The first day of February saw CC and myself running to the start of parkrun at Wilverley Plain in the New Forest. CC had never done Brockenhurst parkrun before and I wanted to show her how nice the winter course is. The summer course is ok too, but just consists of three laps around the college field. The winter course however, is one lap of trails in the forest. I did warn CC that there were a couple of big hills in there, but nothing as bad as the one at Alice Holt we did last year.
There were a few road diversions and we turned up at the car park with very little time. That time was taken by trying to find a parking space. We parked in the car park furthest away and jogged across a field to try and make the start in time, but in the distance we could see the runners starting to disappear. We figured that we started about a minute late but not to worry. We did manage to catch up with the tail walker at the bottom of the first downhill.
It was hard work for CC with the run to the start but she battled on and it was still the beautiful course that I had remembered. The weather was also kind to us, albeit a little on the cold side. We got around ok and then decided to go to the Greenwood tree cafe in Lyndhurst, which is one of our favourites. Plenty of vegan options and great food and coffee.
A couple of days later and I was back to work. I received some good news about my four day week. It looks like it might be happening from the beginning of April. I am really looking forward to this. More running time, more climbing time, more friends time, more everything…
A while back we had a new starter in the warehouse at work. I had to work with him and show him how to do a few things. I was uncharacteristically nervous as he was a bit of a minor celebrity a few years back. We already have ex-Olympians at work but in fields like hockey that never really interested me. This was different. This guy was a footballer and he played for Southampton, the mighty Forest Green Rovers and many other teams including Trinidad and Tobago!
It took about a month before he really settled in and then I’d ask him questions about his football career and he’d always tell me great stories about playing at Forest Green and how dodgy it was playing in Costa Rica etc... He is a really nice guy and we’re always messing around and having a laugh. Nice to have him on our team.
Anyway, a week later I would return to Bartley parkrun for another four laps. I ran there and met CC who cheered me and others on. I really struggled with a time of 20.39 and CC said it showed. I felt heavy and unfit. I couldn’t control my breathing or relax into a pace. It felt like I had too much tummy fat to store my intake of oxygen, if that makes sense? I really must sort that healthy eating thing out in March.
The next day I did a fourteen miler from CC’s and it felt pretty good. My mileage was starting to creep up. Just a well as I had entered a seven hour timed event for March.
I had booked off Valentine’s day on the Friday, along with the following Monday. CC did the same and off we went to Cardiff via the train. As soon as we got off said train, it started to rain. Croeso I Cyrmu!
I told CC the itinerary and she and her mum had a good laugh when I said I had squeezed a half marathon in there. “He’s not taking you on a romantic weekend away, he’s doing a race”. My cover had been blown!
I booked a table for two at Luna’s Vegan corner in Roath. I’m so glad I did. The food was incredible. We had sharing platters with lots of different flavours and tastes while I drank turmeric coffees. After a long debate about “Croquettes”, we ate, and ate, and ate.
Nearly two hours had flown by. I would highly recommend this place and look forward to trying one of their roast dinners one day.
The next day we woke early. It was dark and raining. It was time to head off to Gnoll parkrun. I was the report writer, so I’ll add the article in here to save me telling you about it again here:
We woke up in a Cardiff hotel at 6.15am to the sound and sight of pouring rain. It looked rather gloomy
out of the window. What are we doing? I thought, as we got up and got ready for the rainy walk to the railway station.
I had somehow talked my girlfriend Clare into doing Gnoll parkrun with me. I had told her that it was in my top 5 of all time parkruns out of the 103 different locations that I had visited. I was telling the truth too despite not having done it since April 2019. Would it be as good as I had remembered? It was a nice, sunny, calm day then as well!
We got the train to Neath, which got us there at 8.19. We made the 1.4 mile journey to Gnoll country park via Google maps. We made it there with 5 minutes to spare. We spoke to a few friendly marshals and put our rucksacks by the temporary cafe.
Due to the work going on with the building and development of the new cafe/centre, the course would be different than the one I did in 2019.
The rain had died down and the conditions were actually quite good for running in the end.
Sadly we missed the first timers briefing but listened to the run director explaining the course and the rules of parkrun. "Around the ruins twice and up the hill once" was kind of chanted into a mantra.
3-2-1 and we were off. I stupidly made the mistake of wearing road shoes today. We ran down a muddy path towards a lake. We ran alongside the lake where the ducks seemed to be enjoying themselves. We then took a right, up a slight climb to the ruins. There were lovely views with an archway and lots of greenery.
A few muddy turns and we were soon back out to the main path by the lake and heading back to the start. We went around a cone to start our second loop of the ruins. Not only were the marshals very supportive and cheery, the runners running in the opposite direction were also smiling and shouting "Well dones".
I really enjoyed the fact that there were only 73 runners today too. It wasn't long before the lead runner and many others came flying past us. Some of them gave us encouragement too. I knew then, that I had made the right decision to return to this parkrun and drag my girlfriend along for the experience.
After the second loop of the ruins, we went around the other side of the lake and over a wooden bridge where we were cheered on by another marshal. A few of the marshals had mentioned "the hill". My girlfriend was not looking forward to this but I was, as I knew we got to run back down it and into the finish.
This parkrun has it all! A beautiful lake, ancient woodland, old ruins, a stream, bridges and a hill. This visit has cemented Gnoll as definitely in my top 5 of favourite parkrun locations.
