New parkrun PB

[damienair]

Yesterday I ran my 49th parkrun and my 4th parkrun at Marlay Park in Dublin. There were 526 runners and it was the first time that they had arranged pacers for their parkrun. My 2 sons and my wife were with me as well as my 2 sisters. I had a chance to run on my own and decided to try and beat my previous parkrun PB time of 26:13. So I picked out the 26 minute pacer and decided to stick with him. The pace was slow for the first 1K as we tried to move through the large field. Once the field spread out a bit the 26 minute pacer had to pick up the pace a little and so it was tough going and after 3.5K I was exhausted but I managed to keep going. I ran a faster final kilometer and managed to pass out the pacer and I finished in 192nd place in a time of 25:36. A new PB for parkrun and a new 5K PB. Afterwards I met up with my wife and my sisters and their families and we had a lovely outdoor breakfast at a market in the park. The kids ran around as we enjoyed some beautiful food and a coffee.

So next week I’m going to relax and run a nice gentle parkrun to celebrate my 50th parkrun. Looking forward to it.

Damien

[UnfitNoMore Graduate10]

Many congratulations on the triple PB... absolute, parkrun and course... great that you got to share these achievements with the family too. Your plan for that 50th sounds perfect... soak up that atmosphere and have lots of fun. Soon we will see a victory leap in that lovely red milestone shirt.

Happy running.

[damienair Administrator in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Thank you so much. I had to dig really deep yesterday. I felt a little ill just after getting through the finish funnel. My brain was screaming at me to take a walking break at 3.5K but I’m so happy now I pushed on. So yeah next week I’m just going to run around at a nice comfortable pace for a 28 minute finish. I’m so looking forward to getting that red T-Shirt.

Damien

[UnfitNoMore Graduate10 in reply to damienair]

My daughter finally got the invite for her 10 shirt yesterday... she’s buzzing about it, so it had better arrive soon 🤣

[damienair Administrator in reply to UnfitNoMore]

My Son was wearing his all day yesterday. It’s absolutely filthy. White is not a good colour for kids.😂😂😂 It’s fantastic though seeing them run in their milestone T-Shirts.

[UnfitNoMore Graduate10 in reply to damienair]

Always struck me as a strange choice of colour... especially as muddy brown is still unused.

[Granspeed Graduate10 in reply to UnfitNoMore]

🤣🤣

[CAFC62]

Sounds like a super day all round - I did my very first Parkrun and loved it. Good luck for the 50th and you can the. wear the 50 shirt with pride 🏃‍♂️🏅👊🏻😊

[damienair Administrator in reply to CAFC62]

Parkrun is amazing. A weekend is not a weekend with a parkrun. It’s addictive. Well done on your first parkrun and Enjoy all your future ones.

Damien

[Sandraj39 Graduate10]

Wow - what a fantastic time! Congratulations on a new PB! 😀👏 Enjoy your 50th Parkrun next weekend! Yes, definately drop the pace a little and soak up the atmosphere next time!🙂

[damienair Administrator in reply to Sandraj39]

I absolutely will drop the pace next week. I’m looking forward to it already.

Damien

[Chris141 Graduate10]

Well done!

[damienair Administrator in reply to Chris141]

Thank you.

[Vintage61 Graduate10]

Congratulations!!! Fab pic 😊

[damienair Administrator in reply to Vintage61]

Thank you. One of my Sisters took the pics. They were both egging me on and were bent over laughing at me.

[Couchpotato2]

Congratulations on your great PB and the Dublin PR sounds like a great place. Let us know what you decide for your 50th...

[damienair Administrator in reply to Couchpotato2]

Thank you. Marlay Park is beautiful. It is a huge park. My 2 Sisters live close to there and it’s a nice opportunity to meet up. We had a lovely breakfast at the market in the park. There were fantastic stalls, loads of yummy options.

