So signed up for a charity run with my uni, a gentle 5k around the Thames (covered in paint). Left this morning to a little snow covering the tops of the cars on my road and on the grass in the park I walk past!
Had great fun getting a T-shirt and we all threw paint at each other before the start. Started off quite quickly as it was a group of quite good runners and thought I would run 5k in one of my fastest times. All was going well, running at a nice speed and enjoying the river, but I had lost the next person in front of me, and couldn't see the people supposed to be marshalling. All was good as there were two girls behind me. Then realised I had reached Westminster (was supposed to cross the river at Waterloo). I knew it was the wrong one so, as you do while running and cold, thought it must be the next bridge along. 5 minutes later, the two girls who had followed me and I sussed out Lambeth Bridge was DEFINITELY too far! Reached 5k in just over 34 minutes, my fastest ever, and decided we should keep it up! We were overtaken by the 10k runners and by the time we reached the finish line (last) we had completed a whole 9k in 1h03mins! Bit more than I had signed up for!
If I had been on my own I think I would have stopped running or walked, but I was feeling good so thought I would just go for it. Had a lot of fun and really couldn't believe how much further I could push myself than I thought I could, and even better, despite running on mostly concrete my shins felt fabulous and my calves barely ached! Looks like its really not too far off me running 10k now!
Still, will take a well earned rest and do some easy runs this week.
week3run1 ✅. 3 x 17 mins with 1 min walks. 
How did your parkrun or (not)parkrun go?
