The Deacon Trading Estate

Today was a scheduled running day. I didn't go out first thing in the morning because I'm on holiday and can run whenever I feel like it instead of having to do it before the sun rises.

Deacon Trading Estate (part of the Tonbridge industrial zone)

As the clock approached 11:30am my breakfast felt like it had digested. I decided the time was right to hit the road. That way I could run and shower before it was time to have lunch.

My brother-in-law is staying with us at the moment, he is also a runner. He decided to come out with me. It is very rare for me to have someone to run with, so it was nice to head out for a nice social training run.

It was unexpectedly warm outside. The forecast said 7 degrees but it felt more like 10 or 11.

We headed North along my usual flat-ish route. About 1km in and I was already unzipping my running top to let some cooler air in.

After 6km we arrived at the dreaded industrial zone. We went through to the far end of the zone and then did a loop before coming back along the other side of the road.

As we ran past the Deacon Trading Estate I notched up my 1000th running mile of 2011. It was typical that my goal for the whole year was reached in my least favourite part of Tonbridge. However, the moment was always going to be special no matter where it happened and my fist very discreetly punched the air. It was very nice to be able to share the moment with someone.

Then we cut through and headed back up to the High Street, where we arrived back at the flat one hour and two minutes after we started.

Total: 10.5km at an average pace of 5.55 per kilometre.

Riddlesdown parkrun official photographer

This Saturday (16 July) my wife will be the official photographer of the third Riddlesdown parkrun. She'll be wearing our daughter while taking the photos so you'll easily spot her/them.



If you're running be sure to to look like you're enjoying yourself or even do a bit of freestyling (eg: the aeroplane) as you approach her!

I'll be running but unless I have a moment of madness, not racing ( see here ). I'm hoping to keep the time to around 25 minutes but I can already feel my legs twitching like they want to race.

I imagine I'll be writing all about it soon so stay tuned!

7t.

The first Riddlesdown parkrun

Today I took part in the inaugural Riddlesdown parkrun.

We arrived at around 8.30am on this glorious sunny Saturday morning and parked in the designated car park, which is just across the road from the course. It was a ten minute walk to the start line across open grassland. We stuck to the paths because skylarks nest on the long grass. There was a tiny bit of confusion over where the start actually was, but once a few people gathered it became obvious to all.

the wife and the baba getting ready to cheer on the daddy

The course itself is on quite high ground with a few really nice views but also almost perfectly flat, there is only one short sharp incline, but it only lasts about 20 metres before evening out again.

I was surprised by the amount of people that had turned up, I was expecting to see a fairly small gathering of up to about 40 people but there were actually 154 participants. Not bad for the first event!

As I stood at the start line I was still unsure as to whether I was going for a time trial or just using it as a slower training run.

we're off, can you spot me?

After a few words from the run director we were off. I started further back than I probably should have and felt the frustration of being held to a slower pace immediately. Bearing that in mind, the first kilometre was fairly slow and I had resigned myself to this being a tempo-ish pace run. But as I made my way round the first lap the field spread out and I increased my pace - sticking like glue to a fellow runner that was running at a similar pace to me.

first lap

When we reached the half-way point one of the timing officials was calling out our 2.5km split times (10.26 for me - faster than I thought), a quick bit of maths and I realised that if I kept up my pace I could get a new personal best.

looks like we've finally turned a corner

There is one part of the course that is quite trail-like, with lots of protruding stones and roots, on the second lap as I was passing someone I stumbled slightly on one of the stones, in a semi-exhausted state he asked if I was ok, I, also in the same state, did my best to reply and decided a quick thumbs up was a better option than trying to talk while running at this effort.

I can see the finish line from here

As we entered the final grassy stretch I could see another runner that I would have liked to passed but although I was gaining on her I didn't have enough left in me to pass her before the end.

and across the line

Across the finish line and was given my finishing token - 13th! I was very impressed with myself. The results appeared online later that day.

time to scan the position chip and barcode

We headed back to the car only to find that as so many people had turned up, the volunteers had double parked cars that arrived after us and blocked us in - yikes!

the blockade

Luckily, apart from desperately needing the loo, we weren't in a rush to get anywhere so I spent a bit of time stretching and airing my feet before being released from our automotive prison and headed back to Tonbridge for some brunch.

airing and stretching session (while the baba plays with my trail shoes)

Oh, the stats...

• 13/154
• 11th Male
• 2nd in age group (SM30-34)

and my time...

