Rosedawn Ramblings

I've had  a " Eureka " moment - a light bulb turned on, grey clouds replaced by clear skies, a flash of inspiration - not a SyFy box set weekend but a sudden and hopefully transforming understanding of my long run, the cornerstone of marathon training, and to help my preparation for my London marathon debut on 13th April. Putting in the Hard Miles! I haven't been running on my own all that often recently. This has plenty of upsides - good company and encouraging conversation from running buddies are a big part of why I actually enjoy running. But there are benefits to running alone too - thinking time, day time escapes from my computer and also time to catch up with Marathon Talk - an enjoyable and informative running themed podcast with advice, humour, interviews and challenges. Marathon Talk works best on a long run, although you have to be prepared for a few funny looks if you happening to be listening to Tony's Trials or Boy on the Run as they share

Growing up, Saturday morning's were for Children's TV. It started out with Swapshop (or Tiswas if you were allowed to watch ITV), then morphed into Saturday Superstore, followed by Going Live! As a teenager, TV watching was replaced by work with a Saturday job at a bookshop. By the time I got to University, Saturday mornings were most definitely for lie-ins and continued that way for the next twenty years! However, since 2011, Saturday has been replaced by #parkrunday. If we're at home, it's Hanley parkrun and I'm usually in the park not much after 8. If we're away for the weekend, there's a mad scramble to discover if it's possible to get to the nearest parkrun for some parkrun tourism and what time we'll have to get up to get there. Getting my 50 club shirt Most of my parkrunning though is done in Hanley Park. Even though it is the same course at the same place at the same time every week, every parkrun is most definitely not the same, and