Running On Empty

After a whole week of no running (blame half term and a stinking cold), it was straight back into it today with another parkrun and another new location: South Shields . Driving from the north side of the Tyne, South Shields always feels like a bit of a trek, as you still have so far to go even once you're through the tunnel. And there's no fast road to the coast, just loads of roundabouts and junctions. At least, that's my excuse for only just making it in time. That and the fact I had to hunt for change to pay for parking when the website had said there was plenty of free parking. Hmmm... maybe there is somewhere , but not where I parked. 🤔 Anyway, once that was sorted, I headed down onto the prom. The weather was your typically dull, cool and slightly hazy, out-of-season British seaside weather. A slight nip in the air, but still more autumnal than wintery. Luckily, the first timers' explanation was held pretty late, so I got a quick run-through and the chance to a...

Time for another retrospective. By distance, this is my "home" parkrun. Rising Sun Country Park is probably best described as an area of green belt that housing developers have yet to exploit. I've never found it particularly attractive, being largely flat-ish, barren fields, the odd pond and a bit of coniferous woodland that's hardly a wildlife haven, all surrounded by busy roads and housing estates. It feels pretty typical of the green land in this part of Newcastle. Or maybe I've just never had a fun time there. Despite this glowing report, the Rising Sun parkrun was an early, convenient choice. It was made immeasurably better by being able to share it with a friend (and a friend of said friend, actually) and by the sunshine we got. In fact, that sunshine and my lack of familiarity with the trails we used actually made it a really pleasant run — one of the nicer parkruns I've done. The course — modified since Storm Arwen felled trees on the old course — i...

Note to self: add "go to the toilet" to my pre-parkrun checklist. Aaaand, let's move swiftly on. 😬 Today was my 12th parkrun overall and my 10th different location. I might never (read: will never) catch your run total, John Williams, but I'm gunning for your total of 12 locations . 😉 Anyway, today was Prudhoe Riverside , chosen for the fact it was hosting event #233 in its history, giving me another tick in the Fibonacci achievement on the 5K parkrun app. Still a bit gutted I missed out on another Fibonacci number a month or so back ( Carlisle Park in Morpeth?) but so it goes. At least I made it to this one and it was another venue new to me, within reach on a Saturday morning. I've been to Prudhoe Riverside park before, but not ventured more than a few hundred yards into it. It is, as the name suggests, a strip of greenery alongside the River Tyne, just below the town of Prudhoe. The course takes in two loops around what I think are old spoil hea...

It always feels too soon getting back to the midweek runs after a parkrun on Saturday. Nevertheless, a day of no meetings (how rare!) meant I afforded myself the luxury of heading up to Leazes Park and doing the full parkrun up there before heading back to the office. So, given it was a properly measured 5K rather than the usual GPS nonsense, let's cut to the chase: what was my time? 25:39 . Another (parkrun) personal best, baby! And by some margin! 🏆 Conditions were pretty good today: dry, sunny and cool, if a little windy. The park wasn't too busy either; the only real impediments I faced were a couple of crowds of pigeons and geese that people were feeding by the lake. (Besides, my loud clapping as I approached them improved the bird clearance on the later laps, even if it probably drew stares.) On the whole, a nice day for a run. With both Google Fit and Pace Control timing me again today,  neither of them gave a good report. 😞 Granted, they won't be helped by the tr...

Parking at the Newbiggin Maritime Centre at 08:42 in the driving rain, 10°C on the dash of the car, I had to question my commitment. And whether the event was even on — where was everyone?! As it turned out, it wasn't a wasted trip and soon someone pulled up next to me and put on an extra layer of running gear before getting out. You see a lot of reviews of different parkrun locations saying that it's the friendliest event they've been to, and Newbiggin is no exception to that. In this case, however, it quickly felt justified. Maybe it was because the relatively low numbers (93 runners) meant that a good proportion of the people there seemed to know each other. Maybe it was the candour of the race director and his assistant. Maybe it was both of those. Whatever, it was a nice welcome. Once underway, and with the rain stopped, it was roughly the same level of congestion you get at most events. I probably could've passed more people than I did, but didn'...

Time for another retrospective parkrun post, in a bid to catch up with every event I've done. This time: the Leazes Park parkrun . Looking back, it's hard to believe this was only my 2nd parkrun; it feels more like it was my 4th or 5th. And despite it being an early one  —   or perhaps because of that?  —    I got a time (26:16) that remains close to my parkrun PB, despite it not being a flat course. And despite me feeling so rough on the day that I'd say I was queasy and on the edge of quitting pretty much the whole way round. It actually makes me feel a bit frustrated that I now find it so hard to match the pace I had on a major off-day. But... if I ever manage to get back to consistently running for 30 minutes, 3 times a week — just as I was doing at the end of Couch to 5K — then I imagine it's probably within my grasp again. And as much as I like to try out new locations, the challenge of beating my time here, on a day when I'm feeling good, ...

