Running On Empty

So, the end of my second year of running. Not really sure what to say beyond what I said at 3 months , 6 months and 9 months . Maybe just that while the final quarter of the year didn't quite go to plan, the rest of it has been a massive success. Lining up for the start of the Great North 10K in July 2023 First of all: I'm still running. That alone is worth shouting about. I still can't thank everyone who encouraged me during Couch to 5K in 2022 enough. You helped me establish a habit that is making a massive difference to both my physical and mental health. 🥰 As for my year's goals, I achieved nearly all of them. The 30 parkruns goal went right down to the wire, but in the end, I didn't manage it. I was ready to, but... on Saturday 30th December at 8am, I felt other things were more important to me. Here are the goals I originally set myself for the year anyway: ✖️ Attend 30 parkruns ✅ Attend 5 new parkrun locations ✅ Parkrun under 26 minutes ✅ Parkrun under 25 m...

Inevitably, when you tell someone you've done over 20 different parkrun locations, you get the question of which is your favourite. And it's something I've always struggled to answer, as I try to recall all of my experiences. It's often easier to say which I wouldn't hurry back to, but in this post, I'll pick out a few I have particularly enjoyed. Probably in no particular order, mind. Carlisle Park (Morpeth) Having lived not far from Morpeth for 10 years, I already liked the place, but my first two runs in Carlisle Park were just lovely, which gorgeous sunshine along the riverside that really lifted my spirits. The 3 climbs on the course also added a bit of variety and challenge to go with the flatter sections. Add to that the easy, free parking near the start and the proximity to the town centre and its cafés and Morpeth is often a great choice; it's my most common answer to the question of which is my favourite. But if I think a little longer...

One more down, one more to go (for the target of 30 in 2023). Squeaky bum time! 😬 Today was the parkrun closest to the winter solstice, which meant it was the one for which I had the best chance of seeing my first actual sunrise happen. Apparently, the sun would rise in Newcastle at 8:30am, which maybe meant it would be a minute earlier at the coast? I'm sure I could do the maths and work out exactly how much earlier but to be honest, I can't be bothered. Anyway, short story is I just missed it. The longer story includes the fact it was a bit too cloudy for a clear sunrise and — something I'd not accounted for — the sun was practically rising in the south (given the time of year), meaning I was pretty much looking towards Tynemouth rather than out to sea and so the skyline didn't help much. All of which is a rather long intro to this photograph: Looking past the parkrun start/finish area to the Spanish City, now adjoined by a Premier Inn The weather was a mix of good ...

Third run in five days today. It's been a while since that last happened. So yeah, today I opted to go for distance rather than speed and set off to find out what the far end of Dunston Staiths looks like — and hopefully to finally cross the River Team . Mission accomplished. ✅ The River Team looking a bit... silted and unappealing as it flows into the Tyne Overall, it was an 8.1km run, once again ending outside Greggs on the quayside — and this time I did take advantage of that (though the vegan festive baguette thing I got was rank). The distance reported by Google Fit is questionable, mind. The GPS trace looks as suspect as ever near the start, as I crossed the High Level Bridge out of sight of half the satellites in the sky. Before that though, I got the run off to a crazy start by running down Dean Street and then straight up Dog Leap Stairs . I must've been in a sudden grip of masochism, but it wasn't actually as hard as I was expecting. The worst thing was that not ...

Parkrun on Saturday followed by a lunchtime run on Monday? It's like old times. Mind, after over a year of writing up every run, I'm running out of things to say it ways to make it interesting, especially for the runs in Newcastle city centre. Pace of about 5:35/km on average. Today saw me head along towards Ouseburn for a bit of greenery. Will, it would be green if the trees had any leaves left on them. Passing St Ann's church, I took the bridge over the Ouseburn, passing Hotel du Vin, hooked a left opposite the road that leads to the Free Trade Inn , passed Brinkburn St Brewery and Kiln , up the hill to pass the Cumberland Arms then down into the head of the Ouseburn on the far side of the Byker Bridge. That climb up the hill half killed me and ensured that my 5K time was no great shakes. Reminded me of the shock and pain of Chopwell Wood. 😄 I'll get back there someday; maybe to do my 50th parkrun, seeing as I did my previous milestone run there. Anyway...

