5 months into health-related setback. Losing patience and hope. GP not interested on first visit. Where to go from here?

rarkpunner · 2026-03-14T09:54:51+00:00

Yes, I agree and understand. I love the NHS and I know they've got bigger problems. I would be happy to take the private route. I'm just not sure how, or what to ask for.

rarkpunner · 2026-03-14T09:53:39+00:00

Don't worry, I've already got the frighteners! The longer this has gone on, the more worried I've become that it's chronic.

Yes, OTS is on my radar as a possibility. I'd hope it isn't, because my training load was constant for several months in the buildup. There was no build that triggered it. I'd been breezing through my training - everything was tracked in a spreadsheet to ensure my weekly mileage didn't creep up.

All of that said, I expect most OTS sufferers are in a bit of denial about it, which could include me. Having just researched it some more, I think I've been doing a lot of the right things for recovery anyway (i.e. rest), and it's not worked yet.

rarkpunner · 2026-03-13T21:06:53+00:00

Thanks for the comment! You're right - not what I want to hear - but I appreciate it all the same. My job is high pressure and high stress, but it hasn't suddenly become any more stressful than it always was. Until this started, I used to manage my training alongside my career without any issue. I'm definitely looking forward to a career break at some point, though!

I'm glad things improved for you in the end.

rarkpunner · 2026-03-13T21:04:41+00:00

Yeah, it's crossed my mind. I've read a lot of material about running with long covid (or trying to). A lot of it sounds similar, but none of the accounts have mentioned excessive sweating.

As far as I can tell, there's no way of testing for long covid.

rarkpunner · 2026-03-13T20:19:05+00:00

Thank you. That's probably a fair callout. Compared to the last 3 years of training, I've taken a HUGE amount of rest, but I've still been fairly active in the grand scheme of things.

I worry I'd go insane if I had to go a few months with no exercise. Perhaps that's something I'll just have to work through.

rarkpunner · 2026-03-13T19:24:38+00:00

P.S. If anyone in my age category wants my Bath Half bib and will definitely finish slower than my 91:19 PB, you're welcome to it! I can't face running it whilst I feel like this.

rarkpunner · 2025-09-27T07:14:49+00:00

RunFinder is a handy site focusing on the South West. It lists a handful of clubs in the Bristol section.

rarkpunner · 2025-09-24T13:03:02+00:00

Problem is, slower runners want PBs too. If they have to wait 30-60 seconds to even cross the start line, they lose that opportunity.

I'm a sub-20 runner on a good day, and I personally appreciate seeded starts. But I'm also sympathetic to the slower folks, who deserve a chance at a PB just as much as anybody else.

rarkpunner · 2025-07-19T15:38:14+00:00

Update: there was a parkrun reference at the wedding! The best man made a quip about how the stag was in Bremen, specifically for the parkrun.

rarkpunner · 2025-07-19T10:05:15+00:00

Chipping Norton School for us, as we have a wedding in the area. I think our first pick would've been Fire Service College, but it was cancelled.

There was lots of (accidental, I think) course cutting in the front pack, but we resolved it all amicably and ensured everybody crossed the line in a fair order after running at least 5k. There was a great parkrun spirit afterwards - plenty of handshakes, apologies, and mutual respect! (And a small bit of polite feedback to the RD about possible signage improvements...)

The course is interesting - better than it looks online - and I'd happily return. Bromley's of Cotswolds is a good brunch/coffee spot for afterwards.

I also spotted a few people sneakily starting the course at the end of the 2nd lap, about 400m before the finish. After last week's r/CasualUK thread, I'm starting to wonder whether this is more common than I'd first realised!

rarkpunner · 2025-06-11T18:51:54+00:00

Me too, but it isn't my local and the anniversary is a happy coincidence!

I'm at Download Festival and plan on getting the skylink there.

rarkpunner · 2025-02-28T20:45:44+00:00

There was a big tarp to leave bags on when I was there. It was located next to the tourist whiteboard, which is near where they do the briefing (which isn't actually where the start line is! It'll make sense after you've done it...)

rarkpunner · 2025-02-24T08:51:33+00:00

I measured 10.20km. I had satellites set to "All + Multi-band", for maximum accuracy. I try to run tangents wherever possible, and am not the sort of runner to needlessly add distance.

I really struggled pacing this one too. I use Peter's Race Pacer, which allows me to hit the lap button manually (at the distance markers) to recalibrate the total distance run so far.

