Run Forest, Run!

Thursday we took a break from our usual running routine. Instead after work I headed a few miles across north London to Wood Green where I met up with Paul. I had booked myself a belated birthday treat of tickets to the Ben Howard gig at Alexandra Palace that evening. Having never been to Alexandra Palace before I did a little pre-event planning which is when I learnt of the Festival Hall. The Festival Hall is as the name suggests, it's a festival style undercover space offering street food stalls and bars. We did a circuit of the food stalls to see what was on offer and to my delight we discovered the Buddha Bowl van with an entirely vegetarian/vegan menu, something of a rare treat! A Buddha Bowl is a noodle box crammed full of tasty, wholesome awesomeness, organic short grain brown rice, Massaman curry with new potatoes, soya chunks and pineapple, steamed kale, carrot and kimchi pickle, grilled halloumi (vegan without) topped with an omega seed mix and a sprinkle of chilli flakes.

Delightful, wholesome veggie goodness!

I of course went for the big buddha and it was out of this world! When I got home I had to track these guys down as I knew that wouldn't be my last Buddha Bowl. The Buddha Bowl van is at Whitecross Street Food Market most Thursday and Friday's 12:00-2:30pm, check them out!

Saturday is parkrun day. I must confess that I am only recently a convert to parkrun! I used to struggle with the concept of getting out of bed early on a Saturday morning to run 5km especially if I had to drive further to get there than I'd be running. However, when the Great Notley parkrun started up last year (this is now my home run) I thought I would give it a try and it didn't take me long to understand its appeal. Once you have set your first course time it becomes an addictive pastime striving to better your personal best. The social aspect also adds to the enjoyment, I have made many friends running and I often bump into someone I know at parkrun. The people definitely make this event what it is, from the runners to the enthusiastic volunteers who give up their time every week to ensure that these events continue to happen. It seems once you have run one parkrun you become an ambassador for parkrun, I am always trying to encourage friends who run to give parkrun a go. So if you're reading this and have never been along to parkrun, what are you waiting for?! Register at parkrun website, print out your personal barcode and turn up to your local run, 9am every Saturday. I also forgot to mention it's completely free!

For the past few weeks we've volunteered at the newly launched Hatfield Forest parkrun. For anyone who read my last blog will know that the Run Director for the Hatfield Forest parkrun is my friend Chris. Over the past few months prior to the event launch we've helped out by testing various versions of the route, however we had not yet officially run it for ourselves and with the weather being warmer and drier of late we've reached the final few weeks of the winter course so knew we had to grab the opportunity to run on this version of the course whilst we still could. The weather Saturday morning was glorious which made a pleasant change compared with the past few weeks. It even gave us the opportunity to break out our new 'runglasses'. It felt strange turning up at the forest ready to run and not be directing traffic, setting out route markers, marshalling or time keeping. We were also technically tourists at this event given that our home parkrun is 15 miles away!

Testing out the 'runglasses' in the glorious spring sunshine

9am came and the run started. I set off with a steady pace as I was fully aware of a couple of niggling injuries I've been carrying of late. Chris, who despite being the RD also was running the event for officially the first time. Having recently taken time out for injury himself, we both found ourselves running together at a similar pace and we stuck together running and chatting as we went around the course. 

Chris and I going strong at around 3 km

The winter course covers a combination of grass and road intended to avoid the muddier parts of the forest. It is a one lap course which really appeals to me, I can find courses that require more than one lap a little psychologically defeating. Although relatively flat there were a few gradual inclines which pinched the legs slightly, especially in the first km as you leave the grass and join the road. I expect at this stage my legs are still warming up so it comes as a bit of a shock. The most enjoyable part for me was the finish, not just because it was the finish but because the final 300m are around the lake. I haven't got the experience of running many parkrun courses but I'd take a chance and say it's probably up there with one of the best finishes around! Chris and I had run around the course together but in the final km I decided that I was feeling capable of picking the pace up a little. With the finish line just the other side of the lake I attempted to sprint finish but Chris had the legs on me and finished just ahead of me. I'd like to pretend I let him beat me as it was his first official run at his own parkrun, this was not the case though, he was just quicker than me (but don't tell him that)! I finished in a time of 27:43, not my slowest and not my fastest parkrun time. 

Getting pipped to the finish by Chris!

I am intrigued to see how fast I can go around the course when fully fit. It has the potential to be a quick course and without any hills it must be able to rival my parkrun PB at Great Notley of 25:44.

As far as runs go, this course is pretty stunning, you get a great sense of open space when running around the forest with some amazing views. A couple of weeks back when volunteering we had been setting out some of the course when a herd of deer (30 odd) ran across the grass car parking area. The most open sections across the grass plains could be a bit punishing during the winter, even though a reasonable day, it did feel as though we were still quite exposed to the wind. Since running I have realised that I enjoy running off road far more than I do on it! The forest was a perfect location for me and it delivers a good mix of terrain, I felt as though my body was constantly adapting as the course changed underfoot. There are a few bits I'd call 'bobbly' where you need to watch your footing otherwise you could easily turn an ankle.

Paul giving the thumbs up for the Hatfield Forest parkrun

This parkrun is only in its 5th week and each week has seen a respectable number of runners turn out to each event with 100+ (188 at the inaugural event) in attendance and it's only going to to from strength to strength. It has also attracted many runners who are new to parkrun, I hope they become regular faces to parkrun.

Sunday we were back at the forest to run again. This time to trial the summer route with the aid of just a map and no signage. It was looking likely that the summer route could be going live in a matter of weeks which had come as a surprise as we'd tested the route back at Easter when we'd had wetter weather and it was pretty swampy in places. We separated ourselves into groups and set off at 5 minute intervals with the intention of all finishing around the same time. We headed off into the forest with radios and a map. Fortunately each group had someone who'd run the course on a previous test run so we relied on recalling some sections from memory. We've had a few weeks of reasonably dry weather so the grassy sections had dried out and were bone dry, the only downside to this being where it had been churned up by the footfall runners, walkers and wildlife when it was wet, it had dried to a pointy, uneven mass! The summer route is quite a different route to the winter. It it mainly on grass with very little road and takes you through more of the forest. It also has a few more ditches to run through which add to the interesting variation of terrain. Having had the opportunity to run both I think I prefer the summer route, the only downside is that it doesn't finish by the lake, instead back in the main car park. You can still enjoy the lake views once you've finished and grabbed a hot chocolate from the cafe! Not a National Trust member? Don't worry as the awesome folk at Hatfield Forest parkrun have organised free parking for the first year of the event. Don't take my word for it though, give it a go for yourself!

That's me signing off for this evening! I have a parkrun to run in the morning, I'm returning to my home run after an extended loan period to help a neighbour out, very much the parkrun spirit it seems.