Race Report - Grand Shaftesbury Run

A couple of weeks ago I attended the Grand Shaftesbury Run at St Giles House at Wimborne St Giles in Dorset. It's a beautiful location with the stunning stately home, grounds and surrounding area setting a gorgeous backdrop to the run. The weekend started with a whole range of various Triathlon distances with a day of running on the Sunday.

I was signed up for the 10K and arrived in time to watch the Half Marathon set off across the park on a beautiful sunny morning (led by local hero Steve Way who of course also won the HM). I met up with a couple of girls from my local running ground - The Verwood Running Buddies.

The 10k set off at 10am and left the park via the cricket field and then through the crop fields of wheat and rapeseed and through woody copses. The views of the estate were gorgeous which were almost enough to take your mind off the killer hills! The route returned to the park finishing in front of the stately home.  I was really happy with my time of 60mins and 44secs over this lumpy and bumpy course!

The race was really well organised with problem-free chip timing and good facilities too - loads of great refreshments and activities for those who brought family/children along to watch. I guess the triathlon effect means better facilities!

During the race there was a drone shooting video footage, plus a couple of camera operators to catch all the action - there's a really nice video all about the day that you can take a peek at below.

You can tell I really enjoyed the race - I'm already signed up for next year!

Before I sign off today's Juneathon update was a lovely 5.45km with the Verwood Running Buddies on a wonderful sunny morning, with some cheeky intervals thrown in for good measure.

Salisbury parkrun #1

After my first foray into the world of parkrun last week, today I ventured to Salisbury for their inaugural event and it was a good one. By all accounts it seems to have been a labour of love to get this new venture off the ground so it was great to see 237 runners turn out on a glorious morning in sight of the majestic Cathedral overlooking Churchill Gardens (appropriate for D-Day). 

There was a great atmosphere and the local Salisbury runners turned out in force. The volunteers looked ecstatic to have their new run come to fruition and were wonderfully supportive all the war around the course.

And indeed they needed to be proactive as the course was full of twists and turns, grassy stretches, bridges and low-hanging weeping willows and with a 3 lap course I was happy to get a similar time to last week at Poole (despite that being all on tarmac and with mostly sweeping turns!). 

The park is right in the city but with a  river and trees surrounding it, you'd hardly notice. A lovely city park.

I'll leave you with a few pics from the flickr pool - I look rather serious in all of these I'm afraid! I promise I had a lovely time really!

The perfect commute - Running to Work

About once a week I ditch the car and set off to run my morning commute to work. It's about 6.5km if I go via the roads and 8.5km if I go the scenic route via my local country park - three guesses which I choose?

So for day 5 of Juneathon I ran from home via Moors Valley country park to the office. It's a lovely route taking in playing fields, rivers and streams, two lakes, forest and woodland and a golf course.

Sometimes a circuit around the park is done at full tilt, but when I run to work I take it easy and often stop to take some pictures and to see the wildlife. Today it was a family of swans, Great Crested Grebes and Green and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers.

I tend to commute with a de-bladdered Camelbak Dart stashed with a bit of cash and a waterproof and a cap, but for the rest of my gear I'm a master of preparation!

Working in an office with other humans obviously means I need to make myself look and smell presentable and judging by the obligatory mid-run selfie it's an essential process.

I have a stash of clothes in which to change into, plus soap, wipes, makeup and everyone's favourite dry shampoo. I even have a set of hair straighteners hiding in my desk drawer!

Happy Running everyone!

10 Ways You Know You're A Runner.

While the best way of knowing you're a runner is the moment you run, here are a few more fun ways you can definitely tell you're becoming a runner.

1. You can't resist a running themed t-shirt.

For runners who also love a geeky reference! Available from Busted Tees.

'For the Long Run' tee from TK Maxx

Nike 'Not Running Sucks' from Sports Direct.

2. It's all about the BLING! Sure... local, picturesque or challenging races are fine and dandy, but who are we kidding? If there isn't a medal we'll be thinking twice (at least) about entering. Give us the BLING!

3. The only new shoes you get REALLY excited about are a new pair of 'runners'.

4. You can justify things like this as post long-run 'fuel'. #runtoeat

5. Neon suddenly seems much more appealing. And not just in running gear - you've never seen anyone as excited as me to see neon everyday clothes hitting the high street!

6. A WHSmith haul is almost always exclusively running based.

7. And somehow reading a 'real' book also becomes an opportunity to read about running. Perfect for a long soak in the bath after a long run.

8. When winter comes you have absolutely no qualms about going out in public dressed as a neon ninja. #winterproblems

9. Your Instagram is full of pictures of your wrist. Or your feet.

10. ...and the most unattractive and sweaty but blissfully happy selfies you ever did see!

Happy running everyone!

Juneathon Day 4 update - Rest day for me so just a walk and some vigorous gardening!

