Back back back....to back half marathons

I've been remiss with my entry into the world of blogging - oh well, real life invades.

A couple of weeks ago I took on my own multi day marathon, running the Maverick Original Kent 21k on the Saturday, followed by the second Beckenham Half Marathon on the Sunday.

We all headed down to Groombridge, where Kent meets Sussex, at 730 on Saturday morning. Nice easy journey, parked up and signed up.

http://maverick-race.com/event/the-original-kent-2/

Everything was nice and easy, there was a decent amount of runners, including plenty with dogs! There was a 7, 14 and 21k course - each looked rolling rather than hilly, and the weather was pretty good.

And as a special treat my dear mother treated me to a smart new Ciele cap for my Birthday. I always like to run with something on my head to mop up the sweat, and had been using visors. However I have a tendency to saturate them (sorry!) and steam up my sunglasses so I fancied giving something else a try!

After our briefing the gun went and the 21kers turned left and trotted out along the road and up the hill, where we had our first pinch point as we all ascended in single file. Wasn't the fastest first mile (11.56) but at least I didn't head off too quickly! I soon got into my running as the course opened up, clocking up 2-4 around 9.30 each.

It was a great course, a bit of climb, some open areas, runs through the woods (my favourite) and some interesting rock formations!

I slowed down a bit in the second half - probably because I had half a mind on the Sunday, that I was in a nice comfortable zone, and I was enjoying the scenery!

The last mile was a bit of a slog, but I got there in the end and clocked 2:14, which I was happy(ish) with...

All in all a great event, get to a Maverick race if you can - well organised, good atmosphere and excellent marshalling! Then I swing around on some swings and climbed around in the woods at Groombridge Place.

Sunday was the 2nd Beckenham Half Marathon, in aid of Action Against Cancer. It started from my rugby club and was run by club members/associates - Cheryl did a great job, and 400 runners lined up, double the number in the inaugural 2015 event. 

There were a few people I knew running, and lots of club members involved. We set off with a couple of laps of the rugby pitches, with all the mini rugby players lined up offering encouragement and high fives, then set out onto the roads. 

It was a bit strange being involved in a race where I train. I'm not sure knowing every hill was a good or bad thing! 

It was great to see a few friendly faces out on the course, with all my family there in one spot or another. I really wanted to dip under 2 hours, but started to feel my legs pretty early on, and gave up on that about half way, and just settled down and aimed for the finish! The last 5 miles were just taken easy and stuck in a bit of a "sprint" in the last mile - got over the line in 2:06. 

I did learn that my trusty Lunarglide 7s are knackered - got some lovely Asics Nimbus 18s on the way to break in....

Have a go next year...http://beckenhamhalfmarathon.org.uk

A great weekend - would have liked to have gone a bit faster but had plenty of miles in my legs over the week before. I've got the Henley half on the 9th Oct and I WILL go sub 2!!

New Parkrun PB!

Chalked up a new PB on Saturday - the clock said 23:19, but my watch had me at 22:42, beating my previous record by 39 seconds. I'm going with the watch!

I was pretty pleased as it was pretty hot and there was a strong wind down the long back straight - the marathon speed work is paying off!

Running with loads of other people? NO WAY!

So what was next?

I had conquered my Everest, I'd run a 5k. Did I have the bug? I'm not sure but we persevered.

I had vaguely known about Parkrun. Miranda had done a few. But running with 500 other people? I liked running first thing in the morning - far fewer people will see you then right? And I'm not sure what I was doing even counted as running...

Our nearest Parkrun was Norman Park in Bromley,  a large open park with an athletics track inside.

On the 9th May 2015, I took the plunge, and got round in a lumbering 36:21. Sadly this has not been recorded for the ages as I didn't have a barcode.

So - my official assault on the local record of 14:36 began. The next week I had by barcode and ran. Well - kind of....34:33. An improvement.

I carried on plodding along on an almost weekly basis - and despite getting a bit quicker (31:41) by September - it wasn't spectacular. But I was ready for more...and entered my first 10k in November - more to follow!

However, I love Parkrun. There were friends there, my wife ran every week, my kids did it sometimes. The atmosphere and support are great - it has a real community feel...

I build Parkruns into my training programme, I volunteer, I love visiting other venues, and am involved in setting up a new one. It's been a huge part of my motivation and has done a great deal to keep my enthusiasm going.

Anyhow - here's me on the day of my first official Parkrun, finishing a school fun run in the afternoon - things have changed!

What's the point?

So - I'm writing a blog. It's mainly for me rather than anything else, to reflect, keep track, as a record, who knows? So if it's read, great, but if not I'll survive!

As a kid I played lots of sport, rugby was my main thing, but I'd give most things a go. Except running. It was a necessary evil of course, but I didn't like it.

I'd hide during cross country, and can't really remember every popping on my trainers and heading out on my own.

I stopped playing rugby for a while at Uni, picked it up a social level in my later 20s for a bit, I enjoyed it, but it was more for the beers than anything else. I always played cricket, but the way it do it isn't very energetic...

After the usual period of kids and work and all other things that I can use as an excuse, I was a mess, weighing in at 22 stone (plus maybe, I never wanted to check!).

Something had to be done. I started the Couch to 5k in April 2015 with my wife. God that was hard!

I can distinctly remember how much I wanted those 2 minute run splits to end!

But I kept going and ran my first 5k on the 23rd April 2015. Hurray!