Good morning everyone. It's that time of the week again. Saturday is parkrun day normally, but that awful COVID-19 has wrecked that part of our lives, for now. I hope for a return in 2021. But for now a little group here on this forum are standing strong and we are running our own little private and personal 5K (not)parkrun. We might have a few new runners joining us this morning so remember to say a lovely big friendly hello at the first timers briefing.
For anyone who is new, we just run our own 5K, and report back here afterwards letting us all know how you got on. It is just for fun, you can walk, jog or run. I have had some runs where I have done all 3 in the same 5K. You can register on the parkrun website if you want and log your (not)parkrun.
I'll be a bit later starting. I have to do some gardening first after getting a few unruly branches cut off a few trees. Then I have to pull down all the Christmas Decorations from the attic. I'll do my run after lunch time. Yes I managed to hold off until now. I'm proud to say we are the last on our little cul de sac to put up the Christmas Decorations. I love holding out. Peer pressure has never worked on me, in fact it makes me dig my heels in even harder. It is still technically a week too early for me, but the pressure from my lovely lady and 2 boys is too much now.
So good luck to all my friends. Happy Running. Looking forward to all the run reports.
Damien
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damienair
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Hi Damien, good post from you, just wait until it is the correct time to put the decorations and Christmas Tree 🎄 up.
This morning in a temperature of 6C and light rain ☔ I ran my 39th virtual and 26th (not) parkrun in a time of 34.07, I had Christmas music 🎶 playing from my Spotify Xmas Playlist, including Chris Reas Driving Home for Christmas, that should be running for us runners, I had my red Santa 🎅 hat and reindeer jumper on, with my natural white now 9 inch beard I got compliments and a few "hello Santa" from a few walkers, I just replied 'thanks' and carried on, so a good run for me today, next week will be my 40th virtual parkrun, the 🎶 music will be very festive again, this time Christmas Carols from another Spotify playlist, I am now home and having a coffee and one Mince Pie🎅🎄🏃🏾
This afternoon when I walk my neighbours dog, I will change back into that Santa outfit and ask my neighbour to take a photo of me and the dog, I will then post the photo here on the B210K forum.
I run the exact same 5K route every Saturday, I have been doing that since 21st March this year, I will be running to Christmas Carols, not Xmas pop music as it was this morning, it will be my 40th virtual and 27th (not) parkrun.
Update Friday 18th December, there have been problems with my Healthunlocked account, I am not getting any e mails from Healthunlocked, also, I tripped on stairs on Tuesday, I did not fall but hurt my left leg, its not so sore now, however, for my 40th virtual parkrun on Saturday it will be a case of walking or running slowly, so certainly no PB.
My left leg is getting much better, on Wednesday I tried to "run." it was a 4K in 45minutes, this morning I walked/ran my 40th virtual parkrun in a time of 40.40 so I am quite happy about that, the first 3 kilometers were in the mode of week 1 of C25K, the final 2 K's I ran, so I am recovering from that almost fall quite quickly.
Fantastic Alan, You must have looked amazing running in full Christmas mode, natural full length beard and all. I'm looking forward to seeing the photo. I'm just in from the Garden now. Took less time than I thought, but my brown bin is full, so it will be a work in progress. Loads of wood to burn in our wood burning stove too. Coffee and Mince Pie, perfect. I think I'll do just that after my run.
Hi everyone. Another slowy from me today 38:32. Even though it was sunny, it had clearly rained again last night (usual Friday night occurrence it seems 😩) as it was sloppy underfoot in places and I really don’t fancy coming a cropper.
Chilly wind, but it made for a refreshing run. Followed it by yoga and shortly I’m heading into Bristol for some socially distanced “groups of 6” carol singing round the harbour with my choir friends. At least we’re allowed to do something fun in Tier 3. 🎶🎄😀
I haven’t run since last Saturday so I wasn’t expecting much this morning and I didn’t break any records BUT
1. I kept going for 6k in the end ( after repeatedly trying to talk myself into stopping from about 2k onwards. I am so cantankerous I’ll even argue with myself 🤣).
