no matter how far....

I don't seem to get lie-ins any more.  Like any self-respecting teenager, I used to consider it something of an outrage if I had to be up before noon.  As I got older and had to start working, epic lie-ins had to wait until the weekend.  These days, some weekend mornings, I actually get up even earlier than I do during the week. Voluntarily.  

My teenage self would doubtless be both horrified and disappointed.

This weekend was fairly typical.  For once, we weren't volunteering at parkrun, but we were up and out in good time for a 9am start.  We then headed straight across to deepest, darkest Derbyshire where a dear friend of mine had organised a 5km fun run on Stanton Moor in the Peak District.  Rachel is competing in her first Iron Man (Iron Maiden?) triathlon in a couple of weeks and she's raising money for Macmillan in memory of her late Mother-in-Law.  Such an epic undertaking -- 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile cycle and 26.2 mile run - definitely deserves some support, wouldn't you say? It's also a pretty heroic thing to do for your husband and his family.  I wanted to help out, anyway, so I borrowed a parkrun stopwatch for the afternoon and had the distinct privilege of acting as timer for the event.  The weather was appalling, but it was a wonderful afternoon.  Rachel's running friends and her family had turned up en-masse, and there were smiles all round as we braved the weather before retreating back to her cottage for tea and cake.  Oh...so much cake.  It was a lovely, heart-warming day.  I often say that either runners are the nicest people in the world, or that there are a disproportionate number of lovely people who run around the Nottingham area... but this was one of those days where you really feel the joy of the running community. Rachel raised £1000 on the day to add to the £4000 she's already raised.  She's worth all that and more.

No lie-in on Sunday either: up and out to get across to Gedling Country Park on the other side of town to volunteer at Junior parkrun. As we don't have children, this might seem like a slightly odd thing to do, but we do it because one of our friends helps to organise the event, and because we all run around the hills of Gedling after the event is over.  As I live by a river and do most of my runs on the flat, it's sometimes nice to get up and run in the mountains!  (the 10km I did was the equivalent of 50 flights of stairs, according to my Garmin...)

By the time I got home, I was knackered... I don't mind telling you.  Nothing else for it but a snooze on the sofa and a West Wing marathon.

Yeah.  It was a brilliant weekend, but I think I pretty much go to work for a rest these days.