Maria Runs - parkrunning and touring since 2013!

Lamp post intervals and summer time!

Hooray! It’s summer time!

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!

On 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.

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.

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?

Keeping active at work

I think we all know by now that being active during the day is better for us than being sedentary for most, and then doing an hour of exercise at some point. But that is easier said than done.

I was contacted by Simplyhealth to see if I could come up with some tips for staying active at work- they have written their own piece about it here. As a teacher I tend to be fairly active anyway- I use my Garmin vivofit to see and my activity peaks between 8-9am (setting up the classroom), 12-1pm (tidying away from the morning/ getting ready for the afternoon) and 4-5pm (putting things away, getting things ready for the next day), and of course once the children are in I might sit for a bit, but am generally standing or walking around. When I am out of class I tend to be sat at a computer planning and catching up on paperwork, and that is what I need to be aware of. My tips are pretty specific to teachers / teaching assistants I am afraid!

Don’t sit when you can stand

This has been mentioned a lot recently, but it is so important to stand when you can. I have tried to make sure I do this more now. Sometimes I do have to sit (if I am working with a group at a table, reading a story or working at a computer in the workroom), but other times I can easily stand, so I try to make sure that I do. I am lucky that the teacher computer in my classroom is on a cupboard, so when I am checking emails or setting up things for lessons, I have to stand at it.

Don’t stand when you can walk

Teachers all have to take their turn on the playground, and it is easy to end up standing in the same place for the whole of play/lunch time. But walking laps of the playground means you can see more of the playground, will probably interact with more children, and you will get your body moving more.

Join in!

If you are doing a PE lesson, don’t just direct from the side- join in with the activities (obviously, you need to make sure you can see the class/ keep them safe/ not get so out of breath that you can’t give instructions etc.)- even if you are joining in with the warm up it is better than nothing. If you are singing “Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes”, then do the actions along with the children.

Take the stairs

My school is all on one floor, but I sometimes go on courses at a training centre that has an upper floor. There is a lift, but there are also stairs, and honesty every time I go there I am shocked by the number of people waiting for the lift! Fair enough if you have a lot to carry, but it’s one flight of stairs!

Wear comfy shoes

If you are going to be walking or standing a lot, then wear shoes that support your feet properly. If your feet ache after an hour, you are not going to want to stand for the rest of the day.

Get some fresh air

Although teachers typically don’t like playground duty, in fact it is great to get some fresh air in the middle of the day- especially in the winter when you go to and from work in the dark. So volunteer if you are needed! Sometimes we even manage a short walk at lunch time, but usually we are too busy rushing about to have time for one, but on the odd occasion we manage it, I always feel much better afterwards.

So, there are a few of my tips. Hopefully you might be able to apply one or two to your job!

Do you stand or walk a lot in your job? If you have a desk job, how do you fit activity into your day? Does your place of work encourage you to be active?

Simplyhealth asked me to write this post, but all opinions are my own. I will receive a gift in exchange for writing this post.

Doing something that scares me

So I mentioned in my post the other day that I had offered to do the new runner briefing at parkrun on Saturday. After marshaling last week, I fancied running this week (and there was a chance that my dad could make the run too, so I didn’t want him to have to wait around for me), but they were short of volunteers, so I went for something that meant I could still run.

Who would not want to run here? And what a beautiful blue sky we were treated to as well.

When I turned up, I was given a laminated sheet (again, love the laminating) that summarised the main points (and the order to give them in)- course guide first, so that regular parkrunner tourists could listen to the first part and leave, and then guidelines for new runners (dogs on leads/ children close by) and an explanation of how the barcode scanning worked. I was given a high viz jacket, just so I looked official for the briefing, and then spent the time chatting to other volunteers- I am starting to know a few more faces which is good.

Then the run director got his megaphone out and announced that I would be doing the briefing- quite a few people came over- I am not sure what I expected really but I suddenly was so nervous that my legs were shaking! The run director said the main thing was to be welcoming, and I think my enthusiasm for parkrun in general came through.

Thankfully I only had one question, and once that was answered it was time to quickly hand back the jacket and notes, and find a place at the start.

