The alarm sounds at 0715 on a Saturday, what kind of a fool sets an alarm that early on a weekend? A parkrun fool of course! Being a parkrun nomad means that an early wake up & a 30+ minute drive are always a requirement to getting a quick 5k in.
A group of five parkrun tourists descended on Chelmsford Central parkrun yesterday morning. I was immediately confused by a funfair sitting exactly where the start / finish line was last time I visited. Conditions we certainly more helpful than my previous visit, no ice or snow to be seen anywhere. Mrs H wasn't running, an autumnal cold had caught her.
A group of five parkrun tourists descended on Chelmsford Central parkrun yesterday morning. I was immediately confused by a funfair sitting exactly where the start / finish line was last time I visited. Conditions we certainly more helpful than my previous visit, no ice or snow to be seen anywhere. Mrs H wasn't running, an autumnal cold had caught her.
The Run
After the pre race brief we headed to the start line. The first thing I noticed was how much the event had grown since January. We were underway and I tried to settle into a rhythm. I passed the first km marker under the 5 minute mark & kept running around the 5:00/km pace. My plan was to aim for 25:00 or just under, see how to body was after the more painful than expected half marathon recovery.
Throughout the latter half of the run I felt like I was running on empty, perhaps salad the night before & a slice of toast in the morning was insufficient? That said, I usually run empty before work so I'm used to the feeling. Around halfway we also veered off the nice tarmac path to take in some grass. I know many runners prefer grass to pavement, I've never been one of them. We also encountered the course's only hill, a fairly easy 10 metre incline followed by a straight descend back onto the tarmac.
I soon hit the 4km marker, the mental soundtrack always seems to be "just 5 minutes to go", much like last week's "just 5km to go". My pace was still good, I felt like a high 24 was on the cards as I started to find more final kilometre pace. Only when I got to 400m to go did I realise my time was going to be much faster. With approx 2 minutes of running left my watch was still mid 22:00, so I kicked at 400 & tried to maintain the pace to the end.
I crossed the line in 24:26. Five seconds quicker than at Oak Hill a month ago and only five above my 5km personal best. Given that I wasn't PB hunting yesterday & other than half marathons all of my month's training has been easy, I'm very happy with that result. My 11 week plan to the end of November includes five parkrun visits currently, that PB might just get broken soon.
Even more impressive was the result our friend Joely returned. For the past couple of months myself & Fergie had been encouraging / borderline bullying him into making some progress with his running. Yesterday Fergie's job was to pace Joel to a 35:00 PB. Joel crossed the line in 32:52, an incredible 3:07 off of his PB. Joel was the first to ask when we're parkrunning next! It's great to see a friend get the enjoyment & sense of achievement from all the hard work.
After the pre race brief we headed to the start line. The first thing I noticed was how much the event had grown since January. We were underway and I tried to settle into a rhythm. I passed the first km marker under the 5 minute mark & kept running around the 5:00/km pace. My plan was to aim for 25:00 or just under, see how to body was after the more painful than expected half marathon recovery.
Throughout the latter half of the run I felt like I was running on empty, perhaps salad the night before & a slice of toast in the morning was insufficient? That said, I usually run empty before work so I'm used to the feeling. Around halfway we also veered off the nice tarmac path to take in some grass. I know many runners prefer grass to pavement, I've never been one of them. We also encountered the course's only hill, a fairly easy 10 metre incline followed by a straight descend back onto the tarmac.
I soon hit the 4km marker, the mental soundtrack always seems to be "just 5 minutes to go", much like last week's "just 5km to go". My pace was still good, I felt like a high 24 was on the cards as I started to find more final kilometre pace. Only when I got to 400m to go did I realise my time was going to be much faster. With approx 2 minutes of running left my watch was still mid 22:00, so I kicked at 400 & tried to maintain the pace to the end.
I crossed the line in 24:26. Five seconds quicker than at Oak Hill a month ago and only five above my 5km personal best. Given that I wasn't PB hunting yesterday & other than half marathons all of my month's training has been easy, I'm very happy with that result. My 11 week plan to the end of November includes five parkrun visits currently, that PB might just get broken soon.
Even more impressive was the result our friend Joely returned. For the past couple of months myself & Fergie had been encouraging / borderline bullying him into making some progress with his running. Yesterday Fergie's job was to pace Joel to a 35:00 PB. Joel crossed the line in 32:52, an incredible 3:07 off of his PB. Joel was the first to ask when we're parkrunning next! It's great to see a friend get the enjoyment & sense of achievement from all the hard work.
The Eat
After some shopping around Chelmsford we headed home, baked up a camembert, baked up some garlic & had a lazy afternoon. Even managed a lie in this morning, it's nice to wake up and not have a half marathon to run!!!
After some shopping around Chelmsford we headed home, baked up a camembert, baked up some garlic & had a lazy afternoon. Even managed a lie in this morning, it's nice to wake up and not have a half marathon to run!!!
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