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Hey

if you did grovelands parkrun today, wearing a long brown braid and a white shirt with pride flags on the back, I want to ask you: where'd you get the shirt?

#grovelands #park #parkrun #pride

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This type of tree 🌲 doesn’t do it for me exercise wise but I’d every passerby dog 🐕 walker just spent a moment or two doing a simple stretch from its branches. Now think about every tree 🌳 in every park of similar build just think about the stress it would save the NHS, less I’ll people for them to treat. #nhs #stretch #dogwalker #exercisemotivation #grovelands #ourparks #fitnessforall #getoutdoors https://www.instagram.com/p/B5kltlKjhZB/?igshid=1a4b0pp8y1p5o

#nhs #stretch #dogwalker #exercisemotivation #grovelands #ourparks #fitnessforall #getoutdoors

It looks like the ideal tree but the ideal tree I prefer a smooth bark and this is rough and while you see I can do some simple calisthenic exercises it won’t be the tree you’ll be seeing me on regularly. Nevertheless this is the type of exercise where I’m working on my grip forearm and biceps 💪 that I wish to improve so this is what is my main focus when I climb 🌲 #Grovelands #Calisthenics https://www.instagram.com/p/B5klYv7Daxl/?igshid=1ssyf2i3yngea

#grovelands #calisthenics

47 Parks: 44 - Not Long Now . . .

Grovelands

17th June, 2017

Thankfully I didn’t have to battle an awful hangover this week. But although I got to sleep ok the night before I could have done with more. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to getting up earlier on a Saturday than I do during the week, but with the 47 Parks challenge drawing to a close, I won’t have to do it for much longer. The alarm was a huge shock this week. Normally the artificial daylight it creates wakes me up gradually, but this time waking up was like being slapped in the face. It’s a good job too that I have a repetitive piano tune as an alarm, rather than a radio. If it was something I’d actually like to listen to I’d probably fall straight back to sleep. I stopped the alarm, grunted something incoherent, got out of bed before my eyelids could close again then went to sort out some breakfast. My foot had felt better during the week but it was still sore and I was now sure that it would stay that way until I could take a couple of weeks off running altogether.

Leaving the flat on time at about 6.50am, I walked to Ealing Broadway where I caught a Central Line train to Oxford Circus, then a Victoria Line train to Highbury and Islington, where I caught a National Rail train to Winchmore Hill. The trains, in general, seemed busier than usual for this time on a Saturday morning. Some people were obviously going to work but there appeared to be more tourists about, perhaps because of the great weather which today was particularly hot and sunny.

I left the station, checked my phone to see which way I had to go to get to Grovelands Park, went the wrong way, corrected myself and walked up Broad Walk, turning right into Branscombe Gardens, at the end of which was a wooded path that led into the park. I stopped to take some photos and videos, then headed along the path to the gathering point near the boating lake. I found the loo and had a very short warm-up run but it wasn’t really enough. Time seems to go so quickly on these parkrun mornings. I dropped my bag by a hedge near the gathering point and at some point a marshal must have moved it from there to the finishing point. It’s a good job they were more concerned about it than I was. Thank you to whoever it was.

Soon everyone was gearing up to go and I listened in on the newcomers’ briefing to get an idea of the course which is relatively straightforward. I then joined the main group with a minute or two to go, soon realising I was at the front of the crowd facing everyone else, so got out of the way and joined somewhere in the middle. A few minutes later after the main briefing we all set off, a bigger group than I had expected. I was feeling very comfortable with the starting pace, so I sped up and moved on to the grass on the left side of the path to move up to something more like my average pace.

The roughly speech bubble-shaped course begins at the north side of the boating lake and a small group of trees, and heads northeast along the perimeter path in a long anti-clockwise curve, passing the tennis courts and heading uphill to the top of the park where the course turns back the way it came, following a long straight section until it’s time to turn left and slowly descend back toward the boating lake, but continuing on along the path, bearing right and going around a small roundabout just beyond where some marshals are gathered to cheer runners on. At the end of this stretch there is a sharp, hairpin turn to the left which takes you back to the path alongside the boating lake, past the entrance to the finish funnel and eventually onto lap two. The next lap is identical, but on the third lap you turn into the finish funnel about a third of the way along the lake.

Although I started off quite slow, I did pick up speed and even with the uphill section still managed to do better than last week. But considering how hungover I was last week, this might not be saying much. I did feel I could have run faster though, so maybe next week will bring something like a return to form, provided my foot can handle it.

Position: 34 out of 162

Time: 23 minutes 29 seconds

One of the great things about the Grovelands course, like a number of others, is that on some stretches you can see people ahead and behind you. And at the end of the run, if you have time to stick around, you’re given the perfect vantage point for watching runners approach the finish funnel or embark on their last lap. It’s a great course - straightforward with just the right amount of up and downhill in lovely surroundings. Great fun. I now have only three more parkruns to go before I’ve completed every one in Greater London.

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#running #parkrun #grovelands #london