The run was really enjoyable- I think I was so relieved to get the talking out of the way! The weather was lovely- sunny but with a breeze to generally keep cool (well, not too hot). At a couple of points I got stuck behind people running next to each other, and in the final push I asked a couple of ladies if they would mind if I passed them (they didn’t)- I get a bit claustrophobic almost if I am running really closely behind other people. I didn’t look at my watch at all, and in fact forgot to stop my Garmin until I was stood in the queue waiting to have my barcode scanned. It was another mega turnout with nearly 300 runners!

There was a WI stall selling cakes for charity, so after scanning my chip I was having a look at them, when a man came up to me and thanked me for my “pep talk”- it was his first parkrun and he was really pleased that he had managed a pb. When I asked if he enjoyed it, he was very positive, and said he would be back. I was so pleased to hear that (and not just because it meant my nerves weren’t too bad)- parkruns are just brilliant and I love it when other people love them just as much.

I bought myself a slice of lemon drizzle, although I haven’t had it yet as I was going out for lunch on Saturday and ended up having some carrot cake then.

I think after doing the briefing once, I would do it again. I have not yet done a role that I haven’t enjoyed, although I have not been brave enough to be a timekeeper yet- that looks like the most pressure to me!

If you do parkrun, what is your favourite volunteer role? What have you done that scares you? Anyone else hate public speaking this much?

Parkrun persuading

The start was just visible to me, where the brown field ends, next to the tall trees, but ant-sized people did not come out on my phone. I just love how the whole course looks though.

Hooray for the weekend- I am already looking forward to a parkrun tomorrow morning, and this weekend I will be running it (and doing the new runner briefing- eek!)- last weekend I had decided to marshal, because I had the 10 mile race the next day and it was going to be hot. I know, I could run it gently, but it is easy to get carried away once I start, so I decided to be sensible.

I was really looking forward to it- I knew some OH ladies were coming along, and I had promised them an extra big cheer. I was there at around 8.20 in the end (normally you have to park a bit away, but the marshals can use the car park at the start)- I had left earlier too because I knew I would need to help with set up and allow time to walk to the marshal point.

They are so organised there- every marshal point is numbered, and each marshal gets a laminated (the teacher in me loves anything laminated) map, a photo showing where to stand, instructions as to how to direct runners, and phone numbers of the run directors- love it. After handing out the other ones, I was sent to the point about half a kilometre from the end. On the way there, I came across a dead rabbit on the path, but luckily one of the people setting up was heading past so I asked him to tell the run director- I didn’t think it was that nice to be on the path, and someone moved it.

As the laminated photo indicated I was to stand under this sign.

After walking there, I had a while to take some photos before the first runners came through (at around 9.15 I think – so impressive).

It really is so pretty there, and so calming too.

I had to direct the runners to their left, and then right at the next arrow. But of course for the most part they are following the people in front. I was cheering and clapping each person that came by- it was a hot day and so I was impressed with everyone running. Because they were coming out of a field and into the wooded area I could tell people that they had a nice shady section before the final “slope”- one person told me I knew just what to say to the runners!

All ready with my high viz, lanyard of info and rucksack with water, very glad to be in a shady spot.

I saw some of the OH ladies- for some of them it was their first visit to Panshanger so I wanted them to enjoy it- at least they were all smiling when they passed me so I am hoping they will come back (and one of them got a bonus high-five for extra energy)! I do love how many runners say thank you (or gasp it- I know what that’s like)- I always try and say “good morning/ thank you marshal” to each one, and it is so lovely being on the other end of that too. After the first couple of runners, people were coming through in a steady stream, but after around 25 minutes of constant runners, it started to tail off a bit. One man went the wrong way (only a few steps) so I had to call him back, but he was very thankful and scolded himself for not looking at the arrow properly!

After the tail runner came through, I shut the main gate and unclipped the signs before walking back. The OH ladies were at the top so I had a quick chat and congratulated them for running in the heat, before taking the signs back to the car.