Yep, I'm still clinging onto the hope that I can make it to 30 parkruns for the year. Only now I'm also hoping to hit 10 new venues for the year; something I'd pretty much written off after missing a couple of good tourist opportunities on holiday. So today saw me head to Sunderland for my overall 21st venue and 9th new one of 2023. Cutting to the chase, I got a time of 27:27, which I'm more than happy with. I knew the course had a hill at the end, so I wasn't expecting a fast time. But 27 minutes still represents good progress over recent runs and is especially pleasing given it wasn't a flat course. Getting ready for the off at Silksworth, Sunderland The weather today was pretty decent for this time of year: 11°C and sunny, with just a bit of wind too cool things down. In hindsight, running in two layers wasn't necessary and as I approached the final kilometre, I had to take off my top layer and just carry it, which was annoying. But enough of ...

What's that? A midweek run? Have you lost your mind?! Yeah, so they're far too rare an occurrence these days, but hey, I actually got out of the office for a run at work today. The intent was to head to Exhibition Park , but I wandered off course — out of boredom — on the way past the Civic Centre . It was around about that time that I hit the 1K mark and got an unpleasant surprise as Google told me I'd taken 5:50 to get there. Even with a duff chest, that was far slower than I was happy with. Jesmond Metro (the above-ground bit, with its oft-missed art). Photo from Geograph . With a revised plan to head past Jesmond Metro and then along Clayton Road (past Willi's and the other cafes), I tried to up the pace a bit. The second kilometre was a much better 5:16 pace, but it was clear that turning back at Clayton Road was going to mean I might not actually do a full 5km, so I extended the run past the Newcastle School for Girls and up towards the shops by West Jesmond Metr...

Alternative post title: keeping the dream alive! Well, yep, I made it to parkrun, so there's still a chance I can get the Parkrun Obsessive achievement this year. I didn't get a great time, but given how long the first couple of kilometres took, I'm more than happy to say my time was under 30 minutes. 29:26, to be precise. It's over 3 minutes slower than my best at Rising Sun, but I don't mind too much; I'm out of practice and pretty chesty right now. I didn't take any photos this time, which is a shame, as I could've got some great shots of lakes where there was meant to be a path. Yeah, it was pretty wet. And Rising Sun being Rising Sun, that meant puddles and mud everywhere . As ever when I'm not expecting or going for a good time, I started right at the back. I particularly couldn't be bothered with the jockeying for position you get in the narrow first few hundred metres at this venue, and I figured my toe would thank me for taking it easy ...

So, with me not making it to parkrun last weekend (pretty much everywhere was snowed off), I've now got just 4 runs left in the year (not counting the unachievable Christmas Day run) to get in my remaining... 4 runs that I need to hit 30 for the year. Sudden death time! If I miss one run now, I miss the target overall. 😱 So, it's probably not great that I'm getting over a chesty cold right now and wheezing just walking around. But I'll still aim to hit a parkrun tomorrow and forget (once again) about the time I get. I'll probably also go for a fairly flat one; Blyth is flat and paved, while the closer Rising Sun run is flat and probably muddy. Town Moor is flat and stony. Any of these would probably do. Just need to make sure I go somewhere .

A week or so back, this popped into my inbox: "You were 7th in a time of 00:52:51 on the course '2' at the event 'Hexham Urban' organised by Newcastle and Tyneside Orienteers on Sunday 26 November 2023. You were 00:08:51 behind the winner. Your run scored 1017 ranking points. That is your best ranking score in the last 12 months." Actually, it's not so much my best ranking score in the last 12 months, it's my ONLY ranking score in the last 12 months. 😂 And I knew that because I checked before the event to see where I'd slumped to, only to find out that I wasn't ranked at all . My previous two ranking scores had expired, which was super disappointing. Never mind though. Let Sunday 26th November 2022 be the start of a year-long quest to gain a respectable position in the British Orienteering Federation's rankings . I'm under no illusion that it will require a bit of luck regarding my ability to even attend events, but let's go fo...