Monthly Archives: February 2015

Start of the silly season!

February 21st saw the start of the Bike Sportive season for most of us, with the Wiggle No excuses sportive from Huntingdon race course and a huge group from my biking club turned out for this ride in cold windy conditions.

WNOEX08I wanted a nice chatty ride with my friend Gina and that is just what I got, but it was a toughie in the wind, all the running the week before did not help and at one point going up a hill I thought about just falling off to stop the pain … but i didn’t 🙂

As usual the feed stops and signage was excellent and I would always recommend these wiggle sportives…

The list of events now continue like this…

Lincoln 10k Run (March)

Count the Counties 95 mile bike sportive (April with Geoff)

Trowse 10k Run (Easter Sunday)

GEAR 10k run (May 3rd)

Pedal Norfolk 50 mile bike sportive (May4th)

Cycle Together Sandringham 100 mile bike sportive (June14th)

Then I think I may need a Holiday 🙂

The Big 50!!

No not my birthday,that was a few years ago!

February 14th was not only Valentines day but the day  I ran my 50th Parkrun.

50th parkrun

A huge achievement for me, as I was quite adamant that parkrun was something I never wanted to do,why would I ever want to set my alarm clock on a Saturday 🙂

Encouraged along by Geoff,  I finally  gave in and went along to see what all the fuss was about on 11th May 2013, I enjoyed the friendly atmosphere as much as I did the run but it was well over a month before I did another one.

Then I was hooked and I cannot imagine a weekend without a parkrun, when Geoff is away parkrun is what makes my weekends bearable! Its not really about the running its more about the friendly people and how they become like a family to you.

If we are visiting friends on a Saturday the first thing I do is look to see where the nearest parkrun is and I even got up early on Christmas day to go along to the Ferry Meadows Christmas day run and its been lovely to have Geoff encourage and support me.

50th parkrun flowersI was disappointed that Geoff was going to be away for my 50th run but I made cake for all my running friends and I knew we would have a fun time, the biggest surprise of all was getting beautiful flowers delivered to me at parkrun from Geoff, letting me know he was thinking about me.

I have done 36 parkrun’s at King Lynn, 10 at Milton, Cambridge, 1 at Colwick, 1 at Peterborough, 1 at Hanley, Staffs and 1 at Clumber Park, no matter where you go there is always a warm and welcoming atmosphere BUT nothing is quite as special as doing a home parkrun.

My current Personal Best time is 27.19 🙂

Once a walker always a walker!!

Last weekend I swapped my running shoes and my bike for my walking boots and headed off to Wells Youth Hostel with Cambridge Rambling Club.

I was looking forward to catching up with my friend Jayne and a weekend of walking along the coast.

Cold windy weather was predicted so a chance to test out some Gore windproof trousers too.

The walking started off well along the coast path to Morston,here we misheard the route directions and Jayne and I plus one other headed off towards the church while the rest queued for the toilets.

On the way to the church we passed the very lovely looking Anchor Inn and was drawn in by the roaring fire and promise of excellent coffee ( which it was ) Only to discover 30 mins later that the group had left without us in the opposite direction!! We had enjoyed our coffee and warmed by the fire set off in a trot and soon caught them up, only to get a stern telling off ….

The rest of the afternoon was spent walking over muddy fields which is not very enjoyable although Binham Priory was a lovely discovery.

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After 18 miles we returned to the hostel and I redeemed myself a little by providing a nice home made Avocado and Chocolate cake.

After a very enjoyable evening meal at the Bowling Green Inn where we joked about how everyone missed out on the best coffee and posh toilets, we seemed to have been forgiven 🙂

It was decided to cut Sundays walk short due to predicted bad weather (which never happened) our  walk took us inland to Holkham hall then through the grounds to the coastal path which took us back to Wells, for me this was the best bit of the weekend’s walking.

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As we finished earlier than expected Jayne and I went to the lovely Wells beach cafe and sat by the fire enjoying lovely coffee and cake while we planned other adventures for later in the year.

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I was very impressed with the Gore trousers which kept me warm and dry in the showers so although not mine they have somehow found their way into my wardrobe 🙂 and although i do more running and biking these days I also realised once a walker always a walker and look forward to my next walking holiday with Geoff.

Another Year Over !!

After my disappointment of not being able to do the Peterborough half marathon in October due to an achilles injury, I hoped i would be fit enough to do the Ely News Years Eve 10km

Once I was able too, around the beginning of December,I started back at parkrun taking it nice and easy, my achilles still ached but I could manage the 5km.

Christmas Day I was up nice and early to go to Ferry Meadows Christmas day parkrun, over 300 other runners turned up too, a great way to start Christmas day and a really nice running route,lovely that Geoff came along to support and take photos too.

Christmas day park run

I decided not to run again then till New years Eve to give my achilles time to rest.

Then on a cold Icy  morning I met my friend Gina in Little Downham where Geoff surprised us both by turning up unexpected 🙂

Although Gina is a much faster runner than me she decided she wanted to run with me to make sure I was ok and much to my delight after not running that distance since September I managed it in just over an hour.

A fun way to end the year with a great friend for company too 🙂

Cold Icy Ely 10km 2014

That evening Geoff and I went out for a lovely dinner at d’Arry’s my surf and turf, steak and lobster was to die for and a perfect way to see the new year in 🙂