I may have no talent for running , but I do have a love of it , which will do very nicely instead. I love being out there on a quiet chilled misty morning. I love seeing kingfishers darting along the river. I love when I get into the “zone”, when my legs seem to be moving of their own volition and my mind drifts off to wherever it wants to be. This morning it was with daughter no1. She is just starting uni and we dropped her off at Exeter on Sunday for the start of freshers week. I knew it would be hard saying goodbye , but I  wasn’t prepared for the heartwrenching pain I felt as we pulled away and left her walking up to her flat. She is already having a fantastic time , which is as it should be , and I will pull myself together and stop being pathetic .

Today did my final LSR before the Royal Parks Half in 11 days. It went well. Did same run as last time along River Medway, but as legs felt good , I added a cheeky extra mile and a bit , making it up to just over 13 miles. Wasn’t fast and probably wasn’t pretty but was very enjoyable. I couldn’t find my fruit shots but spied some jelly babies on my way out so grabbed those and I now actually wonder why I have wasted my money on sis go gels/fruit shoots in the past. Good old jellybabies were just the ticket. Popped one in every 3-4 miles and felt fine. Prob just placebo but as any good GP knows – placebos are not to be sneezed at!

Won’t do any more long runs now , will just keep ticking over till the RP Half now. Anyone else out there in RB world doing it too?

Did an odd run today. A new route which was lovely - hubby dropped me in Maidstone town centre, which isn't very lovely , but I soon was running along the towpath of the Medway , which, rats apart , was rather lovely.Lots of men with geen umbrellas and fishing rods , and dog walkers galore. All very well behaved. Dogs , not the fishermen.The riverside run covered about 7 miles, to the village of Yalding  Then hit the road again for just under 6 miles, so final distance in the region of 12.7miles , which , with 3w till Royal Parks half is just about right.

None of that was very odd however. What was strange was how empty my legs felt almost from the start. My preparation wasn't my usual , in that I watched England v georgia on itv+1, so didnt set off till 10.30 . This meant it was a bit hotter than my runs of late , but not that hot. Had a f late night as was on taxi duty for daughter NO1, but not that late. Had a reasonable brekkie and hydrated well beforehand. Just one of those days , I guess.

I tried out some new Cliff Shot blocks as an alternative to my SIS-Go gels, hoping it would help my empty legs but didnt really get on with them. They are easier to carry , open etc but it seemed to sit on my stomach a bit and felt q nauseous. Also seemed to inc my thirst so ran out of water at 9 miles. This never happens. Tried having half a block which was a bit better so will give them another go nxt week before abandoning them altogether.

Anyway - kept plugging on , despite feeling like running thru treacle most of the way and somehow  got home in approx 2hours.Hubby, bless him , was quite impressed , saying something along lines of "you only have to run a minute a mile faster and you will easily get under 2 hours " He isn't a runner.

....to everyone doing the GNR this weekend with a special mention to Malcolm,Alaistair and "elite" starter Dizzy! I will be thinking of you all and remembering happy times running thru Gateshead in the past and not so happy times queing interminably for the buses afterwards!

The Red Arrows flypast, always a highlight, will be particularly poignant this year.

...but it is playing havoc with my running at a time when I can't really afford to be having havoc anywhere in my vicinity. You would think the IRB would realise there are early morning runners who also love their rugby and reschedule their matches accordingly. But no , seems I have to change my routine. So this weekend saw me not running at all on sat and missing ireland's match on sunday. In retrospect wish I had done my LSR when England were playing as certainly wouldn't have missed much. Except perhaps the streaker.

Its been a while since I have been in blogland - no excuses really - just been a tad busy. Daughter no1 did us proud , and more importantly herself justice , and got fantastic A2 results and is off to Exeter to read English. Relief all round.The Family Andrews had our usual summer holiday/boot camp in the french alps. My hubby doesnt do "relaxing" so we climbed mountains/rafted/cycled ourselves silly. Yet again , I took my running kit on a well deserved break , spending , as it did , the entire fortnight on the shelf in my wardrobe. Also ran our "B and B" , hosting one set of friends after another. I like to think it is because we are popular and lovely people but I think its more to do with the fact we are convenient for both London and the channel tunnel.

Running is going ok but I am , I realise , past my peak. I think I was actually past it 2 decades or so before I actually took up running, but I am certainly past it now! However enjoying getting out and feeling quite liberated by fact that I dont really give a monkey's what time I do the London Parks Half in . ( Of course , I am lying , but trying to prepare myself for the ridiculously slow time that I am going to post...).

This weekends LWR (long wet run) went well. Set off at 7.15 to run the 1.5 miles to my mate Paulines house , where she joined me for 5.5 miles, dropped her off again, and then just made it up running on my own around the lanes plus a bit off road  my village  till I had done what was about I reckoned 8 miles. Heavens opened after about 5 mins of running but decided ( incorrectly) that it wasn't going to rain for long so carried on rather than doing my usual opt out of jacking it in and just having coffee at P's house. Glad I did carry on because turns out  I did 10.3 miles in just under 10min/mile pace whch was pleasing.

Anyway peeps - time to go - will try and catch up with a few old mates on here in next few days but just incase I dont manage it - good luck Malcolm. Expecting great things in Gateshead....

PS not sure why the type has gone red half way thru this post, nor why there are horizontal dividing lines. Cant get it to go back to normal. Computers are such a mystery...