Running On Empty

Since last Monday's lunchtime run, it's been a bit uneven in terms of my running. And it's probably not worthy of much discussion, so here's a bullet list: Didn't quite make it 3 Friday mornings in a row that I ran into work, but this time it was only because I was late leaving the house (8:20am) and I had a unusually early meeting to attend. So, while it saved me only about 7 minutes in the end, I caught the bus for the first 3 kilometres of my run into work. Ended up doing about 4.6km in a smidge under 25 minutes, with Matthew Bank thrown in. Saturday saw me miss parkrun out of choice for the first time in a couple of months. Partly down to the prospect of running in the heat, but mainly down to us having other things to do as a family. That afternoon, however, I did jog alongside the kids for a gentle 3K as they rode their bikes around a local loop. And later that evening, I did almost 6km in 31 minutes as the sun went down. So, plenty of action still. Sunday sa...

Had a slightly more relaxed day at work today (after last week's progress reviews), including a lunchtime without meetings, so went out for a run. Was caught completely by surprise by the fact it was warm and sunny outside — at the same time! And boy did I sweat. 🥵 Actually, I was suffering as soon as I started. I really wasn't full of bounce today, puffing and panting right from the start, even though I was taking it easy. My route took me up to Leazes Park via the back entrance on Barrack Road, aiming to spend a bit of time among greenery. After getting there and then doing a single lap of the parkrun course, however, I realised that that alone would see me hit almost 5K if I returned to the office there and then. More pressingly, I was already really struggling with the heat and decided I needed to stop doing uphill sections or I'd collapse! Well, I was getting a headache anyway. One little loop, one big loop. Not the fastest ever, but that's fine. So I ducked back ...

Another Saturday, another attempt to tick off one of the 27-minute-plus venues on my parkrun list. I'd had 3 previous goes at the Gateshead run and it feels slightly surprising that all 3 of them had been over 27 minutes. It doesn't feel like it should be that hard a parkrun... until you're doing it. And then the run up the slope from the lake kills you on all 3 of the laps you do it. Well, make that all 4 laps, as you do the climb up from the lake on the opposite-direction first of four laps too. Yeah, it's an unusual lap setup here. Saltwell Towers in the rain; pity the parkrun course doesn't go around this place On my previous visits, my times had been: 27:28 on 17 Sep 2022 27:11 on 14 Jan 2023 27:01 on 11 Mar 2023 So, clear if somewhat slow improvement. And today? 26:21. 🥳 It probably helped that, in hindsight, I started a little closer to the front than my times merited, though it wasn't like I was swamped . I did overtake a good number of people too. ...

Another run into work on the morning after a games night, but this time a slightly different route. Call me weak if you will, but I chose to avoid the slog of Matthew Bank today, heading up past South Gosforth metro station from Haddrick's Mill instead. Don't get me wrong, that's still an uphill section, but at least it was a different uphill and probably not as severe or prolonged as Matthew Bank. The difference to the usual route was between the 3km and 5km marks In terms of length, it was allegedly very slightly longer than the usual route, but by the time I arrived at the office, the difference was well within Google Fit's margin of error for the usual route. And the pace? A total time of 42:37 for 7.75km averaged out at 5:30/km. Slower than both last week's Pret run (5:21/km) and the run to work before that (5:18/km), but so be it. There were times on the run today where I knew I must be going more slowly than usual as I wasn't even having to manage the ...

Now that I've semi-committed myself to aiming for the "every local parkrun under 27 minutes" goal, it was time to return to one of the 5 local venues where I've yet to do that. And Windy Nook had my slowest time of the lot, at 27:48. The start line at Windy Nook, which was looking lovely today When I'd registered that time, I was delighted with it, as I'd heard Windy Nook was possibly the toughest course in the area. I'd been expecting a time worse than my 28½ minutes at Jesmond Dene. I also came away thinking the course wasn't as hilly as reputed. In hindsight, I probably went into today's run a bit complacent as a result. And I found it HARD today. 🥵 Way more gradients than I'd remembered. Even the bits I'd remembered as roughly flat were uphill; it's just that they led to steeper sections. Google Fit's usual poor choice of Y axis scaling fails to show off the hills here 👀 I probably didn't help myse...

Yep, mad as it seems (to me), I ran to work a second time in the same week. The opportunity was there again so I took it on the basis of "you can never guarantee you'll make it to parkrun, so run whenever you can". I'll admit, I was hoping I'd be even quicker than earlier in the week, and while it got off to a good start (not having to wait to cross the dual carriageway), I couldn't keep the pace this time. I was carrying a few clothes in a tiny kids' rucksack this time, but I doubt that made the difference. My morning office; I'm practically part of the furniture in this place. "White filter?" Anyway, by the time I got to the Civic Centre, I'd had enough. Using the excuse that I probably couldn't get into work yet (the key cards weren't working), I stopped short and ducked into Pret. I'd done just over 7km, according to Google Fit, in a time of 37:44. Not bad, but not my best pace. Fingers crossed for a parkrun t...

Following on from my post about disillusionment with running , it's struck me that parkrunning has, historically, proven to be a greater motivator for me than orienteering. And, as such, perhaps my switch to focusing on orienteering for 2024 was a mis-step. Sure, the degree to which I obsessed about attending as many parkruns as possible last year was probably quite unhealthy. But at the same time, the weekly races (against the clock) were truly motivational and provided a goal in themselves. Photo shamelessly stolen from the Australian parkrun site . Even if hitting 30 or more parkruns in a year is no longer a goal, there are still targets I feel I can set myself. I'm not that interested in getting an overall PB any more because that run at Blyth was genuinely no fun, but what can I go for? Goal 1 : everywhere* under 27 minutes.  After amazing myself by getting under 27 minutes at Jesmond Dene, it struck me that if I can do it there, I might be able to do it anywhere. That ...

Earlier today, I updated my running calendar in Figma and looked back over the past few weeks. Turns out that in the last 7 weeks, I've run only 7 times. Considering one of my goals for the tail end of 2023 was to get back to running on average 3 times a week, running just once a week recently means my frequency has decreased by a whopping 67%. And they've not even been long runs. That's pretty alarming and represents a real threat to my continuation of this 'hobby'. 😬 Google Maps backs up the claim I've barely done any running lately; red bars are injury months So what changed? I suspect it's a couple of things. First, work has been stressful. Mostly, I've piled the pressure on myself with poor time management and my inability to turn away requests for help (which then contributes to my poor time management). The feeling that "I really need to get on with this" has definitely made me less able to go for a run at lunchtime. Secondly, I becam...

After Saturday's let-down at the Rising Sun parkrun, I took the opportunity to run into the office today. Having dropped off a set of clothes and my work stuff last night, all I had to run with today was my phone, my keycard and my house key. I mean, I didn't really want a longer run, but I don't think I'll get much time this week for lunchtime runs, so a morning run it was. Photo of Gosforth Nature Reserve courtesy of Cain Scrimgeour . Saw a deer today. 🙂 And sure enough, when I first left the house, I repeatedly questioned whether I was doing the right thing. I'm really not a morning person and here I was, running at 7:10am. And almost straight away, despite the hour, I had to wait what felt like an age (about 20–30 seconds) to cross a road. Who are these people going to work so early?! From there on, however, it was almost uninterrupted running. Despite the wait, the first kilometre passed by in a surprising 5:42. Second kilometre was better at 5:20 and then t...