Category Archives: Runs

Inspire Thetford Forest Trails 10k

Today I did my first running event of 2019 and it was a little different to my usual road running events.

The Inspire Thetford Forest Trails 10k was an off-road event round Thetford forest, starting from High Lodge.

The registration area had a nice party atmosphere with music, lots of info over the loudspeaker and a huge Inspire deck chair for fun photos. I was surprised to find there were 500 plus runners. with a Canicross race starting 30 mins after the main runners.

Must change the colour of my top!

This was a gentle introduction to trail running, the course was well marshaled on a mixture of wide Forest tracks, some soft and grassy, others stony and uneven. surprisingly by the time I finished, my feet felt quite sore !!

I enjoyed running through the forest, the scenery was lovely, it was quiet and still almost relaxing but it also felt a little lonely with no supporters around the course like you get on a road race.

looking forward to doing more off road run/walking over the coming months.

Valentines 10K

Since having my bike fall on black ice I have been unable to do much running, so training for my half marathon has not gone as planned.

I have kept my legs turning with an occasional couple of miles and Parkrun but then I decided if I had any chance of running the valentines 10k and half marathon I needed to give my back a proper rest and hope my legs would just remember how to run.

I also booked in for some treatment with Jane at Free your Body Therapy.

The first test for my back came on the 18th of February when in perfect weather conditions, I met up with my Norwich running friends for the Valentines 10k, we decided to run together take it steady and have a chatty enjoyable run and that is just what we did.

I was happy with the results, my time was 1.05 and my back just ached slightly.

We then went and enjoyed a Delicious Sunday lunch at The Marlingford Bell where many other exciting adventures were discussed.

Apart from Parkrun, I have now had another 2 weeks rest and a few more treatments from Jane, tomorrow she is taping me up and I hope I will be able to get around the Cambridge Half Marathon…..  legs, back and weather allowing !!!

Fenland 10 and St Neots Half…..

This year I had a plan, I love plans especially when they work and today all those laid out plans came to an end.

The plan was 2 half marathons, one at the beginning of the year and one at the end of the year, in between run a few 10k events while concentrating on my biking through the summer.Untitled

I did throw in one extra run and that was the Fenland 10, an excellent event ran in perfect conditions and used as a training run for the St Neots half.The course is described as flat and fast great for getting a P/B time. The only disappointment was No Medal or T-shirt but I did get a P/B time so the disappointment was short lived !!

I really enjoy winter running especially on cold sunny days so I was really looking forward to meeting up with Gina for the St Neots half, I had been dodging coughs and colds all week so just hoped all would be ok on the day. Our other running friends Linda and Jayne came to cheer us on, it’s always lovely to see a familiar face when doing these events.

Untitled My Race was almost over before it began as when walking to the start and chatting away to Gina I tripped on a loose drain cover coming down hard on my knee and wrist, I felt quite sick for a while with the shock but was just grateful it was not worse,my new 2XU tights could have been torn !!!

After I stopped worrying about my knee we had a  great run on an undulating route, the scenery was lovely in today’s winter sunshine, very different to the 40mph windy gusts in 2015. The supporters, marshalls and organisation made it a great day and we really enjoyed the downhill finish, which made our 13th mile our fastest.

To top it all off we received a smashing bit of bling and a long-sleeved T-shirt

Now I am busy planning for next year, which starts with the Wymondham 10k on New years day which Gina Jayne Linda and I will run together and the idea of running a 15mile event just won’t go away !!!

St Neots Half Marathon

St Neots was not a half marathon I had planned to do as I dithered and  missed out when entry opened early in the year but when more places came available I grabbed my place.

st neotsIt was also an opportunity to move on after Peterborough Half  and another chance to meet up with my running friends Gina and Linda.

Race day weather was dull cloudy and very very windy, I did wonder how I would cope with the wind and the slightly undulating route but i needn’t have worried.

The atmosphere was buzzing and my excitement grew once I met up with my friends, who always put me at ease.

I enjoyed this far more than I expected too, a lovely rural route , great support from strangers and the wind just seemed to make it more fun !!

Finish Time was 2.16 which I was very happy with and this one I would certainly do again !!

Peterborough half marathon

My whole year had been focused on the Peterborough half marathon, it was a very important run for me, after having to pull out last year, due to  an achilles injury.

