Holbrooks parkrun

The question of when Coventry would get a second parkrun was answered a couple of months ago, though the answer to where that parkrun would be was a bit of a surprise to me. There are quite a few other parks in and around Coventry which are arguably more picturesque and definitely larger and offering more amenities, so seemed like more obvious candidates. Those however are only some of the considerations when deciding on a new parkrun location, and permission to use the park and the availability of local volunteers are crucial. Since I wasn’t in those discussions I cannot say which options were on the table, but whether or not it would have been my preferred choice, I’m glad to see my home city finally has another parkrun.

Another increasingly important factor in deciding on venues for a new parkrun is accessibility via public transport, and this is an area where Holbrooks parkrun does score quite well. There are plenty of bus routes within walking distance of the park, and the Arena Coventry railway station is a little over a mile away. That was how I was planning to get there today, but unfortunately it was a rail replacement bus service today, and the amended timetable didn’t really work for me.

I therefore decided to drive, though still parked at Arena Shopping Park, partly so I could do a bit of shopping afterwards, but also so I could test the run from the CBS Arena to Holbrooks Park. The route I took was nice and simple, with just two left turns, and I arrived at the park feeling nicely warmed up. I wasn’t planning to go flat out so didn’t bother with any strides, and instead took a photo for Instagram and enjoyed the bright sunshine as I waited for the first timers briefing.

The start line was one of the more unusual ones I’ve seen. It was pretty narrow, leading onto a path which was probably only wide enough for two runners, albeit with grass either side. Additionally nobody seemed to want to be at the front, so somehow I found myself there despite planning on a steady run. A few people did rush in front within the first few hundred metres, but once things settled down I started counting to see where I was. After about 1km I was in 13th place, probably too far back to improve on my highest parkrun finishing position of 5th, but within sight of a top 10 if I pushed on.

I hadn’t run at Holbrooks Park previously, and enjoyed the fact that the course had a very different feel from any of the other parkruns locally. Warwick Racecourse, Leamington, Stratford, Bedworth and Coventry all attract relatively big fields, and are all either exclusively or mostly tarmac paths. Holbrooks parkrun by contrast had a much smaller feel to it. There were 107 finishers today on a bright, sunny morning, and probably over half of the course is on grass. It felt quite firm and consistent underfoot today, though whether the same will be true in the middle of Winter remains to be seen.

The course itself was two laps around the perimeter of the park, followed by a smaller loop of maybe 500 metres to finish. It is pretty flat, with just 26 metres of elevation gain across the 5km, though pretty much all of that elevation gain was on the grass. Much of the path was slightly downhill, which gave a good opportunity to pick the pace up without any increase in effort. On the second lap I was overtaking some of the walkers, though there weren’t many other people in the park at the time so finding the space to overtake was always easy despite the narrow path.

Across the second lap I found myself slowly working my way up through the field. I still wasn’t putting in a massive effort, and indeed my rather tired old shoes wouldn’t have responded well to that had I tried, but I felt much better than I have recently. Potentially some of that might be due to running much of the course on grass, and I think I’ll test that again on my next run to see whether I can start increasing my running but utilising surfaces with a bit more give in them.

By the time I’d reached the finish, I’d lost track of where I actually was in comparison to the rest of the runners. I’d watched the first runner finish as I came round to complete my second lap, but that was about it. My finish token confirmed I was 7th finisher, with a time of 21:53. Despite the grass, I think it is a course where fast times are possible, particularly over the Summer where the shaded sections of the course would be a nice relief too.

Overall I enjoyed it a lot. Part of that was the fact it wasn’t too busy, and I do wonder how the course would cope with 200+ people, though how often that would be the case I’m unsure. It was my 87th parkrun today and 16th different event, so am still making good progress towards doing my 100th parkrun on my next birthday. Once I’ve achieved that milestone, I might start mixing up which events I run a little more often alongside volunteering at Warwick Racecourse, and look forwards to my next visit to Holbrooks parkrun, hopefully on a day when the trains are running!

A long parkrun

I had a weird dream last night. I was a 21 year who had just broken into the first team at a League Two Football club, who for whatever reason had two barber shops inside their stadium. The senior players had gone on strike and it was expected that I would lead a team of young players to fulfill the league fixtures during the strike. However, I refused and joined the strike inside.