2. It didn’t start raining until I had finished running and called in Coop to get some bananas on the way home.
3. It was sunny most of the way round which made me feel good
4. My breathing was fine even though I’m back on the inhalers again.
Apparently the 3 weeks I had where I seemed to be managing fine was due to the steroids still being in my system. It takes 3 weeks for them to work fully and 3 weeks for them to clear out of your system. I ended up waking up a couple of mornings feeling like I was struggling to breathe deeply and then my Asthma nurse rang for my checkup and told me to start using it again 😞. Oh well at least I can still run.
So I am counting the first 5k as my (not)parkrun and I took 43:51 to do it this morning. 😬
My decorations have been up for a week. I went foraging for small pine/ fir branches, holly, ivy and made two wreaths - one for my door and one for my daughter’s, and then popped up while she was at work and decorated her “ newly opened up” banisters with a greenery swag and huge red bows. She loved it.
Very well done on your 6K and fitting in your (not)parkrun as well. Glad your still running despite your Asthma struggles. I could do with you here to help with our decorations. 😀
I LOVE Christmas decorating. When I worked at Woolies, many years ago, I was sent on a Xmas tree decorating course so then of course I’d be volunteered by my boss to do all the trees in our shopping centre, as well as the shops ones ( I was in charge of the Xmas dept) and then also to decorate 8 trees in the Queens Theatre foyer,which had been donated by several local businesses, in their business colours. And then, when I worked for PCWorld, I’d foolishly mentioned this so for the next 15 years I ended up decorating the 12 foot tree in the foyer there too.
But I do love doing it. And this year, with the lockdowns, I’ve really got into crochet so I’ve crocheted some stuff too.
Hi Damienair, hi fellow (not) park runners.Good luck with the decorations Damienair. Have to confess that I am behind with the decorations this year_wfh desk is in my usual Christmas 🌲 spot do need a rethink before decorating!
I had a lovely run this morning. Bright, sunny and fresh.
Pb on 10k and 5k...5k 31:22 so only just a pb but I'll take that! .(As usual it was the last 5k of the long run....how does that happen)
Feeling perky and off to walk the dog (and husband) next!
Fantastic running, 10k and the last 5K was faster than the first. Very well done. I love Christmas, I just hate the build up to it. We gave the house a full clean before we started with the decorations .
Still a week too early for me to put up the decorations, too. It's always been the weekend before Christmas in our house, sometimes even as late as Christmas Eve (when some renovation work was being done). My personal "jukebox radio station" doesn't start adding Christmas tracks until the 16th (but does continue playing them until New Year's Eve).
We seem nowadays to have lost the concept of the twelve days of Christmas: from Christmas Day until Twelfth Night. Today, everything is a build up through the month of December and it's all over with the cold turkey sandwiches on the evening of Boxing Day.
The weather is likely to be better this afternoon. It's heavy showers at the moment. I'm planning to do this week's speed challenge later.
I agree, the build up to Christmas now is a complete pain. I love Christmas but hate the build up. The greed and commercialism. I ignore it as much as possible. I love the time spent with family and close friends, time off and watching movies. I’ve been out running around in the dark and have come across houses which had their decorations up at the beginning of November. The excuse is Covid. I’d be sick of looking at them after 2-3 weeks.
Good morning everyone! It was a little milder here today but very grey and misty and soggy underfoot. 32.56 for me today, which is my best one for a while after a rather large dip over the past month or so. I must admit I’m generally a weekend before Xmas decorator but am thinking of getting the tree on Monday or Tuesday. Definitely there til 12th night though.
Now we’re off to meet daughter and granddaughters to swop pressies in the park at Chatsworth. Probably going to get rather soggy as it is now raining 💦💦
Well done on holding off on the Christmas decorations. I am with you on Peer Pressure - worst reason for doing anything.
