Spring had arrived and along came more daylight and less rain. The head torch, put back in the cupboard. I’d even done a few runs without my jacket, hat and gloves! My mood was improving too. It felt like a long, hard winter despite it not really being a cold one. Way too many wet dark mornings and nights.
I managed to get a lift with Toni and Kev. It was really nice to see so many friendly faces, including my friend Helen who had already run 10 miles to the race! This will probably be my last Hampshire league race for a while and probably my last for Lordshill Road Runners as I have no intention of renewing my membership. I will be repping the Vegan Running Club vest full time :)
The pace felt ok. Even after 10 miles when I am usually suffering on this course, it wasn’t as bad as times past. Saying that, I wasn’t on for a course PB either of 84 minutes. The final field (same as the start) was very boggy and I tried to navigate the best way to the finish line but seemed to pick out the deepest pools of mud and water to the amusement of two spectators. I was happy enough with my time of 87.15 with my current fitness. I knew I wasn’t in the best shape, so couldn’t really expect much more. It was a great day over all and I really enjoyed racing.
Almost a week later, I was getting another lift with Toni and Kev. This time to Fordingbridge rec parkrun. It was the only Hampshire parkrun I hadn’t completed. I was hoping for nearer 18.30 as part of my 10k training but ended up scrapping a sub 19 with 18.54. Maybe not the quickest course but I was expecting a quicker time all the same. P10 for me. It was nice to see Neil Sexton from the Vegan running club too who ran an 18.20.
P1 who ran sub 17 was also a Vegan, so I gave him one of my Vegan running club cards. Hopefully he’ll join us ;)
I actually found the course quite mentally challenging for a 3 lapper. It was not inspiring to me all at. I found the course quite dull despite people saying it was a nice course. The marshals were brilliant and very encouraging though. Thank you :)
I finished the parkrun with a tight hamstring/glute and had acquired a limp now. I was hoping to jog it off as Toni and Kev dropped be off at Woodlands, near Ashurst. I jogged a lovely 10k back but there was a pain in my glute still which was a bit uncomfortable. This glute and hamstring pain would go on to trouble me for the remainder of the month. It seems to restrict my natural running form and flow. It feels more like Sciatic nerve pain but we’ll see what happens. I may take a couple of weeks off running in April.
I’ve been clearing out some stuff in my room and preparing to move house. I sent some of my favourite books to my friend Kerry in Wales who runs an Airbnb called “The reading Room”. You should check it out. It looks stunning. I’ve been meaning to stay there but haven’t gotten around to it yet. I did try cycling there once but got as far as Pontypridd after 3 days and decided to turn back as the heatwave and tempetures were zapping all my energy. Excuses eh? Oh yeah, it is Vegan too <3
I only had two Wednesdays left (free) before I go back to work full-time. I have really been enjoying a year of 4 day weeks but I will need more money to pay the mortgage I suppose. Adult stuff!
It was a good chance to catch up with my old mate Damo.
He suggested we do a circular walk from Brockenhurst. I met him at the train station just before 9am, where we got the train to Brockenhurst. We then discovered that we had downloaded two different maps. Mine was a 10k loop, his was a 10 mile loop. I was pretty pleased that I managed download a gpx file to my watch but nevermind. The loop went circular to Lyndhurst and back. We went clockwise and the route was quite easy to navigate. We saw plenty of New Forest Ponies and Brimstones. We had lunch at the Greenwood tree cafe where I am pretty regular. I love their “Scrambled chickpeas” but they told me that their supplier had folded and were having a hard time sourcing anymore. They have tried to replicate it but said that they couldn’t quite get it right. Such a shame. They still had enough for my Vegan breakfast that day though :)
While we were there, we bumped into my old friend Rich. Now Rich is slightly crazy but there isn’t much, if anything that he doesn’t know about the New Forest. I believe he was once on a T.V program being questioned by Bill Bailey. He asked us if we wanted to see some Adders. We said yes and after eating, off we went. We walked past Bolton’s bench and back into the inclosure. It wasn’t too long before he pointed out a Black Adder to us. I tried to take a photo but somehow messed it up as I couldn’t see what I was photographing with the bright sunshine beaming down on my phone. Anyway, he also showed us a route that we didn’t know and along the way found two song thrush nests and a long tailed-tit nest. There were more Brimstones and we also saw a few Peacocks and a Comma. The butterflies were loving the sunshine. I still had my coat on though as it still felt cold in the wind.
