I didn’t go to parkrun this morning – just did a streak saver mile. I think this was probably for the best as I felt a little more tired than usual out on my short run. I’ll be doing a bit of walking later so will still be able to stretch my legs a bit today.
Edinburgh Marathon info packs arrived by email this morning. Cut-off is a little closer to the wire than I’d like given what’s been going on recently, but I’ve got my strategy. Finding it hard to believe it’s so close now!
I’ve not been good at weekending recently. I don’t do day job work on the weekends (unless a client has an urgent job for which they’re willing to pay express rate), but over the last couple of months I have been working on my games at weekends, which means I’ve not really been giving my brain a break. I hit all my game-making goals this week and am well on target, so I’m taking a break from that over the weekend. I’m quite looking forward to some downtime.
I’m in two minds about parkrunning tomorrow. Geth is having a week off from volunteering so if I did go, it’d just be me. It might be nice to have a Saturday lie-in for once. I’ll make a decision about that tomorrow morning.
Then I’ve got an actual concert in the evening! First of the year (but not the last as I have several originally-2020 gigs coming up this summer). Again, it’s just me as Geth chose not to come to this one, but I’m looking forward to it – it’ll be great to tick Paul Young off my Band Aid Baby bucket list (which I still need to update following a Duran Duran gig last year) and I enjoyed Go West last time I saw them.
Sunday will be really quiet and thus brilliant in a different way.
Last finisher (save the tailwalker) at parkrun for the second week in a row… but this time I finished in 41:06. Not typical for the usual last finisher time at Jesmond Dene! I wonder where all the slower-than-me runners have been for the last couple of weeks…
I still had a bit of a stiff hip, but I felt much better than last week (hence the five-minute difference). I’d been unsure about even going last night because I was so tired after a long week, but I’m glad I did go. I always feel better afterwards.
(It was touch and go whether I would make parkrun today, but there’s been a 48-hour extension to the deadline for the game competition I’m entering, so I’ve got a bit of breathing room to finish my game!)
A fairly slow one around Jesmond Dene this morning as my hip was still stiff after my 14-miler on Thursday. I took 46-ish minutes (slow even for me nowadays) and was surprised to find myself accompanied by the tailwalker, as it was a fast field today (the tail usually comes in closer to 55 minutes at Jesmond Dene). It’s been a very long time since I was last at parkrun!
Hoping to be a bit quicker again next week.
Back to Jesmond Dene this morning as expected. I had planned to run but decided yesterday I would volunteer instead due to my back flare-up. This turned out to be well-timed as the team were in need of barcode scanners this week!
Geth was marshalling so finished a lot earlier and headed home, and I was planning to run home if my spine played ball. After an hour of standing and scanning I had stiffened up a bit, but a good hike up the hill out of the Dene loosened everything up and I was able to have a really good run home. Keeping my fingers crossed that improvement will continue this next week.
A weekend visit to the in-laws also means a visit to Pendle parkrun, which as a two-lapper feels a lot more compact than Jesmond Dene but is probably fairly similar in terms of elevation. As I’m still letting my leg recover at the moment, I didn’t push it, and so I was very surprised to end up with a course PB. That’s given me a bit more confidence for getting back into training!
No picture today. I did take one but it’s awful!
Back to my regular adventures at Jesmond Dene next week.
It was really nice to be back running parkrun, if gently. I took some scheduled walk breaks and didn’t bomb it down the downhill at the end (I actually walked some of the steeper sections of the finish straight as I was a bit nervous about doing more damage!). Running outside is quite a bit tougher on the legs than the treadmill, especially a hilly parkrun course like Jesmond Dene, but it’s all helping to pinpoint the areas I need to strengthen and protect. I went home and did my full rehab strength training session, which I normally skip after parkrun.
Same again next week I hope.
Another week of being off injured, another week of marshalling. Bit of a difference in temperature between this week and last! From an almost-summery feel to a risk of being called off for ice… It did go ahead, though, unlike a few others in the area.
I may well be volunteering again next week, depending on what the physio says on Thursday. We’ll see!
It’s my first race of the year tomorrow (hope the knee holds up!) and so I was volunteering again today, doubling in two marshal spots (moving from one to the other after the tail had gone past) that I hadn’t done before. I’ve run the course many times but never realised how beautiful that bit of the Dene is! Not something you think about when you’re trying to run round a hairpin bend down a steep slope, I suppose.
I’m excited about running it again next week, hopefully with my new race t-shirt on!