Hello everyone,
It’s a damp overcast drizzling morning here. Hopefully the parkrun weather fairies help out again for my run this morning. Today will be my (not) parkrun no.2, and Virtual parkrun no. ?, I’ve lost count. I will aim to get a PB this morning and beat 31:54. I kind of cheated and set this up for an easy PB attempt last Saturday. Looking forward to my run now.
Please post your post virtual parkrun run reports below. Happy running everyone. May the Force be with you.
Damien
Flipping heck is it Saturday again already? I’ve just got in from work so it’ll be a late one if at all
Have fun all
I know. I came are quick this week. Enjoy your run when you do get out there.
Morning Damien and all! 👋
Rain! Hallelujah! 💦💦💦💦🤸♀️🤸♀️🤸♀️🤸♀️
Headed up to the common planning to start running on the hour like the (Not) PR email (or website) suggested. Because of Flossie faffage, doing what dogs do upon arrival, plus my warm up walk up the hill, I knew I wouldn’t be able to start at 7am, so 8am it was. 🏃♀️
I did the same basic route as last week, so my times could be compared, and yet again I added a one minute faster interval every 0.5k. The difference was, I felt fresh enough to run the entire final 0.5k faster so my time was 36.59, a whole minute off last week. I even got negative splits, but as the last section to the car is downhill, I can’t let myself count them for real! 😅
Flossie and I both got home soaking wet and happy! 🏃♀️💦🐾
Hope everyone else has enjoyable (Not) PRs today too! 😀
Fantastic! Your new regime is really paying off. One whole minute, amazing. You’re soon going to have to drop the pretence that you’re a snail if you carry on like this 😂
Nah, it’s ok Sandie, I’ll still be a lifetime snail compared to all you gazelles! 😅😅
Well done Cheeky. That’s a great improvement. I got drenched too. Kept me cool but meant there was no post virtual parkrun coffee meet up this week.
Oh that’s a shame, but I hope you enjoyed your lovely wet run! 🏃
I did. It was refreshing in a weird way. When your drenched your drenched.😀
I personally love running in the rain! 💦💦 Not so much when it’s freezing cold in the winter, but warm summer rain is so invigorating, especially after the heat of last week.
Very well done Cheekychipmunks, very good that you’re doing those intervals every 500 m. Great stuff 👍💪
Thanks MartinKH . It’s the one way I’ve found to enjoy faster running so I’m sticking with it for now! 😀
It has been so hot this week that I decided to take a week off so today was my first run since last Saturday. This morning though, after a sleepless night because the heat was stifling, the promised rain has finally arrived and it is cooler with a breeze. I normally avoid running in the rain but today it was lovely. I decided to do a NRC tempo run along my normal route, finishing in 31.20, 18 seconds faster than last week but still quite a bit slower than my 5k PB. A (not) Parkrun PB though. Happy (not) Parkrun day everybody😃
Well done Sandie on your (not) parkrun PB today. It was wet, I got drenched. But I’m happy I did it. I also got a (not) parkrun PB. The nice hot shower afterwards felt amazing.
Damien
Know what you mean, plus the bacon roll and coffee 😋
Hi Damien, I have just come back from my 15th virtual and 2nd (not) parkrun, good run but as I told our friend GTFC since I have been running those 10K midweek runs my times on a Saturday have been a little slower despite me still enjoying the runs, my time this morning was 34.07 compared to a few weeks ago time of 32.14, not sure if those 10K's are taking a bit out of me.
When I had finished my run I met 3 other runners who told me that they were also running a 5K but I don't think it was a (not) parkrun.
Well done Almorr. Great running again. 10K is great for building endurance. But it does also make you slow down a little as you run a slower pace for 10K normally. When I was chasing PB’s last year I found that mixing up runs really helped. Saturday was parkrun, Sunday morning was an easy 10-14K run, Tuesday was 5-6K interval training where I ran each kilometre at a fast target race pace, with a 2 min break in between each interval. Thursday was a 7K at a tempo pace. As a result my 5K and 10K times really improved. But I’m a long way off that now. Although I plan to start back at 10K tomorrow.