We didn’t see many people but those we did, Rich seemed to know and he would say “Show em the picture of the eggs”. This happened about 4 times..lol.
It was a lovely adventure but I was shattered after walking about 14 miles. My body isn’t used to it! My calf muscles were screaming and bulging with veins. I could quite happy run 14 miles but the walking kills me. I sure went back to work tired. It was such a nice catch up with Damo though <3
I got a bus into town and ran a 10k there to warm up my crappy glutes and hamstrings. It was a nice morning and lovely to be back at Netley. I didn’t recognise many people but had a nice chat with regular tailwalker and old Lordshill companion Aurelio.
Again, I was hoping for a sub 19. The first mile went well and I was in P4 but the guys in front looked so relaxed. I think they were even chatting! Mile 2 was run in about 6.20. I’d be lucky to get sub 20 at this rate. I was struggling and finding the hills tough, especially being 3 laps. I don’t remember the course being so tough. I may have been just having another off day of course. I managed to get into P3 position but the guy I overtook looked like he was just out for a jog anyway. The first two runners were nowhere to be seen. We were now overtaking people. The numbers were pretty low with 277, so it wasn’t too bad really. My last mile was even slower. I got P3 with a time of 19.34 on my watch. My course pb was 19.34, so I was hoping the official result would be under. Nobody really wants to equal their course PB do they?
I spoke to a few random runners and then jogged a 5k back to Woolston for coffee at Coffee.Woolston. I knew they did some Vegan treats too. All the cakes and pastries were Vegan. I chose the Oreo Doughnut but when I saw the Pain Au Raisin, I kind of regretted my decision. Should I ask to swap it? I ate the doughnut and it was delicious. I had made the right decision. The staff were very friendly. They also sell books and Vinyl and were playing some great music :)
Doughnuts for breakfast though? I need to sort out my eating habits. Something I have been trying to do for ages but just haven’t got that discipline. I’ll keep trying though and have been quite good the last couple of weeks really. I really could do with losing a few kgs, especially from the tummy!
Anyway, I got the bus into town to get some of my favourite soap from Waitrose that they didn’t have but found another great Vegan one instead, then my official parkrun time came through of 19.33. I had a new course PB and when I checked later that day, I also was top on the Age grading at the event despite in only being 76.04%.
The day after, Clare and myself got up early and did a nice loop of Romsey. It was a lovely circular loop and we discovered a few new paths, but had to break out of “World of Water” which is now a derelict site. We had to clamber over some rocks and walk on a sketchy fallen fence to cross a river but we survived and headed to Hillier’s garden centre for breakfast, which wasn’t too bad at all. £6.50 for a Vegan sausage bloomer and a weak coffee. Clare wisely chose the pot of tea, which she managed to squeeze 3 cups out of.
Anyway, it was windy and crap outside and I felt crap, so just decided on a total chill day and would take a couple of days off running as my body was feeling battered and broken. I think it takes me a while to realise what I have been putting it through.
The rest days did me wonders. I felt so much better for it.
On the last Sunday of March I was to run the Yeovil 10k. The day before I thought I would do a slow parkrun but didn’t want to run too many miles. I decided on Bartley park as I preferred it over Ganger farm and it had been raining, so Bartley would probably be a bit drier. I walked a mile to Millbrook roundabout and caught the bus to Rushington roundabout. I did a 2 mile warm up and was then needing the toilet. There were 4 cubicles. The Men’s was locked and out of order, the disabled, was also locked. There was a urinal but I needed a poo!!!
A lovely marshal came over and could see my predicament. “Just use the ladies” he said kindly. I went in and tried to hurry it. There was a pull on the door from the outside not long after. Now I could picture a queue of woman outside waiting for me to finish. I wasn’t too long in there but the next problem I had, was that the toilet wouldn’t flush. I tried it about 8 times. What now? I paused for a bit and then tried again and finally it flushed. There were only 2 woman waiting for the toilet. Panic over.
