Lakes Single Mum

parkrun Tourism: Preston #27: 21/1/2023

2023-02-20T16:56:00.001+00:00

It’s definitely been a case of in the best laid plans of mice and men and parkrun, that my tourism hasn’t gone particularly well recently. Last weekend I was due to go to Ormskirk for a Fibonacci number, but my car needed emergency repairs instead. Oh well it will happen sometime! On Friday night, I looked at my map on the 5K app and thought I really need to get rid of that annoying gap which is Preston. I have twice previously tried to get to Preston: the first time a trip was cancelled due to a friend’s illness. The last attempt it was iced up.

This morning then I finally set off to take part at Preston. Previously, I had been advised on a great place to park which was free from fellow tourists. From there it was a relatively short walk to the start and finish area and on the way I met a couple of locals who gave me some advice about the parkrun which was lovely. One of the great things about Preston parkrun is that the toilets were freshly cleaned just before I arrived and they were free. Then it was time to chat to other parkrunners including in the lovely, run director and fellow tourists up from Crosby parkrun.

We had a 1st timers’ briefing, which explained about the three laps of the park and gave us the safety warning about the flag post on the top. It was then time to try and work out where the back of the pack was for the start as they were over 400 people taking part. A quick countdown and we were off. It was a slow start due to the large number of runners, which meant that on the first hill, I had a very good excuse for walking as I couldn’t really run.

Once we reach the top of the hill and people can start going down, the field spread out quite rapidly, which left plenty of room for me to do my run walk strategy. There were plenty friendly and encouraging marshals as we went round and I was with a few runners for the whole of the route as we were a very similar pace which was nice. We were lapped by the faster runners before we had crossed the start line after a first lap, but they were pretty speedy.

I enjoyed my three laps and a little sprint finish. After I’d finished, I checked out the café, which is currently only serving hot drinks and cakes (which were very tasty!). And chatted to the lovely tourists from Crosby parkrun who have invited me to come down and check out their beachfront event, which includes the Antony Gormley statues one of my future venues as I work my way down through Lancashire.

parkrun Tourism: Witton #26: 21/1/2023

2023-01-21T18:02:00.002+00:00

When my alarm went off at 6:30 this morning, I did question my sanity in having a hobby that involves getting up so early on a Saturday morning. Tourism is not for the faint-hearted when you have to travel for an hour or more just to run 5 km in some random place. However, there are plenty of us that to do this so maybe we can’t all be mad?

Yesterday I had hoped to visit one of my NENDYs (that’s my nearest not done yet parkrun) but as I went online I discovered the 1st at Preston was cancelled due to ice and then Skipton was also cancelled. What to do? Luckily for me Witton parkrun turned out to be only an hour or just under away and they told me on Facebook that they would be on this morning.

Wainwright Challenge: 17/214 Grisedale Pike

2022-08-22T12:55:00.004+01:00

After finishing at Workington parkrun, I decided to nip up Grisedale Pike on my way home. Of course I was fully kitted out as its 790m of elevation to the summit. I had been part way up whilst videoing the Grisedale Grind in 2019 but hadn't made to the top (this seems to be a common theme!) so I knew the basic route up. It was a shock to get to the car park and discover it was closed! A lovely lady at the main Whinlatter visitor centre assured me that the footpath was still accessible and explained the route:

The trail is easy to follow as the Forestry Commission put in plenty of signs and maintain the access:

parkrun Tourism: Workington #19: 25/6/2022

2022-08-22T09:00:00.003+01:00

Video at the bottom.