Damien
Morning Damien, morning all! Chucking it down outside but it was only light showers whilst we were out so it was nice and cooling.
Tummy still full of very unhealthy Domino’s pizza from last night’s youngest kitten birthday celebration. I don’t run well with Dom in my tummy so took it relatively easy. Katnap also has an athletic club race shortly so I’m amazed he came out at all.
11th Damien run and 2nd (not)parkrun came in at 29:34, so not too shabby in the end, unlike the quiz which was a dreadful 5/15 😱
Have a good day all, I’m off to drive Katnap into the middle of the countryside and leave him there 🤣
Best of luck to Katnap. Well done to you on your run this morning too. Dominos pizza is yummy 😋 but can imagine it would not be too good this morning. Although elite athletes carb load before a run, so you were just carb loading.😂. Great time, not too shabby at all.
Damien
I don’t think takeaways and me get on Damien! That’s the second one that didn’t like me very much. Maybe that and the chocolate cake was a bit too much carb!! 😂
He’s our there at the moment, thankfully the sun has come out after it hammering it down as I dropped him off.
Thank you & see you next week!😊 x
What’s he done to deserve that 😂😂
Joined a running club... they’re all nutters! 5 mile time trial then he’s running another 3 miles to get home. He’s not going to be good for much apart from feeding tea and remaining birthday cake to when he gets home 🤣
Hope it went well damienair ?? It’s damp and drizzly here in Yorkshire too, looks like perfect running weather to me!! But it’s rest day today so I have to push my parkrun over to Sunday!! 🙄 I bet you enjoyed your run thus morning...a bit of rain...hallelujah!!! ☔️
I left the house at 9:35 this morning. Not the park, but my local 5K route today. 1.4K into my run the heavens opened up and I was drenched by the most amazing torrential downpour. The roads were like rivers, I was completely saturated. I passed 3 different runners going in the opposite direction during the downpour and we just laughed at each other, we must have looked crazy. But it was nice at the same time, kept me cool. However it meant that there was no post run coffee meeting this morning.
I got a (not) parkrun PB today of 30:39. I’ll aim for another PB next weekend. Next Saturday our little parkrun tourist group is meeting up for the first time since COVID-19. The 6 of us plan to wear our Apricot T-Shirts and have a post (not) parkrun picnic in the park. Fingers crossed the weather is good.
Damien
Well done on your pb Damien 👏👏 it’s great running in torrential rain, mad but great, it’s like having a shower and a run at the same time so you don’t have to bother when you get home 😁 Fab idea for next week 👍
I seem to be missing out on some spectacular weather, where I am in Central Scotland I have not seen any torrential rain, no thunderstorms or fantastic lightning as I have seen on the TV, it did rain yesterday when I was out a walk, just "ordinary" rain ☔ and for my second (not ) parkrun this morning it was dry with a little sunshine, since I got home there have been a few light showers, so I will have to wait a bit longer to experience being drenched when out a 🏃🏾 run.
Didn’t you have yours a couple of days ago though Al? We missed out yesterday, it just got a bit chilly.
There were thunderstorms about 50 miles away from where I live but like showers one place can be dry and another just a mile or two away it will be heavy ☔ rain.
Early alarm (normal parkrun time) to try to beat the promised thunderstorm.
Usual Saturday route for the 15th non-parkrun/2nd (not)parkrun. Warm up 1km hill is still gravelly and my knees still don't like it!
Off we set, cooler than the last few days. Quite a few runners, 2 rats crossed my path and I heard a woodpecker.
I thought I would just run the original route but as I approached the 2.5km point I felt I could do a bit more so ran to 3km. Thought about carrying on but it starts to go downhill, which means uphill coming back 
So I turned back and stopped my watch at 5km. A short walk until I had crossed the road then ran 1km back to the Start, where the water bottle was not waiting - it was still by the back door at home. Oh well, I was warm but not as hot as the last few weeks.
