Run Sandringham Half Marathon

Finally a running event, my first since ELY NYE 10K 2019, I was a little nervous and excited at the same time, especially as my friends Gina and Jayne were joining me too.

Gina and I had decided that we would use this event as a training run for the Coastal Marathon we are doing later in the year and as we have been experimenting with Run/Walking this was a perfect opportunity to try another ratio.

We soon settled into a routine of running a mile then walking 60 seconds, with the agreement that we would walk any uphill bits and run down any downhill bits, it’s amazing how adding in a short walk can enable you to cope with the longer distance. We played cat and mouse with a few other runners but then slowly inched ahead and stayed there.

The event itself was very well organized and had a very relaxed happy atmosphere, it was lovely to bump into other runners I had not seen for a while. The marshalls were all friendly and encouraging, definitely needed on a course, that was mainly off-road and so unusual with all the twists and turns.

The goody bag was the best I have ever seen at an event as well as snacks and water it included a T-shirt, Buff, and of course a great Medal, all runners like a bit of bling !!

Gina Jayne and I finished the day off by going for lunch at the Three Horseshoes in Roydon where we enjoyed an amazing roast dinner platter.

Needless to say, we have all entered it again for next year.

Now it’s time to concentrate on the Lap of Anglia but I must also keep the running up as we have the coastal Marathon in September.

It’s not always, all about the bike

It’s not always, all about the bike !!

Today I put my running shoes on and went to Sheringham to meet my friend Gina, due to Covid it’s been along time since our last meeting, and even longer since I last did this LDWA Poppyline route that we so enjoy.

We decided to do the route in reverse today, which made it feel totally different, like always when doing these longer routes we like to run/ walk them. We don’t use any set ratio, but always walk the up hill bits, as this saves energy.

As usual I like to take photos on the way round and we stopped at mile 6 and 12 for snacks. Today we were very lucky with the weather, it rained on the way there but stayed dry while we were enjoying our run/ walk or our 4 hour long chat !

We have a 26 mile event booked for September so hope to meet up a good few times before then and get some more chatty miles in and my feet definitely need to toughen up again !!

Surviving Lockdown

A whole year has passed since we first went into lockdown, at the time I really wondered how I would ever cope, I was already finding things hard after the sudden unexpected change in my life.

Today out on one of my favourite walks I realised a year ago I didn’t even know this walk existed, then I got thinking about all the other things I have discovered and learnt about myself and the local area, during the past year.

So many wonderful local walks and places discovered and explored, including Roydon common,Leziate and Massingham, I have a home I actually love and now I am home more I have found a love for gardening, including cutting the grass, which was always a job I hated.

Much to everyone’s amusement, I have gone from the music hating Sally to having my own Spotify account and loving music,I even bought headphones for when I run on my own,It helps fill my mind with happiness.

At the beginning of 2020 I lost my biking mojo, I really thought I would never return to the long bike rides I so loved but during lockdown I have rediscovered my love of biking and enjoy stress free girlie rides more than ever before, we have so many plans for this year and they may not include going back to big group riding.

I have really missed  my running events, my running club, Lynnsport Ladybirds and doing my longer run/walks  with my Norwich friends but hopefully this will all be changing soon, starting with the return of the Ladybirds this week.

So I have survived lockdown and Covid,  kept my Smile, and hopefully  I will have more exciting things to blog about soon !!!!

2020 medals and looking forward to better times

2020 was the year of virtual runs and very few medals.

I especially like the wooden medal for doing the NYE Ely 10k, I have done this event since 2015, it was lovely to finally get a medal, especially as I sadly think I will move onto other things now.

All the events I had booked have been carried over to 2021 but I suspect a few of those will be postponed, so far I have….

May …GEAR,

June… Sandringham Half

September.. Coastal Marathon

November…. George Munday

I have the Lap of Anglia booked for August too

It’s also my 60th Birthday this year, I have yet to decide how I shall celebrate, but it will no doubt be with friends and involve running, cycling and walking, all the things that make me happy.

Waving Goodbye to 2020

I entered 2020 feeling broken, Covid then broke me a little bit more.

All the things I had planned to help me cope, slowly got cancelled one by one, although before the Lockdown I did manage a walk with the Norfolk Legstretchers, something I hoped to repeat but then lockdown happened.

I really wasn’t enjoying riding my bike, so the first lockdown in March gave me a good excuse to stop, During this time I did a lot of solo walking and exploring, discovering Roydon Common, Reffley woods, and Leziate, beautiful places all on my doorstep. As the nicer weather came I longed to be back out on my bike, so I started off with some short solo rides, something I thought I would never enjoy but they filled me with Happiness.

As soon as we were allowed I started riding with my friend, Sue, as our confidence grew, our rides got longer and longer, then when it was safe Lynne also started cycling with us. We loved cycling together, having fun, discovering new places, taking photos, having picnic lunches, all our rides became a pleasure with no pressure and no one shouting at me if I got a puncture!