I start today’s blog with this detail as firstly the dream was so weirdly specific that it needed to be shared, but also because when I woke from the dream at about 5am, I found myself thinking so much about what it was about that I couldn’t get back to sleep. This was the latest disruption in a week of minor disruptions. Despite following a steady pace, the Kenilworth Half took a lot out of me, and Monday was a day spent moving very slowly. I decided to try to do a Zwift session on Tuesday, however whilst I managed to get everything connected, it wasn’t running smoothly enough to do a session which was rather frustrating. Wednesday’s run was a bit of a slog, so I decided to take Thursday as an extra rest day. Last night I spent a couple of hours in the pub, and whilst that was my choice, I went knowing it was another sub-optimal aspect of my preparations.

Before the Half last Sunday, I had eyed today’s run as the best opportunity to do my longest training run before the Yorkshire Marathon, given that is now just a month away. However, my preparations meant I wasn’t sure how realistic that would be. Ultimately I decided that I would head out with the intention of doing a long run, but took my credit card with me just in case I needed assistance to get home.

The run was split into 3 parts. Part one went pretty much to plan. At a little over 8km, I eased myself into the run and was feeling reasonably decent by the end. Part two was Warwick Racecourse parkrun. I’ve run to parkrun a couple of times before but that was when I lived in Barford, which is almost exactly 6km from the racecourse. This was my first time running from Kenilworth, though I had done a very similar ‘warm up’ before Two Castles this year. 8km is longer than you need for a warm up, but probably short enough that if you ease into the run, you can arrive at the start line feeling relatively fresh.

That was the case today, though I had no intention of testing those legs. I tried my best to maintain a similar effort level to the warm up, and did an okay job of that. The time on my watch was 26:05 (though I didn’t press start until I reached the start line), which was 37 seconds per kilometre faster than the first stage of the run. Given I had a few roads to cross during the first part of the run, the actual difference in terms of my pace was less.

I hoped this would hold me in good stead for the run home. I had two gels left, which meant I should be able to do another 90 minutes, which meant I didn’t go the same route home. Instead I went via Leamington, which meant an early uphill drag on Gallows Hill. It is one of those hills where if you didn’t already know how you were feeling, you do by the top of the hill. On a good day, the gradient barely bothers you, but on a day like today you feel like you are going uphill for an eternity.

I did at least feel good enough that I felt like I could commit to running home, despite my route taking me past Leamington railway station. I generally don’t take a card or any money on a run, because I always fear that if the option is there, I will take the easy option and cut the run short. However, today it had the opposite effect. It encouraged me to keep pushing, knowing that if I did go beyond my limit I would at least avoid finding myself stranded.

As I left Leamington, the relative lack of stamina in my legs started to tell. My pace didn’t drop off a cliff, but the gradual decline was still noticeable. It meant that I had to ask myself which of the hills into Kenilworth I wanted to follow. Ultimately I decided on an off-road detour through Ashow, which is a route which I’ve only done a couple of times, and therefore wasn’t entirely sure how far I had left. That’s always the difficulty of a familiar route – when it is a struggle, you know exactly how much further you have to suffer for, and until that becomes a small enough number it can be rather demotivating.

I normally aim to do at least 3 hours on my longest run and got within 7 minutes of that mark today, which under the circumstances I’m pleased with. I have time to fit a couple more long runs before the Marathon, and hopefully can find the right balance between getting more miles in the bank without overdoing things.

The Kenilworth Half Marathon 2023

Whilst temperatures in the mid-20’s aren’t generally what you want to see forecast for a Half Marathon, it did at least solve a dilemma I’d been facing. When I signed up for the Kenilworth Half, I was hoping to race it. However, having been ill about 10 days ago, I was unsure as to whether it was too soon to attempt an aggressive pacing strategy. The combination of the forecast and how my midweek runs felt in the heat meant that I took the decision to follow a more comfortable pacing strategy. A new personal worst for a road Half was something I was potentially looking at, albeit I didn’t go as far as actively pursuing that.

Whilst the route for the Kenilworth Half is the same as it was for the previous two editions that I have participated in, this year there was also a 5k event.that race is essentially the first 3k and final 2k of the Half Marathon route, and started about 3 minutes before the Half. This did mean an extra section of two way traffic, which shouldn’t have been an issue but for a couple of cars parked on the road which forced some brief single file sections. It was a bit of a relief when I reached 3k and was able to use the full width of the road, and soon we were on Rouncil Lane and heading out of Kenilworth.

I made a conscious effort not to look at my watch today. Even in perfect running conditions I would have struggled to know what the right pace for me was given the relatively limited amount of running I’ve done in recent months, and when the temperature reaches the levels we had today, you really need to forget any preconceived ideas about what a ‘good’ pace is. Instead, I focused on my perceived effort, trying to keep below a 5 out of 10 effort for the first half.