The Crumpler’s were there. They are a lovely Vegan family and you will probably know of them if you do Bartley parkrun. Amy is RD a lot of the time. Mike (her husband) asked me if I’d run and pace little Corey, one of their sons. Corey is only 10 years old and is getting pretty speedy already! “What time does he want?” I asked. “22 minutes” Mike replied. Corey quietly whispered “21 minutes”.
Ok, I’ll run around 7.05 pace for each mile I thought. Mike then says, Corey does his own thing so just stick with him. Obviously he can’t run on his own being under 11.
Off we went. It was so inspiring to see his little legs turning over like that. It is 4 laps, so quite tough mentally. He was doing ok. I told him to try and slow his breathing a bit by taking in a couple of slow deep breaths through his nose. Hopefully it worked. I said “Well done Corey” a lot and kept trying to encourage him. Glancing at my watch, we seemed to be slowing a bit. I also realised that I didn’t save my warm up so had started my watch from there. I wouldn’t know our time until the results came through. We weren’t on for sub 22 though, so I felt I was failing Corey and the Crumpler gang. Just when I thought he was getting tired, he would put in a burst again. His resilience is incredible. We finished with a good time though. Not that I knew what it was at that point.
I ran back to Totton for a coffee, but got the bus back to Millbrook roundabout. 6.5 miles was plenty before race day.
I results came through and I discovered that Corey got a course pb of 22.34. Pretty happy with that as his overall pb is 22.16 at Southampton. He’s definitely in pb shape and probably needs to go back to a faster course :) Well done Corey.
I stayed at Mike Harper’s place in Yeovil and off we jogged to the start of the Yeovil half and 10k. The race was described as “fast and flat” but Mike and I were skeptical. This was Yeovil after all. We met up with fellow Vegan running club member Kevin Doherty and got to the start line of the 10k. I didn’t really know where my fitness was, so I nestled in between the 38 and 40 minute pacer. I knew I wasn’t in shape to run sub 38 yet. That didn’t stop me from haring off ahead of the 38 minute pacer though. There was a nice downhill start. He caught me up after a kilometre though. The first mile went well and I was happy with my pace. Although hitting the 2nd mile, I knew the pace was off. It was a nice undulating route. I caught up with some of the slower half marathon runners as the half started at 9am and the 10k started at 9.30am. It was lovely to see Vegan running club member Carla in the country park. She was full of energy, jumping up and down and cheering me on. This sure gave me a lift in spirits. Thank you Carla.
It was busy with half marathon runners after this. I had to weave in and out of them for a bit. I knew I was struggling by mile 3 and ran through the 5k in around 19.38 I think. Now I would be trying to hang on to a sub 40 time. It was hard, but I battled on. There weren’t many 10k runners around as the half and 10k routes split. I then noticed that I was on the otherside of the road with the half marathoners as the 10k route was about to turn right. I crossed back over and tried to keep the runner ahead in sight. He was quite far ahead. More hills and a housing estate followed. I got to 5 miles and started to feel an improvement in my mental state. Only 2k to go! I think there was more downhill now. I passed a couple of runners and nagivated a winding subway. The support at the finish was great, which made me put in a burst at the end. I just about got the sub 40 with a time of 39.53 (39.51 chip time).
This was also fast enough to make me first V50. My third 10k in somerset and my 3rd V50 win. Kev calls me a “County Hopper” as I’m not fast enough to get any V50 wins in Hampshire..lol. (with the exception of Totton 10k but they didn’t have age cat awards on the first year of it running to my disappointment).
I was 16th out of 480 runners. Not too bad.
I shook hands with the mayor of Yeovil and collected a nice printed slate and a bottle of cider that I gave to Mike (The cider, not the slate). It was a lovely day and I was happy to get first V50 despite not really being a quick time.
Hopefully I will get fitter and faster but we’ll see as I still have a few niggles with the glutes and hamstrings.
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