Saw a lone guy speed-skating on the cycle path along the bypass in the week. I don't really know if that's what's it's called, but it was that leany-forwards and swingy-arms rhythmic style you see the Dutch girls with tremendous thighs doing so well at. This was a boy with a beard, but still enough to cause a raised eyebrow. A curious hobby, I thought. The bypass is pretty ideal, I guess, but Central Park it's not. There must be a story there, a Christmas present perhaps, or midweek winter training for something.
But I can't imagine it being fun. Well, it looks fun, but it must be limiting as to where you can go and the spontaneity of 'hmmm, I think I'll just pop out for a quick skate'. But I'm not dismissive, just entertained...a bit. It's been a mixed week of running around for me. But there has been running, unlike last week. Most of it early mornings, in the rain and on my own. It can be both liberating and also soul destroying. A bit of company would be good now and then. Perhaps my best run of the week was parkrun yesterday. James asked if I'd run with Joe.
I think Pete was a bit bummed that he didn't have a small child to run with, so was expected to perform on his own, whereas I wasn't. Joe made it clear to me he was here for a pb. Joe is almost a parkrun veteran. It's been fun to watch him from his first attempts at running, all sporadic sprints and hissy fits, to managing a sensible pace that he knows he can hold until the end. He smashed his pb, but having just turned 7 was anxious to see if his new age graded performance would be take a hit. All about the numbers...just like his Dad.
He managed to gently increase his pace with each k, and slipstreamed a guy ready for a sprint finish at the end, just not quite visible in the finishing photo. It was great fun and good to hear others congratulating him. I'd say Joe is a proper runner now. I read an interesting article about parkrun and why they weren't seemingly keeping up with the times and encouraging smart watch/phone bar code scanning. A great response, saying they don't want automated staffless scanning points like at airports...parkrun is about people and interaction. Nice.
