Barnstaple ParkRun and Duchy 20

OK, so I am officially insane. I drove to a ParkRun from Cornwall on Saturday.... it was in Devon. Not the closest one (none are particularly close) but I wanted to have a good go at a 5K on a decent-ish surface rather than a cross country mudbath 5k. Barnstaple it was. I look at my diary coming up, and with various things going on at weekends, I have to take the opportunities when I can to get to ParkRuns. My rationale for this one was that I could have a shower afterwards and go onward to do touristy things on the way back.

So I was up at some unearthly hour (and I mean *really* early) on Saturday to go to Barnstaple. It was a nice enough scenic drive. I parked up at the "Tarka Tennis Centre" (I'm sure that was a film about otters when I was younger...) as instructed by the ParkRun website and I started running around to find the actual park, it is on the opposite side of the river from the tennis place. Not a problem but I think if I'd left getting there to the last minute I wouldn't have been too impressed - I had to accost a man in running kit to make sure I was going the right way. In typical style, you go to something like this and then see people that you know from the West Midlands (who are also down there for the Marathon on the Sunday) small world eh.

I did a 2M WU which gave me a good recce of the park, it looked quaint, some turns, and some bits of uneven path but noting major, and worked out you do one half lap and two full laps. 9.00 am and we were off. I can't say much apart from I just ran, and I felt really really good despite it being short distance. Most of the way I was chasing another lady, we swapped places a couple of times and she probably made me have a better race by the fact that she was there, she beat me by a few seconds I just couldn't match her pace at the end. My pace dropped off a little on the last mile, but I was fairly consistent and still felt good enough to muck about in front of the Camera. I cannot believe I actually did a Mobot. Tw*t.

Outrun by a child - again

I came in at 24:22 and I probably could have pushed a bit harder. Pleased with that. With 5Ks I tend to just run, and then analyse the Garmin stats to death afterwards. My 5K PB is 24:11 on a course that was subsequently re-measured and made a bit longer(!)  and this one was slightly long so I think it is fair to say I had a really good run on Sat. 2M WD, and off to use the facilities in the tennis centre. A brilliant arrangement, showers were spotless and piping hot, the changing rooms were lovely and warm, and no one else seemed to want to use them. I left feeling refreshed, invigorated and smelling of pomegranate.

Because it is somewhat out of season, most of the things I thought about visiting on the way back appeared to be shut. So as it was getting close to lunch time, I decided to see what was in Bodmin. I parked up, walked in to the main street(?) of the town and I just got a bad vibe from the people walking around, bad vibes from the shops and there didn't seem to be much to actually do or see apart from Bodmin Jail. Don't get me wrong the surrounding moor was very pretty, but the town (unless I've missed a gem) seemed a bit sh!t. I grabbed a pasty and ran - sorry if I've misjudged the place . I decided to go to Wadebridge and take some photos of the bits of the Camel Trail I'd run on Thurs. It took a lot of willpower to stop me from buying large amounts of fudge/chocolates from the many gift shops from there, I managed. Just. A quick trip via St. Mawes on the way back to look around and back for some Saturday night pasta eating.

Sunday came around, and I was quite looking forward to the 20. For me running 20 miles is not really a massive deal any more, and the plan was to run easy but put a bit of pace in there. I did the first 10 super easy, and then stepped it up on the second 10, using my HRM I set the Garmin to beep at me if I went over a certain HR. On the flat and downhills I was quite easily hitting my MP without the self destruct bleep of death going off, but it definitely served the purpose of making me back off on the uphills. Ruth's husband was taking photos at Barnstaple, and also at the Duchy, and it was nice to see a familiar face with him (and seeing Ruth running at various points) popping up on the course. I simply felt brilliant all the way round. This race DQ's ipod wearers, and I noticed 1) there was no one flouting the rule and plugging themselves in up the road 2) the support was so fabulous from other runners, marshals, people standing outside houses and sunday cyclists I never felt isolated or in need of any tunes to keep me going. These peoples words were good - people saying how good I looked, how strong I looked and I felt it - I felt upright, in control, strong, happy, chatty and in my element, even on the climbs. Because of the slow start I was overtaking all the way, and it's an ego boost. The 20 miles just flew by.

How to make a 20 miler look like fun

I love the way the hotel in Redruth gives itself over to the Marathoners and 20 mile racers, and at the end we were greeted with a medal, and a good selection of fruit, water, squash and CHOCOLATE BARS! On top of that, going back in to the function room, there was a huge pile of warm pasties, which was a nice touch, all these 20 mile races finish around lunch time and I was ready for some food. Lots of people were lounging around, hobbling about and having trouble getting up from seated, but you know... I could have got up and quite happily run another 10k my legs felt that fresh. Long may it last, and if I feel that good on an undulating course I'm hoping it bodes well for Manchester.

Raargh! You wouldn't like me when I'm angry...

On the way home from the race I had a bit of a trauma, I hired a car to come down here because mine is a tiny 2 seater with no boot space - and 8 miles from home I got a puncture (massive hole in tyre - sharp thing in road?) in the middle of nowhere. With everything being shut at that time on Sunday and no spare (a useless can of slime where the spare should be) I had to get towed home, then towed to Truro this morning when ATS opened. No biggie but it messed up my evening plans slightly and my Monday plans, it all turned out OK as I met my friend today instead and we went to a lovely pub and had a lovely long lunch whilst my tyre was being sorted.

It's nice when your lunch winks at you

That was all a bit of a pain, but hey it saved me car parking fees in Truro and also she pointed out it could have been worse and it could have all happened on the way to the race. When I got home tonight, I walked down to the little beach that is 10 mins from the house and sat there for a bit, it seems like one of the most peaceful places in the universe. I didn't know, but it appears that some of the D-Day landing boats going to Normandy left from the very same road my friend lives on. Amazing really. I can't get cross about things like punctures when things like that have happened just up the road.

No caption required really

Sadly my time is coming to an end here for now, but a bit more running and sightseeing to do first before it is back to the humdrum life.