• 20:25 - That is a new 5k personal best!

(vegetarian) brunch

All in all it was a really nice first event, I'll definitely be back soon. Congratulations, well done and thank you to the organisers and volunteers - parkrun is a great thing to be part of!

Also, a huge thank you to my two biggest (only?) fans! Nice photos again bby.. :-)


7t.

Race: Staplehurst Carnival & Fete 10km

My third 10km race, a (fairly) flat course, decent weather, good training, well rested, well hydrated, well fed - Everything was in place for a good race!

Firstly my race pack never arrived in the post so I had to arrange for a replacement number to be available upon arrival in Staplehurst. We arrived with an hour to spare, went to the race HQ and collected my hand-written duplicate race number (no.18).

There were 118 participants in today's race, it's quite nice to take part in these smaller events (I'm not a fan of the mass warm-up sessions and excessive branding you get at some larger races).

I should also mention that it was quite a hot morning, muggy and overcast up until the race started, during the race we had bright sunshine - The high for the day was forecast to be around 28 degrees Celsius.

...in the light blue shirt

The course was nice, we started off on a side road for 500 metres before going out onto the main road, being a small event there were no road closures, the main road wasn't too busy and all the drivers I encountered gave plenty of space for the runners while overtaking.

Thankfully we soon turned off the main road and onto some very quiet single track country lanes that weaved between farms, and with views of the beautiful Kent countryside. The race description said that it was a flat course, I'd say it was slightly undulating, whatever it was it was definitely flatter than the other two 10km races I've done. We followed these lanes around for the next 8km and then came back out onto the main road to head back to the finish.

I was so happy to finally reach the end

The last 250 metres or so were slightly uphill and after running at a strong pace for almost 10km it felt like I was running up a steep hill rather than along a slight incline! I had nothing left in me for a finishing kick, to be honest just keeping moving was a real struggle for most of the last 3km, but I did keep moving and my splits show that I kept an almost even pace for the entire race.

Click - ( GPS Map ) to see the map of the course from my GPS data, if you click on the summary tab you can see my splits, my GPS didn't register it as the full 10km but it has been known to be slightly out before, also I faffed around before pressing stop at the end, so the last km split time shows it to be longer than it actually was!

You've got to have the medal shot...

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My official finish time was 42:07 - A new personal best..... by over 5 minutes!!
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The race organisers ( Nice Work ) have a blog and have put the results up ( here ), I came in 22nd position out of 118 participants.

...and you've got to have the family shot (does that sound wrong? oops)

As always, the wife took the photos - thank you again, but this time both of our 'real' cameras' batteries ran out before the race started (silly, I know). Luckily we had two mobile phones that have cameras that we could fall back on - We had four devices capable of taking photos with us in total - and that just seems normal these days.


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Father's Day

As it's my first father's day as the father (it still feels strange writing it) I thought I'd go off-topic with a photo of me and the little lady from our recent holiday in Eastbourne.




It's a bit like a wordless Wednesday, but there are words and it's Sunday..


7t.

Video of the 2011 Knole Park 10k

Here is a video from last week's race posted on youtube by trekandrun.

At 6:41 you can just about see the wife and baby, and at around 7:30 you can see me picking up a post-race banana.




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Race: Sevenoaks - Knole Park 10km

This was my first 10km race. Before I get into the race details I'd like to say a big thank you to my wife (who blogs here - A Lime Less Ordinary ), firstly for supporting me with my running (especially the training, which often has me out of bed before sunrise). And secondly for taking lots of photos of the race.

the ladies

Firstly, the course, in Knole Park, was brilliant. It is a beautiful 1000 acre Deer Park, in Sevenoaks, Kent. We had some rain the night before which left parts of the course a little muddy, but overall it was fine. My wife heard someone complaining that a section of the course was too slippery, and therefore unsafe. I don't really have the same opinion - as far as I'm concerned it was a park/trail race, that was the attraction.

warming up

Anyway, the course was two laps of the same 5km loop with a little extra tail to accommodate the start/finish funnel..

the course map from the official race website

I started from somewhere near the back of the pack - I should know not to by now. So, yet again, I got caught up with people running much slower than my intended pace. 1st km was at 5.45 per km pace, and the 2nd km was at 6.12 per km pace - I can't even run that slow when doing 'slow' training runs! The sheer numbers of people (505) made it virtually impossible to pass smoothly so I spent a good deal of time on the verges running through the higher grass!

towards the end of the first 5k loop

Something unexpected happened at around 4km and 8.5km - My right shoelace came undone. Both times I had to swerve off the path to tie it up again. This may have had something to do with the timing chip, which was attached to my right shoelace, but more likely was my shoelace-tying style - in the future I will always use double knots.

it's all downhill from here!

