Rosedawn Ramblings

Almost exactly three years ago, I started on a lose-weight-get-fit journey, which has taken me from someone who couldn't run for a bus to someone who has found an enjoyment in running that I would never have imagined and brought out a long-dormant sporting competiveness. I started out slowly, graduating from running on the Wii Fit to the wonderfully simple Couch to 5k programme , which prepared me for my first event, the 5k Race for Life in June 2011. I kept going and in March 2012 completed my first half marathon .  Just over a year later, in the year I turn 40, I conquered a marathon too and had the most amazing day at the Greater Manchester Marathon . I've taken on many different running challenges, including running in the Olympic Stadium , and loved most of them. I've lost weight and got much fitter than ever before in my adult life and perhaps most importantly, I've met some amazing people along the way and have an ever expanding circle of (running) f...

I love it when a plans come together... Over the last few weeks, I've been putting in the miles in training and doing a range of long and short runs, speed work and hill sessions.  I've been getting faster in those training runs and at the St Thomas 7 managed to break 59 minutes for 7 miles and put together my most satisfying run for a long time - practically perfect in every way ! I also returned to the cross country and was back at Winsford  at the end of September for another satisfying run in the first race of the season for the North Staffs Cross County League . The approximately 5,000metre course was definitely closer to 4 miles than 3 miles but I still recorded an average speed of approximately 5:10mins/km and finished in 81st place - a much higher finish than I managed last year. What was even more satisfying, though, was that we had more than enough runners from Potters Trotters to record a team score... something we didn't manage at all last y...

The St Thomas 7 ... another new race, another new location (Upper Tean, somewhere between Cheadle and Checkly) and actually my 13th race in the NSRRA calendar for 2013. This was my spare, with 12 races needed to be  included in the group competition.  A Mary Poppins Kind of Day! Since my hamstring troubles at Ipstones , I've been taking it relatively easy in terms of training and mileage, but life away from running has been busy so I wasn't perfectly prepared for this race, but unlike the Stone St Michaels 10k back in June when I had to rely on my inner Pollyanna to find some positives from the race, the St Thomas 7 turned out to be practically perfect in every way... much more of a Mary Poppins kind of day.  I liked the course - lovely scenery and quiet country lanes. Traffic wasn't a problem and it was easy to work out where I should be running. Even more appealing, there were no off-road sections, so I felt much ...

Race start! The Ipstones 5 was another new race for me this year and not just a new race but a new place too... I'm still getting to know the area around Stoke-on-Trent and the little village of Isptones on the edge of the Peak District National Park was an unfamiliar destination. I knew two things about the race... one, it is part of a fundraising day at the village fire station and two, it goes up! I've had a good few weeks of training since launching myself on the comeback trail , so I was hoping for good things. Race sign-up was efficient and I then completed a short warm up to prepare my legs for the hilly miles to come, especially the promised 1 mile up with which the race starts. The field seemed smaller than many of the NSRRA races I've completed, but there were still plenty of familiar faces as we lined up at 3.30pm outside the fire station to get underway. Downhill: #636 thanked me for waiting until after the photo before overtaking! It w...

For Grandad: Bushy parkrun pilgrimage It's been a while since my last races in the North Staffs Road Runners - Cheadle 4 and Berryhill 10k back at the start of July. Since then, I've run in the Olympic Stadium ; made a pilgrimage to the home of parkrun at Bushy parkrun, where we met up with the Holmes family and had a lovely run with over 800 other parkrunners, and also made a return visit to the Olympic Park for the anniversary games (and what an experience that was)! Over the last few weeks my running mojo has been returning slowly - kickstarted by the Olympic Park Run. I've gradually been building up my weekly mileage, adopted a new training geared towards a half marathon at the end of October and decided to run two NSRRA races 4 days apart - the Staffs Knot 5 on Wednesday evening and the Leek Half Marathon on Sunday morning... I'm not sure this was a wise plan but the comeback trail has to start somewhere. I set myself two very different targets for ...

On Sunday, I ran in the Olympic Park and finished the 5 mile route with a lap of the Olympic Stadium.... like it says on the back on my medal: "I followed in the footsteps of legends". And it was an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experience, a perfect reminder that running for me is so much more about where and who with than how far and how fast. Before the Start with Mavis and Janet The day started early... along with my mum, I arrived in Olympic Park at around 8am, which gave us plenty of time to find a good viewing place in the stadium for my mum before I went off to the start to meet up with my friend Mavis. I used to work with Mavis and if anyone had suggested that I'd running with her, never mind in Olympic Park, I would never have laughed long and hard. But times change and we're both regular runnners now (and also share a parkrun addiction too). Moving up to the Start! We took part in the energetic warm up and then slowly shuffled fo...

The temperature was top of the list of topics of conversation as I arrived in Cheadle for the latest in my series of NSRRA races - this was to be race number 9 of the 12 I need to complete to be included in the annual competition. The sun was out and even at 10am, it was already hot and getting hotter. It was a relief to know that at least this race was one of the shortest on the calender - just 4 miles, although with a challenging climb after the first mile (or so I'd been told). Milling around before the start, I spotted many of familiar faces from previous NSRRA races, including plenty of other runners from Potters Trotters, Hanley parkrun and also the other members of Group W. In general, runners from the same club tend to hang around together before the start, but there's always a bit of conversation with runners from other clubs too. The race itself was pretty much as expected (thanks to the advice from those who had run previously) - a fast slightly downhill st...