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MK half marathon

I now seem to be committed to the Milton Keynes half marathon.  On Saturday I spoke to Jae and asked  her if she was going,  She said she would if I did.  So we both agreed to enrol.

What made me think I could do it.  I started with the parkrun 5k, which I have now run over 100 times.  Two years ago I decded to run the Worcester 10k with my son, and have now run it twice.  It didn’t seem such a big step forward,  just twice what I was used to running: six miles instead of 3.  I ran a couple of six miles routes to train.  What I did find is that my legs were incredibly stiff after the run.

A half marathon,  13.1 miles. is a long step further and I am not sure if my legs will hold out.  But I have started a more methodical preparation.  I no longer think of a run in terms of miles, but in terms of time spent: half an hour for 5k, an hour for 10k and 2 plus hours for 21k.  It makes it easier to judge how I will hold out.

My second element of preparation was to buy a book on running: ‘Five New rules of Running,’ by Vijay Vad. More of that later.

My third element is to measure out the mileage of particular training routes.  I have a 9 mile route planned, which I walked out last week, and which I am going to run this coming week.  If I can complete that, I should be able to complete the course on the day.

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NYD Canterbury Parkrun

This is a triple first for me: first parkrun of the year on NYD; first Tourist run of the year; first 5km of the 1000km challenge I have entered.

Here I am in a sheltered, sunny spot before the start. As my fellow shelteree said: 'parkrun is a family, isn't it?'

Canterbury parkrun has its challenges: a steep muddy bank to start and an downhill/uphill valley,  run twice.

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A quote

Running is nothing more than a series of arguments between the part of your brain that wants to stop and the part that wants to keep going.  Running does not define who we are, it refines who we are. The trouble with running is that by the time you realise that you’re not in shape for it, it’s too far to walk back.   When nothing goes right, go run.  There are always challenges to running, but one of the greatest is the question of where to put one’s house keys.  A good laugh and a long run are the two best cures for anything.  Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must – just never give up..  Running – if it was easy every-one would do it. Run, so that the goals in your life continue to get bigger, instead of your belly.  Running is a mental sport – any-one who does it is insane.  One run can change your day; many runs can change your life.


A quote on Andy Fogg’s Strava run entry: Strava run GPS

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running on 70

This is a blog about running and age, or age and running. To start not at the beginning, I have passed my seventy fifth birthday and I have run my hundredth parkrun. On Saturday I will be running my hundred and second parkrun. So you can see I have not started with at the beginning, but am in fact nudging towards the end. I have also run two 10k races and in 2019 I will be training for a half marathon.

Although this blog is about running, the real purpose is about the what and why of running for a person of age ( to use the modern figure of speech). At his time we may think we want to slow down, to take it easy, but what some of us need is a bit of a competition. I want to feel that I am making progress at something, and what better way to do it than running.