We walked back up the hill, on the way Geoff phoned a new cafe that has opened in the village to order 2 takeaway breakfasts.
As we waited for them there were a couple of spots of rain but we got home before it started to rain properly.
Unfortunately we were a bit disappointed with the breakfasts, plenty of it but the sausage and bacon were not particularly good. So unless one of the other cafe's open soon we will be back to homemade breakfasts next week.
This run, with one more still to go on Monday, took me over my 70km target for the St Ann's Hospice Manchester Virtual (was supposed to be Midnight) Walk for which I decided to run and increased my target from the suggested 5k in a day or 10k in a week.
I will show you the medal when it arrives.
Well done on finishing your (not) parkrun and on staying dry. Congratulations too on finishing your running challenge, great job.
At least when you cook a home made breakfast you have control over the quality of the ingredients. It’s still better than my bowl of Rice Crispies this morning.
Damien
That's right, we can buy nice bacon
We have been spoilt by the nice breakfasts in the pub near to our home parkrun, although they cost more than the ones we had today they are really good quality.
The bacon butties in our other (non muddy) parkrun cafe are also nice and very reasonable in price. It is a community cafe giving work experience to people with disabilities, so a very nice atmosphere.
In fact, I can't think of a post parkrun eating establishment that has let us down. Although twice we have had to resort to a Morrisons (supermarket) breakfast when the usual cafe was closed due to flooding, or another one was so busy (800 to 900 runners?) we decided not to wait. But hey, it's being with your running pals that is important. Missing that now
Community type cafes are my favourite. I just love any place which is friendly, good atmosphere and completely unpretentious. The greasy spoon type establishments are where I am most comfortable. My favourite cafe where I live has filtered coffee and good food, amazing friendly staff who top up your coffee for free. And my kids adore the pancakes. The cafe is too small to take a parkrun crowd. One of my other boys plays rugby which is on around the same time as parkrun. So sometimes I arrange to meet my wife there after rugby and after parkrun and the 4 of us enjoy a gorgeous breakfast together. Looking forward to those mornings again.
Any idea when official Parkruns could resume in Ireland? might be a little earlier than N. Ireland or other parts of the UK, however, there is a awful lot of talk of a second wave of Covid 19 starting in the Autumn, that might delay starting dates a bit longer.
Hi Almorr, yes I’m concerned about a second wave in Autumn. I’m worried about the families going to the United States on Holidays, or going to France, Spain and Italy etc. It will travel again and transfer again. People won’t be as compliant the next time around and I can’t imagine governments bringing in the same restrictions the next time around. But the world has to try to get back to normal. I think there should be more restrictions put on international travel.
I’d like to see parkrun back in October, I don’t think it will be earlier. I don’t think it will start back in Ireland before the UK either. It will have to be at the same time. Unless they start parkrun back in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland at the same time.
Damien
The other cafe in the village reopens on Saturday. Looks as though they will not be doing bacon butties so we will have to buy a breakfast
Eat in if space, otherwise a takeaway will do nicely.
We used to go there after parkrun before we discovered that our local parkrun had two small cafes nearby, then the pub opened for breakfasts as well so now plenty of room for everyone.
It would be really nice if you could have breakfast at the cafe but you say that there won't be any bacon butties and you will just have to buy your breakfast.
Where I am in Central Scotland I notice that the buses are returning a little back to normal, not fully normal, it could mean that in a few weeks time on a Friday I may take a trip to Dunfermline as I have not been there by then for 4 months and walk the route of Dunfermline parkrun.
That will be good. We have walked along the canal to our local parkrun and carried out a course inspection a couple of times
Needless to say while we have been unable to run there was no mud whatsoever!
