I read somewhere that one of the secrets to ultramarathon training is to make training a part of everyday life and your normal schedule as much as possible; finding inspiration to run wherever you can. 

Since I work from home most of the time, I don’t get to include “run to/from work” in my training plan.

But “running errands” is definitely part of my plan. It’s a way of making sure I get out of the house and cover the miles – especially if its raining (which it definitely seems to be at the moment).

A parcel to drop off? Run to the parcel shop – that was on Tuesday last week (the “run to” part only works if the parcel isn’t too big).

Some shopping to do? My running backpack came in handy as I ran to Asda and back.

An order to collect? Run to the shop and run/walk back – again it depends on what your collecting. On Friday it was some cookies from Millie’s!

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This weekend has been a big weekend in my training for the London to Brighton Ultramarathon – just six weeks to go now. And it is getting trickier to fit in all those extra miles – so as well as running errands, it’s been time for some creativity and multi-tasking in scheduling of weekend runs . It’s also a chance to practice stopping and starting again – another ultramarathon training secret I read somewhere (double run days).

I started early and incorporated a loop of Hanley Park into my run – event-day course check complete before Hanley parkrun and volunteering as run director. Then after processing the results whilst refuelling, I set off on the next part of my run. I made it as far as Bathpool Park – I think it is over a year since I’ve run out there.

On the way back, I updated the parkrun volunteer roster whilst stopping for a refreshing cup of tea (and more snacks) at the cafe at Westport Lake – sorry for the delay to anyone on the volunteer roster yesterday.

And then it was home again – 23 miles completed in two runs, with one more run planned to get to my target for the day.

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After a break of a few hours, it was time to set off again – but with a slightly different motivation this time (another ultramarathon training secret) – to support my friend and fellow parkrun ambassador Gary on his challenge of completing all 10 of the Staffordshire 5k parkruns in one day (fundraising for Mind – follow the link to donate).

He was due in Hanley Park for run #9 at about 6pm. So I ran/walked to the park and prepared for my final run of the day – completing the Hanley parkrun course with Gary. When I arrived, the sun was shining and it was a lovely evening. By the time, we were half way through the 5k distance, it was raining again and then some. But Gary kept running, so I did too. and by the time we were done, the rain had stopped!

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And then I was done for the day – and it was great to head over to The Wammy to cheer on Gary for his final 5k of the day. And to celebrate at the pub when it was all over – my cherries and berries Old Mout cider went down very well.

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50 for 50 #34: 50 posts for my 50th birthday to be posted before I’m 51.