equates to 4:21 which felt about right.

Bumped into "parkrun pioneer" James Russell, one of the first 13 runners at Bushy Park event #1

Nice to have another medal for the collection

After a lung-busting first 800 yards (yards!, what's a yard?) I could feel my legs complaining - I haven't run hard for a long time. My pace dwindled a bit towards the end, but I managed a little push in the last 50m. I finished 549th of in an official time of 6:53 - happy with that, and another PB (seeing as I've never run a mile race either).

Play with the awesome Strava labs flyby tool here, and see how I stacked up against all the other starve users.