Rosedawn Ramblings

Week 1 of my training plan for the Race to the Castle has proved to be a hectic one.... mostly involving Christmas trees and Brussels sprouts! I've created a Christmas Tree around Penkhull with the Potters Trotters... And then tried to find as many Christmas Trees as we could on Thursday night's club run... stopping for a photo with every one we found definitely slowed us down but there were plenty of smiles with every mile we completed. On Saturday morning, it should have been time for more Christmas fun with Hanley parkrun's Christmas fancy dress run. But my fancy dress was accidentally forgotten, so I decided to run "serious" and completed my fastest Hanley parkrun since 2013! I love my "game face" photo taken by Mick Hall - thanks Mick! By Saturday night, I was beginning to wilt, especially as a visit from my nieces meant unexpected extra "time on my feet" - also known as the nightmare that is Primark at Christmas...

With a little bit of inspiration from A-ha... When it comes to running, routine, discipline, repetition, consistency, organisation and stability are probably some of the key descriptors for success... especially if you are focusing on getting faster or running further. You need a plan and you need to stick to it. But that doesn't sound very exciting or inspiring. It's unlikely to persuade anyone out of the warmth of home on a wet, cold and dark evening in November. So you need something that will motivate you, get you out of the door... you need to know your purpose; you need to find your 'why'. I've been thinking a lot about this a lot recently - inspired in part by interviews with Chrissie Wellington and Katherine Grainger on the Don't Tell Me The Score podcast on BBC Sounds and coinciding with (or perhaps resulting in) a new-found focus for my running in recent weeks. For me, my 'why' is best summed up by my 12-mile long run on Thursd...

This weekend has been the running adventure that is Thunder Run. .. a running event at Catton Park in Derbyshire that involves a 10k trail loop and teams or individuals trying to complete as many laps as they can in 24 hours. Here's a teaser for a proper review of the weekend.... Thunder Run in 10 words Laughter Burgers Prosecco Friends Support Rain Mud Fear Tiredness Darkness Pandas I'll fill in the rest of the story as the week goes on... because right now I'm really tired and really need to sleep but really don't want to miss a week on my blogging challenge... but let's just say it was eventful and there was even a little bit of running (although not as much as planned). In the meantime, thanks to the Rock Solid Pandas, we had a blast!

Today I completed a half marathon in 1 hour and about 5 minutes... unfortunately it doesn't count as an unbelieveable PB as I wasn't running; I was in a car and not even driving! It was the Potters 'Arf this morning - I've completed the race three times as a runner, the first time in 2012 , and it is still one of the toughest half marathons I've done. It's also one of the best supported and a great event in the local running calendar, famed for it's horrible hills. However, since 2015, I've completed the event in a slightly different way, volunteering in the race activation car. This means completing the half marathon route about five minutes in front of the lead runners; alerting marshals and volunteers at drink stations that the runners are on the way; identifying any on-course issues and occasionally jumping out of the car to move traffic signs or cones. Race Day Timings For the most part, it's really enjoyable. Driver Andy and I ...

It's the London Marathon this weekend and I think I'm suffering from a few pre-race nerves... I've been lethargic all week; struggling with a sore throat and bad cough; I couldn't get to sleep last with plans for Sunday running though my head; I was up early again this morning checking the weather forecast and trying to decide what to wear on race day.. lots to do, lots to plan before I catch the train down to London on Saturday afternoon. And I'm just spectating! I'm excited - it's a special race and a fantastic experience. Greenwich, Cutty Sark, Tower Bridge, Canary Wharf, The Embankment...  finally reaching Buckingham Palace and turning on to the Mall. London Marathon Cards by Rosedawn Designs I love to talk to anyone who will listen about my experiences in 2014... tears, hugs, sunburn and celebratory prosecco; it was the most memorable of race days and I hope one day to get another chance to run. London Marathon support from my nieces ...

In four weeks time, I will be taking part in the Dulux London Revolution Trails event aiming for ultramarathon distance on a route that starts in Marlow, loops around the Chilterns and then follows the River Thames down to Windsor. The route is described by race organisers as "a diverse mix of hilly trails, historic woodland paths and flat riverside running past Thameside towns"... sounds idyllic apart from the distance! I entered a few weeks ago and have gradually been getting my mind and body prepared for the challenge; building up my weekly mileage and adding in hills, trails and solo runs to my weekly schedule of running... I knew that this week was a crucial one in my training to give me a bit more confidence for the challenge ahead. Having struggled through a 3-mile solo run after work on Wednesday, Thursday's run was designated as "fun hills" with the Potters Trotters - a good combination of hills and trails making use of the University'...

Did anyone else run on Thursday evening in the mist that descended over Stoke-on-Trent? If I'd had my headtorch and was running on trails or through the woods, I wouldn't have thought twice about it. I love a headtorch run and the night laps at Thunder Run are always my favourite. But somehow, as I set off after work at about 5.30pm on Thursday, it was an incredibly eerie experience - even on well lit streets, visibility was minimal and pedestrians and vehicles seemed to appear out of nowhere, along with cyclists riding on the pavement with no lights (but that's a rant for another time). I wouldn't say I was scared but I was definitely uneasy... and then I began to enjoy myself. Searching as I am for my next big challenge , not being able to see where I was going began to feel comforting. I decided to turn left at every junction for a while then changed direction and turned right. My tiredness faded. I made pretty patterns for Strava. left, left, left.... ri...