Another opportunistic midweek run today, but didn't manage to fit in a 5K. That said, I could have done, but I chose to go into the office after a morning off work, and that restricted how much time I had. Anyway, just 3.5K in the end. As for the route, I was all set to do the 4 bridges (High Level, Tyne, Swing and Millennium), but at the last minute, my itching to explore and find greenery got the better of me. As I was passing the Black Gate just before the first bridge, I spied an access road I'd laboured up near the end of my 8K orienteering event and jinked off down that instead. There's always a risk of bumping into someone off their heads on glue on one of these back-alley dives (what an advert for Newcastle that is!), but this time it was mercifully uneventful. A few high level twists and turns later, I came to the end of the path and had to head down ten million urine-reeking steps and out onto the quayside, just past the old Cooperage and the Quayside...

Another week, another missed parkrun. Morpeth didn't happen on Saturday — was looking after daughter #2, who was ill — so I grabbed the opportunity for another lunchtime run around the city centre today instead. Despite saying I should venture south into Gateshead, I hadn't really done my homework on possible routes and, if I'm honest, couldn't face the uphill run either, so... I settled for grazing Gateshead instead. Since doing the 4 bridges run the other week, I'd been thinking about completing the set of pedestrian-crossable bridges by taking in the Redheugh Bridge as well. A quick play on onthegomap.com to check that it wouldn't be too long a route and I was off. The Redheugh Bridge is a pretty ugly, utilitarian bridge that's really just meant for motor vehicles (2 lanes each way), but which has a footpath too. It's probably best known in the local area for featuring on traffic reports as being "closed to high-sided vehicles," wh...

Time for a retrospective post, before I forget everything about my very first parkrun. I can't even remember the order in which I notched up my modest achievements this year. Sure, it was Couch to 5K first, and then...? The 8K urban orienteering? The Race for Life? My first parkrun, at Jesmond Dene? I dunno. But I do remember, before this first parkrun, having the feeling that I kept surprising myself by achieving way more than I thought I could. And, after being told that the Jesmond Dene parkrun was arguably the hardest in the area, another gauntlet had effectively been thrown down before me. So rather than starting out with a totally flat event like the Town Moor, I went for it . And to this day, it remains my slowest ever parkrun time (28:36). 😂 (But in saying that, I have a strong hankering to get back to it and smash my PB there. We'll see.) Before I go any further, I have to say I owe a massive debt of gratitude to a friend who accompanied me on this one. I'll not ...

Another lunchtime run today (as I'd promised myself), but this one felt a lot tougher. I couldn't as comfortably pick up the pace when I wanted to, unlike on the previous run. (That said, it only ever feels like I had the capacity to pick up the pace long after a run; at the time, it almost always feels impossible.) As for where I went, it was another case of make it up as you go along. Trying to avoid the worst of the lunchtime crowds while still heading north, I trotted down Worswick Street toward the excellent Flat Caps Coffee on Carliol Square and then round the corner and up John Dobson Street to the Civic Centre. Past the pond where we used to feed the ducks on the way to my daughter's nursery, and then over the central motorway towards Jesmond Metro. It felt kinda weird doing this bit without a buggy to push. 😁 From there, it was up alongside the Metro line to the Clayton Road shops, including Willi's Café (pancakes, chocolate spread and strawberries ftw...

Just a quick post: I've been meaning to explain why I chose this name for the blog, though it's pretty straightforward. Ever since I started my third attempt at Couch to 5K back in March(?) 2022, running has never felt comfortable. It's a damned good thing that Laura, the voice of Couch to 5K, taught me that it was a mental game as much as a physical one. Even after completing the programme and having been running at least weekly for months now, I still feel on the brink of giving up, lungs bursting, after just a few hundred metres. At parkruns, I'm the guy noisily heaving for breath the whole way round. (Apologies if I'm hanging off your shoulder while doing that.) I get in sight of the finish line and watch in disbelief as those around me put on a burst of speed while I have literally nothing left in the tank. (Always with the car analogies! 🙄) Anyway, that's all it is. Throughout pretty much all of my runs, I feel I'm giving absolutely everything I'v...

Following on from last Thursday's 3 laps of the quayside , I was determined to get out at lunch again today to get back on the 3-runs-a-week schedule and mindset. After the disappointing pace of the last run, I was also determined to pick it up again, especially in the first kilometre. Working from the office, today's route was again around the Newcastle-Gateshead quayside, though I turned down the chance to repeat the same 3 laps. As much as it would've allowed a direct comparison on times, my usual reluctance to repeat exactly the same route kicked in and I found myself running past the Black Gate and Castle Keep on my way over the High Level Bridge instead. From there, I looped back around to the left and crossed the Tyne Bridge back to Newcastle. Then it was down Moseley Street, Dean Street and Side and onto the quayside outside the Guildhall again. At that point, Google announced from my arse pocket that I'd been going for 10 minutes and just over 2km, so I figure...