I have always liked October, it has to be one of my favourite months of the year. I became a Vegan in October and I also got sober in October.
I have now been Vegan for Seven years and Sober for Six years. Two of the best lifestyle choices that I have ever made. What a difference these two things have done to enrich my life for the better. Anyway, I won’t preach about it and I’ll move on…
We also get the cooler weather. The vibrant colours which many of the trees produce right now, look splendid. We can enjoy cosier evenings in front of the tv eating snacks or curled up reading a book in a warm bed. I really like October.
My good mate John P offered to take me parkrun touring again. So off we went (John, Christine and myself) to Ifield Mill Pond parkrun in Crawley. I had done the other Crawley parkrun (Tilgate) some time back via a very early train journey. Little was I to know that this parkrun would complete my “EIEIO challenge”. What a stupid challenge!
Anyway, we arrived with plenty of time and I did a warm up. It was a crazy course with a crossroads of running traffic. Very flat but many 180 degree cone turns. After a hard effort, I came 5th with a time of 19.36. There were only 138 finishers and everyone was very friendly here.
With the smaller parkruns, you always get a better sense of community. People seem happier and chattier. Once was enough though. I definitely don’t feel the need to ever go back there. It was ok and ticked off another location for me.
John had offered to take me touring again the following weekend. We would head to Downslink at Shoreham-by-sea. I had done this one not long ago and was disappointed not to go sub 19 on this course. So today, I was on a mission to do so. Back with John and Christine. I warmed up and also had a good chat with John Collis who is a speedy vet and also belongs to our Vegan running club.
This course is just an out and back with one turnaround point, simple.
Same as last time though, I found it quite gruelling and mentally tough. I was definitely hanging on for the last kilometre! P8 with a time of 18.55. I had done it but my heart rate was so high and I wasn’t feeling great afterwards. Too much effort if you ask me! Fitness is building though and the biomechanics are improving. Happy enough.
The weekend after would see me hitting another milestone. It would be my 15 year parkrun anniversary. 15 years since I did my very first ever parkrun at Eastleigh. Lynda Cox gave myself and Lawrence a lift to Lakeside where it was then held. It was a Lordshill roadrunners take over. My old club were volunteering and I remember there being gingerbread men being made with club vest on, done with icing. I found the 5k run so brutal that I wouldn’t return to another parkrun for a few months. My time was 19.54.
After Lakeside, Eastleigh parkrun moved to Wide lane playing field and then again to the golf course where it is now situated. The course is a lot harder now as you traverse up and down, often in very muddy conditions.
So there I was, back at Eastleigh for my 15 year anniversary. I had a nice chat to Stuart and Tamsyn Smith who were there on that very first parkrun of mine! They were volunteering as was another old club member Neil Catchlove who I share a lot of great memories with. We had a nice catch up afterwards. I told him that my target today was to run a sub 20.
Imagine my shock and surprise when I barely scraped sub 21! P8 again with a time of 20.58. It wasn’t even that muddy but I found it so hard. God knows how I ever ran a 19.28 on that course! It just goes to show you where I’m at right now. It was a lovely day though and I did run 10k to get there. Afterwards I ran into Eastleigh to meet up with Clare for breakfast.
The next two weekends of October, I managed to get some parkrun volunteering in. I was a marshal both times at Itchen Valley parkrun. They seem to struggle most weekends for marshals. There are always parkwalkers, tailwalkers and report writers but please consider marshalling first, they need you more! I had a lovely time doing this as always. Halloween was busy for us at Itchy with nearly 300 runners and walkers. I’m very close to my 10 volunteering credits for the year now with 9. Which doesn’t sound a lot in a year but these are me giving up my own runs and not doing junior parkruns etc..
We had a mixed bag at the end of October. Clare and I went along to Apple and Lawrence’s wedding party. It was nice to see lots of old faces and take part in the celebration. We had a lovely Thai curry and listened to Larry’s hilarious speech and there were fireworks too. Thanks Apple and Larry and congrats.
A few days later was the Wake of Clare’s Mum, June. Clare had hired out the White Horse Hotel in Romsey. She had put in so much work and made a lovely PowerPoint slideshow of her mum’s life. It was such a great incite into June’s wonderful and busy life. What a lady! It was a lovely little gathering and very intimate. Everything was perfect in my eyes. What a great send off, she would have been so proud of Clare and I’m starting to get teary just writing this now! Rest in Peace June. You’ll never be forgotten. Xx
I had almost forgotten about my race though! I suppose that I haven’t been racing much this year due to injuries and fitness.
Di Mattingly talked me into “Clock Change Challenge 10k” when I saw her at Salisbury parkrun last month. It started at 11am on the Sunday of the clock change (of course).
Clare gave me a lift to the Salisbury park and ride. There I met with some of Di’s Salisbury running club or Cosarc as they are known. What a lovely bunch. We got a small school mini-bus which was awesome when you could shut the door properly. There were Three James’s, so that got a bit confusing for me.
My aim was to run a sub 40 for the 10k in Calne. It was a simple out and back but it started with a loop of a grass field which we were a bit concerned about but it was fine for me and my Tamukis. This was my first race since my DNF at Totton 10k, so that was in the back of my mind. I didn’t want to go out too fast. I was thinking if I ran 6.20 for the mile I would get around 39.30 for the 10k. I would see if I could push on after the 5k mark.
What actually happened is that I went out ahead of the 40 minute pacer. 6.18 for the first mile. Not too bad. After 2 miles though, I was suffering. 6.30 pace. I wasn’t sure what was happening. The wind was quite strong just after the 2k mark and was blowing me sideways. I couldn’t quite get with the pack ahead of me and the 40 minute pacer was behind me.
At halfway, we climbed a hill and looped around for the return. My pace instantly seemed to improve. Maybe I would claw back some of those slower miles? The 40 minute pacer overtook me but I would catch up with him again at mile 5 and try to hang on.
I did ok and it was good to be racing again. My actual finish time was 40.02 though. I wasn’t disappointed at all though. It was a solid and honest effort from me and when I looked at the elevation on strava, I could see there was a climb on the way out and that there was a good 250ft of course elevation. No excuses though. It was a good event and I had a lovely day out with the Cosarc crew. There was a yummy Sunday Roast in Salisbury afterwards too before I got the train back to Romsey, where Clare picked me up and took me home for a nap..lol
2nd in my age category but the other guy did beat me by nearly 2 minutes. I look forward to doing more races in the future now with Stubbington 10k in January. Thanks for reading. Happy November. xx
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