(Virtual) Winton 10k Trail

Round about this time last year, when I was just about completing Week 4 of the Couch to 5k programme, I noticed signs going up around the village for the annual 5k/10k trail run. At that point I had still to complete the "infamous" 20 minute non-stop run that would be the climax of Week 5 and the idea that I might, just might, one day, be able to run 5k was still a seemingly unlikely aspiration (little did I know I was less than 5 weeks away from achieving it) and I set myself the goal of doing this year's 5k event.

Skip forward 12 months to today, and I was down to take part in the 10k version (I really did not imagine that this time last year). Sadly, due to the current COVID-19 situation, this year's run, like so many others, has had to be postponed (if not cancelled altogether). Since the run starts and ends more or less on my doorstep, I decided that I would run a version of it anyway.

Unlike last year's event, where the runners had to contend with a torrential downpour, I had almost perfect conditions; mild, a slight breeze, and the ground was reasonably firm and (almost unusually for this particular route) almost entirely puddle free. There have been occasions where I have almost had to wade sections of this path, but today my feet stayed dry.

While I did miss the excitement of being part of a crowd of 500 or so runners, I did enjoy the solitude and the sounds of nature. At one point I met one of my neighbours running in the opposite direction, but apart from him and a couple of dog walkers, I had the route completely to myself with just the birds and the occasional squirrel for company.

One hour and seven minutes later, and having set a few segment PBs on Strava, it was all over and my daily allowed outside time was over and my 31^st 10k was in the bag (not bad for someone who a year ago wondered if he'd ever actually manage to run 5k). Whilst not the event I'd planned to do, it was still good to get out and run it anyway.

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So, this happened...

Back at the start of March, after an 8 month lay-off, I picked up where I left off on week 2 and restarted my Couch to 5k journey. I completed the plan on 7 May, running 5k in a time of 39:21. Today, just shy of 4 months later, I ran 10k non-stop for the first time in my life with a time of 1:19:36. It hadn't been my intention to run that far tonight; I wasn't due to make my first attempt at the distance until next week. Tonight I was aiming for 8.5-9k but it just felt right and I kept going and, well, the result is what it is... Feeling dead chuffed with my achievement, but I need to thank everyone on the forum for their encouragement and support at all points along this journey and (I'm sure) for the continued encouragement on what is still to come. I'm off to give my poor legs a well earned rub down...

One run, two more PBs

It's been that kind of week. At the start of the year I set myself the following goals for 2020: See how much lower I could take my 5k PB below 28:38 Get my 10k PB below one hour from 1:03:49 Get my 10 mile PB below 1:45:00 from 1:49:29 Get my Half Marathon PB below 2:30:00 from 2:30:23 I haven't really been doing anything specific towards reducing them, although on Monday , I did a sprint interval session and brought my 5k time down to 28:04. I was meant to be running the Edinburgh Kilomathon tomorrow, which is a 13.1k run through the city, stating at Ocean Terminal and ending in Murrayfield Stadium. Alas, due to CORVID-19, this event, like so many others is currently on hold. Since I wasn't going to be able to do that run, I decided to do my own thing today. Rather than run 13.1k, I decided to push on and go for 13.1 miles. The result; two more of my goals achieved. My 10 mile PB now stands at 1:44:54, and my Half Marathon PB is down to 2:21:21. My 10k PB

Two years ago, having finally shaken of the tendonitis that had put paid to my first attempt at the Couch to 5k plan, I finally put all the excuses behind me, laced up my shoes that had been gathering dust since I unboxed them at Christmas, and started my running journey in earnest. There were a couple of "training runs" along the way, but I completed the programme in May 2019 and quickly moved on to JuJu's 10k plan which got me to 10k on 1 July that year. Before 2019 was finished, I'd get to 10 miles in October and my first HM in November and, by the time the bells rang in 2020, I'd clocked up over 500 miles. Then, 2020... Well, actually, from a running perspective, it turned out better than anticipated. Yes, OK, so the final parkrun was a year ago this weekend just past, and all the organised events I'd entered were cancelled or postponed until some indeterminate point in the future, but running, it seemed, was an escape and helped my cope with the whole

Finding My Inner Runner

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