Catching Up

Sorry for not having posted anything recently! It's been a strange and busy month for running. I will attempt to fill you in.

The first weekend in July was taken up with runs for both Andy and myself. Andy took part in the Whinlatter 5 on the Saturday evening and I took part in the Bentham Beagles 10k Bash on the Sunday.

Both Andy and I took part in the Whinlatter 5 last year and it was a very challenging route to say the least. Andy wanted to take it on again and I was quite happy volunteering to watch the boys whilst he ran it. We took them up again to cheer him in but also to have a play!

We didn't see Andy set off but managed to get down to the finish area shortly before the first runners started coming in. Andy got back in a very respectable 56.29 which was about 20 minutes faster than our times from last year.

He received a medal and William managed to con him out of his post run watermelon treat. If you are considering doing this run though then I would suggest you bring and dowse yourself in insect repellent as the midges were out in force! Andy really enjoyed it again though.

The day after Whinlatter I took part in the Bentham Beagles 10k Bash. I had a lift up with some lovely cheetah friends so that Andy could take the boys to the Sunday morning WWC run. I'd been informed it was hilly, but that didn't bother me too much to be honest, having done several hilly run already. I had been having a niggly issue with my left shin, but was hoping that wouldn't be a problem on the day.

Well, it was certainly hilly, and very warm. As soon as you set off you head up the first hill towards the main road and I was super pleased to have made it up this one with the rest of the group. The main road was relatively flat but once you turned off, oh my. Between my leg, the heat and the hills I really struggled on this one, physically and mentally. It was undulating upwards if that makes sense until about 8k when it became more or less downhill all the way back. It was a lovely feeling on the legs with gravity helping to do its part. The speed picked up quite a bit and I made it back to the finish in 1.12.05. We might come back as a family for this one next year (with Andy running the 10k!) as they are adding in a children's fun run to the day!  Not only did we get a medal, but the local pub gave out a free drink if you came in with your medal so we had a post-run cheetah drink before coming home.

In other news this month, William and I both received our parkrun club 50 t-shirts! Just waiting on Andy and Sam's now, hopefully won't be long. 

I have upped my distance a bit in training for the Wirral Half Marathon in September and managed 14km last week. I have now booked myself onto the Prudent Riverside 10 Mile run in Lancaster for this coming Sunday to help with the training. Andy is taking part in Total Warrior on the Saturday so it will be a busy weekend!

Speaking of half marathons, Andy also completed the Windmill Half Marathon the other weekend but I will write about that in another post.

A Fab Weekend of Running - Part 1 parkrun and Whinlatter 5

I have had to split this post into two due to the amount of running we've done over the weekend! Each run was that fantastic it deserves a post of its own.

The weekend started with parkrun as usual. It was a warm one! The boys got some great times, especially Sam (running with Andy) who came away with a PB of 50 minutes exactly! He beat his previous time by 15 seconds. It might not sound much but it would have taken him a lot of focus that morning and we are enormously proud of him. Just hoping that at some point in the future he can crack that sub-50 minute mark!

Later in the day Andy and I took part in the Whinlatter 5. It's a 5 mile trail race for both runners and nordic walkers set in the beautiful Whinlatter Forest near Keswick. We'd been itching to try a trail run since dabbling a little at the Grasmere Gallop so when I saw this one online we signed up! It was a lovely evening for it, the start was at 6.30pm and the weather was perfect, dry and not too hot.

There was a grand total of 27 of us all together (it was the very first Whinlatter 5 event), including 2 nordic walkers and a couple of other road runners like us. The route consisted of about half a mile downhill before the ascent began. The next 3 miles were mainly uphill and I nearly died struggled with this so a lot of walking was done especially on the steeper parts. I discovered muscles in my legs that I never knew existed! According to the Garmin we had a total elevation gain of 1,190 feet, which made Barrow parkrun seem positively flat (*makes mental note NEVER to whine again about Barrow parkrun's undulations at least until next Saturday). The views from up there were amazing though, really spectacular which made the climb all the more worthwhile.

The last part of the run was of course downhill! (and in my opinion the best part!) The elevation we gained was rapidly lost again in about 15 minutes. And although we were the last two to finish (both in 1.16.23), we came back to clapping and cheering which was fab. Snacks were abundant at the end and we both received a terrific medal to add to our small but growing collection of race swag.

The organisers, marshals and sweeper were all very encouraging and friendly and I'm pretty sure that Andy has been nearly convinced to try the route again in November for The Hope Northern Skeleton Run which is run in the dark! I think I'll need some more hill training before I make up my mind about that one!