On Saturday I took part in a very tough, snow filled Durham parkrun. I was there to support Paul Smith, he was celebrating his 50th Birthday and 100 parkruns.

There were 75 runners in total and everyone was wrapped up warm. Paul was dressed in a monkey suit so he would’ve been boiling! Embarrassingly I didn’t know it was Paul in there to start with, I should’ve known though! The theme today was leopard print so I asked Amy to whip me up a head band. Unfortunately I couldn’t hang around for celebrations as I was needed at home but I know Paul had a great time.

The normal 5k route had been changed due to the weather so it was two and a half laps of a snow filled field. We were also told the distance was slightly further than 5k. The first lap was really tough but I got away well and set my own pace. The first lap felt like a 3k to be honest, it was very, very tough. I dug deep, felt strong and finished in 20th place. I was well chuffed when I discovered I was first in my age category! Although my time was 27:53, I’m not looking into it too much. The weather played it’s part, it was slightly further than 5k and I knew I’d put everything I had into that run. As I say, I felt strong so that’s all that matters to me.

This week my training will consist of two weight training sessions and a night on my new Everlast punchbag. It’s a beauty and it’s from the Everflex range so it’s freestanding. I might do a post on it soon.

I’m also going to do Riverside Park at Chester-le-Street for my next 5k run so I hope to see you there!