A Golden Gate parkrun

Hey peeps, I hope you are all well. I am back home now, and trying to battle the jet lag (so apologies if I end up with weird typos)- I have been awake since 1am!

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Anyway, after Hawaii, we had a few days in San Francisco before coming home. I think I saw they had a parkrun because Tom Williams (from marathon talk) put some photos of him there, but equally it might have been the Did You Run Today facebook group. Who knows. All I remember is that once I realised that we were there on the Saturday morning ( we got there Thursday night, and left Sunday afternoon) I knew I would have to do it.

The parkrun is in Crissy Field, an area of marshland next to the bay. On a previous trip to San Fransisco, we had been there, but either cycled or got a bus- it was a bit too far to walk from the centre. I did look into bus routes, but they were confusing, and seemed to take ages. The journey was only about 4 1/2 miles (and none of that is flat!) which was too far for me to run really, plus the navigation wasn’t that easy so I thought I might get lost. In the end, I signed up to Uber, because that, apparently, is what all the locals do. We used one to get from the airport (as we didn’t fancy the underground at nearly midnight) and it was brilliant.

If you don’t know, Uber is a sort of taxi app (there has been fuss about it costing real taxi companies business). I am converted. I hate getting taxi’s, and avoid it as much as possible. The thing is, the firms are so hit and miss. After the WR10K last year, I got one into the town centre and it was great, I got a text saying the number plate of the cab etc. But then in London after doing a 15K, I had awful trouble even finding a firm, and then it took ages to arrive and didn’t know where I was. Plus you never know how much the fare will be, and the drivers always huff and puff so much if you try to use a card. With Uber, all my stresses were gone. You load the app which uses GPS on your phone to show you your location, and all the cars nearby (it is quite fun to just watch the cars move about the streets). You move the pin on the map to show where you want to be picked up, and you can either get a fare estimation, or straight away book one and enter where you are going by typing in the address (I had made sure to print off the parkrun info so I had that to hand). Then, you get a message saying the make of the car (mostly Prius!), the number plate, the name of the driver and a little photo, and how long they will be. You can even watch the map to see where the car is. Amazing. Then, when you get in, they know where you are going- their phones show the GPS route to your destination. And, when you get there, the fare is automatically debited from your account, so no need to frantically find cash, or try to pay quickly while they are stopped along a busy road….All my taxi worries are sorted with this!

Anyway, after getting ready I called an Uber, which arrived in about a minute! There was not much traffic so I arrived at the start at 8.30am, although I got a bit worried because there was already a race going on (Escape the Rock- a swim and run)- I didn’t want it to be cancelled because of another event.

I took a few photos, and then saw some people setting up the sign, so I was very relieved. It was such a friendly event- the event director was greeting everyone with a handshake, and introducing himself. There were only 31 people running, and most of them seemed to be on holiday from the UK. We chatted for a bit about our holidays and running. Some of them were doing a race on the Sunday morning and were apprehensive about the 7am start- it seems most US races start early. The start was very leisurely- we were walked to the finish line so we knew what it looked like, and then walked to the start line. It was an out and back course- out one way towards Alcatraz, turn around (at the end of a pier- you couldn’t go wrong there!), come back past the start, along by the bay, towards the Golden Gate Bridge, turn around (here, they lose people, although they described it well, and it did have two parkrun signs saying “turn around here” on them, and it was at the 2 mile point for people with GPS), then back to the finish. Because there were so many people running anyway, and the finish was along the main coastal path, you had to wave at them so they knew you were a parkrunner, and finish between cones.