When I first attempted to complete all the Cumbrian parkruns, it was the two West coast ones that I didn't get to due to travel time. Due to all the lakes and fells you have to take a long way round and it took me well over an hour to get to Workington leisure centre to park my car. Signs then took me over the river Derwent to the start on the far side:

Being a long established parkrun (June 2013) there were was plenty of signage to show that you were in the right place:

Wainwright Challenge: 16/214 Baystones

2022-08-21T10:52:00.003+01:00

On the 11th of June I was in Ambleside as I had taken part in the Lake District Challenge 10k around Loughrigg:

I decided to make the most of the included car parking to add another Wainwright to my list. This meant finishing what I had started a few years earlier when I had climbed Wansfell Pike and getting to Baystones which is just behind. My eldest joined me for a walk through Ambleside and up through the Stock Ghyll woods:

With Wansfell being one of the most popular fells the initial path way is well trodden and has been stepped. Its quite a slog up and my son's knee wasn't up to finishing it but luckily I fell in with a fellow solo hiker:

Wainwright Challenge: 14 & 15/214 Little & Great Mell Fells

2022-08-20T17:07:00.002+01:00

As I was at the top of the county already for Talkin Tarn Country Park parkrun, I decided to add a couple of outlying Wainwrights: Little Mell Fell and Great Mell Fell. They are between Ullswater and the A66 and often only walked by folks trying to get the 214 set. I didn't do a great research job and missed the easy parking for Little Mell Fell and ended up much lower down than I needed to be. Undaunted I set off up the path to get to the 505m summit, when I saw the parking bay I so wished I had parked there and just had the almost straight up path:

parkrun Tourism: Talkin Tarn Country Park (Brampton) #18: 4/6/2022

2022-08-19T17:21:00.004+01:00

On June the 4th, I headed up to Talkin Tarn Country Park outside of Brampton in the north of Cumbria. This was a bit of an adventure as I had only been up this way when visiting Hadrian's Wall. There was ample parking and a free parking permit for parkrunners. After over an hour of driving it was a relief to have plenty of decent loos too! I should have checked the parkrun's Facebook page to know that it was a special Jubilee event and they even had the Brampton town crier as starter and marshal:

The course is a two lapper and it starts inside the woodland. This made for quite a congested start as there was a large touring group from the NE. I had to walk for the first minute. My video of the run is here.

Wainwright Challenge: 10-13/214 Nethermost Pike to Raise (Helvellyn)

2022-08-18T19:19:00.002+01:00

On the 28th May I had the excuse of filming another fell race to head up to Helvellyn. I chose the option of going on the bus to do a linear hike. This meant jumping off the 555 at Wythburn Church along the side of Thirlmere reservoir.

For quick version nip to the bottom and play the YouTube video!

This is a less well known path which went through the forest before opening out onto the hillside with views of Thirlmere. I was glad of excuses to pause a take pics:

I wasn't in a hurry and it took me close to 2 hours to get to the summit of Nethermost Pike which was rather underwhelming despite being the 9th highest Wainwright at 890m:

Behind me was the iconic Helvellyn, which at 950m is the 3rd highest Wainwright, and the location I was intending to film. On my way to the summit I could see how many folks were taking the infamous Striding Edge route:

Wainwright Challenge: 8 & 9/214 Sale Fell and Ling Fell

2022-08-17T10:00:00.001+01:00

On the 14th of May I headed up to Sale Fell to film the Netherhall AC Two Tops Fell race. The fell is close to Buttermere not far from the A66.

I kept going slowly up the hill side getting up higher with every race as the distances increased. The summit was reached just as the first seniors made it to the top and as I descended towards Ling Fell the runners were coming back up:

This was my video footage of the races:

As the runners had all passed me I could take my time going up Ling Fell. It was a hot day and it was pretty steep so I was glad to take it easy. The fell was very peaceful and I hardly saw anyone else.

parkrun Tourism: Fleetwood Promenade #17: 12/2/2022

2022-08-16T16:13:00.005+01:00

It has been too long since I updated my blog so I am catching up! Back on the 12th of February I had an early start on a cold, wet day to get to Fleetwood Promenade parkrun. I wasn't sure I had found it at first as I was quite early and not many folks were around!

The course runs along the sea front and is there and back again along the path. As I was there on a wet day I didn't manage to take pics and my video ended up being rubbish... I may have to go back one sunny day!

With having only just got out of my ankle brace I was pleased with the time:

Fleetwood Promenade parkrun	12/02/2022	20	60	34:55	48.59%

The run was my NENDY and filled out that annoying gap on my parkrun map!

