Month: June 2019

When my wife and I started running over 10 years ago, before we discovered the joys of off-road, we used to run a particular 10K out and back route along local roads. This morning, for my daily 10K I decided to go back to that old route. The careful run yesterday evening paid off because I felt good even though I set off just before 5:00 AM.

As I passed Robin Hood School (Yes, Robin Hood really is the name of a village between Wakefield and Leeds) I noticed this yellow box on the wall and discovered it was a public access defibrillator, just like the sort for which I am raising money. I couldn’t resist the selfie to show everyone what one looks like and what’s displayed on the outside to tell people what to do in the event they need to use the device. As well as purchasing the equipment, it needs to be connected to power (to keep it charged) and it needs to be regularly serviced by a professional, hence the estimated £2,000 price tag.

Early morning is a good time to go road running because no one else is about and it can be quite surreal running though usually busy places. One thing to beware though, there is a particular breed of motorists (suitable adjectives are not unsuitable for a family audience) who believe that speed limits don’t apply to them at that time in the morning and plough through 30 and 20mph zones at 60! If one of these guys hit you, you would need more than a defibrillator to save you.

“So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.” Romans‬ ‭7:12‬ ‭NIVUK‬‬

Richard is running 10K every day during June, to raise money for a public access defibrillator to be situated at Rothwell Baptist Church.  To sponsor him and make a donation, please visit his Just Giving Page.

The objective today was very simple: to run 10K with as little effort as possible.  After yesterday’s club efforts in the rain, that is the least I could do for my body!

As I have gained experience of running lots of miles over the years, I have learned the secret is to be able to run slowly when you need to.  The idea of a “recovery run” is to get some exercise and stretch your legs while holding something back for doing some more the next day.  I have found interspersing my training efforts with recovery runs and “long slows” helps me get the mileage up.  This also increases my stamina and speed.

Therefore I chose a route today with as few hills as I can manage.  A route round the various streets near where I live, well in fact ALL of the streets near where I live in order to eek-out a 10K route.  I still feel OK after 5 days of 10K every day and time will tell if I can keep it up through all of June.    I am certainly determined!

“But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded” 2 Chronicles 15:7 NIV

Richard is running 10K every day during June, to raise money for a public access defibrillator to be situated at Rothwell Baptist Church.  To sponsor him and make a donation, please visit his Just Giving Page.

Have you ever been so wet, you couldn’t be wetter even if you jumped in the river?  Well tonight was one of those nights.

With the torrential downpour in progress, it’s the kind of evening that most sane people would think “I think I’ll give running a miss tonight”, but this wasn’t an option for me.  Firstly I am committed to running 10K-a-day during June and secondly, it was club night and I was one leading training!

You knew it was going to be wet when the side of the road was flooded and you had to stick to the pavement in order not to wade.  Then, when we reached the footpath where we were going to do our efforts, not wading wasn’t an option because in parts the path was completely flooded.   What I have to say though is that the 10 who turned out tonight were real heroes for braving the weather and not complaining in the least.  Quite the contrary, they revelled in the challenge which makes me really proud to be part of such a fantastic running club.

The run was nearly 10K so I ran up and down the street outside the club a few times to eek the distance out to 10K.

“Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.”  Genesis 7:4 NIV

Richard is running 10K every day during June, to raise money for a public access defibrillator to be situated at Rothwell Baptist Church.  To sponsor him and make a donation, please visit his Just Giving Page.