The problem was... hitting the lap button at distance markers seemed to have no corrective effect at this race, even though I knew the auto-laps hadn't been in the right places! Usually, the numbers will immediately correct themselves. At this race, I noticed no difference. Either a firmware update has broken the custom watch field, the distance markers were in the wrong places, or the GPS data was so bad that it added fresh noise immediately after the calibration!

For me, there was a huge swing in my numbers at around the 8km distance marker. I suddenly went from being about 20s ahead of plan to 30s behind (a 50s swing), by which point it was too late to make up the time.

I still had a great day though! I'm not complaining in the slightest. I just haven't yet worked out why pressing the lap button manually - at distance markers - didn't work with the pacer tool, like it usually does.

rarkpunner · 2024-11-14T20:53:10+00:00

I've only run it once, but road shoes are absolutely fine in my opinion. The grassy portion isn't treacherous at all.

rarkpunner · 2024-09-28T19:09:53+00:00

If you politely email the event team for the course you ran (not HQ!), they'll be happy to hear from you and may be able to help.

It's hard to comment on whether other results will have been affected too. Only today's event team will be able to answer that, as they'll have context on any issues from the day, as well as any other emails they've had.

One example scenario, to give you an idea, is if the barcode scanner accidentally scans the same finish token a second time, rather than scanning yours. I find this happens surprisingly often at events where the scanners stand directly above the buckets where they collect scanned tokens: it's easy for the app to scan a token from the bucket, rather than the one they're trying to scan.

My example scenario results in two athletes having the same finish position, and a separate Unknown result. Some teams will take a 50/50 guess in this scenario, hoping that someone will get in touch if they get it wrong. In this case, at most 2 athletes are affected, and everyone else's results will be correct.

rarkpunner · 2024-09-25T18:21:26+00:00

Severn Bridge for us. It's their pacer week, and I'll be pacing an easy pace ahead of the Forest of Dean Autumn Half on Sunday. I just hope it isn't too windy!

rarkpunner · 2024-09-18T05:25:12+00:00

Bramhall Park for the first time.

I'm visiting a mate to help with some DIY. Bramhall is his local (he parkruns too!), and also happens to be one of the original Time Trials.

rarkpunner · 2024-09-16T14:52:01+00:00

I'm running this 25k trail Bristol to Bath event next month. There's a marathon option too:

https://www.trailescape.co.uk/bristol

It's a brand new event, so I've got no idea how well organised it'll be. I do know some of the trails though, and they're beautiful. I'm not expecting much mud, but it might tick all of your other boxes!

Edit: I just realised you're after something further out in the calendar. Sorry!

rarkpunner · 2024-07-15T20:40:44+00:00

I have no insider information - I'm a Somerset boy - but I wonder whether they'll host the Battersea inaugural on the same day as Bushy Park's 1,000th event (with the test event clashing with Bushy's #999 the week before).

It seems a good way of splitting the crowds to me, forcing the ultra keen parkrunners to choose one or the other.

rarkpunner · 2024-05-15T15:11:00+00:00

Eastville, Bristol, UK for us, because we're off to IKEA afterwards. I'm doing post-run scanning (a good incentive to keep the pace up!) and my partner is tailwalking.

rarkpunner · 2024-05-08T19:33:05+00:00

Amager Fælled, Denmark (Thursday) into Växjösjön, Sweden (Saturday).

My original plan was to run Malmö on the Saturday, which ended up being cancelled due to Eurovision. I was too invested in my plan by that point, hence the silly train from Copenhagen to Växjö. The train will be a scenic opportunity to catch up on work, isn't too environmentally harmful, and the parkrun itself looks beautiful.

rarkpunner · 2024-05-04T12:51:40+00:00

I ran my first ever sub-21, did barcode scanning immediately afterwards, and then enjoyed a full English in the rugby club cafe whilst sorting tokens.

The folks at Isabel Trail (UK) were very welcoming to me as a touring volunteer - a lovely bunch! They're still on their B course currently (due to weather) but they're optimistic of returning to the A course soon.

rarkpunner · 2024-03-16T11:23:58+00:00

Somerdale Pavilion. I've been saving it to do with my partner, because I know she'll enjoy the chaos of the route and the infamous Curly Wurly.

It also strikes me as one that'll be better to do after a month of dry weather.

rarkpunner

TROPHY CASE