Yes, I know it’s been a while…
A very long while.
119 days in fact.
Eek.
BUT, the good news is… I haven’t stopped running.
Oh no, I’ve been running my socks off since my last blog post on 16th October 2010. I just haven’t been blogging about it.
Why?
Well, this blog is called “Rainbows and Running Shoes”, because the “Rainbows” part refers to the fact that I’m living with and caring for a very special little boy with severe Autism Spectrum Disorder, and life is full, challenging, unpredictable, exhausting, and basically crazily busy.
And, to be honest, writing my blog doesn’t always fit in with the mayhem.
So I’ve had a little break from the blogging.
One of the downsides of this is that I don’t know how many miles I have run since the 16th October. Up until that point, I had run 290 miles since the start of my blog, on the 21st June 2010, averaging 17.4 miles per week.Taking into account the snow (remember the snow?!), Christmas, Winter, dark evenings, school holidays and various illnesses (not mine), my weekly average is probably down a little bit, but I’m pleased I’ve kept running through all (well, most) of the above.
I’m still running on Sunday evenings with my best pal, Anna, and I’m running outside in the fresh air whenever I can, and on the treadmill at the gym when I can’t. The downside to running in Winter is definitely the dark evenings, and I don’t like running alone at night, although I have done so several times. (There have been a few adventures, and if I had been blogging at the time, they would have appeared here!)
Anyway, the main reason for writing on my blog once again, is the exciting development of starting up a very informal running club with some friends! A group of about 6 or so friends (of various running abilities) have decided to start running every other Thursday evening, and we had our first run this week.
We met at the Ship and Trades pub on St Mary’s Island on the 10th February, and it was a fab, starry evening, after a horrendously rainy day. Cool and calm – perfect for a run. The group ranged from serious runners to absolute beginners, but St Mary’s Island offers a variety of routes, on and off road, and mainly by water, and the route we chose encompassed part of the Millennium Walkway, passing the sculpture of The Mariners, which I’ve written about on this blog previously (see Mariners).
It was fun running in a group, and good to get to know some new people, and interesting running in a familiar place, but in the dark. And I always love running beside water. We did a double circuit of the entire island (which isn’t really an island – it’s attached!), which was about 5 miles. A couple of the more hardened runners, Richard and Chris, did some extra miles on top, but we were all pretty happy with the distance, especially Grant, who is new to running.We had a good stretch and a gossip back at the Ship and Trades afterwards, and the evening was generally declared a success. Happy times.
Here's the route we ran (click map to enlarge) - we ran the circuit twice - and a link to Mapometer for an interactive version:
(Well, that's it for now. Hopefully that has more or less brought me up to date, and I will try to be a more consistent blogger from now on... rainbows allowing!)