Because the start was in a car park (just for the beach) it was delayed a bit while we waited for cars to move about. In the end we started at about 9.15 I think, but who is counting? I could not decide on what to aim for really- I had run a few times over the holiday, but nothing fast (it was too hot). In the end I thought I would run on feel, but wanted to beat my 5K time from the run in Honolulu, as this was also flat, but also a bit cooler. I set off too fast (it is so easy to go off fast when you are so keen!) and after the first mile (8.40- very fast for me) I slowed down a bit. Running alongside the bay, with the fantastic scenery, was great. Because the final turnaround point was at 2 miles, it was ages before I saw anyone going the other way (4 speedy men all did it in just over 19 minutes). I had a runner behind me who was cheering on all the runners she saw, whether they were parkrunners, racers, or just out on their own. I saved my breath but managed a wave to the parkrunners I recognised. I didn’t look at my watch again, but there was a guy in a bright yellow top who I was trying to keep within my sight. I think that helped, as when I looked later my last 2 miles were both 8.59, with the final bit at 8.44 (seeing the finish cones gave me a final burst!). I was handed chip number 16! I don’t think I will ever finish that high again! I got my chip scanned right away, and then waited with everyone to cheer in the rest of the runners. There was a lady taking photos on the line of everyone, and when one lady finished, she didn’t get a good photo, so asked her to run it again for her photo- if only we all had that chance!

(Taken from the Crissy Fields facebook page)

Enjoying it at the start (well, managing a smile)

I had my waist pack thing on for my phone, tissues, room key etc, but in the end could have left it with my jumper as they locked everything into a car while we were running- it was driving me mad bouncing about all over the place.

The sun came out at the end, which made the final mile feel very hot and tough indeed- my red face! In the final half mile I was overtaken by a lady (on holiday from Ireland) and after we finished she came and thanked me, as until that point she had been right behind me, using me as a pacer. Happy to help, especially when I don’t even realise I am!

It was such a lovely atmosphere on the finish line- everyone waiting until the final person finished- there were a few very diddy children who did really well. Then, the lovely lady (I have forgotten her name) offered to take photos of everyone by the sign, and then she mentioned that she had made lemon bars– amazing. I bought some water from the cafe, but time was getting on (it was gone 10am) and I didn’t want Andy to get worried, so after trying a piece (delicious) and wishing people good luck with their races the next day, I arranged another Uber and headed back to the hotel. I got the email while I was in the car- I was first in my age category! A first for me!

So, my first real bit of parkrun tourism (as I have only done two before this, both my local ones) and now I am keen to do a few more. We have a few weekends away booked for races (they are all 10K’s) but I might see if I can squeeze in a parkrun at one of them.

Amazingly, because Andy referred me to Uber, my first ride (up to $20, but it wasn’t that much) was free, so it only cost me about £7 in the end for the return journey- not much more than the bus and much less stressful. So, thanks Uber for making my parkrun tourism dream come true!

Where would you like there to be a parkrun? I feel like there should be one in Central Park as so many people run there all the time. Or somewhere spectacular like Niagara Falls would be pretty amazing.

Have you used Uber before? Are you a taxi-phobe like me?

I do have a referral code, which is mariab3614ue  – it means you would get a ride of up to $20 free, and then I would too, although I am not sure when I would use it again, seeing as it is only in London in the UK I think. But anyway, it’s there if anyone would like it. Also, not sure if you sign up in the UK whether it would be in £’s- Andy’s first ride was up to £10 free, as he signed up here. 

Hawaii running

So, even without the race I was taking my running things with me. Last time we came to Hawaii I was training for the GNR, so did a few runs. I don’t normally run on holiday, because we tend to be up and our pretty early, with long busy days and a lot of travelling. But this time we would be in the same place for a while; Honolulu for five days, Kauai for five and Maui for a week.

Due to jet lag I was wide awake at 5 am for our first day in Honolulu, so I went out for a run as the sun was coming up.

IMG_20150804_060315560_HDRJust beautiful.

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That was the Tuesday, and after that we did a lot of walking and hiking ( well over 20,000 steps on the Friday), and my race on Saturday.

Then we flew to Kauai. We had a little condo, but we could not walk to the town from where we were. We did lots of walking and sightseeing, about five miles from us was an eight mile path by the coast for walking and cycling which would have been perfect if it was closer. I did scope out a potential route, but on the Wednesday that I had planned to run, I slept badly and didn’t feel too well, so gave it a miss.