I’m going to be doing my 50th parkrun at a new inaugural event within 30 mins from me. A few regulars from my local home parkrun are also making the journey. So I’ll be able to celebrate with with them and my 10 year old Son.

Damien

[Couchpotato2 in reply to damienair]

Good choice. I think with the inauguration there will be quite a few of the local crowd going to try it out so you'll have quite a bit of support I'm sure. And CAKE

[Buddy34 Graduate10]

Well done on your 49th parkrun and that amazing time. You should be so proud. 😊😊👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[damienair Administrator in reply to Buddy34]

Thank you. I’m thrilled. I was aiming to go sub 26 soon. Glad I made it. Sub 25 is the next mission before the end of the year.

Damien

[Dexy5 Graduate10]

Well done damienair . That sounds like very successful parkrun and a great pic too. I’m surprised you had the energy to leap in the air after your PB. What a wonderful family time too - that is what parkrun is all about.

[damienair Administrator in reply to Dexy5]

That pic was taken about 25 minutes after I came through the finish funnel so I had recovered. No way I could have managed a jump after first finishing. I felt sick and elated all at the same time. The following emojis tell the story of the first 30 minutes after I crossed the finish line 🤢🤮🥴😵😐😥😏🥳🤩🤪

[Debston Graduate10]

Well done you and what a joyous pic!

[damienair Administrator in reply to Debston]

Thanks so much Debston. It was a great day

[Irish-John Graduate10]

Very very very well done!!!!!

Mhaith an Ffearr!

[damienair Administrator in reply to Irish-John]

Go raibh míle maith agat. Bhí sé iontach 😀😀

[Irish-John Graduate10 in reply to damienair]

[JonathanP Graduate10]

Well done Damien! 37 seconds off is not to be sniffed at!👍

[damienair Administrator in reply to JonathanP]

Thanks Jonathan. I was giving it max effort. I am so happy I broke through the 26 min barrier.

Damien.

[JaoJao Graduate10]

Damien, so pleased to hear this! Wishing you a lot of love for your 50th next Saturday. I am so envious of your sub 30 Parkrun times, but your happiness is my happiness so it's all good! Keep going!

[damienair Administrator in reply to JaoJao]

Thank you so much. A year ago I could not run any faster than 32-33 min 5K. All the interval training in January, February and March paid off. I started doing some interval training again a couple of weeks ago. It’s a great way to condition faster pace. I’m so looking forward to doing my 50th parkrun next Saturday. Thank you so much again for your warm wishes.

Damien

[JaoJao Graduate10 in reply to damienair]

Damien what was your first parkrun time then?

[damienair Administrator in reply to JaoJao]

My first parkrun time was just over 39 minutes, in April 2017. I struggled for a long time after C25K.

Damien

[JaoJao Graduate10 in reply to damienair]

Wow I’m amazed and impressed at your progress. This might be a silly question but what is interval training?

[damienair Administrator in reply to JaoJao]

The C25K plan is interval training. You walk for some intervals and then run for other intervals. Each week the intervals will change.

So what I did to get faster was break a 5K route into 5 x 1K intervals. Using a Garmin Forerunner 15 watch I monitored my pace. First I selected a 6 min/km pace as a fast pace (as I wanted to do a 30 minute 5k time) and 7 min for a recovery pace. I ran 1st, 3rd and 5th kilometres at the faster 6 min/Km pace. And ran 2nd and 4th kilometres at the 7 min/km recovery pace. After some of the faster intervals I used to take a little 2-3 min break to catch my breath. When I was able to run the full 5K including the intervals without stopping I changed the plan to a 5:45 min /km fast pace and a 6:30 min/km recovery pace. As you are able to run the full 5k without stopping you change up the plan again. If you do this for 1-2 runs per week your parkrun finish times will improve. You can set your own intervals and pace targets.

Damien

[JaoJao Graduate10 in reply to damienair]

Oh my that’s so thorough, thank you for sharing, i might use some of those principles to devise my own plan.

