How to get the Mojo back?

There are factors that put me off running: bad weather, tiredness, wrong time of day for a run, to name a few. But the biggest single factor is lack of motivation. And it’s really hard to get going again when you’ve not been running regularly and eating / drinking way too much over the festive period.

Even without checking my Nike Running stats, I know that my average monthly runs over six months are down by at least a third on the previous year, and by half on the year before when I ran the London Marathon. I’ve not ‘gone off’ running, but I’ve slipped out of a routine and that’s due to having no goal.

I put on my trainers and ran forty minutes this morning. My first run out in almost one week, and only the fifth one I’ve managed in one month. The weather was perfect – sunny, blue sky and crisp. The route was ideal – a loop that takes in The Thames footpath along Chiswick Mall and comes back via Chiswick House grounds. However, I still felt like Homer after ten pints of Duff beer.

That there were a lot of runners out at the same time really helped me a lot – gave me that little extra push I needed. I was wondering if every one was feeling the same – hoping to work off the festive gut and keep to their resolutions – but there were too many runners for that, and too many in serious running clobber. Then the penny dropped: for London Marathon runners the training really starts in earnest in the New Year. Michel Roux always says that once 2 January arrives it’s serious running all the way to race day; and with ten or so marathons behind him he should know.

So I figure what I need is a new goal for 2012, something that will get me back into two mornings or evenings during the week, and two decent runs over the weekend. May be I should run my own marathon on 22 April? I’m too late to register and I’ve asked too much of friends, family and work colleagues to raise funds via a charity place. Or perhaps I should join a running club, or aim to complete a Parkrun every Saturday for a year. I don’t know but I’d welcome any ideas. So if you’d like to get in touch, particularly if you are a runner in the west London area, please email me or leave a comment on this post. Thanks!

 

 

Monkeying around

A big shout out to Tom and Sara for completing the Great Gorilla Run, surely London’s best charity fun run: 1000 people all dressed as gorillas, monkeying about in trainers and all for a great cause. And they even got to meet Bill Oddie. Ah, lovely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the harbour trail

Just back from a great week in Padstow. Running played second fiddle to tennis and surfing, but still managed to get a great 10k in along the coast path to Stepper Point. Despite the town heaving with visitors, the trails out to the coast were surprisingly empty and rewarded my efforts with the usual great views of the Camel and the harbour (with a little help from Hipstamatic on the iPhone).

It’s raining more, I’m running less

Generally, like most people, I prefer running when the weather is good. My Nikerunning stats don’t lie…

… I’ve definitely been running less through the summer – what a wash-out.

However, I’ve enjoyed Park Run at Richmond Park over the last couple of weeks. I took my twelve year old son to one in mid July. It was his first serious distance run and I was stunned that he completed it in under 28 minutes. I went the following week on my own and set myself a target of 22 minutes, but pulled up short, coming in around 24 minutes. It was good prep though for the Jones Lang Lasalle Property 5k which I signed up to. Although it’s not until 1 September, I will need to work on my stamina if I’m to come in under 25 minutes.

If you work in the property industry, the JLL run takes place in Regents Park and helps raise money for ‘Help The Hospices’. Click here to sign up. It’s a good cause and lots of fun.

Go Ape

I reckon this looks like the best fun run for a good cause ever! It takes place in London on Saturday 24th September from 10am/10.30pm. I’ve signed up for some monkeying around with the Jolly Jungle Pirates. We’re hoping to raise £500 with support from our friends and the lovely people from the London office of Arup.

Michael Jackson at Craven Cottage, not a Thriller

Blistering  hot today in west  London. Yet despite the 25c at 11am, the Thames path along the Hammersmith and Putney stretches were full of runners. I must share something that made me laugh. At Craven Cottage I was stopped by a group of people who transpired to be American Michael Jackson fans. They were at the Fulham ground to pay homage to the great man, whose six-foot high golden statue, believed to have cost £100,000, was erected there in April this year by bonkers owner Mohamed Al-Fayed.

The poor sods were under the impression that the statue formed part of a Jacko museum at the football ground (Al Fayed did, after all, say that following the sale of the Knightsbridge store that Craven Cottage was “the natural alternative for the tribute”). They’d only cut short a trip to France this weekend to make the visit. Not only is there no museum, but Jacko is way out of reach behind the sorts of walls that would grace any HM Prison lest Chelsea fans try and have some fun and kit him out in a nice blue home shirt.

After explaining that there was no way to see Michael unless they could find away around anti-climb paint and barbed wire, I did the honours and took a group photo of them where Jacko is just about creeping into the frame. However, conscious that my new friends from across the great pond were stuck for something to do, I sent them on their way to the south bank via Putney Bridge.  Not only, I said, is there a finer view of Jacko glinting in the sun, but by the time you reach Hammersmith Bridge the pubs will be opening up. They seemed happier, bless.