On Thursday we flew to Maui, and again having been here before helped, as I knew there was a long boardwalk by the ocean. Friday morning I was awake early, so headed out. I found the path to the boardwalk half a mile from our condo ( if in doubt, follow all the other runners), and enjoyed a 4 mile run.

IMG_20150814_082050794_HDRI stopped to get Andy a coffee and an iced chai for me, so took the pphotoa bit later. I can’t upload my Garmin bits here so I hope it has all stored properly.

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Gorgeous views!! I was somewhat desperate for water by the end, so took water with me on my next runs. I saw a hotel ice machine and contemplated getting some just to hold.

My next run was shorter- I had entered a virtual run ( virtual runner uk- check out the fab medals)- someone in my running club was supporting the September charity, and when I signed up for that I saw the summer 5k and signed up for that too.

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It was more overcast which helped, although I forgot to put on suncream.

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Again, I picked up drinks after and enjoyed them on our balcony. I packed a tube of nuun with me, and bought some coconut water too.

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My final run was on the Tuesday, I had set my alarm for 6 to see the sunrise, but was awake before.

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I kept stopping to take pictures, and to drink water. It was amazing.

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I even attempted a beach selfie – so much sweat!

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When I finished I stood on the beach and stretched for a good half hour, I was just dropping and could not face going inside!

I got Andy to take my picture on the balcony after I had cooled. Love my new running top!

IMG_20150818_082555637_HDRSo, five enjoyable runs, including one race and one virtual race. Because I run faster than I walk, I get to see more scenery in the same amount of time = awesome.

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Certainly more scenic than Hertfordshire!

I am hoping for one more run, the San Francisco Crissy field parkrun, but the logistics of getting there are a bit tricky. I am not keen on taxis and think I might end up getting an uber…. Depends how much I want to be a parkrun tourist.

We shall see…

 

 

 

 

Hawaii 5-OH k

Hey peeps, I hope you are all enjoying the summer.

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Having a little bit of trouble blogging so photos are in random order! Here is the finish area.

We have been having a fab holiday, first to Yosemite national park and then on to Hawaii. A few weeks before going, I remembered that last time we were here, we had just landed on the Big island, and saw loads of people wearing race numbers, and had thought at the time that a race abroad would be very cool. I had my running kit with me then, as I was training for the great north run after having my op, but because of our flight time it would not have worked.

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Anyway,after a spot of googling,I found a 5k charity run, in Honolulu, the morning we were due to fly to Kauai. The run started at 6 , and our flight was midday, so after some thought I decided to go for it.

It was the Lea Lea charity 5k in aid of Rainbow kids, which supports children affected by the earthquake and tsunami of 2011.

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I had not considered getting my number! It turned out you had to collect it from a running shop on the Thursday or Friday before (although on race morning people were picking up their packets). So on the Friday we went to the shop and I was handed a lovely bag for life with my number, safety pins, fan, flannel,fan and the finishers t shirt. I do find it strange getting the tshirt before, but a lot of people wore them to run in so I suppose that is why. Because it was black cotton ( and on our first morning in Hawaii I was wide awake at 5am so had been on a run as the sun rose, so I knew how hot it would be) I wore my club vest.

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Initially I thought I would need to get a taxi there,but the 3.5 miles from our hotel to the start turned out to be more like 2.2 ( we walked back from it on the Friday) plus I find taxis so stressful, so I decided to run there.

With my alarm set for 4.45 am I was questioning my sanity a little! I had half a clif bar, water,got dressed and headed out into the dark. It surprised me how many people were already out at 5.15! Finding the start was OK as I mostly had to follow the sea, although at one point I had to open Google maps as some construction work confused me( I love that the maps can work without the data, so clever ). I arrived at the park with about 15 mins to spare- I was already so sweaty and glad I had worn one of my new sweat bands.

When I signed up it showed me a link to the entry list. I should not have clicked because there were 18 people on it! But there were a few hundred there, phew!

