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...

I don't often run listening to music but a couple of times this week, I've connected my fancy new Bluetooth headphones, turned up the volume and tuned out with my latest running playlist . It always seems like the shuffle option knows exactly what song to play at what moment, either to make me smile, give me a sense of perspective or just make me run that little bit quicker when needed. And today was no exception: Life of Riley (The Lightning Seeds) - I've been very busy lately with work and other commitments. It's been difficult to find the time (or energy) for running. But when I do make the time, I never regret it. When the alarm went off this morning, it was tempting to snooze for a few more minutes. But a run always clears my mind - even more so when it's raining - so I got up, got ready and set out on my run. I still believe that in this world, we've got to find the time...  Why Does It Always Rain On Me (Travis) -  after running up to Burslem for...

There is usually a light bulb moment during the week when inspiration comes for the blog; it can be something someone says, a place I'm visiting, something I see whilst running or a random thought that just pops into my head. But once the inspiration hits, it's then a matter of translating that into a post. So this week, inspiration came when I realised we're almost half way through 2019 and that means half way through my blogging challenge too.  It's time for a mid-year appraisal and, overall, so far, so good; 26 blog posts, no missing weeks and I've really enjoyed writing again. I'm not sure if it's a coincidence, but I'm also really enjoying running too.  I've been looking back and have picked out some of my favourite moments so far... Blogging inspiration.... when I spent all weekend putting off my long run and was then saved by a lost scarf (thanks Isabelle Taking on a challenge...  a race day in the Olympic Park in London ...

It's now less than a week until I'll be standing on the start line of the Dulux London Revolution Trail Ultra . My number has arrived in the post, I've made a start on sorting out my race kit and I've got train tickets and a hotel booked. Does this mean I'm ready to race? Honestly, I'm not really sure. The last couple of weeks have been a real challenge in terms of health and fitness... a cough that's not quite gone away, an ache in my right foot that's annoying more than painful and more than my usual amount of lethargy after a very busy few weeks at work. Running has generally been replaced by quite a lot of resting, although I did cover about 15 miles at walking pace around London last weekend whilst spectating at the London Marathon. It's not quite the taper I had planned but it's how things have worked out and now it's time to make it work on race day. So I've been pondering my race day strategy and set myself three sim...

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'...

The sun has been shining, there is blossom on the trees, the nights are getting lighter, the clocks changed this weekend... it really does feel like spring is finally here. Spring hits Hanley Park The change of season seems to have had a positive impact on my running this week... the aches and pains of a couple of weeks ago have eased ( rest really is best ) and I've been clocking up the miles this week; all the time remembering to take things steady and focusing on recovering well after each run. Yesterday, with the sun shining brightly and conditions practically perfect for running, I set out with another of my running buddies Jane for a long-ish run. We were playing it by ear... ready for a long run but not exactly sure how far or where we would go! The goal was to relax, spend time on our feet and enjoy the miles. We settled on a canal route and headed out of Hanley along the Canal towards Endon... I run this way regularly and it always brings back good memories - th...

I don't mind running in the cold - I definitely prefer being wrapped up against the elements than over-heating and suffering from sunburn. But, with the snow, ice and sub-zero temperatures over the last few weeks, the challenge especially for evening runs has been finding a safe ice-free-ish route... So I've competed most of my runs around the same mile loop, around and around, sometimes changing direction just to add a bit of variety. I think it adds up to about 25 miles so far and I’m starting to get a little bit of cabin fever. I’ve been anxious to stretch my legs and experience some wide open spaces, or at least to run on a different stretch of pavement.  The chance came this morning with a long-ish Sunday run in the winter sunshine, topping up my vitamin D levels and getting plenty of fresh air and lots of thinking time. Wisdom from Cheryl Strayed I set off with a vague notion of a route but happy to adjust and change direction if the conditions demanded ...

On Friday, soaking wet, cold, a bit grumpy after a walking home from work (twice) in the sleet and with my nieces arriving later, I opted for a hot chocolate, fluffy blanket and my arm chair; it turns out I'm not always brave enough to get out there and run. On Saturday, my day started early, with an inspection of Hanley Park to check all the snow and ice had melted and we were safe to run. Run director responsibilities meant a lot of walking but not much running. Saturday afternoon, my favourite time for a long run, was instead devoted to shopping; my nieces wanted Primark, Starbucks, Claire's Accessories, the Stoke Shop. More walking, lots of chatting, a few purchases and plenty of silliness,... but still no long run. So now it's Sunday, I've just waved goodbye to our visitors, the house is quiet and there are about 4 hours of daylight left in which to get myself out of the front door and complete my long run challenge for the week... I've left it late! But...

On Sunday 15th October, I'll be taking part in the first Birmingham International Marathon. With my two previous big city road marathons ( Manchester and London ), I followed a detailed training plan, incorporated speeds sessions, gradually built up my long run distances and went to the race start as prepared as I could be. In Manchester, everything on race day (except the course measurement) went according to plan. In London, the pre-race pressure I put on myself for a specific finish time got the better of me and the wheels came off at half distance; the rest of the day after the high point of Tower Bridge is just a painful blur. I'd had the same idea in mind for preparing for this race too. I signed up last year with a discount code earned by running in the Birmingham Half, probably the furthest in advance I've ever entered a race. I'd planned 12 weeks of structured training following my Race to the King adventure. I wanted to see if I could get close to my mara...

I t's been a while and I'm not sure why. I've been running a lot until this last week, got a new job, visited lots of new and interesting places and had lots going on. I've just got out of the habit of writing and I feel a bit sad about it... it's like I lost my voice (which is a pretty desperate state of affairs for a chatterbox like me). Two things have shaken me from my silence... Last week, I went along to a reception hosted my Peter Hooper from Cox Bank Publishing, the man behind the Sporting Stories initiative. It was a gathering of authors - it was great fun and I particularly enjoyed chatting with paralympian swimmer Jenny Booth and finding out what motivates her to get up at 4.30am for training sessions at the pool. But I felt a bit of a fraud... my blog has been without an update for so long, did I still count as a writer? Photo Credit: Cox Bank Publishing And then at the weekend, I received this message via Twitter: And that got me thinkin...

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 ...