Saturday I returned to Horsham parkrun after a short period away (last parkrun was 4th April!) because of a number of things including events, broken toe, work and cycling taking priority too. All the same it was good to get back and with a 25:29 minute time; less than a minute off my 24:39 5k PB so I was happy with that. Less happy after running with Owain to then have him overtake me on the sprint (and it was a reverse uphill sprint this week too). Even though I caught back up he still beat me by 1second and just had a bit more left than I so I'll give him that. We are often evenly matched which makes things fun and it helps me be better too - though I have more parkruns and a better age grading at the moment, he is still faster on the 5k events at the moment but even on 10k and half marathon distance we are usually less than a minute apart. Leyla did really well too on Saturday, first run for her in ages (I think march?) due to injury (boo!) and still got a respectable 33:16 (and she has more parkruns than O - just saying ... not that Ley is quite as competitive is some of us others not too far away).
I think I could have maintained a faster pace on Saturday but playing
football for the first time in ages Friday night (literally went to Tesco to
buy a football at 21:30 and came home to play it as part of resolving a dispute
with my future husband - I won I hasten to add of course), my broken toe had
flared up. I broke my toe about 4-5 weeks ago accidentally kicking the base of
the bed going to draw the curtains - nothing exciting except it bloody hurt and
is still continuing to bother me every now and then however, it hasn't stopped
me entirely. I still ran the Southampton 10k a few days after doing it (though
I was meant to run the half marathon) and it doesn't bother me cycling.
So if you haven't heard of parkrun and are either a runner or like the idea of running or just a means to get fit (or you can even walk them!), check it out: www.parkrun.org.uk it is the best! In summary they are free 5km timed runs all over the country, it is a great community to get involved in if you haven't already. I run and I volunteer at them when I can't run or shouldn't (i.e. race) and I know I should volunteer more and I hope to. My regular parkrun is Horsham but my friends and I also frequent Tilgate and Cranleigh and try and tourist to others too if we can. There is no medal but there is a t-shirt and the kudos of joining the 50 club once you have done 50 runs and 25 for volunteering. I am at 28 parkruns now since last August so I hope to achieve my status by the end of the year at the very latest.
I love park run for all the stats it give you too. I can see how much I have progressed and how effective my training has been too. A screen shot shows this best:
I often like to include parkrun at the end of a long run to make it up to 13miles or more. I really enjoy those too. We have talked about running to Cranleigh parkrun which is 10miles up the Downs Link and meeting the less crazy amongst us there, or cycling it.
I was talking about goal setting and I suppose this is a good opportunity to set one, or 3:
#1 Achieve a parkrun 5k PB of <24:00 by the end of July and a <23:00 PB by the end of 2015 (location irrelevant).
#2 Earn my 50 club t-shirt before the end of 2015 (The earliest I could do this would be 24th October as I need a further 22 parkruns under my belt. This could happen but is unlikely so end of 2015 it is (and hopefully before any of my other friends too ;-) )
#3 Visit and run/volunteer at a further 8 new parkrun locations before the end of 2015.
To achieve a PB I think I need to invest in some new technology to help me pace myself. Owain and Beck (a fellow parkrunner and new to road cycling friend) both have the Garmin Vivoactive. I keep looking and have been for months and for the price there really doesn't seem to be anything better (and now that O has learnt to use his and doesn't stop singing its praises I am inclined to think that it is quite good). The one I was considering (TomTom multisport I think) Beck has just replaced with the Vivoactive. I need more information closer to hand. Like on my wrist. Another TBC...
At this point I realise that I write a lot. I have a lot to say. (I am also terrible at grammar and spelling which has already been pointed out to me) parkrun does indeed deserve its own post but I also had a great 35k ride on Saturday on the MTB as part of a risk assessment for a Breeze ride I still need to set up on the system as well as my 30 day challenge app. Yesterday (Sunday) I also made it to the gym for row/arms strength and core session and swim and would love to write about that, the good aches today and the blisters on my hands. But I am not, for now at least. After an evening meeting later at work I am riding tonight with Beck, weather pending (her first time out on her first and new road bike), but with the Dragon at the weekend this really does need to be a reasonably easy week.
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