New parkrun PB: Yesterday I ran my 49th... - Bridge to 10K

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New parkrun PB

damienair profile image
damienairAdministrator
55 Replies

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

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damienair
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55 Replies
UnfitNoMore profile image
UnfitNoMoreGraduate10

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 profile image
damienairAdministrator 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 profile image
UnfitNoMoreGraduate10 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 profile image
damienairAdministrator 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 profile image
UnfitNoMoreGraduate10 in reply to damienair

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

Granspeed profile image
GranspeedGraduate10 in reply to UnfitNoMore

🤣🤣

CAFC62 profile image
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 profile image
damienairAdministrator 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 profile image
Sandraj39Graduate10

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 profile image
damienairAdministrator in reply to Sandraj39

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

Damien

Chris141 profile image
Chris141Graduate10

Well done!

damienair profile image
damienairAdministrator in reply to Chris141

Thank you.

Vintage61 profile image
Vintage61Graduate10

Congratulations!!! Fab pic 😊

damienair profile image
damienairAdministrator 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 profile image
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 profile image
damienairAdministrator 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 profile image
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 profile image
Buddy34Graduate10

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

damienair profile image
damienairAdministrator 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 profile image
Dexy5Graduate10

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 profile image
damienairAdministrator 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 profile image
DebstonGraduate10

Well done you and what a joyous pic!

damienair profile image
damienairAdministrator in reply to Debston

Thanks so much Debston. It was a great day

Irish-John profile image
Irish-JohnGraduate10

Very very very well done!!!!! :) :) :)

Mhaith an Ffearr! :)

damienair profile image
damienairAdministrator in reply to Irish-John

Go raibh míle maith agat. Bhí sé iontach 😀😀

Irish-John profile image
Irish-JohnGraduate10 in reply to damienair

:)

JonathanP profile image
JonathanPGraduate10

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

damienair profile image
damienairAdministrator 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 profile image
JaoJaoGraduate10

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 profile image
damienairAdministrator 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 profile image
JaoJaoGraduate10 in reply to damienair

Damien what was your first parkrun time then?

damienair profile image
damienairAdministrator 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 profile image
JaoJaoGraduate10 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 profile image
damienairAdministrator 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 profile image
JaoJaoGraduate10 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 profile image
damienairAdministrator 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 profile image
JaoJaoGraduate10 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 profile image
damienairAdministrator 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 profile image
cheekychipmunksGraduate10

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 profile image
damienairAdministrator 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 profile image
cheekychipmunksGraduate10 in reply to damienair

Good luck! 👍👊🏃

Gran4z profile image
Gran4zGraduate10

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

damienair profile image
damienairAdministrator in reply to Gran4z

Cheers, I’m still buzzing afterwards.

primaballerina profile image
primaballerina

SOooooo fast! Wow - well done!

damienair profile image
damienairAdministrator 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 profile image
ktsok

Brilliant time, well done!

damienair profile image
damienairAdministrator in reply to ktsok

Cheers.👍

SaskAlliecat profile image
SaskAlliecatGraduate10

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

damienair profile image
damienairAdministrator in reply to SaskAlliecat

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

aliboo70 profile image
aliboo70Graduate10

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

damienair profile image
damienairAdministrator in reply to aliboo70

Thank you so much

Zanzibar4 profile image
Zanzibar4Graduate10

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 profile image
damienairAdministrator 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 profile image
Zanzibar4Graduate10 in reply to damienair

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

damienair profile image
damienairAdministrator in reply to Zanzibar4

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

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