We made it out of the house about ten minutes later than planned. If it was a straight forward parkrun it wouldn't have been a problem but as I was going to be buggy running again we would need to assemble the baby jogger 2 before heading over to the course.
Fast-forward to 09:00 and we were frantically making our way across to the start line. In the distance I could hear Nicki making the pre-run announcements. By the time we reached the start line the runners were disappearing into the distance.
It was a very cold morning so we had given Matilda lots of layers, a blankett and on top of that, my jumper. Mrs7t was also running today but after the first 100 metres or so I decided to press on in search of the rest of the runners and left her to run at her own pace.
The recent weeks of rain had seen the course changing from week to week but this week the mud had changed from loose splashy mud into a thick, sticky consistency. Before we had even started the wheels of the buggy had accumulated a huge amount of mud, leaves and stones.
It didn't take long for me to catch the backmarkers and begin filtering through - which is a lot harder when you are pushing a buggy. My main consideration is making sure that I don't catch somebody's leg and trip them over.
I managed to run negative kilometre splits, which I always find quite pleasing. No wonder I was completely knackered.
The original plan for the day was to challenge for a new buggy running personal best, but the mud and the being late didn't help my cause and I was just over a minute off last week's time. Mrs7t had a great run and managed to catch and pass 7 runners by the time she reached the finish line.
The post-run buggy cleaning is a lovely experience in the freezing cold. I'm hoping for some firmer ground soon so we can try to challenge that buggy running personal best, even if that means even colder conditions.
