Summer 2015

Well, we've nearly made it through the summer holidays and in one piece too! We've done some good running over the last few months. Andy took part in the Windmill Half Marathon in Lytham. He's pretty good at running that distance now, and the medal was a whopper!

He also took part in Total Warrior in the Lake District. He had a thoroughly enjoyable time, although he did come back with bruised ribs!

I ran my furthest distance to date at the Prudent Riverside 10 Mile run at Lancaster. I had to have a sit down straight afterwards but I was so pleased and proud of myself. Plus it was great practice for the Wirral Half Marathon which I have in just over a week!

We also slipped in another 10k race and fun run at the Ulverston Summer 10k. The boys did really well, William managed to smash his PB for the course, finishing in 10.24! He was also extremely excited to discover that the children were receiving the same medal as the adults were getting and he loved it. I did the 10k run and finished in 1.04.03 which is a full 4 minutes faster than my previous time from last year's run. I was really pleased with that, especially as it was a VERY warm evening and I'd already run a mile with William!

We took a break from our usual running over the August bank holiday weekend and went away to the Calvert Trust in Keswick. They specialise in outdoor activity breaks for people with disabilities. This particular break was specially funded for families with a veteran or serving member of the armed forces and a family member with a disability. So that would be Andy, who spent many years in the army, and Sam who has autism.

We headed up to Keswick on the Friday and arrived a little early and had a good look around the centre before checking in. They have great facilities there, a games room, sports hall, sensory room and a fantastic swimming/hydrotherapy pool. We had a dip in the pool on the Friday night after dinner and the boys loved it. We were paired up into a group with another family who had 3 boys which was ideal.

The following morning, we were driven to the bottom of Lattrigg and as promised the day before we got to 'climb a mountain'! At least that's what it felt like to us all when we got to the top. The views were spectacular of Keswick and Derwent Water as well as all the surrounding fells including Skiddaw. All William's running up and down the amphitheatre on a Thursday morning with the WWC cubs paid off as he shot up ahead of us!

 

After lunch we headed out for some horse riding and archery (not done at the same time, I should add!). William loved trying out the bow and arrow and Sam found pressing the trigger on the mounted crossbow hilarious once he worked out what the contraption did and what the targets were for!

On the Sunday we spent the morning at Mirehouse, a local house and gardens where there was a steeplechase course set into the woods. William flew around this one several times so I think it was a hit. He's asked to go back some day! Sam wasn't as keen on the steeplechase, although he did enjoy the big tyre swing at the little park there too. We headed back to the centre and did a little orienteering in the grounds before lunch.

In the afternoon we went canoeing on Bassenthwaite Lake which was probably my favourite activity. Sam enjoyed dipping his hands in the water as we paddled along and William loved the team games we competed in with the other family. He even made friends with the canoe instuctor's dog who came with us.

After another evening spent in the swimming pool we were worn out and ready for coming home the following morning. I would recommend any family with a child or adult with a disability to try out the Calvert Trust for an outdoor activity holiday, they were excellent.

Brampton to Carlisle 10 Mile

The boys and I dropped Andy off in Ulverston early Sunday morning so he could head up to the north of the county for the 63rd Brampton to Carlisle 10 mile road race. It was the longest distance that Andy had signed up for (since about 1989!) and he'd not had much chance to train so was a bit nervous. Seeing as this race was not an 'out and back' run, we thought we'd let Andy have a day to himself so he joined up with the Hoad Hill Harriers on the coach they had arranged.

The coach set off at 8am, and stopped for a short while at Tebay services on the way to the finish at Carlisle. Once at Carlisle it dropped off shoppers and the runners were able to drop bags off and secure them in lockers at the sports centre before heading back to the start at Brampton.

At 11.30am, over 600 runners headed off towards Carlisle. The weather was overcast and cool but not wet or windy which made for good running conditions. Andy said he felt quite good during the run. The run itself was fairly flat with a few little hills, one in particular seemed to go on for quite a bit toward the end (or at least seemed to in his head he said!).

He was hoping to finish in 1 hour and 40 minutes but in fact managed it in a fab 1.30.48! Really proud of him. Not sure the race memento was something people were expecting though, a 2015 running/cycling diary and 2 pairs of running socks!! Not quite something you can hang on a medal holder, but very handy nevertheless!

After the run, Andy joined fellow local runners at the local pub for a meal and drink before the coach brought them back to Ulverston.

Whilst Andy was headed up north, the boys and I certainly didn't slack. We joined the Wind Cheetahs for the 3 mile Sunday morning run cubs run from the Abbey Mill coffee shop. It was a lovely, mild morning for a run out (especially for November!). The boys even ended up in short sleeves! Think William started finding it a little cold eventually when having a double Thunder and Lightning ice cream cone back at the Abbey Mill!!