Row AWAY

The thing about rowing is that you can't back out of an outing without a very good reason.

It's not like running where you can just not go if you don't feel like it; even training for a team sport, you feel like you SHOULD go but there's no need apart from your own desire for improvement, and not annoying your teammates.

Rowing though...rowing, they need you to move the boat. At Cambridge, CUCBC (the dedicated bods in charge of college rowing) have made it actually a finable offense for a crew to be incomplete. So there has to be eight rowers, and this weekend I just have not felt like being one of them.

Don't get me wrong; I stick at this (fairly stupid? discuss) sport because I love it, but when you're down in the dumps and want to crawl under a duvet and watch Friends, being MADE to go DO EXERCISE in a BOAT when it's RAINING (sorry I think my capslock finger is acting without my knowledge) is not what you want.

Take it from me, it's not.

Staring out from this weekend into the first week of my Loch Ness marathon training, in a pretty barren PhD-ideas/work place anyway, watching my parents drive back to Manchester, I really was not keen on getting in the boat. But I did - because my captain would have killed me if I didn't, and because I would have hated myself for finding a sub.

I'll be glad in 3 weeks time during Bumps, but for now, I still hate rowing and I am bitterly resentful that it took time away from my very important 90s TV watching. Stupid team sports. Even the endorphins barely made a dent to help; but at least I got out of my room, otherwise the girl living next door to me would have complained again about hearing 'I'll Be There For You'.

Row away, rowing. Row away.

parkrun 3.8.13

Last week, last Sunday to be precise, I returned from my normal Cambridge environs to my hometown in south Manchester. I'm between accommodations and waiting on some results before making any concrete plans, so I thought that a trip home would fill the time nicely. Since I came home I have:

- been to the pool and wanted to drown myself due to the total ignorance of lane etiquette and people swimming very, very slowly

- watched hailstones cast miniature dents in my car roof

- taken to catnapping anywhere just to escape the tedium of being skint and on a diet

- cleared out my wardrobe, for chocolate is a cruel mistress and my old jeans no longer fit

- steadfastly ignored all of the things I should be doing and emails I should have replied to

So last night I realised I should probably kick my behind into action and get my act together. This short stay at home is not just a jolly because I do have work to do, actions to organise, jobs and funds to apply for, etc. Starting all this on a Friday evening seemed a bit overwhelming though to be honest so I reckoned I'd give it a go over the weekend - and what better way to kickstart your weekend than parkrun?

Parkrun (www.parkrun.org.uk) organises free timed 5k runs every Saturday morning all over the UK, and indeed now the world. My local one has been going on for ages - this morning's run was the 267th, so work that out maths fans, because I can't. Anyway it's safe to say that I've been doing parkrun since 2009, when I was a young slim sometime rower looking to stay fit over the summer.

The great thing about parkrun is that it's always there. Every time I come home, I make sure I turn out at 9am on Saturday to amble over 5k through the park. The route features Duck Poo Corner, how could I resist. I've done parkrun in Santa hats running on snow, in the rain, in the sun, once memorably in hail. I've run with friends, with my iPod on my own, and with the small children who always beat me every week on the sprint finish. I absolutely love turning up and seeing the mix of people who are there, from serious club runners and triathletes, to people looking to improve their PBs, to families running together, and to novice and newbie runners who are drawn in by the spirit of community around parkrun.

Today's 5k was especially delicious because the sun shone, my iPod blessed me with some cracking tunes, and the run felt good. I was slow, 31.42, but it was also busy and I just can't be bothered with all this overtaking nonsense because it's a bit of a faff and whoever I overtake just overtakes me back on the hills. The hills are always a shock when I come back from flat, flat Cambridge but today I just breathed deeply and made it through them. I had a really solid jog round which felt nice and as if I had a bit more in reserve, but I've not been running very much lately so I just wanted to get through the 5k with no issues. However this has inspired me to get back out there for the rest of the summer, and to blog a bit more as well.

So thank you to parkrun, especially Bramhall parkrun, my local, for being so continuously excellent. It couldn't be done without the volunteers and I'll definitely be making more effort to get involved in the Cambridge parkrun when I get back there in a few weeks. Good run, everyone. Good run.