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The run was in aid of a Japanese charity and so the guy giving the briefing gave it in English and Japanese. He described the course- my favourite part of the description was when he said that you would see the finish line but you would have 1 k to go, as you looped around the edge of the park, so don’t run too fast then!

Then, we were off. There were loads of families running together which was so lovely, it felt to me more like a parkrun than a race, although there were some speedy runners warning up beforehand, it didn’t seem competitive.

The run went around Ala Moana park, which is right by the ocean. It looped away from the sea for a bit, before heading back to the start, around the headland of the park with gorgeous views out to sea, before finishing. At the finish a band was playing, and as I ran in they were playing “Brown Eyed Girl” which is so summery.

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I didn’t look at my watch on the way around, as I was running to enjoy, plus conscious that I had to run back to the hotel. There were plenty of friendly marshals on the way around, and even with the super early start time, some spectators too.

At there finish there was water, fresh fruit ( I had some orange slices) and randomly, doughnuts! They kept saying that in a few minutes they would post the finish times on a tree, but after waiting ten minutes I felt I had to head back as we had a flight to catch.

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Later, after some googling I found my time -31.03 ( although I was in age cat v60-65)- good going in that heat.

I ran nearly 2 miles back, stopping at Island Vintage Coffee for two acai bowls to go- an awesome post race breakfast.

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I also had a nuun tab in water, plus some coconut water, so much rehydration needed! In the end I had run nearly 8 miles in that heat. Although at times it was a bit stressful, I am so glad that I did that race. Much less stressful than my only other race abroad (Stockholm marathon).

Have you ever raced abroad?

PS, we saw Hawaii 5-0 being filmed the day before, plus I wore my OH vest, hense the title…

 

More tail running and some TV

This weekend I was again off to do parkrun. Because of the summer, they were short on volunteers, as a lot of the regulars were away, so I had offered to do the tail running. My brother had decided to run it, so I did let him know he might be waiting for me for a while at the end, but luckily he didn’t mind.

Before we started, I had a quick chat with some of the club ladies- some of them were doing their very first 5k which was fantastic. One of them mentioned that I could give them encouragement from the back, but I don’t think they realised how far behind I would be!

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This field is full of sheep and lambs – later on we run down through it, towards the lake.

It was again, such a beautiful day. There was a couple walking (their children were running, and they had decided to come along and see what it was all about) so I had time to stop and take photos, as well as collect up the signs.

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It was quite blustery, so in some places the signs had blown out of their metal clips. I was glad I knew the route so knew where to look out for the km markers and arrows.

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One of the marshals near the end ran back with me- she had been stood by this lake, which might be the prettiest spot. It’s a hard call!

In the end we reached the end in 53 minutes (53.01 was the official time)- we both went through the finish chute with the lady walker and showed her how it all worked. I think she was converted to visiting the park another time, and perhaps coming to parkrun again.

That was parkrun number 45 for me- getting closer to the 50!

I ended up walking loads on Saturday, because we had to walk a couple of miles to collect a parcel, and then later went into town and had another walk around. I went out for dinner with some friends (and then went to The Pudding Stop for dessert). Sadly, none of us could finish ours! Mine was a brownie with salted caramel sauce and peanut butter- so good, and brilliant running fuel (maybe).

This morning I had agreed to go on a club run- they meet at 8am on Sundays, and I have only been a couple of times. I generally don’t set an alarm on Sundays, and just head out when I wake up, but I was promised a lovely route, plus there was rain forecast so I thought I could get out before it started, and at least have company if it did rain.

The route was very pretty- tracks, field, stiles to climb and country roads, a few very tough hills but because there was a group of us we would wait at the top to catch our breath and enjoy the views. The rain started gently at first, after about 6 miles, and then for the final mile it got harder and harder, but at least we had the end in sight by then. I was so cold by the time I got home (and I had packed a jumper in my car to wear for the drive home).

After a hot shower, pancakes, hot tea (that sounds so American!) and 30 Rock I was feeling a bit warmer.

