A parkrun birthday and back to square one

Ever get this feeling that you're going no where? That whatever you do the recurring theme is two steps forward & two back.

Let's start with some positivity though. Saturday meant for a trip to a parkrun. I'd negotiated Chelmsford with Paula based on there being a comic store & a cider shop! This week was the 1st birthday for the parkrun event, with a bumper crowd to celebrate. The award ceremony overran, which meant a lot of chilly runners waiting & sporadic clapping when the PA could be heard. That said, the atmosphere was excellent, the event appears to have grown exponentially in 2014, another record for finishers this week. It is a mark of the flexibility of the organisers that this was my 4th outing at Chelmsford & I'm yet to repeat a route! Given the amount of rain in the past week I was surprised the event took place.

The Run

I went into the run with low expectations, given the level of training this year. I also wasn't sure how much of the route was going to be on tarmac compared to grass. The start was congested, a wide start narrowing quickly, meaning the pace slowed and a rhythm hard to find. After about half a km the course rounded a pond, filing runners two by two. After a kilometre I started to find a pace and settle in, relieved that nothing was hurting! A small detour round a field was tough on the first lap, second lap even harder as around 500 pairs of feet had got to it by the time I got there! Always tempted to pick up some trail shoes for the winter. My pace stayed consistent throughout, at around the 5:10/km mark throughout, with a slight slow down round the field.

Most of the people behind me had passed by the finish......

I was relived to cross the line in 25:41. No where near my fastest, but I was expecting to be far slower given my lack of running time in 2014. I'm yet to find a consistent time at Chelmsford, I suspect the course being different on every visit might have played a part. The event is well run though, the variation in route a testament to the team's desire to keep going rather than cancel a week due to the elements. 

Practically falling across the finish line

The Eat

My bribery of Mrs H fell on its face. The comic store was a let down & the cider shop was closed for a winter break! The upside to this is another trip to Chelmsford in the future to allow Paula to stock up on apple juice. 

The plan for the evening was to put together a home made curry. This was made even better after finding a stall selling Indian snacks. So a surprisingly spicy chicken rogan was supplemented with onion bhaji & a paneer spring roll. I'd never tried a paneer spring roll, but observing the adage that anything with cheese must be good, had to try one. It made for an excellent side. 

A plate of curry. A just reward!

The Conclusion

As alluded to, the high of a decent run was followed by the low of the day after. I woke up on Sunday with a plan to cover ten miles, 90 minutes of easy and kick start my training. 

Instead I woke to solid, painful Achilles, again. Yet again all plans were abandoned & the cycle of icing & stretching returned. At this stage, frustration & negativity are getting the better of me. It also doesn't help to carry out any internet self diagnosis either, I might as well amputate appears to be the prognosis. If recovery is going to be this difficult, I'm going to have to consider abandoning some parkruns to allow for at least one long run a weekend. The other option will be to run long during the week, if time allows. 

There is at least some good news to end on. After stretching throughout Sunday & Monday I packed some running kit, hoping that my body & the elements would allow for a lunchtime run. I woke up pain free, making the day instantly better! 

After burying myself in paperwork for the morning, escaping over lunch became a must so I headed out for a lap of Battersea Park. I was purposefully slow, determined to put little effort in and just get some distance. The result being 56 minutes and under 9 kilometres completed!

It was a good workout & I'm not feeling the affects today. It'll be a day by day basis of stretching and recovery, but hopefully the road to Helsinki has started.