I ran the first 5km in 26:14 - Well off my intended pace. There were two factors in the slow time. First was getting caught up for the first 2km with the slower runners. Second was the fact that the course has undulations, plus a very steep incline that has to be negotiated twice.

The second 5km I ran in 24:19 (if my maths are correct) - Much closer to my intended pace, but I hadn't taken into account the undulations when I was thinking about my target time.

So, according to my GPS timings, my total time was 50:33. I had been hoping for somewhere around 45 minutes, but considering the undulations and the slow start I'm pretty happy with it. On a flat, tarmac course I might have been around the target time. All good lessons for the future!

having my timing chip removed

A big positive for me: When I compare my split times for each km section (1st and 6th / 2nd and 7th, and so on) my second lap was faster than the first on each of the five pairs of timings.

the medal shot

My GPS data is on RunningAhead, as always!

Summary (including split times)

Map (check out the elevation profile.. 90 metres of height gain over 0-2km and again between 5-7km)

And one last positive, my fastest km was the very last of the race - I managed to knock out a 4.09. (In the three races I have entered so far, that has been my fastest km split)


7t.

Taking Responsibility for Your Health

I was talking to my Mum today and the subjects of fitness, health and working out came up, as they quite often do.

Anyway, that got me thinking about each and every person's responsibility to themselves and their families to actively do something (or things) on a regular basis that contribute the their own health and well-being.



Wind the clock back 6 years or so: My waist had started to expand, mostly through eating crap and having an office job where I was desk bound for 8 hours per day (in fact, I still am). All it took was my waist size to increase by one inch and I knew I had to take action.

So why do people who are clearly heading down the path towards diabetes, heart disease and a mobility scooter not take action? Even with all the information out there about exercise and how to eat healthily I find it incredible that they continue on this path without doing anything about it.

I know that it's difficult to break habits, and I know that running seems like a lot of effort when you can quite easily crash on the sofa and watch some TV. But surely a little exercise and a review of your diet isn't that hard when you look at the potential rewards.

People love to take to the easy option, but is it always the right one? Of course not! So I say get up off your ass and do something. Stop sitting there stuffing your face with chocolate night after night and make a change. Eat better food and exercise - Maybe you would like to run but can't or don't know where to start, search the internet (or be retro and buy a book) and you will find the information you need to get started. Make small changes. Find something that motivates you, are you competitive? Enter a race and train for it.

The diseases of affluence are here for all to see, not a week goes by without some mention of them in the news. The funny thing is that it is not inevitable that we'll end up suffering from one or more of them. All it takes is the will to want to be healthy, not just now but way into old age. I do not want to be housebound at 50, 60, or indeed ever! Surely no one actually actively seeks that.

So you have a choice, you can do nothing and most probably fall into the trap of these diseases, or you can do everything in your power to avoid them. You may not want to run a marathon when you're eighty years old, but wouldn't it be great to know that you could?


7t.

Be Careful!

Today is the day after my long run (12km). I have no aches or pains from the run itself, which is good news. However, I do have a little niggle of a pain somewhere around my Achilles Tendon on my right leg/foot - If this didn't happen during the run, how did it happen?

The answer is.... Entertaining the baby!

You see, she giggles so much when I jump (forwards, backwards, side-to-side and on-the-spot) that I can't resist doing it. So when I felt a slight tenderness last night after jumping around (which incidentally is a good workout in itself and gives me a nice burn in the quads) I was feeling a little stupid for not being more careful. I'm hobbling slightly but it doesn't feel too serious. I'm just going to take things easy and hope I feel better by Wednesday for my interval session.

The giggles make up for the discomfort, but I will be more careful next time!

7t

My 5k Races so far.. No.1 Maidstone 10 October 2010

The first 5k run that I entered was the big fun run in Maidstone. The course, in Mote Park, was very nice slightly undulating course. I finished in a time of 23.05. I'm pictured here with my brother, who ran the 5k in around 32 minutes - he's not a big fan of running. (I am 275 btw).



EDIT: My wife set up a fund raising page for 'Count the Kicks' charity and we raised £60. Thanks to everyone who contributed.

7t