[damienair Administrator in reply to JaoJao]

It is amazing. I used to be trying my very best to run 5K in 30 minutes. I never thought I could ever run faster than a 28 minute 5k. Now a 28 minute 5k is a nice relaxed comfortable run. You can push your body to achieve more than you could think. I never dreamt I could run a sub 25 minute 5k, but now I know it’s just 37 seconds away. I’ll do it some day. Good luck, give it a try, it’s hard work but pays off. You could even split the intervals to 500 meters or what ever you like.

Damien

[JaoJao Graduate10 in reply to damienair]

Inspiring and I will certainly give it a go. Am I right in thinking that when it comes to parkrun you just run the fastest pace you can all the way or are you doing the intervals at the parkrun?

[damienair Administrator in reply to JaoJao]

When doing the interval training you should train for a race pace. So if your aiming for a 30 minute 5k time at parkrun you need to run an average pace of 6 min/km. So if you have a GPS watch you can set it for average pace and then run the parkrun at a 6 min/km pace.

A Garmin GPS watch is a great help. You don’t need to spend a fortune. I bought a Garmin Forerunner 15 on eBay for £20 just over 2 years ago and it was excellent. I recently upgraded to a Garmin Forerunner 35. You can pick them up new for £100 or second hand for around £70 on eBay.

Damien

[cheekychipmunks Graduate10]

Wonderful in every way Damien - and what a fantastic photo! 😅👍 You’re simply getting faster and faster! 🏃👏🏃

Enjoy your 50th - you know we’ll need a full report! 😀

[damienair Administrator in reply to cheekychipmunks]

Thank you Cheeky. I’ll supply a full report next week. I’ll be wearing my Apricot T-Shirt for the occasion. Looking forward to doing it and not bursting myself.🥵

Damien

[cheekychipmunks Graduate10 in reply to damienair]

Good luck! 👍👊🏃

[Gran4z Graduate10]

Hey, well done you, sounds like a great time was had by all.

[damienair Administrator in reply to Gran4z]

Cheers, I’m still buzzing afterwards.

[primaballerina]

SOooooo fast! Wow - well done!

[damienair Administrator in reply to primaballerina]

Thank you. That was 100% effort. I nearly needed oxygen at the finish line.😀 Plus a sick bag and a roll of Toilet paper.😂😂😂

[ktsok]

Brilliant time, well done!

[damienair Administrator in reply to ktsok]

Cheers.👍

[SaskAlliecat Graduate10]

What an awesome picture and an amazing time! Congrats on the PB. Enjoy your 50th next week!

[damienair Administrator in reply to SaskAlliecat]

Thank you so much. I can’t wait. That red T-Shirt can’t come soon enough.

[aliboo70 Graduate10]

Thats great! Sounds like a perfect morning ! I do 💗parkrun,enjoy your 50th x

[damienair Administrator in reply to aliboo70]

Thank you so much

[Zanzibar4 Graduate10]

Congradulations thats an amazing time sounded like a wonderful family dayout. I am trying out Ballincolig Park Run in Cork this Sat. It will be my first time doing Parkrun or running with other runners should be fun.😁 Enjoy the 50th Happy Running 👍

[damienair Administrator in reply to Zanzibar4]

Cool. I used to live in Cork about 18 years ago and had a little office in Ballincolig. I live in Navan now but when I stay over in Cork I stay in the Kingsley Hotel and I like to run out the Ballincolig Road for 3K and run back again.

Enjoy your parkrun on Saturday. You’ll love it, going every week you start to feel very much part of the community.

Thanks for your message.

Damien

[Zanzibar4 Graduate10 in reply to damienair]

Thanks I hope so and it might just give me a little motivation to move a little faster. 👍

[damienair Administrator in reply to Zanzibar4]

I would have given up if not for parkrun. It’s a great way to keep you motivated and interested.