Today was a good day. Today I reached two significant landmarks. Two reasons to validate the progress made so far this year & motivate me to keep going.
The morning started well, I hopped on the scales to see if a week of packed lunches and salads had paid off. The scales told me that I've now dropped a stone so far this year. The loss hasn't been rapid by any means & if I'd made significant change to my diet I could probably drop quicker. Yet regular readers will know I'm a fan of food.....
We headed off to the Gunpowder parkrun. We thought it was their two year anniversary & Paula was the first ever women's record holder for the course. Turns out we were a week early! I'd not run Gunpowder since April, but the course has always been one of my favourites. Fast, reasonably flat & not too busy.
We headed off to the Gunpowder parkrun. We thought it was their two year anniversary & Paula was the first ever women's record holder for the course. Turns out we were a week early! I'd not run Gunpowder since April, but the course has always been one of my favourites. Fast, reasonably flat & not too busy.
The Run
Conditions were near perfect. Mid teens temperature, cloudy, even a little rain for all of a minute. I arrived with no set plan to chase a PB, merely to get as close as possible & definitely sub 25. I've hardly run since returning from holiday so didn't think I could be that fast.
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| So fast it's hard to focus.... |
However with 5 minutes gone my Nike GPS told me I'd travelled at 4:22/km!!! The second 5 minutes were at 4:44/km. This meant just maintaining pace would have me close to a PB. I felt that I was maintaining pace in the second half of the run, my timing suggested I could drop below 24:00. Although I was slowing slightly, I was surprised to see the upper reaches of 23:00 on my watch as I turned the penultimate corner, was my timing all wrong?
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| Feeling good, 2nd lap |
I crossed the line & the timekeeper read out 24:09, a PB by twelve seconds!!!! On stopping my GPS I could see the run measured at 5:11km & Nike was happily telling me I had a 23:40 5k new record!!! Of course this wasn't the case, you expect a bit of GPS flex on runs & this time it wasn't in my favour. It also explains why I was just over, rather than under 24:00.
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| Not the most even paced race |
The Eat
One of the issues with weighing yourself at the start of the weekend is that it might put you off falling from the wagon. With a PB in hand that wasn't the case! A family curry has ended the day. A day that also included cakes, sweets, frazzles & the ever reliable Greggs sausage roll!!! I'll even it out with some falafel tomorrow!
The ConclusionTo repeat the opening line, today was a good day. The weight loss is great & I'm pleased with the ongoing improvement. The PB though is a complete surprise. My recent parkruns at Oakhill, Chelmsford & Wimpole have proved that my pace is returning. Yet having had a quiet three weeks I wasn't expecting any world beating pace today. I felt that maintaining pace might be the hardest thing, thinking a 5:15 4th km would be completely predictable.
What instead occurred was the breaking of a record that had stood since January 2012. At the start of the year I suggested my aims were PBs in 2013. I felt this was wishful thinking as my form was appalling, but what's the point of aiming low? My first km turned out to be a 4:21, this beats the opening km at Wimpole and if it weren't for a GPS cock up in Stockholm last year I think it would be my quickest kilometre. I've come to realise that I'll never be a negative split runner. So why not just push until you can't push anymore? Even when I felt slow, my pace was superb.
There's 7 weeks until the Movember 10k & it's time to chase another PB. If I'm capable of a 24 minute 5k then I should be able to slay that 51:12 10k record. And with four parkruns planned beforehand I have plenty of speed training to assist me.
Here's to another good day.
What instead occurred was the breaking of a record that had stood since January 2012. At the start of the year I suggested my aims were PBs in 2013. I felt this was wishful thinking as my form was appalling, but what's the point of aiming low? My first km turned out to be a 4:21, this beats the opening km at Wimpole and if it weren't for a GPS cock up in Stockholm last year I think it would be my quickest kilometre. I've come to realise that I'll never be a negative split runner. So why not just push until you can't push anymore? Even when I felt slow, my pace was superb.
There's 7 weeks until the Movember 10k & it's time to chase another PB. If I'm capable of a 24 minute 5k then I should be able to slay that 51:12 10k record. And with four parkruns planned beforehand I have plenty of speed training to assist me.
Here's to another good day.
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| A great text message to receive |
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| A nice bit of Nike+ cheer |
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