parkrun Tourism: Blandford parkrun

We had an opportunity for some parkrun tourism (minus M) on 14th December. We had a trip to see Santa planned with Stuart’s parents, so we agreed to drop M off at their house in Ferndown before driving further to Blandford parkrun. That way, M got to spend some time with her grandparents, aunty and cousins and we got to...

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December 9, 2019

Monday Morning Motivation: Perry Shoemaker

Perry Shoemaker is a 48-year-old mother of three who has qualified for the US Olympic Trials in February. As one of 380 women, she knows she is unlikely to qualify for Team USA, but as someone who is double the age of other qualifiers, she is an inspirational woman. Shoemaker is the second oldest woman ever to qualify. The oldest,...

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December 8, 2019

Aiming for a season’s best

I’ll be honest this year running has been really hard. I’ve struggled with illness, weight gain, tiredness, stress and motivation issues. All of this meant that my ‘season’s best time’ for 5km was in a pretty poor state. In late summer, I decided to try and get back on top of things by returning to Lordshill Road Runners. It was...

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December 4, 2019

Podcasts to motivate and inspire triathletes

A while back I shared a Friday Five post about 5 podcasts that I listen to. I’ve been trying to be more active in my lunch breaks, so I’ve been out walking whilst listening to podcasts. Here are some of the ones that have been recommended to me: 300 pounds and running The BibRave Podcast Conversations with Richard Fidler on...

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December 2, 2019

Monday Morning Motivation: Marianne Heading

This week’s Monday Morning Motivation is courtesy of Marianne Heading. She is a female ultra runner who, like Jasmin Paris, has proved that when it comes to really long distances women can compete with (and beat) men. Heading was the winner of the Montane Yukon Arctic Ultra 300 mile race back in February this year. She is the first European...

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November 10, 2019

The calm after the storm… no parkrun tourism this week!

After last week’s wet and windy run, I was so grateful that it was dry yesterday morning. However, it definitely wasn’t warm. I’d seen that it was predicted to be about 6C. I’ve been struggling with a heavy cold for over a week and haven’t been exercising much, so I knew I would be slow. The weather meant I also...

Running Comment: 1

November 4, 2019

Monday Morning Motivation: John MacPhee

This week’s Monday Morning Motivation is an episode of Jessica’s parkrun Heroes. It features John MacPhee, a parkrunner with Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s disease is a condition where the brain becomes progressively damaged. It has a number of symptoms including stiff muscles, slow movement and tremors. John MacPhee lives in an idyllic part of Perthshire, Scotland. His mid-life crisis took him...

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November 2, 2019

Wet and windy parkrun

Today was my second parkrun back in Southampton following three parkruns in Australia… and what a contrast it was. The weather was absolutely horrendous this morning. Many parkruns across the country were cancelled and several other local parkruns (including Mountbatten and Brockenhurst) were cancelled after runners arrived. It was a cold, wet and windy parkrun. I was quite surprised that...

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October 21, 2019

Monday Morning Motivation: George Webster

The star of this week’s Monday Morning Motivation is George Webster. George is a parkrunner (and volunteer) at Woodhouse Moor parkrun. He also has Down Syndrome. George presents a George Webster film: young, Leeds parkrunner STAR George Webster turns reporter in this touching and fun film. Don’t miss his hilarious ‘double act’ with the man known as ‘George’s dad’ or...

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October 13, 2019

parkrun Tourism Down Under: Cowra parkrun

On the morning of my brother’s wedding, Stuart and I decided to go to Cowra parkrun. I’d tried out Bathurst parkrun the previous week and we did Orange parkrun a couple of years back. As parkrun starts at 8am in New South Wales and it’s about an hour’s drive to Cowra, it was an early start for us. We were...

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Hi, I'm Tamsyn!

Triathlete | Blogger | Running Coach & Fitness Instructor

As an overweight couch potato, I decided to turn my life around. I lost over 33lbs/15kg and now love keeping fit and healthy. In February 2013, I set myself a challenge to complete an iron-distance triathlon (2.4 mile/3.8k swim; 112 mile/180k bike; 26.2 mile/42.2k run).

Since starting my triathlon journey, I’ve:

learnt to swim and completed a 17.5km sea swim

bought my first road bike and cycled across Japan

run six marathons.

had a baby.

I’ve not completed an Ironman yet… but I’m getting there.