Saturday 24 May 2014

Runstreak Day #175 - parkrun day

175 days in the bag
175 days...
One hundred and seventy five...
Blimey that's a lot of days!
And today's run reminded me of lots of things I've discovered I love about running over those past 175 days.
1. The 'yay' moment of getting a decent time (24:31 for today's parkrun - at the start of runstreaking it was over 30 mins for a 5k)
2. The sense of community as everyone at Colwick parkrun remembered Nikki Herbison (http://www.parkrun.org.uk/rushcliffe/news/2014/05/20/parkrun-regrets-to-announce-the-death-of-nikki-herbison/) who collapsed at last week's parkrun in nearby Rushcliffe, silently giving a minute's applause in her memory and dedicating the run to her. She was my age. With two children like me. Life can be far too short. She was seizing the moment as is everyone at every parkrun. I felt terribly sad for her family as all the parkrunners held her in their thoughts.
3. The fact that another runner paced me today for no other reason that he wanted to offer some support to another runner
4. Seeing someone I know doing her run director thing and feeling proud to know her - I wouldn't have got to know anyone if I'd just kept running as a completely solitary activity
5. Carrying with me the words someone shared with me the other day about self-belief and no longer being a novice... running helps to remove the limits you impose on yourself when with just a little push, you can do that little bit more
6. That my children see running as a normal thing (when I came home, they just asked how my run was and whether I was going for another run later!) - being active is an everyday activity and that's brilliant for them to know
7. I don't need music to run. I don't feel the need to block out the world when I'm running any more, nor do I need it to set my pace. It's a choice to listen or not, not a necessity to keep me going.
8. It was rainy and windy this morning, but it didn't matter in the slightest. With running you know you'll be warm in a minute or two, so the weather can do whatever it wants.
9. I think I'm starting to get over my fear of running with other people!
10. I wore shorts because they were practical and comfortable... and worrying about what people would think of my legs didn't come into my head.
175 days of getting out there every day. Can't imagine how many celebratory cups of tea I've had. But there's always room for one more! 
*happy dances*
PS Thank you to you all for happy dancing and tea drinking with me over the past 175 days... shall we see if I can eek it out to 200?

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:3.11 mi
Time:24:34
Avg Pace:7:54 min/mi
Moving Time:24:33
Elapsed Time:24:34
Avg Pace:7:54 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:7:54 min/mi
Best Pace:6:05 min/mi

1 comment:

  1. Loved this post! I am an avid Parkrunner and after 3 years of running on and off (more off than on to be honest), I can finally say that I love running. My whole family now gets up to run on Saturday mornings.

    Am currently training to run in the Folkestone Rotary Half Marathon in September this year. Going to see how much mileage my 37 year old knees have!

    Subscribing to your blog!

    ReplyDelete