Pissarro river run

… so I got the mojo back after I’d posted earlier this morning and went for an 8k run along part of Chiswick Mall and through Chiswick House.

As I ran along the Thames path at Corney Reach there must have been forty or so swimmers heading upstream. It transpired that they were competing in the 10th Pissarro Great River swim, a one-mile open swim – and to think I thought running was hard. More power to them!

Thumbs up to parkrun Wormwood Scrubs

As much as running helps me chill out, there are times when running feels like the last thing you want to do. Today’s one of those days.

I had every intention of going for a parkrun this morning over at Wormwood Scrubs. Instead, I’m posting about the run I enjoyed there last Saturday, as I’m just too sleepy and tired to put my trainers on this morning.

Wormwood Scrubs is a new parkrun. Here’s a google map that shows the course. And there is a Facebook group which you can join here.

You run just over two circuits of the Scrubs. There are a couple of longish inclines which will put you through your paces. There were nineteen of us last week. After the 800 odd runners that I was with at parkrun Richmond Park and similar numbers at Bushy parkrun, the Scrubs felt more like a running club. In fact, there were a couple of seriously fast runners from the Ealing Eagles in the field, plus and a few parkrun veterans in parkrun shirts.

I didn’t have the time to chat to the parkrun volunteers or other runners at the finish as I had to shoot straight off. But the volunteers deserve a massive thumbs-up for getting this off the ground. It takes a lot of effort to marshal a parkrun, a lot more than it takes to run one (guilt is beginning to creep in as I’m writing this… !). The team here are vocal and encouraging. The small numbers at the moment are bound to rise as word of mouth gets around in W12. But my instincts are that the scrubs parkrun will feel like a running club for while – and that’s a good thing. It will challenge regular runners to up their ante, and spur on those who are either just getting in to running or run less regularly. However, with all their organisational and motivational skills you can’t get a runner to run when they haven’t got the mojo. Have a great parkrun everybody. I’m already wishing I was out there…

Bushy parkrun, Saturday 4 June

Bushy parkrun comes with a big reputation as a great run and it doesn’t disappoint.  Tree-lined approach: check. Fountain and pond: check. Wide-open, landscaped grassland: check. Perfect trails for miles and miles of running: check. There can’t be many better parkruns in the UK than this. If there are, I want to know. I’ll be there in a shot.

Last Saturday’s Bushy parkrun also came with the added attraction of runfree, which encouraged parkrunners to get as many mates or family to join them on their local parkrun… and don their favourite fancy dress outfit! This explained why Bushy Park at 9am was home to angels, pirates, cowboys, etc in their trainers and ready for a parkrun. It made for quite a sight.

Steve Turner was pirated up and running for charity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joe and Janet Martin were on their tenth Bushy parkrun.

 And Lucozade was at the finish line with a free bottle of Lucozade Sport Lite for every runner. Thumbs up to the new flavour! And I needed it after my run, too much wine the night before.

And so to my stats: my 1st run at Bushy Park. I finished in 195th place. I was the 166th gent out of a field of 792 parkrunners. I came in 19th in my age category 40-44 with age-graded score of 61.20%. Is that good or bad?

This coming Saturday (11 June), a new parkrun launches at Wormwood Scrubs, right near me. I can’t wait. Note to self: go easier on the red on Friday night.

Run the Camel Trail

The Camel Trail is an 18 mile mainly traffic free route based on an historic railway track. The section from Padstow to Wadebridge is 5 miles. It’s flat trail that runs alongside the River Camel, making it a fast enjoyable run for moderate to fast runners, and an easy run for those who prefer a gentle jog. In spring and summer there are often some mobile drinks / snacks about half way along this stretch.

More adventurous distance runners will find the section from Wadebridge to Bodmin a bit more strenuous as it climbs gently in places. The Bodmin to Poley’s Bridge is a serious calf-killer, climbing quite steeply towards St. Breward. However, the river/waterfall and scenery make it a worthwhile experience, and there are far fewer people on this section, even during the high season.

The Camel Trail is formed by the defunct Padstow to Wadebridge line, which was opened in 1899 providing access from Waterloo via Okehampton and Launceston. The section from Wadebridge to Poley’s Bridge is one of the oldest in the world and was opened in 1834. Initially it was intended to bring sea sand from the estuary to farms inland. Bodmin through to Wadebridge was connected to the mainline system and operated until 1967, whilst the line between Bodmin and Poley’s Bridge, which was only ever used for freight, closed in 1984. Now, the Trail is home to quirky remnants of its past including a restored and working branch line station.