Another Saturday, another trip down to Parkrun
Yes, I've actually managed to get down to 2 of these in a row now, fancy that!
It was a grey and gloomy day, but I was up early and raring to go. It helps that I've been able to sleep better over the past few weeks, so I'm able to get to bed at a more reasonable time. Part of that is trying to cut back on caffeine (ie Monster and other energy drinks), but also I'm trying harder to stick to a schedule such as going to bed at 11 (regardless of whether I'm tired or not), and getting up the following morning at 6:30 (again, regardless of whether I'm ready to get up or not)
Its early days, but I 'think' its making a difference...?
Anyway
Its was a grey day, especially compared to the beautiful blue skies of last week. I got all my gear together, along with my little running backpack. I don't really need it on shortee distance like this, but I like to use it once a week so it stays familiar. I often use to carry a water bottle, or a wallet or a pair of gloves but I didn't need those today. It was a useful place to hold my phone, so that will do!
Last week was the 500th edition of the event, in which 507 people took part. Todays edition was supposedly back to normal, but it still seemed rather busy her today. I found out later that we had a turnout of 411, so still a larger turnout than usual.
After the very, er, 'brief' race briefing, we set off at 9am sharp. Once again I started too near the back of the pack, and spent most of the first lap zig-zagging between the slower runners. Each time I tell myself to start at least in the middle of the crowds, at least I'd be able to get going at my planned pace quicker.
the flipside of starter too far back means I'm overtaking people continuously throughout the run.
On lap 2, the crowds were starting to thin out and I was able to pick up the pace a little. And then on lap 3, I picked up the pace again. Its not very clear in that graph above (which shows the full 13km session), but you can see the pause before the parkrun starts at 5km, and the pause at the end of it at 10km.
It does show a nice strong finish at the end, and felt good to open up after so much 'slow, easy' running recently
I finished in position 160 overall, and after a pause to get my token scanned to I could eventually receive the results of the event, I turned and started to run back home
the weather was still dull and grey, I think we've got this all weekend...
And once again, I arrived home just in time to recive the email of the results for todays event
My time was 28:38 - not bad considering the slow start (note to self - start near the front), and I wasn't really pushing the pace until the last half of the 3rd lap. I do need to start fitting in some speedwork sessions at some point soon, but I'm wary of overdoing it to soon with with regards to the injury recovery.
Speaking off which, I did manage to get my physio appointment rebooked... its not till the 20th February, but at least it is booked in now!
For the rest of the day, I'll be mostly pottering around and tidying a few bits up. I want to make sure I stay active and not just slump on the sofa as moving around will help with the recovery and will mean I won't feel so stiff when I head out to do a little run tomorrow. I'll also need to spend some more time on my accountancy course, as I've neglected that recently... once again it seems like too much to do, and not enough time to do it in!