We obviously weren’t too discreet about it either as we prompted the lady sitting near us to comment that we made her feel unfit! Of course with usual UKRunChat encouragement we suggested she shouldn't feel unable to give it a go! I’d like to think that come Saturday she was hunting out her local ParkRun… But we might never know! When we arrived at the hostel, I had an important errand to run (literally!) A quick reconnaissance to the local recreation ground that I’d identified as a good place to deliver the Mindfulness Techniques for Running workshop that I had planned for Saturday! By the time that had been achieved it wasn’t far off ten PM and the light was going fast; an early night seemed the best and much needed course of action in preparation for a full on Saturday! |
Saturday 6th of June: At 7.45 (after a light-ish breakfast of muesli, toast and fruit) a gang of us set off on a 4 and a bit mile trot for a spot of ParkRun tourism! Eastbourne ParkRun takes place at Shinewater Park and it certainly was shining on such a lovely morning! I had considered volunteering but I decided as I’d not done a ParkRun as a runner in a while I’d treat myself. Thankfully, One of our gang, Christine, had offered and so I didn’t feel too guilty! Though I have been training to get used to my marathon training pace of 10:52, and did the plod out there in about that, when I actually got into the race… Well you can imagine. I tried to be a little careful and didn’t totally hammer it but I did very much enjoy three naughty miles at about 7:30 pace instead! Of course a ParkRun always goes too fast (even if I don’t) but it was lovely to cheer on other UKRunChatters who were crossing the line. ParkRun is always about the community spirit to my mind and it was supportive squared with the RunChat ethos chucked into the mix too! |
Having done such a sterling job guiding us to the park from the hostel, local Eastbourner Karen then kindly hopped on a bike (I’m still not sure where she produced that from!) to guide Sherie, David, Bozenka and me on a 10 mile run along the seafront back to hostel. Some people took a different, six mile route back and a few others hopped lifts home, depending on their training or tapering situations! We were so lucky with the weather; It was very windy and we were all careful to sunscreen up but the sun shone from the clear blue sky and with such a dependable guide there was absolutely nothing to do but run… and chat! |
When we arrived back at the hostel, we had a couple of hours to refuel and rest up before we were treated to a session of Kundalini yoga with local teacher Amrit Singh. This was very different to the Ashtanga based yoga I'm used to and that we did in Anglesey, including lots of really intense breath work as part of the poses that I found very challenging. We were also introduced to concepts of chanting and meditation. I’ve been looking into meditation recently and am fairly used to being considered a bit of a hippy but even I found the chanting a little unusual and I was really impressed with how positive and open minded everyone was. No one was unwilling to give it a try, but I can’t believe I was the only person feeling just a little daft to begin with! I was very glad though; it certainly broke the ice for my own ‘Mindfulness’ session later in the day! ‘Great!’ I thought to myself, ‘If they can handle this then mine will be a breeze!’ We sensibly waited until after the yoga to have the second UKRunChat Bake Off! Though my contribution didn’t get an honourable mention I was delighted that the winner was a vegan creation, just like in Anglesey! It really is true that you don’t need eggs and dairy for prize winning confectionary, even when judged by omnivores! When everyone had recovered from the sugar rush and subsequent crash, it was time for me to step up to the mark and I led the group to the recreation ground for a bit of mindful running. Having read a couple of books (including this one!) that link meditation techniques with running, as well as having started a meditation practice myself, I have recently devised a ‘mental toolkit’ that I use to help me improve my form and focus, especially during longer runs or darker/harder miles. T he workshop I delivered in Eastbourne aimed to introduce some of these. |
We began by seeking mental stillness with body awareness meditation exercise. I then sent every one off on laps of the recreation ground, with a different little game to play on each loop. The first three were about counting and breath, either counting footsteps, or counting your breaths… or the piece de resistance… counting how many steps you fit in to one breath! A tricky one that and not one that’s easily mastered, but a great way to focus the mind on what the body is actually doing as opposed to what it’s going to eat later! We then did a couple of laps focusing on specific senses to encourage a bit of environmental awareness. We are often very visually aware, but asking people to use a different sense and see how many different sounds they could be aware of came up with as many unexpected contributions as when we focused on smell, from hearing my ponytail hitting my back to the smell of sun cream on my face! By this time, and after such a full day, everyone was very ready to cool down a bit so after stretching out I invited people to participate in a brief taster of a meditation technique called Mindfulness of Breathing. This basically involves more counting, but dropping the numbers into specific points in the breath cycle. |
I believe that at this point there were some Pimms related activities but I’m afraid I was boring and slunk off to bed. Feet full of miles, a face full of smiles and a tummy full of delicious prize winning vegan cake! Heaven!
Sunday 7th June: It was soon Sunday and the morning greeted us with just as much sunshine as the day before. We had to be out of the hostel by 10 but we made time for a 6 mile trail run on The South Downs Way alongside (and across!) Eastbourne Golf Club, again led by the indefatigable and permanently enthusiastic Karen! The scenery was as beautiful as might have been expected and running off road was a welcome change after Saturday's tarmac pounding. My day wasn’t made fully however, until I was back in the hostel and preparing a post-shower breakfast when Anna rushed in, demanding a high five. “Thank you so much!” she beamed, rushing on to tell me that she had just used one of the breath counting exercises I had introduced in the workshop to master a particularly challenging hill that she would normally have walked up. I happily mentioned this to a few others, during a sunny picnic breakfast… “Oh yes, I found that too” was the response “It really helped and I hate hills!” “We all found it really helpful” was another reply. Ensue warm happy glow for the Runnermouse. Ah. That’s what it’s all about! Sadly, it was then time for our farewells and departures… but of course it’s only until next time. Just a great big thank you left to give to organiser in Chief Howard Chambers and the wonderful thing that is UKRunChat! |