I look forward to the cafe/centre being completed later in the year. Clare and myself had a good chat with many of the volunteers and were happy as vegans that the temporary cafe even had oat milk for our coffees. Thank you for a wonderful event. Dean Jones.
(CC and the world's biggest lovespoon)
We then caught the train to Swansea to see one of CC’s sons who is at uni there. Then we had to catch a bus to Llanelli and stayed in a place called “Furnace” which was weird because it was bloody freezing. I had booked a four star hotel called “Stradley park hotel”. It was quite cheap, so I wasn’t expecting much to be honest. Anyways, it turned out to be a wonderful place. The vegan options were limited but the staff and chef went out of their way to accommodate us. We had a lovely soup each, which I usually won’t bother with and a very tasty vegan curry. Curry before a race you say? Hmmm…
That night I had a very sore throat and it hurt to swallow. I was sneezing a bit too and was all snotty. That’s right, I had picked up a cold before race day. Great! I wasn’t expecting much from the Llanelli half. CC and I had covered a lot of miles on foot over the last couple of days. I was carrying a bit of fat and hadn’t really done any speedwork this year. My focus had been on mileage. I told myself that I would try and aim for a sub Ninety without putting any pressure on myself. 6.50 pace per mile?
I was hoping to see my cousin Selina here as we had both done this race Ten years ago. Doesn’t time fly! She had to pull out because of shin splints though sadly.
(Me outside Gareth Bale's pub, right next to Geraint Thomas' gold postbox)
We didn’t start at Parc Y Scarlets anymore by the looks of it. Straight onto the freezing cold coast. The start was delayed by around ten minutes. I was thinking about pulling out right there and then. I didn’t have any feeling in my hands, they were both numb with the cold weather. It turns out that someone had broken into the van and stolen all the bottles of water for the first water station at mile three. In the meantime they were trying to get some of the bottles from other stations to take to mile three.
We got going in the end and obviously, I went out too quickly. There was some headwind and my hands were still numb, so I was just trying to get warm really. I got chatting to a few people on the course including a guy with some noisy Hokas on his feet. He said he’d never worn them before and was just trying them out. I heard a runner behind us enquire “How can they be casually chatting at this pace?”. Just then I felt my watch vibrate. 6.25 for the mile. She was right but I felt relaxed and in control. Maybe I would pay for it later?
(Can you see me?)I had this girl sitting on my shoulder for a couple of miles. She was evidently using me as a wind shield! “Cheeky bitch” I thought. I got chatting to her and she was actually really nice. She hadn’t done a half for three years and was aiming for a sub ninety too. It would be a pb for her though. When we turned around the wind abated but a new situation arose. We were now running through a muddy nature reserve and my Pro 3’s were sliding all over the place. Although the headwind was no more, Beth said we would get it again for the last 4k to the finish. Beth was the girl I had been talking to. I didn’t need to ask her her name as she seemed quite popular with the crowds as people called her name out. We had just passed 10k in a little over 40 minutes. Not far off my pb pace for the half. I was still enjoying myself though. We had one dude running with us who knew Beth and his breathing was laboured. I told him to take a few slow, deep breaths through his nose and try and get more oxygen in. I told him that I didn’t mean to come across as condescending but he said “Not at all, thank you”. “Sometimes you just forget don’t you?”. Do you? I thought..lol.
I had a bit of trouble keeping up with Beth now and I was no longer chatting. It was mile nine and I was still flying though but with a lot more effort and focus now. It was time to “dig in” and get it done. I saw CC cheering me on which is always a massive boost.
At around ten miles, I passed this guy who looked a bit older than me. “Please don’t tell me you’re a V35” I said jokingly as I ran past him. “V70 actually” he said. “I wish I had your long legs” he added. I couldn’t let him beat me and pushed on to the next turnaround point around 10.5 miles. Now the wind was brutal and wouldn’t let up for the final 4k. Beth was right. My legs felt like they were stuck in mud. Was I actually still running? I just about managed to catch up with Beth and pass her. My last two miles were the slowest but I was surprised to get 1hr 25mins and 24secs and 2nd V50.
After the race, Beth and I connected on strava and it turns out that she is a GB Triathlete. I felt for CC standing around in that bitterly cold wind and cheering on the runners. Who says Romance is dead?
Thank you CC, I am forever grateful for all your love and support. Xx
The weird thing is that I had no sciatic nerve pain during the race. It did return on the coach journey back to Swansea though and on the train journey to Bradford-on-Avon, where I had booked us a shepherd’s hut called “The Wardrobe”. Interesting! It was a nice way to break up the journey home back to Southampton and the following day we took a leisurely stroll on the canal paths. What an eventful weekend. I would need to go back to work for the rest.
The last Saturday of Feb, I had a good catch up on a 20 mile loop with my friend Helen. We ran at a pretty good pace too and chatted the miles away. She needs the mileage for Manchester marathon and I for the seven hour timed event in March if I can be bothered to get up at 5am and endure the buses and trains that get me there.
Not much else to say except that I hope to improve my eating habits, sleeping and fitness. More daylight next month and its getting warmer. I sure have done a lot of eating and reading of books this month. And of course I got the best and most thoughtful Valentine's day present from CC. Two photo albums of our time together. So many wonderful memories <3 xx
Thanks for reading. Deano. xx
Here was our food from Luna's Vegan corner:
