I haven’t posted for a while so perhaps you need an update on my Christmas Challenge. It runs from 1st to 25th December and I thought it might be an incentive to get out during colder, shorter, busier days. There’s also a naughty and nice list of challenges to complete so I wanted to get a few of these ✅
I started a bit late under doctor’s orders, and didn’t realise walking was an alternative straight away, but here are the first 6 jolly jaunts so far.
5 Dec - A chilly 5km along the seafront listening to a Christmas playlist for the first time, and I captured a pic of 7 swans a swimming ✅✅
8 Dec - A beautiful sunny day so I walked 4.5 k along the seafront watching young mums and dog walkers take advantage of dry and calm conditions, after all that rain. I also spotted knitted snowmen in the park. ✅
9 Dec - 33 mph southerlies, and pouring rain made an exhilarating parkrun along the prom, with huge waves crashing on the beach. There wasn’t much Christmassy about this one apart from Fenton, our parkrun bear appearing when the rain stopped, but it it was another 5km done and I was first in my very small age group. The challenge seeks a PB, but that’s as close as I will get before Christmas. ✅
10 Dec - UpTheStanley , Oldgirlruns and I went to RHS Wisley to see Glow, where they illuminate the gardens in the evenings for the festive period. This was originally booked for stormy Thursday but we managed to change it to a drier Sunday. We walked, and marvelled at the beautiful sights, drinking hot chocolate with cream on top at the start, and a warming mulled wine along the route. I forgot to start my watch at the beginning but estimate 4.8km in all. Lots of Christmas trees here, but the one in the glasshouse was very different, created with pots of colourful bromeliads . ✅✅
11 Dec - 4.51 km on another bright sunny morning - I’ve got to take the opportunity while I can. I donned my Christmas Ho-Ho leggings and had bells on my shoes, jingling all the way. I ran this this one with UpTheStanley and Coaches Bennett and Puddicombe doing NRC run “Slow Down to Speed up”. ✅
14 Dec - After a few hectic days of appointments and Christmas frivolity I was desperate to tick another run off, so, unusually for me, I went for a quick 1.1km run in the dark. I clipped a light to my warm running top, and basically jogged around the block. I was checking out beautifully lit Christmas trees in bay windows of Victorian houses. ✅✅
So that marks the halfway point for me, with 6 more runs to follow. Shake-and-run is also doing this challenge and will be running far further than me, with a HM and a 10k already run.
Enjoy your Christmassy runs everyone, but if it’s too busy to think about running, with everything else you’ve got to do, don’t beat yourself up about it. Christmas comes but once a year, and the runs will be waiting for you.
Post note. Amended since first issue as I missed my 5th run out. 🎅🏼
week3run1 ✅. 3 x 17 mins with 1 min walks. 
How did your parkrun or (not)parkrun go?