Wainwright Challenge: 7/214 Blake Fell

2022-01-23T16:17:00.001+00:00

On Saturday I was over in Ennerdale to film the Blake Fell race. Of course I couldn't resist walking up to the very top to add number 7 to my Wainwright tally. I was following the race's return as the runners came down through the mist:

Once the last runner had passed I followed the directions on Komoot and a friend's tip of keeping the fence on my right:

Visibility was pretty poor and I only knew it was the top by the stone circle and the app:

parkrun Tourism: Blackpool - #16

2022-01-18T22:01:00.006+00:00

As I was going down to Blackpool to video the Mid Lancs XC I decided to get up extra early and so the parkrun first. In fact I got to Stanley Park in time to catch an amazing sunrise:

I was made very welcome before we all set off along the B route (avian flu stopping normal lake laps):

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Becky Willoughby (@lakessinglemum)

As it was a flat route I felt very comfortable and in fact had to slow down a few times as I hadn't planned on running a fast one! In the end I came in with an official finish time of 34:20 which was 4 minutes and 14 seconds faster than on New Year's Day... yes that course is hillier but it was a real sign that my fitness is improving. 2022 is now faster than 2021 for me at parkrun but its still my 2nd worst year (so far):

Wainwright Challenge: 6/214 Latrigg

2022-01-13T22:06:00.000+00:00

On Saturday the 8th January I was in Keswick to film the Cumbria cross country championship. Afterwards, I made the most of my location to walk the 2 miles to the top of Latrigg. I just had to walk out of the park and keep going up:

When I reached the summit I was hit by a short hail storm as I enjoyed the views across Derwentwater. Skiddaw was hiding behind the clouds.

I may not have had the best weather for my hike but I was very happy to have started my campaign off. Only 208 more to go!

Wainwright Challenge: Orrest Head

2022-01-02T17:47:00.005+00:00

As Alfred Wainwright was inspired to hike the Lakeland Fells by a hike up Orrest Head in Windermere I thought I ought to follow in his footsteps before adding to my tally. I had to pop to Windermere to collect something so dragged my teen with me for the 2 mile walk.

Typically it began tipping down as soon as we parked the car but it didn't stop us. Luckily most of the damage from Storm Arwen had been cleared so we could get to the top:

@lakessinglemum Not the best view from Orrest Head today #OrrestHead #Windermere #Cumbria #LakeDistrict ♬ Misty Mountains - Richard Armitage & The Dwarf Cast

Kicking off 2022

2022-01-01T17:47:00.001+00:00

Having neglected my blog for most of 2021, too much TikTok, its time to kick start it again! At some point I will have to update the highlights of last year. But meantime I am starting 2022 as I mean to go on:

I headed to Fell Foot park for a 9 am parkrun to start the year right. Then I joined in the official New Year's Day swim (it was a refreshing 5C!).

No resolutions for me this year I am just challenging myself to do things that will help my physical and mental health:

First up is RED January 2022 to make sure I do something active every day. With my running I am looking at chipping away at the time I set at Fell Foot this morning (coming back from injury). Finally its about time I increased my tally of Wainwrights from a pathetic 5 to get more of the 214 ticked off.

To keep me accountable I have the colour in daily chart, the tick off map and I am using Conqueror challenges (10% off via link!) to reward myself. I will do a monthly update but keep an eye on my Facebook and Instagram to follow more closely.

Sizergh Hike

2021-02-18T19:06:00.000+00:00

We finally had a day with decent weather so we could have a 3 generation support bubble hike to Sizergh Castle. It's the best way to safely spend time with my mum until things improve. Our walk started on the Old Lancaster Canal along the old tow path and underneath the relict bridges:

After a steep descent from the canal we reached the river Kent. Sherlock sniffed out a painted rock and then led us across Wilson Bridge:

It was far too tempting not to make use of my son as camera man and film my daily whistle dance on the bridge. An interesting experience as the gets quite wobbly when you move around on it...