But this one was doomed too !!

Somehow and somewhere I picked up a heel injury,maybe it was while walking up Snowdon, which had involved some scrambling.

I was so worried that it may be Plantar fasciitis that I decided to go to the local sports injury clinic and see Ian Brown. Thankfully he was almost 95% certain that I had just aggravated a nerve in the side of my heel , this put my mind at rest but it still needed resting.

IMG_2828Then Geoff  decided not to come and support me as he wanted to go swimming in Dunwich with his friends,and although I encouraged him to go I was actually devastated as this run for some reason was really  important to me and I wanted him there.

So after 3 weeks of no running and with my head not really in the right place  I arranged a lift with 2 other ladies from my Ladybird running club and thought I can do this !!! 

And I did but………

I can honestly say it was one of the hardest things I have ever made myself do, I hurt everywhere apart from where I expected to hurt … my heel !!  and my heart rate was far higher than normal which meant i had to run/walk a few miles in the middle which I was not happy about.

I managed to finish in 2 hours 36 but did not enjoy one second of it and hated the route which just seemed to go through housing estate after housing estate and for the first time in many many years my legs ached so much I could hardly walk for a week 🙁

Now the question is ………will I do it again next year !!

Run Norwich 10k

It has been a busy 3 months or so and I have a lot to catch up with so let’s go back to August bank holiday weekend andIMG_4620 the Run Norwich 10k.

This was the first ever Run Norwich 10k event and I quickly signed up for it, then realised that they expected you to go and collect your race pack, which could have caused me and many other runners problems, but after a few e-mails I think they realised their mistake and agreed to post out my Race pack.

The weather was perfect on race day and I was looking forward to meeting up with my Norwich running friends GinaRun Norwich and Linda, as usual I had not looked at the route, so it was not until we were getting ready to start that I realised there must be a “Hill” as that is all everyone was talking about !! Gina said “it’s only a pimple don’t worry” so I didn’t !!!

Well it was a great run and I enjoyed the route with the pimple !! it was very well organised and well supported, anyone put off doing it as it was the first event certainly missed out on a great run.

Our day was not over though as we then went out for lunch with Gina and her lovely family where the fun and laughter continued.

BTW the date for this run in 2016 is August the 7th

Mike Groves 10 mile road race

The Coltishall Mike Groves 10 mile road race is my highlight of 2015 so far !!

A distance I thought I would never achieve after my 3rd achilles injury.

IMG_8814 (1)I was very nervous and very excited about this event, it was a small race field something I am not used too, most of my races have entries into the 1000’s this one was just into the 100’s

Meeting up with Gina and Linda calmed my nerves a little as it was so lovely to see them and have a good chat before the start.

The weather was perfect for running although the thunder storms from the night before had flooded some of the roads, which would mean wet feet and some plonker had stolen the water for the water stations, but luckily I had my own drink to carry.

I started off a little too quick but soon settled into a nice pace, with so many faster runners than me  I was away from the main crowd of runners making It feel just like another training run.IMG_8737

The marshalls at all the junctions and turns were really encouraging and very friendly, soon I totally relaxed and just enjoyed the route, which was an out and back one, close to the start we went down a hill so I knew at around mile 9 there would be an uphill stretch.

I loved this run for many reasons and finished in 1 hr 40, 5 mins faster than I had expected so was very pleased with myself 🙂

Great coffee and cake supplied by the Coltishall Ladies was enjoyed after the run, before Gina Geoff and I went for lunch at the Bike themed Olive Branch Cafe.

Chocolate brownies and a run

Every now and again I meet up with my friend  Gina from Norwich it usually means a lot of chatting Chocolate Browniesand some exercise, the last time we met it was for the Daffodil Dawdle Challenge walk in March.

Today Gina visited me at home so we could go and run my new favourite 10k route around the Church Ruins at Bawsey. Luckily for us the weather was kind and the wind and rain stayed away.

It was a great opportunity for me to cook lunch for us too, we had Chicken Chilli and Sweetcorn soup and the most amazing chocolate brownies that have not lasted the day 🙁  Both recipes came from another friend of mine Yvette, who we visited at Easter.

As Gina was unable to join us for our Wherryman’s way walk maybe our next meet up should be to walk the Boudicca way a 36 mile walk from Norwich to Diss.