‘How do you run 33 miles?’ That's a question I've been asked a lot recently (along with the more obvious, why?) and my answer is always the same... One step at a time, one mile at a time. As I stood on the start line of the D33 Ultra Marathon on a damp and drizzly morning in Duthie Park in Aberdeen, I tried to think about the challenge ahead in small manageable segments, one step at a time, one mile at a time, one snack at a time, one checkpoint at a time. My goal, to do my best (inspired by a quote from Cheryl Strayed, one of my favourite writers). With a final good luck of encouragement from Liz S, very sadly unable to run due to injury, I was underway and following a trail of runners out of the park and up onto the Deeside Way - a old rail trail running inland from Aberdeen. There was a temptation to start off too quickly - the terrain was easy underfoot, the rain not too heavy and everyone around me seemed to be speeding up as we left the park - but I resisted and tr...

A beautiful location, almost perfect running weather (just a bit too warm), a course that really suited me and a goal achieved – I loved this race! Lake Vyrnwy is located about 2 hours away from Stoke-on-Trent, and about 20 miles over the border into Wales, with most of the journey along winding country lanes. But it was definitely worth the trip. It has a very interesting history, and there is a lost village under the lake, which was created with the construction of the dam in the 1880s (see http://www.lake-vyrnwy.com/ ). The race started on a lane in the hamlet of Abertridwr – there were hundreds of runners crammed into a very small space and we didn’t really know the race had started until the people in front started moving. It was a slight downhill and then the only real uphill section on the course – just less than a mile up to Lake Vyrnwy. Running Route It wasn’t too much of a climb though (nothing like Anchor Road) and soon we were emerging from the tree-lined road and...

When I read Cheryl Strayed's  book " Wild " (now also a film with Reese Witherspoon), I was very much inspired by her story of walking the Pacific Crest Trail , up the west coast of the USA. The sheer scale of the endeavour, with most of her time spent on her own just walking with one foot in front of the other, was mind blowing. I'm not sure it made me want to walk hundreds of solitary miles, but it did make me wonder what was possible and what I'm capable of doing. Fast forward a couple of years, following an amazing trip to Australia and New Zealand (which looked like this):  Then illness, an operation, injury and a bit of exercise apathy. I needed a new challenge, something to distract me and something to get me fit again (lots of holiday cake to be exercised away). I've started playing netball again - go Team Knights - which has helped me with my fitness and has been brilliantly sociable. I've been making hundreds of cards for Rosedawn ...

This Saturday (or parkrunday as it has become known over the last three years), I reached a significant parkrun milestone - my 100th run. I spent the week before hoping that freak storms or an unexpected roller coaster ride didn't put Hanley parkrun in jeopardy, and of course, that I remembered my barcode (thanks to Kirsten for the reminders). 100 parkruns. 500km.  For those of you who know me from Hanley parkrun, it might not seem strange or unexpected. You might think I've always been a runner. For those of you who have known me longest, the idea of me completing even one parkrun may seem ridiculous. You knew me when I wouldn't (or couldn't) even run for a bus. At my first parkrun in November 2011 , there were 39 runners and I finished in 26th place in 28:40. I managed a 9-week PB streak at Hanley from December 2011 to March 2012, improving my time to 24:53. For my 50th run, in April 2013 , I ran a very chatty 27:26 alongside Kirsten Owen and we finished in...

It has been a while since my last blog. There's been a lot going on. Sometimes life gets in the way of running and writing about running. I'd like to say I'm sorry but this post is all about being not sorry, hopefully not in a selfish "I don't care if I upset you" kind of way but instead with a spirit of "I've got my motivation and priorities back on track and that's a good thing". I'm not sorry that I've decided to taken a step back from local road racing. Last year, I raced so often between May and September, that races were almost the only running I was doing. I forgot to rest properly and my body took a hit. There was a reason for racing so often: I was chasing points and placings in the NSRRA. Winning my group was a real possibility and points in every race mattered. It would be wrong to say I didn't enjoy it... I loved the competition and the challenge and of course I enjoyed winning... but I realised I wanted this summ...

Over the last few weeks, I've been building up to the challenge of running 10k laps as part of a team for the London Enduro organised by running / blogging passionistas at Write This Run . I've practised off-road, hilly and multiple runs and as I wrote in my last blog post , I was as ready as I was ever going to be to take on this new challenge. But what should I expect from my first experience of an endurance event? A three hour journey to Wimbledon Common on Saturday afternoon gave me lots of opportunity to ponder the question. There were a few negatives buzzing around in my end... The usual pre-race nerves were being intensified by all the unknowns - the location, terrain, night time running and of course my team mates were all new. But there was lots of excitement too... I was a grown up big kid setting off on a new adventure! But would I actually be able to do this? I arrived at the start area for the London Enduro just as the afternoon 10k and half maratho...