Although, for the first time ever we have lights in our porch and even on the little tree in the front garden. The only decorations in the house so far are a few soft ornaments and a piece of tinsel pinned to the back of the settee - because it was Christmas jumper night on the folk club Zoom session last night.
We always keep part of our back hedge long ready to be our indoor Christmas tree. Just waiting for it to stop raining long enough to cut it.
But the run - nothing remarkable today except for cutting it back to just 5km because it was so wet.
Usual 2nd breakfast.
Hopefully the last (not)parkrun of our LeJog challenge if all goes well over the next few days.
Well done on your 5K. Yes I love going against the grain. I always have. I love not to follow the heard. Just with stupid stuff which seems to have got worse due to Social Media. Stuff like ice bucket challenge etc dies with me. I dare you to etc just stops as soon as it hits my inbox with a speedy delete. 😂 I support charities but will not be peer pressured into anything. I gave up Social Media years ago and I love that no one knows what I’m up to other than close friends and family.
I only use Facebook now for the ukulele group and for parkruns - quickest way to find out if a tourist parkrun is cancelled before we set off from the campsite. Also to check beforehand if there is a height barrier for the parkrun car park!
I keep an eye on the village Facebook for local news, but I never post any personal updates.
Hiya Damien, good on you. I just couldn't help myself this year. Still got a few lights to put up though. We were also a bit late doing ours this morning but it worked out ok, just a little busier on the final stretch as shoppers went into town. Katnap also unknowingly took my only Strava Local Legend from me so I'll have to go out again and nab it back!!
The weather was much warmer this week but it wasn't raining. However, there was a head wind that was quite chilly and kept the sweat down a bit. I'd done a bit of yoga before going out so I was probably a bit more ready to give it a bit more welly earlier on this week and we had to slow down after the first kilometre or I (definitely 'I', Katnap was more than capable of going much quicker!) would have run out of steam for my speed challenge after the 3rd kilometre.
For the first time on the speed challenge I felt like I could get through the first section without having a melt down. The middle bit is easier as it's downhill, but the little uphill bit afterwards is always a bit of a killer and I have to pause my watch to get my breath back.
No cars came in or out of the petrol station so that bit was easier than usual but then I had to go on the cycle path to get round all the people on the final section.
So my time was exactly the same as last week at 27:53 👍
Great running and another great time. Sub 28 mins. Very well done. I only managed to do my run today. Yesterday we ended up doing a complete Spring Clean on the house before we started with the decorations. Took a long time, but our house is very clean, or it was, 2 boys have an amazing skill set to reverse all that hard work. 😂
Thanks Damien 👍 That’s what that what 2 boys are for 🤣 I love that feeling when you’ve cleaned the house from top to bottom and you can just relax and fully justify watching something really rubbish on telly! Enjoy the feeling for however long they let it last!
Hi damienair and running friends!🏃♀️🏃♂️ I was in hospital for an operation (which went very well) this week, so I wasn’t able to run on Tuesday and Wednesday. I went out on Thursday afternoon though for my (not) Parkrun. I must have been fully recovered by then because I finished in 29:29, with the final km in 5:08 for the HU Speed Challenge. I was very pleased with that!Happy running everyone🙂👍
Hi everyone, no Christmas decorations yet in our house yet, we have builders in putting a warmer roof on our conservatory instead of the glass one. The house is a tip. The conservatory should be finished by the end of next week and then we need to paint it. We are hoping to have it finished by Christmas Eve 🤞🤞🤞 The decorations might be able to be put up then. Busy day for me exercise wise. I did my 5k this morning in a time of 37.56. Continual running today as my ankle is feeling much better. The single calf raises and compression socks have helped enormously. I then rode my bike for 15k and walked the dog for a further 4K. Feeling very relaxed this afternoon. I think a glass of wine later will knock me out. Happy running everyone 🏃🏻♂️🏃🏻🏃🏻♀️🏃🏻♂️🏃🏻🏃🏻♀️
Well I have started brewing my own beer. I have 23 litres (40 pints) finishing fermentation in my hot press. I will be bottling it next weekend and enjoying it at the end of January. So will have to up my running in preparation for fear of a beer belly. :-).
