Friday 26 June 2015

Cider fuelled running

This weekend I headed down to the South West and Cider country to spend a weekend with friends.

The weekend (as with most activities in this part of the world) involved drinking a large quantity of that apple based alcohol beverage which happens to be one of my favourite forms of refreshment as it does quite literally grow on trees around there.

My two nights of sampling what Bristol had to offer were nicely segmented by a trip to Ashton Court Parkrun


I think I have finally caught the Parkrun bug as this was my second successive Parkrun weekend and my third different Parkrun in the last couple of weeks. 

Now you have an idea of my weekends itinerary you can see why I coined the term cider fuelled running for my weekends activities. 

Before I get onto the running let's start off with the cider as well as some amazing food.

Friday night was meant to be spent in Wembley stadium rocking out to Dave Grohl and his foo fighting gang before an early morning trip to Bristol. Unless you have been living under an incredibly dark social media deprived stone for the last week or two a badly broken fibula put paid to those plans.

So an early Friday evening was spent instead sipping cider on the Apple, one of Bristols finest cider serving establishments, a bar based on a barged moored up on the harbour just outside the city centre. 


Two nights on the cider does come come that highly recommended, (I speak from previous experience from previous trips to Bristol) so having Parkrun on the horizon the following morning was my saving grace to save my liver from too much punishment.

I did take it kind of easy on the cider on Friday night then, a few pints followed by a trip to the Spitfire BBQ for dinner. This place was amazing, the kind of joint that you could find Adam Richman salivating excitedly behind the counter while pestering the chef for a taste of everything from the menu.


In a place like this the only problem is deciding what to have! I took my time sipping on some cider while I decided. 

I opted to go for everything, well a little bit of everything in a burger courtesy of the Pitboss Burger, a 6oz beef patty topped with rib tips, pulled pork, brockwurst slices, smoked applewood cheese and bbq sauce. 


It was every inch the delicious meat feast it promised to be, a brilliant burger went so well with the succulently soft pulled pork, incredible tasting brockwurst and creamy out of this world sensation of the smoked applewood cheese.

Accompanied by a bowl of BBQ chicken wings, my double order being enough to get labelled 'greedy' by the waiter, man versus food and the obesity epidemic obviously haven't quite reached the South West yet?!

A deliciously tasty farmyards supply of meat devoured it was time to move outside into the cool summers air to sit by the harbour side surrounded by the smokey fumes from the restaurants log fires.

It was Friday night we were with friends enjoying ourselves so talk quickly turned to the desert menu and a mouthwatering suggestion of sweet treats soon led to orders being placed.


I was soon polishing of a ridiculously rich and chocolatelay Peanut butter stack which left me glad I would be running some of the calories consumed at Parkrun the next day.

Despite not overdoing the cider a combination of a heavy belly full of meat and the several above average strength cider led to my customary early evening passing out on my friends incredibly comfy sofa.

I was still up bright eyed and bushy tailed to take on Ashton Court Park run in the morning. A thirty minute walk took us away from the city and to the Ashton Court estate providing a great viewpoint down over Bristol and the surrounding areas.

An example of some of the picturesque views from A
shton Court courtesy of  http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2191279
The course run is really a tail of two halves, the first half taking you up a steep winding hill before turning around and the second half taking you downhill in a fast descent. It's known for being one of the tougher Parkrun routes and I can appreciate why, although you can fly down the hill in the second half it is difficult to judge your effort level on the steep climb up and especially in the sunny mid June heat the hill was pretty energy sapping.

Overall I finished in 23.50 in 62nd place out of some 200+ parkrunners, although my official Parkrun time was actually clicked at a slower 24.03. Prior to the race I was interested to see how the two halves of the race would compare in terms of times, I completed the ascent in around 13.30 and the return in about 10.20, the rapid downhill also provided me with a sub 4 minute km and my fastest 1/2 mile, 1km and 1 mile I have clocked since using strava.

It was a really challenging yet rewarding run, adjusting my stride length on the way down was tough as was the rapid pounding on my lower legs as I hurtled down the hill.

After my exertions I was left to refuel and rehydrate and I did so with great relish taking advantage of the fine food and cider being served from the many excellent establishments Bristol has to offer, notable mentions to the Stable, the Apple again and the Old Duke.

Thank you Bristol for another thoroughly enjoyable weekend in your most excellent city, I came, I saw, I ran your hills, I drank your cider and ate your food and I conquered all you had to offer!

Saturday 13 June 2015

Trying out a new parkrun

This morning I headed over to nearby Raphael Park to run in their seventh week of their recently started parkrun.
http://www.localtennisleagues.com/romford
Only about two miles from home Raphael Parkrun is now my new local parkrun adding to the other local runs in Harrow Lodge and Brentwood

Having only found out about this new parkrun after a week or two of it starting and after a busy few weeks this week was my first chance to get over and try out the new event. 

I was eager to try out this new course as it promised to be a different challenge to my recent visits to Hackney Marshes parkrun. Raphael park in three laps of the park all on Tarmac paths as opposed to Hackney Marshes which is a completely flat there and back course.

I was interested to see how my run on a tougher course would compare with my recent PB on the super flat Hackney Marshes route. 


Arriving before the race I was greeted by a great turnout of runners of varying abilities, club runners, fun runners and walkers from a wide age range.

A detailed explanatory briefing was given to myself and the other news runners. The first six weeks of the race seem to have been blighted by confusion amongst runners as to the layout of the route. It seemed pretty simple though 2 long 2km laps and 1 smaller 1km lap and on the final lap you divert from the route into the finishing funnel. With plenty of explanations before the start and numerous marshals out on the course to direct runners I found the course to be pretty straightforward.

The route of the run really went all around the park and it really is a lovely park. The route starts at what most be the highest point on the main path through the park then heads down to the entrance on Main Road before turning right onto the water. Runners then hug the waters edge all the way to the end of the lake before heading up the incline towards the back of the park and the playing field and tennis court area. Right around the tennis courts before heading back toward the main park and the start area which takes you down and then up a dip before your back at the starting point for the second lap. 

A repeated lap brings up 4km and running parkrun as laps I found really broke up the race and made it go quickly. The third shorter lap starts the same way as the first two with the split then coming after the incline midway through the lap when runners on their final lap take a sharp right to head for home. Down and the up the dip and another sharp turn to the right brings runners into the only grassed area of the course where the course snakes in the last few hundred metres into the finishing funnel.

It was a tough run and I was interested to see my time at the finish. Despite being a more demanding course there times I felt really good and was flying round, I was able to maintain my pace when I started to struggle and I wouldn't have been surprised if I had challenged my PB time despite the tougher route. However my final time was 21.49 which represents my third fastest parkrun time. My regular speed work sessions in recent months are definitely making an improvement as my faster runs feel easier as I am used to running at faster paces. 

Overall I finished in 7th place out of 105 runners which I was really pleased with and it was nice to be involved in the business end of the race even if I wasn't anywhere near winning the race. My first km marked a km PB of 4.04 which was also pleasing but shows that I am still heading out too fast and this is something I need to work on.

Big thank you to all organisers and volunteers at Raphael parkrun for a well organised race which I hope will grow and develop for many months and years to come!