FatGirlToIronman

M wanted to volunteer at junior parkrun on 19th January as well as running. We asked the Run Director to add M to the roster doing the warm-up. Unfortunately, on Sunday morning M seemed reluctant to go to parkrun. I said to her that as she had agreed to volunteer, she shouldn’t let people down, so she agreed to go. M was reluctant to run and when I saw her halfway round, she was jog-walking. M’s…

I can’t remember when I last took part in a running race. I think it was probably the Smugglers’ Scuttler last summer. Towards the end of 2024, I signed up for a half marathon in Southampton. I had received a hefty discount code, so it was only £5 to enter. The race is now just four weeks away, so I need to step up my running. Southampton parkrun Last Saturday, I took part in Southampton…

In this post I talk about trying veganuary and my training for a half marathon in February. Do you have any plans for 2025?

In previous years, I’ve written lengthy posts setting out long lists of intentions for the year, but I’m not in a place where I want to make any New Year’s resolutions this year. If I’m out walking, I like listening to The Lazy Genius podcast. Kendra Adachie’s mantra of ‘progress not perfection’ feels much more attainable right now. There are many reasons why I’ve not written so much in the last…

I finally ran my 500th parkrun. It's taken me since August 2010 to achieve this milestone. Read about it on my blog #loverunning #loveparkrun

2024 was a long slow countdown to my 500th parkrun. I had hoped to do it on 21/12/24, but I missed a parkrun because of Storm Darragh. This meant that my 500th event would take place on Christmas Day. My last parkrun milestone was in May 2018, when I completed my 250th run. I love Christmas Day parkrun because everyone is so happy and the event is relaxed and friendly. I’m not sure the rest of…

junior parkrun junior parkrun is a series of events that take place in the UK on Sunday mornings. Runs in England and Wales often start at 9am and events in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Republic of Ireland often start at 9:30am, but there are some local variations. The great thing about junior parkruns is that they are open to all, free, and are safe and easy to take part in. The courses are…

December was a fantastic month for parkrun as there were six festive parkruns to take part in. Unfortunately, I was really unwell during the month. My regular runs from the YMCA in Eastleigh were cancelled, so I didn’t do as much running as I’d hoped to. I also missed most Monday night LRR runs because of family commitments. 02/12/23 – Run Directing at Southampton parkrun The first Saturday of…

It was fantastic to be back at Penrose parkrun after 3.5 years away. It was my 9th run there and M's 1st. #loverunning #loveparkrun

The last time I visited Penrose parkrun was New Year’s Day 2020, so it’s over 3.5 years since I last ran there. I’ve run it with my nephews, my mum and Stuart, but M has never completed the run there herself. As well as giving M a chance to increase the number of different parkrun events she’s done, I thought the drive would be easier. Heartlands is closer to my mum’s house by a couple of miles,…

I've barely run since London Marathon, but I have been enjoying parkruns. I've been continuing to run each week and love having M join me as a running buddy.

London Marathon was a month ago and since then I’ve barely run. It’s not because I haven’t wanted to, but because I’ve had to catch up with everything I postponed whilst training. The housework has been neglected and I needed to do some studying. However, the benefit of the enforced break is that my knee has had some time to recover. Yesterday I managed my first pain-free post-marathon run.…

This week's been busy with my last long run ahead of @londonMarathon and also Land's End #parkrun If you want to track me I'm 54632 #loverunning #loveparkrun

It’s starting to get real – I’ve now received my email from London Marathon letting me know my start colour and wave – I’m in Blue 9. I’ve also got my bib number: 54632. This means that you can track me, either online or using the London Marathon 2023 app. Remember that Blue 9 is supposed to start at 10:36, so with a slightly late start and a congested first 5km, I wouldn’t expect to see…

I've now just got one long run left to do before London Marathon! #loverunnig #loveparkrun #LondonMarathon

I’ve now done my last really long run ahead of London Marathon. I’m onto the final countdown to the race with just a 16km run to go. I can’t believe I’ve got this far, but I’m frustrated that I’ve not lost weight and am not as fast as I’d like to be. LRR Monday night training session After my 20 mile run around Southampton and a busy day at work, I wasn’t feeling ready for training with…

Today I paced Southampton 10k as part of the ABP Southampton Running festival. I included it as part of a 20-mile training run as it's London Marathon later this month.

Today was my first race since last summer. I was asked to arrive by 8:30am for the pacer photo, which was 90 minutes before Southampton 10k started. I also needed to fit in a 32km run according to my training plan. As a consequence, I planned to run 10km before the race, do 10km during the race, run 5km home and then go out for 7km this evening. However, things didn’t quite work out that…

I'm a bit behind with blogposts. This one that includes Ganger Farm parkrun is a bit late! #loverunning #loveparkrun

A new blogpost covering my week @LancasterUni and my latest parkrun @sotonparkrun #loverunning #loveparkrun

On Sunday, I travelled up to Lancaster for a study week. I travelled by Avanti West Coast trains and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the train carriage. The tables had extra legroom, plug sockets and wireless charging. (In contrast, I travelled back via Manchester on a cramped older train, which wasn’t a pleasant experience). Lancaster University morning run On Tuesday morning, I got…

It's been a week of highs and lows - I've struggled with loneliness, but managed to run my fastest 5k in over three years @sotonparkrun #loverunning #loveparkun

This has been such a week of highs and lows. I’ve been away from home, so have missed some training sessions and haven’t eaten healthily, but I’ve also run my fastest 5k in over 3 years! Trip to Birmingham After missing my long run on Sunday, I had a busy day on Monday. I spent the morning at work and then caught a train to Birmingham to go to Digifest. For previous work trips, I’ve taken my…

Running @rvcpparkrun last week was lovely. It was great to see old friends #loverunning #loveparkrun

After having a good time at Monday night training, I was looking forward to this week’s running. I planned to do the Thursday night endurance session, Netley Abbey parkrun and then a long run on Sunday. Lordshill Thursday night endurance session Several of the usual runners weren’t at the Thursday night session, but it was nice to chat with Elaine and others during the warm-up. I was pleased…

A round-up of my marathon training throughout February. I'm finally getting fitter and faster. #LondonMarathon #loverunning

Yet again, the last few weeks have been so busy that I haven’t had enough time to blog alongside working, training and studying. I’m not quite where I want to be but am pleased that I am continuing to make progress. Sunday Runday (12/02/23) On Sunday 12th February, I joined in with Sunday Runday. This was the second of three training runs for ABP Southampton Half Marathon. The training run was…

My longest run in nearly 5 years! A round-up of how my #LondonMarathon training is going #loverunning #loveparkrun

I’ve been really busy at work in the last couple of weeks delivering a webinar and a face-to-face class, alongside all of my usual activities. However, despite this, I managed to complete my longest run in nearly 5 years. I’m also persevering with the rest of my training. Monday night run with LRR Monday night was an interval session on the Common, led by Malcolm. He’d planned a ‘Kenyan hills’…