Parkrun #19 and other bits & bobs

Having given last week a miss on account of the fact that my legs were still feeling a bit sorry for themselves after taking on the Yorkshire 3 Peaks the day before, today it was back to my familiar stomping ground of Vogrie Country Park for the second time since Parkrun returned to Scotland a fortnight ago.

Last time out, I set an all-time Parkrun PB of 25:58; this week I was a wee bit slower at 26:49 but, actually, I was happier with this run. It felt better, my pacing was much more consistent, and I wasn't dead on my feet in the finishing funnel. Maybe it's something to do with running in a group (which I almost never do) but it's funny that I can comfortably pace 10k - HM, but 5k often catches me out. It possibly also has a lot to do with the fact I seldom run less than 10k and today was only my fifth run below that distance this year.

Anyway, I digress. It was a lovely day. The early autumn sunshine was pleasantly warm, the track was generally dry underfoot and, all in all, it was a good run.

As I've commented before, since Parkrun (and lower league rugby) were suspended, over the past 18 months, Saturday has become my long run day. Today, as with two weeks ago, having got home from Vogrie, I went out and did another 6½k just because my legs needed a little more punishing. As it turned out, that second run meant that I hit 875 miles for the year meaning I've successfully run the length of the UK from John o' Groats to Land's End in a little under 8 months. By way of context, in 2020, it took me until mid-November to cover the same distance. Now, I suppose, the challenge is to see if I can get to 1,000 miles for the year before my birthday in early October.

Today's run also took my August Miles For Mind cumulative total to 99.5 miles. If I'd known I was that close to 100, I'd have kept going, but hey ho, such is life. I've two more runs to fit in before the month is over, so I think I should break that barrier.

Anyway, that's enough whittering from me, hope you all have a great weekend. Happy running and stay safe.

Oh, and for those of you who have followed me for a while, next month will see the return of the (in)famous "Saturday Squiggles".

Comments

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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