Just for fun, we got our own cycling shirts and became known as the FFF girls (Fabulous Fearless Females) next year I am sure there will be more of us !.

Our biggest achievements was a 100-mile ride to Ely, then after joining some Audax Guys I knew from my Audax riding days, we did their Halls 200km route, which we just loved.

As well as all the riding, and even though all my running events had been cancelled I was still enjoying my running and run/walking, I missed parkrun dreadfully so I started meeting up with Maria on Saturdays encouraging her on her road to recovery, over time she improved and we were able to do the George Munday 10km as a virtual run.

The ladybirds were also a huge part of my healing process providing lots of support and laughter where needed, just like my wonderful colleagues at work who I know felt all my pain more than anyone.

My big plan for 2020 had been the Coastal Marathon, which of course was cancelled but I did manage the Coastal half route a couple of times, a 15 miler around Sandringham and a 13 miler in Wymondham all with various friends.

Now as we wave goodbye to 2020 and move into 2021, I find myself stronger happier and more confident than I have ever been.

There are lots of plans for 2021, including The Lap of Anglia, Sandringham half and the Coastal marathon plus lots of long rides with the FFF girls……

2021 is definitely the year for lots of Laughter Fun and Naughtiness !!

Wymondham Half with Jayne

5th December, a date I am never likely to forget, The day I got married in 1986, then, funnily enough, the day Geoff dropped his bombshell about leaving in 2019.

So to take my mind off the date my friend Jayne had invited me over to Wymondham for a long run/walk, after 2 days of torrential never-ending rain, with a bit of snow thrown in too I did wonder if we were a little mad.

Luckily when I woke the weather looked bright and clear, perfect running weather in fact.

The roads are a bit more undulating over in Wymondham, I remember running a new years day 10km there in 2018 and vowed never again, although that could have been more to do with seeing the new year in !!

We agreed we would run/walk, no ratio just walk when we wanted to, but amazingly we ran the whole 13 miles, when you are chatting the miles just seem to melt away.

Lovely open countryside, bright blue skies, and good company made it just perfect, after all the rain we only came across one flooded road too.

Nice to be home with no bike to clean, new memories made and thanks to all my amazing friends for their support, I think it’s finally time to stop mourning and start living ……

George Munday Virtual 10K

A message today from a complete stranger made me realize that I had not posted here for a while, and while I am no longer the person I used to be surely I can still manage a blog post or two!

Today should have been The George Munday 10k an event I love, but like everything else this year, it was Cancelled. Instead, they decided to do the run as a Virtual one, meaning you run the distance send them the details and in return, they will send you the medal.

This year I have been running with Maria helping her to recover slowly from injury and this seemed like a good challenge without there being too much pressure.

I remember when Maria could barely walk the parkrun route, more chatting was done than running but with determination, we have worked together and built it up slowly over the months.

The plan today was to run the 10k then go for Sunday lunch but of course, COVID lockdown 2 put paid to our lunch plans. Instead, we did our run in perfect weather conditions then went for a takeaway coffee and enjoyed some of Maria’s homemade chocolate cake to celebrate, all done socially distanced of course.

I think Maria has done an amazing job and our next challenge will be the Ely NYE 10k which is also going to be a Virtual run.

Now we wait for our Medals to arrive.

 

 

Ely 100 miles

A 100-mile ride, nothing to get very excited about especially if you have done the Audax RRty but for me, this was a huge milestone, because at the beginning of the year I had seriously thought about never riding my bike again !!

In fact, if COVID and lockdown had not happened I think I would have stopped riding my bike, but because I was forced into having a break I soon realized just how much I missed it

I started back with a few short Solo rides, which did seem strange as I was used to big miles with company, luckily it wasn’t long before I could start getting back out with my Girlfriends.

We slowly started building up our miles, with that our confidence grew too, it was also amazing to see how different people treated us out on the road when it was just us 3 females and not a huge cycling group, we certainly seem to get a lot more respect.

Our rides became more about having fun, taking photos, and talking to the locals in many of the villages we pass through, rather than speed.

Anyway, we decided our aim, for now, would be a 100-mile ride, so we found a route we really liked, thanks to one of our fellow TTT riders, watched the weather and picked our day and what a fabulous day it was.

The highlights had to be stopping in Welney and talking to a local couple as we watched all the fish in the river, riding through Pymoor and seeing all the Scarecrows, riding up the hill at little Downham, the hill I run up on the Ely New years eve 10km, no Scottish piper at the top this time though! sadly seeing the burnt down Corker’s crisp warehouse. Lunch was by the river in Ely then an excellent Tea stop at Denver windmill.

Ely 100 miler.…. A fantastic fun happy memory for 2020.