Run Report - Merthyr Parkrun Trial

Before I start, note the cahne from 'race' report to run report. This seems better for parkrun!

The day finally came, the trial run of Merthyr parkrun (fitting with correct branding) took place on a warm and sunny morning on the Taff Trail near the Leisure Center. The trail was dry and semi deserted, the runners were here... great stuff.

Look how official I look! (Right)

The course is a tricky little one, the term is undulating, but as this is Merthyr you'd have to do laps of a car park to get a flat one. Nobody wants to do laps of a car park... I assume.

It's all tarmac apart from a wooden bridge, so easily accessible. Yeah it's a challenging one but a good one. The trail is quite nice to look at, it has a big bridge, a sculpture, a call centre... In the right conditions it'll even have a waterfall!

Was the trial without issues? Of course not, otherwise there'd be no point in doing it! The course was a little short, which I verified by running it myself afterward, but this is sorted! I was sad it was short as I clocked it under 20 mins, I've never been under 21 1/2!




It was 2.79, that's very harsh Strava!

The core team are a good bunch this has potential!

Tonight I will re run the course to get an extra verification of the length and then it's a few weeks until:

Merthyr Parkrun #1

 



I'm not putting the date up, or the website etc as I don't think I'm supposed too yet.

Unaffiliated

As Billy Joe Armstrong once sang, and probably wrote, "I'm a walking contradiction".  After spending an entire post banging on about the benefits of joining a running club (or social running group), I have now become unaffiliated.

Hanging up the Merthyr vest for now

All memberships with Welsh Athletic running clubs expire on 31st March. After which time, it's renew or get out!

Now, does this mean I have changed my mind, do I now think running with a group is a massive waste of time? Nah! The issue I have is purely financial and I hope to have it sorted within a few months!

However, this does open up possibilities. Do I renew?  Do I look at a different club? Do I look at a social running club instead (lacks the affiliation and race discount, but Merthyr has one)? Do I even round of the year and hang up the trainers? Was going too last year when running poorly.

Running clubs, drop me an email and I'll start reviewing applications for my services....

Anyway, the leg is 80% there I think, still sore but I've been back in the gym, so I may try a run tomorrow lunch time. Get a 'quick' 3/3.5 miles in then hope to go long on the weekend.

20? Yeah 20 miles is a great way to spend a Sunday!

There's also something going on Saturday, but it's supposed to be a secret I think. Apart from all the people who already know.

I'll post about that soon enough

March Monthly Summary!

Month 3 of 12 of the year of 2017 is done and for me I think I've continued my decent start of the running year.

I've also maintained consistency to the opening of these posts!

My continuing mission towards an annual total of 650 miles has continued on target. To hit this I need to be averaging 54 miles a month or roughly 14 miles a week.

Easy... so far...

This month I ran a grand total of 77.4 miles up 6 miles from the February total. This includes 3 races, a Half Marathon (also longest single run of month), a 10k and a parkrun, all 3 of which ending in PBs. They made up 29% of my month!

Good month, got to be happy with the form all the way up until the half, which has left me injured. Injured with roughly 5 weeks to go til a marathon... great... 

So far... (miles)

Jan	Feb	Mar	Total
78.5	71.4	77.4	227.3
12%	11%	12%	35%

Anticipating a poor month while I shake off this injury, but need to do a long one in preparation at least... Compression bandage received in the post... it'll be fine.