Current Favourites - Running Playlist

It's day 3 of Juneathon and National Running Day and I was out for a cheeky 5K this evening after work - surprisingly hot so happy with 29.23 - brace yourselves people of Dorset - I think I'm going to have to break out the shorts soon!

Now, I don't profess to have a cultured taste in music - I'm a girl who loves a bit of chart music especially when I'm running - it has to be upbeat, lively and worthy of a mid-run singalong. Here are a couple of my current favourites gracing my running playlist.

1. New York Raining - Charles Hamilton ft Rita Ora. Cool as a cucumber - especially great for long and easy runs.



2. Lets Get it Started - Black Eyed Peas. Great to run to plus a little bit of an extra running theme!



3. Figure it Out - Royal Blood



4. Ignorance - Paramore



5. Preach - M.O. This appeals with a strange retro feel as it reminds me rather of 5Star from my childhood!



6. Ballad of Mona Lisa  - Panic! At The Disco.



Hope you might find something new to add to your playlist too!

First parkrun experience - Poole #220

I've been running for a year now and for about the same amount of time I've been pledging to get my arse along to a parkrun event. If you've not heard about parkrun it's a wonderful organisation supported by an army of volunteers to put on timed 5K runs around the UK and across plenty of the rest of the world in 333 locations. It's totally free and all inclusive with regards to your speed or experience. From world class athletes (Commonwealth Marathoner Steve Way frequents the Poole parkrun) to total beginners, those who intend to walk the distance,  runners with buggies, junior runners, and those running with dogs carefully under close control are more than welcome.

I'm lucky to have a few parkrun locations within about half an hour drive (with the hope of an even more local event on the cards in the near future!) but I chose Poole for my first parkrun experience. The route encompasses the boating lake at Poole Park and I've ran here once before for my first ever race - Race for Life in 2014 so I knew I'd be confident in where I was going!

True to form for me I got there nice and early and found the race-HQ in the park cricket pavilion and watched as 730 other runners descended on the park - it was quite a sight to behold!

Just prior to the start, runners new to parkrun and to the course were gathered together for a short and friendly briefing about the course and the process at the finish (I promise it's simple - just keep in the order you finish and take your finishing token and your own barcode to the friendly scanner volunteer).

I had a great morning at Poole parkrun - not just because I was happy with my time (not far off my PB) but because of the friendly atmosphere and super-slick organisation. I'll definitely be back!

If you want to get involved with a parkrun near to you it's simply to do - sign up at parkrun.com and with just a few easy steps you're ready to get running! I can highly recommend it!

Day 2 Juneathon - Today was a post work 7.25K run in my usual stomping ground - it's a nice mix of paths, grass and trail plus some lovely scenery along the way including some lovely cygnets.

Juneathon - Getting Active in June!

Today sees the start of two events both connected to running and getting active – one of my favourite things!

First up is the start of Juneathon – It’s a month long challenge (if you hadn’t already guessed!) to run or get active every single day in June – the only catch being is that you need to blog (or micro blog on twitter – use #juneathon) about your activity every day too!

What better way to keep yourself accountable? It’s also the perfect reason to flood your various social media timelines with your athletic prowess!

Find out more plus how to get involved here. If you are getting involved with Juneathon leave me a comment so I can pop over and take a look at what you’ve been up to.

Next is the beginning of Women’s Sport Week – starting today until the 7^th June it’s a wonderful opportunity for raising awareness and increasing the profile of women’s sport across the UK by everybody involved with participating (that means you and me!) delivering, leading and working in sport.

It’s being led by Women in Sport and supported by many governing bodies, as well as Sky Sports, the BBC, Sport England (the people who brought us This Girl Can) and many more supporters across the sporting world.

My favourite read on day one is this wonderful BBC feature all about some inspirational current sporting stars (including Paula Radcliffe) talking about their own sporting idols.

 You can follow the week using #WSW2015 across social media.

 So for my first day of Juneathon I was up bright and early (you can tell it’s early around these parts when the dogs and the chickens are reluctant to get up) and popped down to my local 6.30am yoga class. I’m very new to yoga and I’m definitely still learning but I’m sure I can already feel a difference. I’ve got awful upper body strength, weak glutes and tight hips which I’m sure have all been contributing to some niggly running injuries of late. I’m sure in only the few weeks I’ve been doing yoga that I can already notice a difference in those little aches and pains.

I really enjoy the early class as it wakes you up in a gentle but invigorating way and I feel like I’m better placed to tackle the inevitable stresses that hit the second you walk through the door at work. I’m lucky to only live a 5 or so minute walk from the venue so it’s extra relaxing not to have to contend with school traffic!

Today’s new poses to get to grips with were fish, dolphin and plow – I was definitely better at plow out of these three!

I’ll tell you more about how I’m using Yoga to help with my running later in the month.