I know I keep on about it, but honestly parkrun is one of my favourite times of the week. The running is part of it, of course, but really it is the whole atmosphere of everyone enjoying being out in the fresh air, everyone supporting and encouraging each other, children and people of all ages and abilities getting outside and being active, and the core team who run it every week. On Saturday it was the run director’s birthday! How fantastic that he had decided to come to parkrun on his birthday- I don’t feel I know many people there, but he is in one of the bigger clubs and so I suppose it’s even more social. I shall keep on persuading my OH ladies to come along there.

Weekend plans? I am feeling super jealous of all the teachers who finished today! We go on until the middle of next week. Anyway, after parkrun tomorrow morning I am off out for lunch which should be lovely.

Ware 10 miles- race number 45!

The other day I was looking at my race calendar (I keep links to all of my race recaps on a page so I can easily see times etc), and worked out that the 10 mile race this weekend would be my 45th race! I would not have guessed that many. Now I know that, I want to make it to 50 before the end of the year. That sounds easy and I have three 10K’s booked, but not many free weekends left after those (and of course, I need to find ones I can travel to easily). We shall see…

Anyway, Sunday morning I was off to the Ware 10 mile race. For the past two years I have completed it, but usually it is in the autumn. This year they moved it to the summer, to be part of the festival of running. They had free kids races, and had added a 10K, so it had even more of a community feel. I was worried about the heat because a lot of the course is not in the shade, but the weather was on our side.

It is just the sort of low key event that I love- turn up 45 minutes before, pick up your number from the tent, drop your bag into another tent, and have a chat to other runners before the start. There were some port-a-loos, (no queues) but I do not like to use them, so just distracted myself by chatting before the race started- it’s all nerves anyway!

Lots of OH ladies were doing the 10K, so we had a team photo before the start, and then they cheered me on, as the 10 mile started about 15 minutes before the 10K (which seems much more sensible- at the St Albans half the 5K goes an hour before the half, so that people are collecting their bags after finishing the 5K just as the half marathon runners are dropping bags off).

Like my jazz hands? This was me excited before the start!

Anyway, the route was slightly different in a few places, but basically two 5 mile loops- the first 2 miles were hilly (including some very short sharp steep ones) and the last 3 miles were flat, around playing fields and along by the river- such lovely views.

As always, there were marshals everywhere cheering everyone along. I wasn’t aiming for pb because I don’t run well in the summer, and have not run much further than a 10K since the half I don’t think. I started with my running buddy, but she is a bit faster so headed off after a mile or so. I was going OK- I wanted to keep under 10 minute miles and mostly I was managing it. Going along the river at the end of the first lap I caught up with a group of Fairland Valley runners, so I stayed at their pace, but then as it was hot I decided to stop at the half way point water station to have a few sips of water, so I lost them at that point. I got a bit of a stitch after that, but the marshals helped (it’s the last time you have to see me/ think of the cake etc)- I walked a few steps of the steepest hill because the stitch wasn’t going and one of my calf muscles was getting tight, and the lovely marshal at the top told me this was the furthest point from the finish, so every step was a step closer to cake. The cake is a big thing in this race!

After that was out of the way I picked up the pace again, and caught up with the group of runners by the river again. Then, as I came into the field to do the final loop, all the OH ladies (who had finished their 10K’s) were cheering me on in different places- it was lovely to have that boost right at the end.

My lovely running buddy had finished a few minutes ahead of me, so she bought us some cake and we had a photo- the homemade cake is mostly the point of this race!

I can’t flip the photo around, but I am sure you can see it!

I picked up my lovely high viz t-shirt too- the size was written on the number so they were ticking them off- very organised and it means that even if you finish last, you get the right size.

Chip time- 1.37.47

In anticipation of the rain I had packed a t-shirt to change into for the journey home (excuse my expression here- not sure what that’s about)- although it was dry, I was glad to take off my vest.

After a shower I had a snack of muesli and yoghurt, plus watermelon coconut water, as then I was off for afternoon tea. I didn’t even take a photo of the afternoon tea, but it was perfect to lounge around and catch up after a busy morning.

I think 50 races before the end of 2015 sounds like something good to aim for. My running buddy is aiming to do 50 half marathons, and is well on her way, so perhaps that would be the next one.

How many races have you completed? Do you have a particular goal in mind?