Oh, and some exciting TV news- first of all, if you subscribe to Amazon Prime, The Amazing Race (actually a good reality TV show- teams race around the world and complete challenges along the way) is going to be on there. And, I saw an advert for Parks and Rec on Dave starting this Monday I think- (you can see Chris Pratt before he was big…)- Amy Poehler is in it, which is basically like saying Tina Fey is in it, which means it is brilliant. I think I have linked to the “Treat Yo-self” day before. So, if you want some fun TV, give either of those a go.

Any TV shows that you love? We have been watching old 30 Rock episodes again, and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (look here for some crazy quotes for some idea of how bizarre it is…)- they are always guaranteed to lift my mood and have me laughing out loud.

Lamp post intervals and summer time!

Hooray! It’s summer time!

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On Monday I was surprised by this beautiful bunch of flowers from the parents of my class- how kind.

The last few days of term were pretty stressful- there is always so much to do and time starts running out! But we are finished now, hooray! I usually have a meeting on Tuesday, but not this week, so I was home in plenty of time before heading out to the running club.

We had been warned last week that we would be doing intervals as for the last few weeks we have had lovely longer runs (5-6 miles). This was going to be shorter, but tougher.

We did a gentle run as a warm up, and then along a long straight stretch of uphill, we had to walk (high knees, long arms) to one lamppost, jog (arms at 90 degrees) to the next and sprint to the final one, repeated until we got to the top. It was tough, and you realise that you actually do need the walking breaks to get your breath back. Although I was very worried about tripping and falling. At one point I got up to 5.41 mm ( of course, only for a short distance). Checking on Strava after, I could see that I am getting faster on this route overall.

I was getting told off for hunching my shoulders up- I know I do it, but I can’t help it!

After getting to the top, we had to run back in the same way, but instead of the sprint being for one section, we had to go for as long as we could. The first time we did that, my sprint apparently turned into a run. So for the second one as I ran past our leader I shouted out “am I sprinting?”- apparently if you can say that, you are not. Need to work on that I think!

Afterwards my legs were really sore- we did loads of stretching but I was feeling the effects on Wednesday.

I would usually run on Wednesday, but my legs were sore in the morning, and I felt headachey (I think sometimes after evening runs I find it hard to re-hydrate enough) so I mooched around at home and had a couple of walks during the day. I had a sports massage booked for the evening which I badly needed (my shoulders just crunch when I roll them)- he told me after “it’s like working on a table” because they were so stiff!

2015-07-23 07.20.59On Thursday morning I headed out for a run before going to work- I wore a pair of my new capris and was very excited to see that they matched my trainers (nearly). I did some squats and calf raises (homework from my run leader) before the run. It was lovely- nice and cool, and loads of stretches after helped my poor interval-sore legs.

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I spent the day in work, clearing out rubbish from my classroom (it is amazing what accumulates over the year)- I took a little graze dipper with me (the red pepper salsa one- yum) and a cereal bar, but didn’t think to take a proper lunch. On my way home I had to stop and walk to collect a parcel from the amazon locker.

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I was hot, and thirsty, and tired (I had not sat down all day) so I went to Costa (as I had to walk past it after collecting the parcel). I have tried one of their iced chai lattes before, when we saw Jurassic World at the cinema, but it wasn’t good- they made it with powder so it was all lumpy, and took them ages to make. Anyway, the mint choc soya cooler ended up tempting me. Now, it was good, sort of like drinking melted mint choc ice cream, but it was not the best choice- I had to take most of it home and share it with Andy. Also, that is a small! It’s huge!

Thursday evening was Body Pump- I was worried that I would find it harder because my shoulders were sore from the massage, but actually it was better. I think I had left it too long this time. Although the lunges track is so tough- you have to bounce, and I have no idea why, but it makes it so much harder.

When checking Strava for the matched runs, I noticed that I have run over 600 miles already this year! Although marathon training at the start of the year upped my mileage, and I have not been running as much since then. I was impressed with that though.

What are your summer plans?