Face the sunshine

I took on the Erewash half marathon during August. The first thing that sets this apart from other events I've taken part in is that it was on a Saturday. I was actually glad of this on the morning and for the rest of the weekend after the run. It meant an additional day of getting up early as I had done for five days in a row for work and this was easier than having a longer sleep on Saturday and getting up early on the Sunday! It also meant runners had the whole weekend to recover...I was struggling Saturday afternoon so glad not to have work the following day! I try and enter mostly off-road events and this half marathon was along a canal path so I thought it would be a good entry into the half marathon distance and would be semi-rural so not a totally built up environment. The course was completely flat due to being next to a canal and it was nice to see other people enjoying the tow path including lots of dog walkers and cyclists as well as admiring some of the canal...

I haven't run a Parkrun on a Saturday for a couple of months now and that's not entirely as bad as it sounds. I've found that Parkrun was a springboard to other running adventures and at the moment I'm not too concerned with getting a new PB on the 5k distance but looking at increasing the distance I can comfortably run.  Without a doubt I would not have discovered a love for running without hearing about and getting involved with Parkrun and it was a great introduction for someone who had never run before. I will return to it and hopefully go to some other locations as a 'tourist'.  I've now done part of both the White Peak trail (10.5k) setting off from Ashbourne and the Dark Peak trail (12k) setting off from Hayfield. Both were organised events by a company that runs events throughout the scenic Peak District. These were the first proper events I had entered and I was really pleased with my times for both, although it was more about completing the...

I recently took part in my first official trail event and was pleased to see that even at more official events there was still cake at the end of the run! There were two events taking place on the day, a short run of 6.6km and a longer run of a whopping 16.8km that I think I would have struggled to walk, sounds a great, long distance! As it was my first event I registered for the shorter run to see how I got on and judging by the entries for the longer distance am glad I did as they looked like professional athletes that could go on to bike and swim after their event. Everyone was emailed a required kit list in advance of the day and here's a photo of mine in an Inov8 'ultra race' pack...I don't think I'll ever be racing anywhere and certainly not in any 'ultra' mode! In my pack I had: windproof jacket, running cap, waterproof trousers, waterproof jacket, compass, spare change, tissues, protein bar, babybel, banana, water, my phone, a map of the route ...

I'm supporting the 'Colostomy UK' 50K challenge which aims to prove that having a stoma is not a barrier to being active by inviting people with stomas to do a variety of activities that count towards an overall 50,000KM over a 6 month period. People can walk, jog, run, climb, swim or cycle any number of metres and can also raise funds for the charity through sponsorship. I'm already trying to be fairly active and the reason I started this blog was to show people that you can live a healthy and active lifestyle when you have a stoma so this challenge was something I was keen to get involved with. After registering I was sent a pack which contained a 50K challenge t shirt that I could wear when exercising to help raise awareness and a pedometer to track my progress. I'll then log any activity on the Colostomy UK website which can be done daily, weekly or monthly. There's a live counter on the website that shows the total of KM travelled so far by every...

I've recently signed up for two trail runs that look pretty serious as I've been emailed a required kit list for the events! I'm not getting too far ahead of myself and they're both 10K or under as that's the maximum distance I have run so far. I've also signed up for a trail running workshop as I do like to do things properly! I watched a video where a sports injury coach mentioned that running is the only sport where people literally buy a pair of shoes and just start running...you wouldn't do that with anything else like rugby or tennis and he explained that's why so many people get running injuries, as they don't have any technique. I'm looking forward to learning some techniques at the workshop to help with injury prevention and also meeting some like-minded people who are beginners to trail running and are looking to attend sessions that the workshop providers run (literally!) I watched another video about the ethos of trail running and...

I feel like I've ended the first month of 2018 on a high as I took part in the monthly 5k at Kedleston Hall. This event is organised by Jog Derbyshire and costs just £2 per person with 5k and 10k options. The only jogging I have done is a handful of parkruns and as I heard people singing the chorus of 'mud glorious mud' as we warmed I did think about going back to the car as I wondered just what I had signed up to! The course was more of a trail than I have been used to with parkruns, with lots of mud to contend with near the end. My trainers just about stayed on but I nearly went face down a few times. I plan to use this event to help me increase the distance I can jog, so in the future I'll do more than 5k on the day and gradually work up to 10k. The 10k route sounded interesting as it isn't just another circuit of the 5k but takes a different route around the estate. I wasn't too optimistic about what my time would be as this was my first 5k of 2018...