Running On Empty

Last July, I achieved one of the main goals I'd set my sights on for the year: taking part in the Race For Life 5K run, and running the full route. These days, that length of run sounds pretty routine, but less than a year ago, I'd run a 5K only once in my life , on a treadmill, about 15 years ago. When the day came, I'd already completed Couch to 5K a good six weeks previously and had been keeping up to the regular running, even if not always 3 times a week. The main thing that was going to give me grief was the fact that it was July, the run started at about 11am and it was a hot day. With the event being held on the Town Moor in Newcastle too, there'd be precious little shade. That said, right now, I'd happily take the heat. Would make a nice change from running in bitterly cold winds! 😂 Once the race began, it was pretty seriously congested, as you'd expect. Heading out of Exhibition Park and onto the verge of the Great North Road, we even had to walk thro

What a relief to finally be typing the number of my parkrun in a blog post title again! The five weeks since my last one has felt like an eternity. ANYWAY, down to business. Goals for today were simple: 1. Make it to a parkrun 2. Complete the parkrun without walking 3. And preferably in less than half an hour 4. And without hurting myself (especially the hip) 5. Run at a location I'd not visited before 6. Enjoy myself Pleased to say I managed all of those. 🙂 To be fair, the time for goal #3 was set on the assumption I'd be doing Chopwell Wood rather than Druridge Bay, so that was easier to achieve on a flat course, but I'll take it. Oh, and my time in the end was 27:44. Yes, the above photo is the only one I took, but hey, at least we get an idea of the weather (was driving hail at the time, but it stopped before the run started). I was on the drive home before I realised I'd forgotten to take any post-run photos, but to be honest, I'd have struggled t

Another day, another pre-breakfast run. Hard to believe, but it happened. Today was the final day of our trip to Leeds and I was granted another pass out, which was most welcome. 🙂 This time, I decided to avoid having a ruinously steep hill near the end of the run and so just planned to run around the Hawksworth housing estates rather than dip down towards Kirkstall Abbey again. I briefly checked Google Maps to plan the exact route and then headed out. The idea was to head north till I hit the ominous sounding Butcher Hill, then take that road east as far as Spen Lane. From there, it would be south until I passed under the railway line and then west back up Vesper Road to the Airbnb. Everything went exactly to plan... until I got to Butcher Hill and saw fairly well worn but unofficial tracks leading into an area of scrub and trees. Curiosity piqued, I headed off into the wilderness instead of sticking to the road. I'd be rubbish in a horror film. This wooded area, whic

Well, 3k is better than 0k, at least. This morning, on a visit to see relatives in Leeds, I actually got a brief run in. Waking up with a bad head and a stiff back, I really didn't think it was on the cards, so tucked into a sugar-rich breakfast (holidays, innit!) only to be then be guilt-tripped by the wife into heading out as I'd planned the night before. 😂 In truth, I owe her one; I'm really glad she pushed me. Even if I felt pretty weak, it was a necessary step to get back running again. So, as the title of the post says, I ran around the ruins of Kirkstall Abbey. In fact, the first kilometre was entirely downhill or flat, on the way to the abbey. A 20-second breather later — crossing the busy road took a while — and I was in the abbey grounds, running past gloriously crowded carpets of crocus. The lap around the abbey felt like about 400m, with only a small amount of undulation, but it also felt hard . Whether that was down to declining fitness from recen

Hey ho. No parkrun or orienteering today. Life happens. 🤷

Finally! Like... FINALLY!  It's been 2 weeks since my last run (the orienteering wasn't really running; check my pace) and 3 weeks since my last pain-free run, but I eventually dared to go back out again today and... it was fine. 😅 To be fair, I would've tried a parkrun on Saturday, had it not been for a stinking cold descending on me the night before, and there were other lunchtimes at work where only my meeting schedule stopped me. Nonetheless, it was a massive relief to get back out today and for it to go without incident. The route I went for this time was meant to be one that just circled my office fairly closely, so that I could quit (in pain) at any moment and not have too far to hobble back. I also had only about 20 minutes to play with, so I couldn't go too far as it was. Normally, the thought of those restrictions keeping me in the traffic fumes would depress the hell out of me, but I didn't care today. And in the end, I ignored my plan anyway. Heading ou

Sigh. Another weekend without a parkrun. The hip remains crocked. Still, at least I got a bit of fresh air this morning with the elder daughter as we made our long-awaited orienteering comeback. The map for the yellow course at Prudhoe, marked with our finishing time of 24:37 Of course, you might notice the length of the course (indicated near the top of the bottom-left panel). Yeah, just 1.6km, or 1 mile. Not exactly a stretch for me, but the daughter deserves her moment too and everyone's got their own pace and capabilities, yeah? Of course, this being orienteering, there were also plenty of pauses in this to check the map and get bearings before setting off again. The final time of 24:37 (a 15:23/km pace) might sound slow, but this is a kids' course really. And that time was enough to put us fastest on the course . Winner, winner, chicken dinner. 😛 (Ignore the fact there was only one other runner  — the Weddle Family — on our course.) For me personally, it's always a bi

So, in my 2022 retrospective, I set a modest goal for 2023 of attending 5 new locations for parkrun. That's new for me, not new to the world btw. But where would those be locations be? As it stands, my NENDY (nearest event not done yet) is Windy Nook in... Jarrow? Hebburn? Somewhere like that. It's reputed to be a bit of a killer, with plenty of hills, but that's not why I've avoided it so far. The problem was the surface; it looked uneven. With my new trainers, however, I reckon that's much less of a concern. But the amount of mud there'll be at the moment is enough to make me wait for better weather. Photograph of Windy Nook by C Baldwin - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 [ link ] After that, we're looking at a good 30+ minute drive to get any other new parkrun. Which is kinda why I've decided to aim for only 5 new events in the year — I'm limiting what the rest of the family can do on a Saturday if I've got the car for too long. So anyway, the next nea

Yes, this is my first post and first run since last week's 6.45km midweek effort. Yes, that means I didn't make it to parkrun on Saturday; first one this year I've missed. The chief reasons were that I was on taxi duty for a playdate and that I had a bunch of other things to do to prep for a weekend away. But even if I'd not been doing those things, I doubt I would've made it to parkrun; the hip issue I'd felt on the long run was worse than I thought at the time. I was in a fair bit of pain and hobbling even just walking for the following couple of days. While it largely felt better by the Sunday evening, a combination of belting headaches and work commitments also prevented any running from Monday to Wednesday. So, to today. With the headaches gone, I set out for a short run whose main aim was simply to  get back out there and test the hip. Feeling bold in my Brooks trainers, I chose to run along the disused railway line near my house despite its stony sectio