One challenge of that is keeping yourself mentally engaged, so I tried to focus on my hill running technique. The course is constant undulations, and on the uphill I forced myself into a slight forward lean to improve my form. I then focussed on running strongly over the top of each undulation, meaning I was carrying enough speed to be able to take a breather on the downhill without sacrificing my pace.

Generally everything was going well until about halfway when I suddenly realised that I had forgotten to apply vaseline to my nipples pre-run. It is a mistake I almost never make, though strangely did the same thing at the 2021 Kenilworth Half. It must be something about having the start line at the end of my road which throws off my usual pre-race routine, though given I don’t make the same mistake on training runs I’m not sure why I’ve made the same mistake twice.

Joggers nipple is a strange issue to deal with during a run. It is sore, and you know it will feel even more sore during your post-run shower, so it is always worth taking the time to find a solution which works for you (I either use vaseline or wear a baselayer, both of which work for me). However, it isn’t something which will slow you down, and can provide a bit of a distraction for how the rest of your body is feeling. It was pretty much the only thing on my mind for the final 30 minutes of the run, to the extent that I didn’t notice that my pace had lifted by around 20 seconds per kilometre.

That increase in my pace was enough to comfortably avoid a personal worst in road Half Marathons. That remains the 1:56 I did at the 2020 Warwick Half Marathon, which contains some of the same roads. Overall I was pretty pleased with how I ran today, joggers nipple aside. Running to effort when you are unsure about your fitness levels is definitely the way to go, and is something I will look to fully utilise in the Yorkshire Marathon too. Hopefully I can get a decent amount of training in before then, including my longest training run next weekend when I’m planning to run to and from parkrun for the first time since moving to Kenilworth.

My Summer Of Cycling

Whilst I hope to get out on my bike a few more times over the next few weeks, it looks likely that today was my final bike commute of the Summer. I drove to work throughout this week, partly as it is pretty dark in the mornings and my commute to work is on unlit country lanes, but also because driving has given me the opportunity to fit in a couple more runs each week ahead of the Yorkshire Marathon next month. I cycled to volunteer at parkrun this morning, but my schedule over the next few weeks means that wouldn’t be an option until possibly after the Marathon, by which time I’ll probably have set my bike up for Zwifting indoors.

When I decided to start commuting by bike, I had it in my mind that I would be saving myself money, without having run any calculations about whether that would be the case. However, I’ve covered 1071km on my various commutes this Summer, or 666 miles. My car should do slightly over 50mpg, which at a price of £1.50 per litre means I’ve saved in the region of £85 in petrol across the Summer. Thankfully I haven’t had any mechanical issues which couldn’t be resolved by cleaning the bike or adjusting my setup, so my maintenance costs have probably been less than £10 in cleaning products. Therefore my actual saving has probably been more like £75, which isn’t nothing but certainly doesn’t cover the cost of the bike. It should be highlighted though that I wouldn’t have had to pay for parking on any of those journeys had I used my car instead. Had I paid £3 per day for parking (which is the day rate for our staff car park when I work in the city centre rather than Ryton), the money I saved would have doubled.

This feels like an important point since my primary reason for trying to commute by bike more regularly was to reduce my individual carbon footprint. Whilst £75 is a nice saving to have, it’s not the scale of savings which would change habits. However, the bigger the saving, the bigger the incentive. If I was saving £75 per week, I would definitely be reinvesting some of that into the type of clothing and equipment I’d need to cycle throughout the year.

Another factor to consider is time. My work commute takes 15 minutes in the car, whilst my quickest time on the bike was just under 30 minutes. However, you then have to factor in the time taken to apply sun cream before the ride, unlocking and locking the bike, changing and showering. Typically I set my alarm 55 minutes early on days I ride to work and get home about 45 minutes later. However, when I’m home, I’ve done my main exercise for the day. I might still do some yoga later in the evening, but I’m not thinking about going out for a run when I get home.

To be honest, this was probably the biggest adjustment I had to make this Summer. I’ve become so used to doing 4-6 runs per week that dropping down to 2 or 3 felt for a while like I wasn’t doing enough, especially when injuries hit and that occasionally dropped to one run per week. I had to remind myself that I didn’t start running regularly to become a runner or to be able to run a 5k in a specific time. I started running to improve my fitness, and as long as I’m maintaining my fitness, it doesn’t matter whether that’s primarily through running or not.

