Running On Empty

Given I'd struggled with my chest again midweek and that this weekend's a double parkrun weekend (thanks to the addition of a New Year's Day run on the Sunday), I wasn't sure whether I'd run today or tomorrow — or both. In the end, I did choose to run today, but the temptation to snooze my alarm meant I was late enough out the door that I had to stay very local. Wanting to avoid the mud and puddles I'd expect at Rising Sun , I opted instead for a return to Jesmond Dene . It might have a hill, but it's only one, right? WRONG! 😂 Turns out that my memory of my first parkrun here is missing a few details. Firstly, all of the ups and downs on the way to the main hill. Secondly, the length of the loops that you run in Paddy Freeman's Park. In fact, on the latter, I was utterly convinced that the course had been changed until I'd just about completed the first lap. Jesmond Dene, not today (photo pinched from Northern Soul ) Anyway, enough of that; what wa...

Just a very quick post to record another difficult run. As with last week's midweek run, I struggled with my chest again today. In fact, it was quite a bit worse today than last week and when I stopped, I was gasping for breath, but only able to take fairly shallow breaths. Twenty or so minutes later, I was fine again, but the difficulty I'd had while running had led me to wonder whether I'd stop after just a single lap (1.5km) of what's becoming my usual route. In the end, I let pride push me round a second time. There's a chance this chest stuff is related to a 4-day sinus headache I've had (top timing for Christmas!). I'm sure it'll pass, but it's making me wonder whether this Saturday's parkrun will be a wise move. And whether I should take a precautionary puff on my inhaler before doing so. I'll see how I feel on Saturday...

Back in June, I had my best orienteering experience of the year. Over the jubilee weekend, an urban event in Newcastle City Centre  was held by my club,  Newcastle and Tyneside Orienteers  (NATO). To qualify for British Orienteering Federation rankings, I needed to run a course that had an optimal distance of 8km. On the day, Google Fit reckoned I ran about 11.6km, which speaks volumes for both Google Fit's accuracy and my navigational skills. 😂 My time, in the end, was 1:13:58 (trailing the winner in my class by 26:05). Panorama of Ouseburn at the eastern extent of the course, courtesy of geograph.co.uk That might not sound brilliant, but by god, it felt like a real achievement. Looking back, the biggest thing about it was just that I'd signed up for it  ...and done it. When I'd seen it in NATO's future events list, I'd initially had a typical reaction of "that's not for me", especially given how badly I'd done in a 3.5K event in Cramlington in A...

I started this year doing no regular exercise at all — even the exercise bike bought in lockdown had become more of a drying rack than a workout machine. I ended the year, however, having achieved all of the following: Completed Couch to 5K (yay!) Done an 8K urban orienteering event Ran the Race for Life Attended 15 16 parkruns at 12 different locations Finished in the top 50% of men at multiple parkruns Ran 5K in under 25 minutes (albeit on a treadmill) I'm gonna say this was a pretty good year. 😁 Me, at Carlisle Park parkrun in Morpeth (November 2022) So, what can I look forward to next year? A few options to consider: Attend 30 parkruns over the course of the year? Attend another 5 new parkrun locations? (Including Bramhall ?) Achieve a 25-minute time at a parkrun? Achieve a sub -25-minute time at a parkrun? Do a 10K event (the only 2022 goal I failed to achieve)? Take Daughter the First on the 3K Race for Life? Some of those definitely feel aspirational rather than realistic...

This series of retrospective blog posts about my early parkruns is running out of steam a bit. The memories fade fast when you're 47, you know? 😉 Anyway... parkrun #4 was at Blyth Links . One of the guns at the Blyth Battery WWII air defences (passed on the parkrun route) Not sure why I chose Blyth -- told you the memory was fading -- but suspect it was a result of a recommendation from someone at the previous parkrun at Rising Sun. Don't think I knew a great deal about the route before I attended, but having grown up just a couple of miles to the south in Seaton Sluice, I had a general feel for what it would entail. This end of Blyth Beach is (in my totally unbiased opinion 👀) isn't quite as pretty, with a slightly stonier beach, less dramatic dunes, and no cute little harbour. But... it does have a promenade, a parade of beach huts, and a decent enough fish & chips restaurant/café with adjoining ice cream parlour, so I get why the parkrun is here. In the end, the ro...