I have been running on a Saturday morning now 15 virtual parkruns locally and 2 (not) parkruns, I could for my 17th virtual parkrun run it at Dunfermline on a Saturday at the same time as they are held but from the very start of lockdown runners were advised not to do that, the reason for No. 17 on Saturday 11th July is that it is my parkruniversary, I have ran 17 official Parkruns and would have been Dunfermline's 5th birthday.
When I ran my first parkrun there, it was there 4th birthday, my 1st parkrun and we all had chocolate and a piece of birthday cake at the finishing line, very tempted to go but I will run No. 17 locally.
That’s a lovely way to celebrate your first parkrun, with cake.
It was very nice indeed Damien, the 11 year old boy who cut the cake had earlier ran the 5K in about 26 minutes, I ran it in 34.16 but the cake wasn't cut until the tailwalker had finished which was about 54 minutes.
As I headed out this morning around 9:30 I was thinking how much I liked parkrunning on Scottish time, but then as the heavens opened 5 minutes later, I wished I had stuck to English time. I also wished I had put contacts in rather than wearing my glasses!
This was only my second run this week, as I decided to have a gentle week due to the heat. Despite the cooler temps, I still found it tough! So I decided this week to imagine I was back on my Parkrun course. It turns out there are uphill bits in roughly the same places. The first gentle uphill where I always have the urge to walk for a bit became the gentle slope up to our lovely war memorial, where there is always a very encouraging marshall reminding you that you're about to have a lovely downhill stretch. At the halfway point, I imagined the crowd of Coventry Young Ambassadors who always clap and cheer near our finish point (its a 2 lap course). And then the short but steep hill became the car park hill, where I'm not allowed to stop to walk (it's in my "rules"!), and where there is always another very friendly marshall. And finally I managed a sprint finish!
31:28 this morning, some way off the speedy PB I set last week, but much faster than mid-week.
My first not Park Run today! Half in muggy, humid hotness and half in the rain. My fastest time yet at 41:18. Hoping to chip away at it to get under 40 mins. Marvellous run in the rain.
Brilliant FM, great you’ve joined in the great (Not) PR community. It’s fun isn’t it? 🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️
Well at least that heat had disappeared this morning - it was a bit breezy and there were a few drops of rain, but nothing like your downpour, Damien (congrats on your PB, by the way)!
I was pleased to achieve a time of 28.32 today, better than the last few weeks, with my last k being the fastest at 5.29.
However on Thursday morning at 5.30 I had managed 28 dead, so that will be my official (not) parkrun time for this week!
Well done Jonathan. I was at 27 minutes for parkrun finish times in January, and that was a comfortable 5K back then. I’ve slowed down so much since then. I wish I could do 28 minutes. I’m going to work back up to 10K and start on some interval training this week. I’m going to aim for an 8 week training plan and get back to 27 minutes by September. Well that’s the plan.
Damien
Those that know me will know that parkrun is hugely important to me and that rugby is about the only thing that takes priority over running for me. Travelling to rugby matches has also helped drive a lot of parkrun tourism over the years, including a memorable parkrun at Futakotamagawa in Tokyo during the RWC.
Once upon a time, before I found parkrun, I used to enjoy (at the relevant time of year) an early Saturday breakfast whilst watching whichever Super Rugby match in New Zealand was on at the time. When parkrun entered my life, such matches had to be recorded and watched later.
Thankfully, NZ’s covid-free status has brought 8am Saturday rugby back, at least for the next few weeks, so this was my 3rd week of knowing exactly what I would be doing without parkrun, rather than feeling miserable. And I can happily run (not)parkrun with the local gang on Tuesday when the seafront is usually quieter than it is on weekends.
Hi Damien
Dexy and I were a day late this week, but I did two to make up for it - 34 mins dual followed by 27 mins solo. Dexy’s 34 improved her (not) parkrun PB by 3 mins, helped a bit by being two-thirds downwind on a very blustery day ! So a good Sunday morning all round 😀