This realisation might be my most significant area of progress this Summer. Earlier in the Summer, I didn’t do too many rides which weren’t commutes, and whilst I had a lot of fun on those commutes, when I did have the opportunity to go for a longer ride, I was reminded of how rewarding they can be. Even when the weather is perfect, running for more than two hours always feels like a big effort and that time comes right down in the Summer when the temperatures increase. However on the bike you can stay out for hours, maybe stopping off at a few cafes along the way and explore a much bigger area of the country than you could on a run.

Therefore for next Summer, my goal is to be much more flexible with my plans. The weather might dictate how I spend some of that time – any thoughts I had for a bike packing trip in June were washed out by torrential rain – but primarily I want to follow what I’m enjoying. I don’t want to be worrying about my overall fitness levels or how well-prepared I am for any events I might have on the horizon, because ultimately if I am enjoying exercising, I’ll be doing enough of it to stay fit.

parkwalk 2.0: Walk Easier

Last year I started my training for the Yorkshire Marathon quite late, but was fortunate enough that I didn’t really have any obstacles after I started training and whilst I certainly wasn’t in peak shape when I arrived in York, my conditioning was good enough that I could enjoy the event. I set my expectations at that level when I started my training for this year’s event a couple of weeks ago, though the past week has been a reminder that I shouldn’t take it as a given that preparations will be as smooth this year.

Last Sunday was the first reminder. I was planning to run for 1 hour and 50 minutes, though about 40 minutes in I stumbled and fell crossing a car park and cut my knee. Thankfully it could have been a lot worse, and whilst the cut still hasn’t fully healed, the only impact on my training has been that I have had to switch to standing yoga routines rather than the routines I would otherwise be doing.

Then from Wednesday evening through to Thursday evening I had roughly 24 hours where I couldn’t keep down any food. Thursday afternoon was particularly unpleasant, and whilst by Friday I was able to keep down the blandest selection of food I had available, I was still feeling the effects of the previous day. Over that 24 hours I lost around 2kg, and the dehydration left me dealing with fatigue and a nasty headache.

Running parkrun today was something I’d ruled out on Thursday. It is still too early to be fully confident that my stomach could deal with that, yet alone finding the energy required. But I felt like some fresh air and gentle exercise would be unlikely to cause me any harm and potentially could do me some good too. So I decided to do a parkwalk instead, with the added bonus of getting one event closer to my goal of doing my 100th event on my next birthday.

I have done a parkwalk once before, though that was a last minute decision. It was last April, and I arrived with every intention of running, albeit not flat out as I was due to do the Kenilworth May Day 10k the following day…though at the time I thought that event was on the Monday. Anyway, my mistake turned out to be irrelevant as this was the first day when my hip flexor had flared up so severely that it was too painful to run, though since I was already there and it was a lovely sunny day, I decided to walk instead.

Knowing I was going to walk today, I was able to wear walking clothes and trainers, rather than my running kit. It also helped in terms of mindset. Last year I was disappointed I wasn’t running, but today I was much more content with that as I knew that I’ll be back running at a level I’m happier with sooner if I don’t try to rush my recovery from whatever I caught this week (there were no obvious candidates to suggest food poisoning so I’m not really sure what it was).

Unless you are at the very front of the field, it always takes a little bit of time to settle into your pace at a parkrun, and that still applies even if you walk. At the start I still found myself overtaking a few other walkers as well as being overtaken by a few runners who had arrived late. It took me a few minutes to settle into my normal walking pace, which was all I was looking for today. I could have attempted a speed walk, but that would have missed the point of the day.

One thing I did notice as I walked was that you notice the slight elevation changes a lot more when you are walking than when you run. Not because they are difficult, but just in the sense that you can actually see them. I had always viewed the far end of Warwick Racecourse as flat, but whilst you can certainly treat it that way, there are actually a few slight undulations.

On a slow run, I’m pretty good at judging whether I am taking things as easily as intended, but over the past year I haven’t done as much walking as I used to do and wasn’t always sure whether I was keeping things easy today. Therefore I did find myself checking my watch a few times, not to monitor my time or pace but to check that my heart rate was in line with my plan of an easy effort. It was less than 90bpm each time I checked, and indeed stayed below 90bpm for the full walk, and whilst I don’t have any actual data to compare it to, it felt about right.

My ‘reward’ was a new personal worst, both in terms of time and position, and I’m pleased with both achievements. Whilst I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to pick up this bug, by prioritising recovery the disruption it causes should hopefully be kept to a minimum. I am going to try a short run tomorrow morning, and then provided that goes well I’ll do a slightly longer run on Monday, as well as sessions on Wednesday and Thursday. Next Sunday I have the Kenilworth Half, and whilst I have plenty of time to decide on my race strategy, I’m perfectly fine with the prospect of going at an easy pace if necessary.