Simple St Trinian's Costume

2020-11-20T10:14:00.002+00:00

As I am back doing costumes again (due to being quarantined) I thought I would share some in case people are looking for some inspiration. Many of them I have done just with things I have around the house and my actual clothes. Yesterday I went for the St Trinian's look:

Costume:

plain white shirt
black pinafore dress (this one was from Sainsbury's a couple of year's ago)
school tie (my son's spare one!)
two pairs of Snag Tights so that I had colour under my fishnets
plimsolls from Shoe Zone

Hair and make-up:

bunches and big bow hair clip
plenty of eye liner and mascara with smoky eye shadow
red lipstick
gold hoop earrings

Grizedale Forest: Carron Crag

2020-09-23T21:02:00.002+01:00

On Saturday the weather was so glorious that we had a 3 generation, plus dog, trip to Grizedale. As I have repeatedly walked on one side of the forest (on the Grizedale Tarn Trail and Ridding Wood Trail), we chose a walk up to Carron Crag. It is described as a strenuous 2 hour walk of 3 miles:

This walk had us following the red sign posts. It took us up a steep rocky path into the woods before reaching the more open forest track:

It was interesting to have a mix of terrain under foot. We were also treated to some amazing views of the Lakeland Fells. Not sure Sherlock was that interested in the views:

Reasons to be cheerful: birthdays, Wii and more #r2bc

2020-09-11T17:56:00.001+01:00

I do believe it is Friday which means I'm late, I'm late for a very important date! It is a good job this is one of the most laid back linkies on the Internet... Preparing for being back in a real job and a return to some pre-lockdown activities has caused me to get behind! Lots of these have been reasons to be cheerful though. I hope that you have some reasons of your own to share?

What do you have to do? Easy:

1. Link up a post about something that is making you happy or grateful. It can be a list, photos or any way you fancy.

2. Add the #R2BC badge (at the end of this post) onto your post or blog so that people can easily find the linky and join in too if they want to

3. Share the love. This is the really important bit. Please don't just link and run, comment on at least a couple of posts and why not share with #R2BC too?

I'll stop by all linked up posts to comment and I'll share on social media too.

Meanwhile here are my reasons to be cheerful for this week:

1) Belated birthday celebrations

As my dad had to be quarantined after a holiday to Holland we only celebrated his birthday (and my daughter's boyfriend's) with a takeaway curry and a cake made by my daughter:

2) Wii fun

We are having so much fun on the old Wii. It does get temperamental sometimes as its an original so pretty ancient! I am finally getting the hang of Mario Kart - typically there was a disc read failure after I managed my first ever 2nd place:

3) Days out

Now I am mobile again we have had a couple of days out into the Lakes. One trip to catch up with a family friend staying in Langdale and one visiting Grizedale Forest. The sheep seemed please to see us:

Upcycling Bedroom Furniture

2020-09-08T14:36:00.006+01:00

contains affiliate links

Most of my bedroom furniture is either preloved or just been around for a long time! I can't afford to replace any of it but it is in need of some tender loving care. There are too many signs that it has been attacked by children or just suffered from too many house moves. I kept seeing so many lovely projects done with chalk paint so I decided to buy a can of Rustins chalky finish paint and have go myself. It sat on the side for a few weeks and then I finally got brave enough to try it on on small drawer front:

I liked the fact the only prep needed was to make sure the surface was clean - no sanding! It only took 2 coats of paint to get the desired finish. I just made the mistake of not removing the handle first and giving it a single coat of paint:

@lakessinglemum
Starting to chalk paint some furniture. What should I do with the handle? ##upcycle ##upcycledfurniture ##chalkpaint
♬ Lexi - Nik Makino

Having learnt my lesson I carried on with the rest of the drawers:

Tutoring

2020-09-07T18:55:00.000+01:00

Lockdown had a big impact on my tutoring business. First of all I lost my GCSE English student as he was no longer going to be sitting any exams! Secondly all my remaining clients moved to video lessons via Zoom. This was a good way to keep up their momentum whilst learning at home. However, it is not as good as face to face lessons.

