Park Run Take Two

Back to back Park Runs - a rare occurrence for me, but after last week's very poor time I wanted to try make amends. Did I manage to...er no! I will not beat about the bush, I ran a 24.30 time, so a further two seconds slower than the week before, and even further away from my 22.37 PB - was it actually me who ran that time?! I have realised that I am not in PB running form; I can feel I am not as fast I was in the Summer, when I was running 22 min Park Runs, and when I felt at my speediest. However I am trying to get closer to my 5k PB, so this week was not a good week. I will however try and find some positives...

I entered into this week's Park Run with a new strategy, not trying to keep up with my friend as she is too fast for me at the moment! I wanted to try and run a steady pace throughout, one which felt manageable but would also edge me closer to my PB mark. Doing some mental math as we waited for 9am, my friend and I worked out my goal kilometer split time, and I thus lined up at the start with the notion of sticking to this. I went off too fast, but this week's event was very busy and I wanted to get towards the front. I settled into the run though and felt comfortable. As we finished the first lap of the course, I glanced at my watch and was shocked to see I had only ran 0.6km.... then realised I had not switched it from miles to km! Pacing strategy was now thrown out the window!

I carried on and ran the second lap reasonably comfortably again, yo-yoing in front and behind a fellow female who seemed to be running around the same pace as me. Then the third lap arrived and my legs suddenly felt sapped. They didn't hurt or feel as heavy as last week - which I will take as a good thing! - but they just lost their drive.

I slowed and as we entered the final stages just did not have the power to dig in like I remember being able to in past Park Runs. Once again my sprint finish was also non-existent, whereas before it used to help me claw some extra seconds. I crossed the line knowing I had made no improvement...confirmed by the fact my friend had managed to finish her 5k, gather herself, and be stood at the finishing funnel taking photos of me!

So a slower time than last week, but oddly my legs felt better during the run - someone work that one out for me please! I will cling on to this vague form of progress and hope the tough marathon training runs I have coming up will restore some of the power and drive I seem to have lost over late 2015 - where to be honest I spent the majority of my time running one paced, mid distance runs. Next Park Run I will set a new, more realistic goal of a sub 24min time...watch this space!