Ian Runs

Last week I ran at South Woodham Ferrers parkrun, and subsequentally realised that I had been making some good progress visiting the cluster of events in Essex, however, this good work made me realise that I haven't really made much progress visiting the cluster of events directly in the vicinity of Norwich, and so today I decided to change that by visiting Catton parkrun! The area Located in the north of Norwich, Catton Park (alongside Catton Hall itself) is the remains of the former Catton Hall estate, which was originally developed in the 1780s. The estate was in active use until the outbreak of World War 2, when the land was used for farming, and was broken up and sold for residential development after the war. Today, the park is actively managed as a country park, while Catton Hall has been converted into apartments, and its immediate grounds are not accessible to the public. The course Catton's course initially follows a loop around the perimeter of the park,

For no better reason than having attended an event in the north of the East of England last week, I decided to attend an event in the south of the East of England this week. I have been slowly working through the cluster of events in Essex, and so I decided to continue that progress this week by attending South Woodham Ferrers parkrun. The area The town of South Woodham Ferrers is a relatively new settlement, located a short distance from Chelmsford in Essex. Most of the buildings in the area have been constructed within the last 50 years, but this hasn't prevented the area developing a strong sense of community, with most residents reporting that they wouldn't choose to live anywhere else. The town is located on the River Crouch, a relatively short distance upstream from Burnham on Crouch where I ran Burnham on Crouch parkrun several weeks ago. To the south of the town lies Marsh Farm Country Park, and Marsh Farm Animal Adventure Park, which is the location of South W

Having made so much progress towards the Fibonacci Sequence, I couldn't pass up the chance to run event 610 at Gorleston Cliffs today! As an added bonus, a third "G" event also means completing Stayin' Alive challenge - three "Bee"s and three "Gee"s! The area Gorleston Cliffs is located at the eastern boundary of Gorleston. The town of Gorleston lies south of Great Yarmouth, on the opposing bank of the river Yare, and is a popular destination for beach breaks owing to its sandy beach. The town was historically considered to be part of Suffolk, with the river proving a natural boundary, however, the town officially became part of Norfolk in 1835, owing to its close ties with neighbouring Great Yarmouth. The Gorleston Cliffs run the length of the town's border with the North Sea, with facilities including tennis courts, basketball courts, gardens, shops, and cafes along its length, as well as providing an excellent view over the bay's

With no current parkrun target to work towards, I decided to take advantage of the fact it is the start of a new training block for me, and visit one of the hillier events - it's always good to do strength work, but especially at the start of a new block! With my goal for a hilly run in mind, I decided that this week I would visit Hadleigh parkrun! The area Hadleigh parkrun takes place at Hadleigh Bike Park, to the south of the town of Hadleigh itself. The town is heavily residential, with a significant commuter population, and is perhaps best known as the home of Hadleigh Castle, which was built both as a defensive installment, as well as offering the king a private residence close to London. Hadleigh Bike Park is located within Hadleigh Country Park, and is perhaps best known as hosting the 2012 Olympic Mountain Bike event. In addition to mountain biking, the park includes much of the former grounds of Hadleigh Castle, as well as walking routes and conservation areas. In

After the Brighton Marathon, my attention for my running training has switched to the autumn, and running my first half marathon. Along the way, I want to make efforts to incorporate more speed than I was able to while training for the full marathon, and so I intend to use several 10k races, alongside parkrun to help gauge my progress! My training block for the half marathon will consist of around 16 weeks of training, with the London 10k being the first of those efforts. Target According to Garmin, my current 10k PB is 52:14, which set during Brighton Marathon! Various calculators, such as Jack Danaiels' Equivalent Pace calculator suggest that I could theoretically have run a 46:58 10k a few weeks ago, but I have taken some time to recover after the marathon, and so I am only taking two goals into the race; set a new PB, and/or run sub 50 minutes. Training Unfortunately, training for this run was perhaps less than ideal. My main training so far this year had been gear