Rosedawn Ramblings

At the start of 2019, I set myself the challenge of publishing a blog post every week during the year - 52 weeks, 52 posts. My motivation was to get back to something I loved doing, something I'd missed, something I'd started several years ago but then lost my way. I thought I'd run out of things to write about. On Sunday, I achieved my goal. I wrote about eating profiteroles for breakfast. It wasn't always easy. Some posts were longer than others. Some were only written right at the last moment. I did it! I crossed the finish line with a smile on my face (mainly thanks to those profiteroles ). But what did I learn? About myself, about running and about life in general? 1. Inspiration can come from anyone and anything ... it can be easy to think that you need something 'big' to get you started. At the start of 2019, I certainly had lots of inspiration to run and blog as I completed an ultramarathon along the River Thames. I've also been inspi...

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...

A few weeks before our travels to New Zealand , I signed up for a race. I filled in all the boxes on the entry form, pressed submit, put the date in my diary, created a rough training plan and then got on with normal life. It's not until June next year... that's ages away! But it's not just any race. It's a race that ticks all my boxes ...  It's going to test me to the limit and be harder than anything I've ever done before. It's 100km or 63 miles and the goal is to complete non-stop.  It's definitely got the wow factor , with a route description promising stretching moorland, winding rivers, ancient woodlands and sandy trails and a finish at the incredibly spectacular Bamburgh Castle. It's going to need dedication in training and I'll need to use every motivational trick I know to get me out of the front door and out running whatever the weather. But it's something I really want to do. And now it's...

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 ...