Dog Sledding

On Saturday we do Colwick parkrun which is a bad choice. In fact I can’t understand why it hasn’t been cancelled. If I’d been the Run Director it certainly would have been but then everyone else seems to have a great time wading through the thigh deep mud. Then again, nobody else is tied to a collie which is like dog sledding without the sled.

On Sunday it’s the 31st Folksworth 15 organised by Yaxley Runners with a field of 500 runners.

Note to self. If we do this race again arrive early, very early. I mean we aren't exactly late but everyone is far more clued up than us meaning all the nearby parking has already been taken by the time we arrive. We are directed out of the village, out to the 14 mile point and then down a country lane where we park on a grass bank. It would be a long walk back to Race HQ but the organisers have kindly laid on a car to get us there. Obviously we need to go ready to race, so we take a bag with us to drop in the baggage store.

Once at the Race HQ, which is the local school, we pick up our numbers and are then faced with a 15 minute walk\jog to the start, three quarters of a mile away. As it’s a two lap course it begs the question why not remove the walk to the start and call it 16 miles? I'm sure there's a reason...

It's a cold day and icy underfoot in places. I think many races would have been cancelled given the way we had to slither down some of the hills, so I'm thankfully that the organisers had the guts not to call this one off. We needed the run even if we do have to skate parts of it although apparently despite the conditions someone broke the course record.

The 15 miles, with its three challenging hills per lap, is a decent test of where my marathon training is at. If intend to run my marathon at 9:00 pace again, or hopefully better, then to not drop below 8:50 here and to average 8:15 is definitely promising as I finish, back at the school, in 2:03:45.

Afterwards I get a lift back to the car and release the dogs. Then the three of us clap everyone else, including L, through 14 miles just as they head up the final hill to the finish.

(Sunday 19th January)

Run In The Woods

On Saturday L and Daughter do Colwick Parkrun and then run home via the café. I don’t run which means the Lad is initially distraught because that means he can’t run either but then Daughter offers to run with him.

He is elated and MD is elated to get the morning off but after warming up with him, she hands him back and takes MD instead. Both dogs look crestfallen but MD puts a brave face on it. He loves his running really.

In the afternoon I watch Derby maintain their Play Off push by putting four past Bolton then I pick L up from the hospital.

On Sunday, with me out of action, L gets to fill her boots with an off-road 10k called Run In The Woods at Bourne in Lincolnshire . I would have thrown my hands up in horror had I feel fit enough to run it.

It doesn’t actually look too bad, it seemed to be mostly on firm tracks but it was still better to be a spectator. There was a coffee stall and bacon rolls. Although I think the Lad would rather have ran but probably just because I wouldn’t share my roll with him. 

(Sunday 14^th April)

Deviation From The Norm

There’s a slight deviation from the norm as we do Colwick parkrun this morning and then in the evening L and I go to the Derby Velodrome to watch the National Madison Championships.

We don’t bother with the support races and turn up for 7pm when the main women’s race takes place followed by the men’s.

In the women’s race is was always likely to be a case of whoever partnered up out of Katie Archibald, Elinor Barker and Laura Kenny would win. They should probably have made them all have non-Olympic medal winning partners to even things up a bit but they didn’t. Archibald and Barker edged it over Kenny and Ellie Dickinson.

In the men’s race up and coming stars Matt Walls and Fred Wright took the honours.

The event itself was very disappointingly supported for which I totally blame the organisers as there has been close to zero promotion of the event. There are big advertising hoardings outside promoting the forthcoming Christmas Pantomime but nothing for world class cycling events. There was also close to zero information available on the format of the event, a one page programme only appeared the night before.

(Saturday 13^th October)

Watching Our Backs

The boys and I are at a dog show this morning but our schedule gives us no runs first thing so it could have been a leisurely morning. That is if L hadn’t dived out of bed early in order to get over to the Colwick parkrun to support daughter on her Couch To 5k Graduation.

So I assist by dropping L in town and then heading off to the dog show which is near Rugby.

Daughter not only graduates with flying colours but brings her 5k time down in to the 36s. We all need to start watching our backs. L says I wouldn’t believe how jealous she is. Oh I would. 

At the dog show, our first run was really good but we had a pole down. Then on the second run MD missed out a jump, I mis-queued the weaves and then he missed his dog walk contact.Oh dear.

We both calm down a touch and get a clear round on run three but only just, so we’re outside the rosettes, before rounding things off with five faults in our last run.

Back home later, we stay in. I have another run tomorrow.

(Saturday 16^th September)