After spending all morning prevaricating and procrastinating, eventually I decided to make and eat breakfast (well more like brunch – a spinach omelette) meaning it was early afternoon by the time I eventually left the house.
I was intending an easy relaxed 5k, maybe carrying on to 6 or 7k if I felt good. Following from the theme of World Kindness Day yesterday, I decided on NRC A Thank You Run, which is a 45-minute time-based run. The sentiment was lovely, but this one was a bit too cheesy for my taste.
Anyway, I decide not to check my watch on this run – it’s a “Thank You” run and pace and distance aren’t important. I set off on my usual route of recent weeks past the Rugby Club at what seems to be a nice comfy pace.
However, I can tell by my position on this route, and the time shout-outs from coach Bennett that I’m a lot faster than I intended over this first kilometre so I try and slow things down over the second.
Still trying to run by feel, the third and fourth kilometres feel good, but by kilometre five I’m starting to feel a bit tired.
I know this route well and, approaching the Leisure Centre, when coach Bennett gives another time shout-out it suddenly dawns on me that I could be on for a PB on this run! Whoa! I didn’t intend for that to happen! That can’t be possible – this was meant to be an easy relaxed run!! 😯
I don’t dare look at my watch, in case what I’m thinking isn’t true 🙈. I find something extra from somewhere and speed up for the final part of my run – a lap around the Leisure Centre. I know the exact point when I’ll reach the 5k mark and I’m giving it everything I’ve got by this point.
5k! Yes! I stop my watch, not even daring to look at the time – I glance down and the first two digits are a 3 and an 8! 😲
Somehow I restart the watch by accident – 😱PANIC!! By the time I manage to stop it again Garmin has my time recorded as 39.03. Gah! 😡
Even so, this run was my first sub-40-minute 5k, something I was beginning to wonder would ever happen, and beats my previous PB by 2min 10sec. 😁
Looking at the stats afterwards, the splits were all over the shop:-
7.10, 8:19, 7:41, 7:45, 7:59
And I must have slowed significantly on the first half of the last kilometre since the final 0.5km coincides with a Strava segment which has my pace logged as 6.57! I’ve never had anything starting with a 6 before!!!
Strava has given me 5 best efforts and 5 segments for this run, including personal records for 5k, 1 mile, 1k
I’m pretty made up with the milestone, but part of me wishes I could have made it a little bit tidier. If only I could figure out how to pace myself better.
In my excitement I forgot to take a photo so this one is a montage from snaps taken on a lunchtime walk earlier this week in the woods close to home which is my favourite place to run.
week3run1 ✅. 3 x 17 mins with 1 min walks. 
How did your parkrun or (not)parkrun go?