That would stop me too. I'll only offer it to next door neighbors. They don't have far to walk home. I'm brewing batches for Summer BBQ enjoyment. It's my first time doing this properly. I had a go once with a friend 20 something years ago using his dads gear. It was a disaster, but we still drank it, flat but potent. I'm trying to do everything right this time. It's a fun little project.
Afraid I gave in to peer (family) pressure this year and our tree and decorations have been up for a week! No Christmas music though - it has to be Phil Spector's Christmas Album on the day itself for me.Anyway, back to (not) parkrun. Quite mild this morning with no wind to speak of, so a very uneventful run ending with yet another sub-30 time - 29.59.8 mins (can't get much closer than that)!
Very well done Jonathan on your sub 30 minute 5K. A week earlier than this is fine, I was seeing people putting up decorations for Christmas back at the beginning of November. Madness. I won’t start feeling Christmas until next weekend.
Totally agree Damienair. I never put the Christmas tree and decorations out until 12 December. It goes back to when I was young,as it was my older sister’s birthday .
I did a nice slow 6.5k yesterday as I have been doing speed for a few runs now.
The 5k time is 37.15. I did pause my watch while picking greenery for the festive bingo card though.
Well done Dexy. We ended up doing a full spring cleaning on the house before putting up some of the decorations. I was wrecked afterwards and just felt like relaxing with a beer and watched Scrooged on the TV. So I only did my run today.
Morning all. My time for today was 48.21 my fastest yet. I walked for 10 minutes and shuffled the rest. Still a 🐌's pace but I'm happy.
I haven't got my decorations up yet. I've put the tree in it's stand/water yesterday and it's completely wonky. I haven't worked out how to get it back out yet..... I live on my own so if anyone has any tips I'd be grateful. I think it might be a 'brut force' job.
Well done on your run. A 5K PB is fantastic. I’m afraid I can’t help with the Christmas tree. We have a fake tree for 20 years. It’s hassle free thankfully. I never bought a real Christmas tree, I wouldn’t know where to start.
Hello all. Back to 5k this morning after a month off with hip pain. 36 mins but glad to be back, even in the rain. Happy running everyone. You don’t realise how much you miss it till you can’t do it
No run for me this weekend, in fact Wednesday since my last effort. Life getting in the way. I could sneak in a run at 3pm, but it is bucketing down, blowing a gale and for once I am going to be restrained and leave it until tomorrow when the forecast looks much kinder. Mrs BC says that is sensible; feels like desertion in the face of the enemy to me, but... decision made! Well done everyone who has got out there and done their stuff; superheroes all!!🙂
Well I was the same. We did a spring clean before getting the decorations and Christmas tree down from the attic. I was wrecked afterwards and just sat on the couch with a beer and watched Scrooged on the TV. I went for my run today.
I did my run today. I ran 4K at a nice steady 6:30 min/km pace. Took a quick break and ran my 1K speed challenge in a time of 4:44. Total time in the end for my 5K was 30:36.
Hi damienair I last ran on Thursday and almost didn't run at all this weekend what with the rain and all, but forced myself out just as it was getting dark this afternoon. The rain had turned to a drizzle by then so I didn't mind at all.
I got a new PB for my 5k - 38.48 or 38.45 depending on whether you believe Mr Garmin or Strava. Strava also gives me a personal record for 1 mile and 2nd fastest 2 miles on this run.
As a bonus I also managed 2 ticks on my festive bingo card - I'm so glad I made the effort to get out there 😁
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Peer pressure has never worked on me, in fact it makes me dig my heels in even harder. 
