All parkruns great and small

Well where the last post finished was about as good as it got for the running week. Wednesday started off with the usual two mile runch which surprisingly was quicker than the day before! As ever, it was just as bloody warm which then justified to myself that two miles is better than none (and a good reason why I didn't do three!) Actually, two miles isn't a bad distance as it is nearer to 2.5 miles given that it is school holidays so the undercliff resembles a mini obstacle course as you avoid pushchairs, mini cyclists and mini athletes of all shapes and sizes! Well, it stops your mind wandering I suppose (if not your legs!)

For one reason or another that was my only run for the day. There was an "attempt" later on, but it was such an epic fail (let's face it, I've taken longer trips to go to the toilet) that we should really just stop there. Then, there is this thing called "life" that gets in the way and strips away your enthusiasm to get off your arse (no matter how large it is) and get out there. Before you know it, you blink and realise that it's the end of the week.

With it being Pride weekend in Brighton, Preston Park and Hove Prom parkruns were cancelled as they are pretty important areas of the parade. Reading everyone's tweets and statues over the weekend it seems that Britney Spears was upstaged by someone called #Britneybitch? Anyway, I hope she had a nice time! So Saturday morning I headed to the "Roller Coaster", otherwise known as Clair parkrun and trust me, it deserves it's name. A lovely event that only saw approx 130 runners around the 4 1/2 lap course, and I trotted round enjoying chats with various folk, trying to take my mind off the hills. It was another warm one and I glanced at my watch seeing a time of about 28 minutes and being fine with it...and then I realised my PB there is 24:02 - which is a time very much in my past! Anyone got a TARDIS so I can go back and find those times?

Sunday I was back in Haywards Heath, this time at the junior parkrun helping out as 50 kids sprinted round Victoria Park. Another hot one and this meant that yours truly spent most of Sunday lounging around, eating, then lounging, then more eating and this cycle repeated. Then out of the blue, a message from Frances to ask if I fancied a run? I had a belly full of Tesco pizza, diet coke and a little bit of salad (it's all about the salad). Thank goodness I said yes! So, Sunday evening we set off round Hove Park, doing a freedom run (Jeez if you don't know what that is, Google it and put parkrun in the search criteria too). Naturally as I was there, the pace was slow but it was good to be off aforementioned arse (which seems to be getting bigger by the hour) and just enjoying a run. No worries about the pace, the weather or the distance! In fact we chatted so much I missed the last uphill section of the park and then had a bit left for a sprint to the line! A top way to end the weekend but importantly, some sort of foundation for the coming week.

Monday saw a swap around of coaching rota saw me take the session at track, so I headed out at lunch for the now traditional runch. Yes it was bloody hot and I was surprised at how dreadful I looked at the end. Mark asked me if it was raining outside to which I replied that I'd taken a short cut through a car wash! At track that night, Lucy was down and suggested a run the following lunchtime! Great, someone to come with me and therefore no excuse to say no as I don't like letting people down. So off we went, and as the clouds drew in above, we started a 5km. As we turned, there was an unfamiliar sensation....and then it came...RAIN!! Thirty seconds of absolute bliss as huge blobs (that's a meterological expression by the way) hit the south coast and at that moment, I, for the first time in ages, felt at peace with my run. Sound over the top? Maybe! Well tough luck! It's my bloody blog! The last mile was nothing special but it was a good pace, and I was out of the office, the arse was moving and so were the legs. The theraputic effects of running came out in that last mile, and for the first time in ages, I'm looking forward to the next run!

Wednesday saw GoodGym for me and I got my 5km in early doors on the way to see Fletch. The weather was changing and whilst it was still warm, there was a bit of a headwind to deal with. I'd take that every day though instead of the raw heat we've had recently! I really enjoyed the run as I had what can only be described as a "f**k it" moment. All I wanted to do was just move my legs and get the run done, and as I said on Twitter later, balls to the pace. Recently, everything in life seems to be a race of some kind. We just need the same "race" mentality which for me is to get across the line. The Prom was naturally busy again and it was lovely to see some familiar faces out there like Magda, Jane & Jonathan. As I neared the end of the run, I saw Mark O'Gara coming the other way - he was out on a leisurely nine miler and I looked like I'd done nine miles. We stopped for a few moments and it was so uplifting to hear a few encouraging words from a clubmate. Arena 80 have a lot of good runners and everyone shouts out for everyone else, so whilst this is pretty much the norm, it isn't any less appreciated.

Thursday saw me get on the bike for the first time in a while! Yes, there was dust on it which was soon lost by the flipping big head wind on the ride home. Nevertheless, it was still good to be back on the bike and I fully intend to use it more often (bugger, maybe I should delete that bit just in case I don't? Ah well, no one will notice this bit!)

Saturday saw a return to Worthing parkrun and once again, it was warm and sunny! Honestly, it's almost like I'm some sort of parkrun weather fairy where Worthing is concerned. As usual with my current state of "running" I had no idea what pace or sort of run I was going to do. Val and I discussed the merits of a 26 minute parkrun...shortly before she disappeared into the distance. As I negotiated the busy start (well, there were 449 other runners!), I looked to simply get the legs going and see what happened. For a moment, literally just a moment, I didn't want to be there. I didn't want to run and I didn't really know what I wanted to do. It was a very strange sensation...particularly as this was the first day of my sixth year as a parkrunner! I let myself be carried along with the rest of the runners as I glanced at the watch - 8:05/mile pace. Then, a decision, nothing flash or clever, but I just decided to see how long I could maintain this. The runches had been about this pace but they were only two miles. Having said that, there were solo runs and I'm bloody awful on those! So, let's see if I can keep the pace. After the first mile and a bit (if we're going to be technical about it), the pace was still there. The returning runners were nearer the turning point that in recent runs which was strange, but it was good to see some familiar faces with Paul buggy running annoyingly quick (I remarked later that next time they should have twins to slow him down), Emily P, AKA the Protomeister powering along & Ed (who later reminded me that Ragnar isn't too far away), all heading for home. As I turned at the cone, I glanced at the watch - 7:40/mile. "Well that's a mistake" I told myself, putting it down to the fact that I'd recently turned and the signal had got confused. Well, if the Garmin was confused, it remained so for the rest of the run and I was able to keep the pace steady within a few seconds. There were no new goals and it was all about keeping it steady as there was no real desire to kick on (so I don't actually know if I would be able to), but afterwards I realised that I ran my quickest time since November 11th at a parkrun!

So ideally, this is the start of things to come? Well, maybe, but having a little bit of confidence to know something is in there is a start....but as I always say, that's another story....