Or a bit of catching up
- Donkey & Buskin Hash 4 May
- West Mersea Run 7 May
- Colchester 10k 10 May
- Chappel Hash 11 May
- The Hare & Hounds, Layer Breton Hash 18 May
- St Helena Hospice 10k Midnight Walk 23/24 May
- Dedham Vale Vines 10k 31 May
- The Whalebone Hash 8 May
- To the Turning Circle and back 20 June
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| What is that man thinking! |
The Hash runs returned to a Monday evening and are being really well attended. Lots of canine friends have been running or walking with us. I even got to run one of Becci's lovely chihuahua crosses - well really he was taking me for a run!! So far it has been a season of dayglo and selfies! We have been very lucky with the weather and most of the pubs. I've stopped for a meal twice now and enjoyed that very much.
Becci came over one afternoon and we had a lovely run round West Mersea and this time we didn't end up like drowned rats and it made a great change to have some company on one of my usual lonesome routes.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Colchester 10k which was a new race for me. I even managed to get a PB. Becci and I discovered that by not chatting we actually run faster - doh!! At the end, though, we decided we prefer to chat and get in at a slower time - well we are hardly likely to win and at my age getting off the sofa is enough exercise in itself! We finished this one on a running race track and it was a very odd experience. As you get into the arena you see everyone at the clubhouse watching you and you feel you have to try and sprint round - even Mr Singh, a Parkrun regular, in his late sixties put on a tremendous spurt of speed and impressed us all.
Then came the St Helena Hospice Midnight Walk. I was invited to join some ladies who were University of the Third Age Nordic Walkers. This seemed a bit daunting but happily the sticks would not be making an appearance. We had to wear tiaras as the theme was trainers and tiaras. These ladies also wanted to be at the front for the start and I imagined a great surge of speed would result. I was amazed then to see some women had got off to a brilliant start and were rapidly disappearing down the road. After a while I found it difficult to walk at the pace of the people I was with and made my excuses to stretch my legs and get ahead.
Then followed a bizarre time as my racing persona set in and I tried to overtake everyone in front of me. Soon I found myself alone with no-one in sight ahead of me. I was still walking but quite fast. I knew for definite there were quite a few in front of me still so this gave me motivation to keep this head of steam up. Surprisingly, the cyclist who had been with the front walkers came up to me and said only a little way to go - did I realise I was sixth lady back. Urm no! I tried to say that I had been with some others and perhaps I ought to wait for them but he said to keep going as I was going to be able to get in under one hour fifty. Not one to argue, I did just that! Rewarding myself with one of the doughnuts and bottles of health drink at the finish. You can't keep the runner in you down!
In a moment of madness I decided to sign up for the first ever Dedham Vale Vines 10k Wine Run. Rather pompously I had announced that "of course, I won't be sampling any of the wine on the way round and would enjoy my glass at the end of the run". Then I decided to run with Wendy, a fellow "Commando Runner" and an American to boot. I found myself saying, at the first sample, "oh go on then" and downing a (shot sized) glass of wine. Then we got lost and ended up at the same lady (who seemed not to notice - maybe she was sampling the wine too) and having another tot.
My favourite sample was the rose which we found in a field with some shot tumblers and Wendy downed two saying - well we were supposed to be here twice. I didn't remember that but hey ho - in for a penny.
At the end I said to Wendy if she didn't mind I'd grab hold of her hand and we would sprint over the finish line. We did but I got placed behind her!!! That, of course, had nothing to do with the fact her 'other half' was on the finish line timing us;-)
David, my husband, joined me in a glass of wine and a delicious buffet lunch before heading home. A lovely morning out. There were even clog dancers to enjoy!
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| No that's Mark not David |
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| Here's my American buddy, Wendy |
Finally, if I haven't mentioned it before, my running buddy Becci successfully ran the London Marathon and did an amazing job - but then again she did have a brilliant support team cheering her on at the start and mile 23. Wouldn't you keep on running if you saw this lot going mad on the side of the road? Well done Becci.
Well 'on on' and hopefully a return to regular blogging now that I think I have sorted out my iPhone and can take some photos along the way.
Happy running,
