If you like running and you live in a location that has a parkrun anywhere near you then there's every chance that the title will make total sense to you. 😄
If you are not a runner and there is not a parkrun in your country, city, town then there's every chance you have no clue what I'm talking about! 😂
parkrun (all lowercase, all one word) is a free, weekly, times community initiative to get people outdoors, running, walking and volunteering together. If you have a parkrun near you then it will be on every* Saturday morning sometime around sunrise or soon after. 🌅
{*Occasionally events are cancelled due to extreme weather or for local sporting events, but most locations try to run every single Saturday without fail.}
@new.things and I love travelling (as you may have noticed if you've read any of our recent, or not so recent, posts). And we also enjoy running. And we also have a soft spot for parkrun, particularly since we met at a parkrun. 😊
So, it makes total sense to put our multiple loves together and travel to locations that have parkruns. Hence, this morning we were up early and in a taxi bound for East Coast Park parkrun, one of the three parkruns on the island nation of Singapore. 🇸🇬
It was my 239th parkrun that I have walked and/or run at.
It was my 138th different parkrun location.
And it was my 3rd parkrun country.
🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
But run fast, I did not.
For it was hot, hot, hot! 🥵
And my right knee is still a little out of sorts after all the walking the last three days. It's strange because the pain can be gone for weeks and then comes back without any sort of clear indication as too why. It started on the ski trip back in early August and it's been periodically visiting me ever since. 🤔
My current theory is that it's my body trying to tell me it's tired and that I should rest a bit more. 🥱
So, I listened. Sort of. 😆
I jogged very slowly (about 7:50 min/km pace) and nose breathed the whole way. That actually felt less stressful than walking, both because I came in under 40 minutes (and didn't feel like I would have to rush to the airport) and also because, strangely, it hurts my knee less to jog slowly rather than walk. 🏃♀️
And now, we've finally had our post parkrun coffee at the weirdest place I've ever drank one: at the airport. ☕
From here we are travelling to Chiang Mai, Thailand to visit a family member and explore some more. ✈️
If I have any sense at all I will find some pockets of time for some deep rest. Maybe while the Mister is sneaking in some more runs. 😉
Photo of the red sunrise at East Coast Park, Singapore. Gratefully, taken by me. Photo of me running, taken by @new.things, for which I am grateful. 😊