One good thing about having all lessons online was a reduction in the amount of paper I was printing off as everything was electronic. Now that schools are back and I am going back to visiting my students all the papers are making a reappearance. I have spent a few days sorting through my papers from last year and planning for the lessons this half term:

Affiliate links Some of my teaching aids were a bit tatty so I have also been shopping for new place value cards and discs. I also supersized my white board to give more room for work. My trusty Usborne Junior Illustrated Maths dictionary will be accompanying me alongside CGP Maths books for my students to work with. Of course I now have the addition of a face mask and hand sanitiser to keep us all safe:

Things won't be quite the same as my students can no longer give me the occasional hug I used to get! Even so I am looking forward to helping them as they keep on with their learning.

Grizedale Forest Ridding Wood Trail

2020-09-06T19:55:00.000+01:00

On Friday I managed to get a loan car so after a month of being carless we are finally mobile again! I need to be able to drive places to work and my daughter relies on me to get her around. Today she wanted to get out into some of the beautiful forests we have so I took her to Grizedale Forest. We had a bit of a fraught drive over as poor Sherlock was sick and then just as we were about to board the Windermere car ferry it broke down! So we only made it to the forest about 2:15 and then had a long wait to buy lunch.

All the delays meant that we only had time to follow the shorter Ridding Wood Trail and not the Grizedale Tarn Trail I had done in July. Luckily for us the weather stayed dry and at times it was pretty warm in the sun:

The route included plenty of Grizedale's famous art works. With it being all terrain route it also included a family orienteering route for younger children:

Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness

2020-09-04T17:05:00.002+01:00

I happen to be a big fan of Terry Pratchett and a quote of his has been doing the rounds that truly resonates with me:

“The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.

Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.

But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.

This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness.”

― Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms:

Since becoming a single mum 11 years ago I have come to discover how true this theory is! Being poor is so expensive:

if you have a car it's old so costs more to maintain, it uses more fuel and the vehicle tax is higher
many social housing homes have prepayment gas and electricity - this costs more per unit than paying by direct debit
as Vimes states cheap footwear and clothes are affordable to buy but need replacing more often
if your wages and any benefits don't actually last out in any given period then you are stung by overdraft charges and credit card repayments
essential white goods and appliances often have to be bought on expensive store credit which means they end up costing a lot more by the time they are paid for

Can you think of any other way that being poor is socioeconomic unfairness?

Reasons to be cheerful: back to 'normal' #r2bc

2020-09-03T13:00:00.000+01:00

Gosh it has been a while since I hosted the linky (18th July in fact!). It has been quite a busy summer as you can see from my blog posts. However, my son went back to school today (for first time since 19th March) and my students are switching back to after school lessons so its is a return to the new 'normal'. I am hoping that folks have reasons to be cheerful that they want to share.

What do you have to do? Easy:

1. Link up a post about something that is making you happy or grateful. It can be a list, photos or any way you fancy.

2. Add the #R2BC badge (at the end of this post) onto your post or blog so that people can easily find the linky and join in too if they want to

3. Share the love. This is the really important bit. Please don't just link and run, comment on at least a couple of posts and why not share with #R2BC too?

I'll stop by all linked up posts to comment and I'll share on social media too.

Meanwhile here are my reasons to be cheerful for this week:

1) A trip to the moon

I have already blogged about the amazing experience seeing the Museum of the Moon was:

2) On the hills with family

I needed to kick myself into gear and start getting in shape for marathon training to resume. My son challenged me to run up 3 local hills and then the following day I hiked back on one with family (and Sherlock):

3) Time with my children

With it being the school holidays I had time to spend with both children doing something they love. For my daughter she bribed me with a lunch at Hansen's Ice Cream Parlour. A complete opposite with my son as it was a run up to Kendal Castle:

Time for the change - Menopause #menopause

2020-09-02T15:50:00.001+01:00

Being a woman means that at some point the menopause will hit with all horror stories of what it entails:

hot flushes
sleepless nights
brain fog
short temper
hair thinning
low mood
reduced bone strength

As I approach my 50th birthday it is something I need to be aware of and find ways to mitigate the symptoms:

Menopause means that whilst there are no longer the issues of monthly periods, with the problems (and expense) these can bring, it is not an easy time for most women. The lack of quality sleep is something which can impact on all aspects of life. It is certainly something that I am currently struggling with.