SIX WEEKS. That's how long it's been since I last made it to a parkrun. First COVID got in the way, and then again the following weekend. Then a family trip meant it wasn't possible. Then two weekends of iced-up paths meant nearly all parkruns in the area were off. Today, however, the ice had gone and I was free to attend at last. Photo of the beach huts at Blyth Links, via wikimedia commons, courtesy of geograph.org.uk Anyway, this week it was back to Blyth Links, chosen for its flat nature (given how knackered I was on the 3K yesterday) and for the fact it wouldn't ruin my new trainers with mud. 😂 Last time I was here, I got a 26:10 that might even have been a parkrun PB were it not for how boxed-in I was at the start. (That PB remains at Newbiggin, with a time of 26:07.) This time, however, I was just looking to get the 5K under my belt. I knew I'd find it hard, given I'd done 5K only twice in the past 6 weeks, and indeed it was. As I lapped, I went from a m...

For someone who hates repetition in his runs, I'm really starting to look like a hypocrite. Still, it had been 16 (SIXTEEN) days since my last run, so I was more concerned about just getting back out there than I was about where I went. It took 16:50 to do 3.11km, giving a pace of 5:25/km In the end, I elected to do just 3km and adapted the route through The Triangle a little to make sure I crept over that distance target, venturing into the neighbouring housing estate a little. The shorter run was for two reasons, really: I needed to go and pick up the car from the body shop and was risking being late for a hire car drop-off I found I was struggling more than usual The latter reason was around my chest rather than my legs; after the run I was wheezing like the asthmatic I am (or was) but rarely demonstrate. Pushing myself any further felt like a bad idea if I want to have another go at getting to a parkrun this weekend; a fixture that's starting to fade in the memory, it's...

That's ice on that there pond, btw. Another midweek mental health run in pretty cold weather; 2°C today. All the same paths as last time too, even if not in the same order. Overall, 5.35km today. And this time it didn't feel so easy. Hey ho. The recently-laid path through the grassy play area the Rosses know as The Triangle Hopefully it'll get easier again by Saturday. Even though I failed to get to parkrun last Saturday — I'd actually got as far as getting all my gear on, but was ultimately too late — I'm hoping to get back to it this coming weekend. Don't know where yet, but fingers crossed anyway. Would hate to leave a gap in my Monthly achievement. 

No phone today, no watch, and therefore no distance and no timing. But having mapped my route on onethegomap.com, I see I did exactly 5.5K. I also took it at a slow enough pace that I never really felt troubled by it, which was nice. I even found myself wondering again about getting a 10K in before the year end if I could be this comfortable going slowly. 🙂 Part of the reason for the (presumably) slow pace, btw, was down to the cold (4°C) giving my feet grief again. But partly I just didn't care about the pace today; I've been off work for the last 2 days, taking a break for mental health reasons. This run was a mood-booster, even if I really didn't fancy it beforehand. And it actually worked. I've honestly never felt the benefit so quickly after a run. Anyway, that's it for the report. Short and sweet, just checking in really. Till next time... 👋

I've really fallen out of the habit. It's just a day shy of 3 weeks since my last run (that being the parkrun in Morpeth), so today was simply a matter of seeing how I felt after getting over COVID. Last Saturday, it didn't seem wise to go straight back to doing 5K and I didn't want tomorrow's parkrun to be the same situation, so this was my last chance to see how I got on with something shorter. Turns out it wasn't that bad. After 2K, I turned back, figuring 4K was the most I wanted to do and pretty much all I had time for at lunch. It wasn't the fastest I've ever run (by some margin), but it was enough. The route itself was mostly flat. I started out with an easy jog downhill to the quayside and then along by the Cooperage and past the Copthorne Hotel. Given things felt pretty normal at that point, I veered back up the banks of the Tyne towards the Life Centre; a hill that reminded me of the climb out of Jesmond Dene. Traffic meant I got a ...