Abradysis – this one’s for you!

I appear to have a severe case of writer’s block.  So in an attempt to clear it, I am going to write a long and rambling post full of words and music and signifying nothing.*

Alice Holt parkrun…

…was fabulous.  The course itself ticks all the right boxes for me.  It’s a winding trail though trees and it’s undulating enough to be interesting but not so hilly it’s daunting**.  The parking is pay and display, but if you stay for a drink or bite to eat afterwards, the cafe offers parkrunners a discount.  Add to that a whole bundle of familiar parkrun faces (far too many to mention individually) and the whole morning left me buzzing.

Naked running…

…is not my cup of tea.  I had committed to running Alice Holt without gadgets, and I stuck to it.  But afterwards I yearned to be able to look at my splits, to see quite how undulating the course was and to just be able to upload the run to my various running logs.  I think that I shall stick to scantily clad running from here on in.

Backpack running…

…is hard work!  Or at least it is when your backpack weighs in at 3/4 stone.  I’m going to have to reconsider my list of essentials for running to and from college, because by the time I’ve packed a change of clothes, books, handouts, money, passport and tickets, my bag becomes a touch heavy.  Not to mention the fact that it’s not really a running backpack, is about 15 years old and has a zip that has seen better days.

I need to have left 30 minutes ago syndrome…

…has become the bane of my life, and led to an 11 mile run morphing into a 5 mile morning commute followed by a 5 mile evening jaunt***.  Both with the aforementioned backpack.

Upton Court parkrun…

…aka my 100th parkrun!  Another inaugural, another bucketload of familiar faces.  Including Jovial Gnome, who ventured all the way from the parkrun-free county of Lincolnshire.  The course is flat and run on a mixture of grass (2/3) and tarmac (1/3).  It has two laps, but lap one is slightly longer than lap two, so by the time you get back to the start you’re over halfway.  This, I like!****

Ultras, ultras everywhere…

…I’ve finally bitten the bullet and signed up for my first (two) ultra(s): The London Ultra (50 km of The Capital Ring in February) and The Cardiff Ultra (50 miles of The Taff Trail in May).  I’m trying not to think too hard about them (though with back to back long runs appearing in my training schedule this is hard).  I’m also trying to make the Capital Ring my friend, so opted for Grove Park to Crystal Palace for my Sunday run.  It didn’t start well.  I took a wrong turn on the way from the station, and ended up adding on a two mile loop before I even got to the path!

My running willpower…

…is no match for Christmas24.  Yesterday, I got home, got changed into my running kit, sat down on the sofa***** and promptly got mugged by the cat.  At which point I switched on a sappy Christmas film and postponed my run until this morning.  Ooops.

100 down, 150 to go…

No rest for the wicked, it seems.

*There is no music.  But a Tom Lehrer reference is never a bad thing.

**Buggy note:  I didn’t spot any.  It may be possible, but I wouldn’t fancy it!

***In cold, wet kit.  Ugh.

****Buggy note:  Was a tad muddy as a result of the recent weather, but will be buggy friendly in the dry.  There is a gate across the path towards the end of lap two, but it’s there to stop cars, and you can run around it.

*****Rookie mistake