Happy 1st Runniversary

This past Sunday was my 1st Runniversary, so this weekend was full of activities just to emphasis the difference a year makes. Saturday morning was Parkrun then it was off to my mums to finish off the decking I had made her. Then Sunday morning consisted of a bike ride with Dexter and a visit to the playground, then an afternoon of gardening. Followed by my Runniversary run following the route of my first run a year ago.

My run at the bottom of this photo was my first this time last year
 

Saturday morning we all set off for Parkrun Huddersfield and Dexter was determined to run further and faster, or at least that was what he had been saying all week. We arrived at Greenhead park a little later this week so there was already a bunch of people lined up at the start. Dexter and I quickly did our stretches and Mummy and Clark went off to the playground and their first vantage point to cheers us on. Parkrun were using a new penning system at the start so the faster runners were at the front and the slower ones were at the back. It worked well and we all got started without too much jostling about avoiding slower runners. We managed to get to 1km before Dexter started to whinge about needing to slow down. As I know him and what he did last week I know he was just winging because he's 5 and nothing else. I kept him going until 3km then I said he could have a little walk and a rest before we would start running again. He was really good and started running again and then at 4km we had another walking rest for about 100 metres. I knew he had lots of energy still but I didn't want to push him to far that he wouldn't get out off doing it again. The main reason I knew he had lots of energy still was whenever we went past some Marshals who are brilliant and are always cheering you on, he would grin from ear to ear and speed up a bit. As we got close to the cafe and the area all the finishers gather in the buzz seemed to help Dexter and a few people started to shout his name to encourage him. It helped and we rounded the final corner with the finish line in sight, and a lady we passed also cheered Dexter on and I told him to sprint across the line which he did and got a great cheer too. He has finished his 2nd Parkrun in 35.33 which is  4.30mins quicker than last week, he did brilliantly.

 

On Sunday Sarah-Jane took Clark into town to do a little shopping so Dexter asked if we could go for a bike ride. Now when he said this he meant I would be on my bike and he would be towed around in the bike carriage we have. So we did and we rode up to the playground near his school and whenever I ride my bike I always forget that you use a different set of muscles compared with running because when we got there I was surprisingly tired for such a short distance. Dexter had a great time and 1 of his friends from school also came up to play in the playground, and it was funny listening to them and the way they play together. When there at school you don't get to see/hear them play with their friends so it was interesting seeing them interact.

 

As it was my Runniversary Sarah-Jane and I unintentionally recreated my first run from this time last year. The plan was to run around the block exactly the same as I did last year to see the difference a year of running has made. The unplanned debacle that followed was exactly what happen last year too. I kept saying I was going for a run but things kept distracting me, like gardening, some housework and playing with the boys.

It wasn't until Sarah-Jane said 'right stop it and just go for a run' that I actually did. That's how it was last year too and if it wasn't for that push from her last year I don't know if I would be blogging about my running and all the stuff that has happened in the last year. Now last year I did the 1km run around the block in 6.07mins which as a time isn't too bad I've done 6 min km's since then. It was the end of the run and the aftermath that was key, I didn't even manage to run the full 1km just I stopped at 0.98km and the run completely took it out of me and I was still recovering a couple of hours later. This year I decided to see how fast I could do it now and how long it would take me to recover. Well I completed the 1km in 4.05min which was 2 mins quicker and after about 5mins at home I was fine again. It was a great feeling but I still have a way to go before I could keep that pace up for 5km or 10km which I would love to be able to do. I can keep a 5min to 4.30min pace going comfortably now, so lets see how I'm getting on this time next year.

 

As you do on anniversaries you tend to look back at the last year and reflect, and that's exactly what I did this weekend. If you had told me last year that I would be running at least 10k a week I would have said 'yeah whatever'! The thing is its gone way past just that, and that's what more surprising. I've taken part in 5 organised 5k runs, 2 10k runs, and a 10 mile muddy run. If that wasn't enough I've even organised a 10k run which raised £1400 for my sons school and I'm in the process of organising another 10k run to raise money for the local Church. I find myself looking at places differently now too, I catch myself planning runs in my head when I see places that would be good 5k or 10k routes.

 

Lets just hope that this next year will be just as good

Keep running everyone.