Happy weekend. For any of you new graduates whom have started running during COVID-19 world you may have heard of a thing called parkrun. parkrun is a free 5K which takes place every Saturday morning all around the world. It is for everyone, slow, fast, able, disabled, big, small and everyone in between. You can walk, jog, run, run/walk, it's not a race, just a run in the park and loads of us here on Bridge to 10K did it religiously every Saturday morning.
Obviously we can not do it anymore. So until parkrun returns we take part on our own in a Virtual parkrun every Saturday morning. We post after our run and let everyone know how we got on during our run. The little run report can be done over a post virtual parkrun coffee and treat/cake. It can be run/walked on any route close to you which is 5K. Does not have to be done in a park, you can even do it on a treadmill.
If you are a new graduate and would like to start, all you have to do is a 5K run/jog/walk anytime over the weekend and write a little run report under this post. It's like a little community and it is good fun, sets you up nicely for the weekend. If you want to you can register on the parkrun website and you can log your 5K (not)parkrun. In fact you can log any 5K done during the week as a (not)parkrun on the website. I only log Saturday runs, when I remember.
Looking forward to my run this morning, I'm just about to go out now, and also looking forward to hearing from all of you. Happy running and have a lovely weekend.
Damien
I've pinned the post. So please respond over the next day or two in the below thread. Happy running.
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Good morning Damien, I hope you enjoy your run today as I did this morning, it was my 41st (not) parkrun - (from now on I am dropping the word virtual as its now over a year since they began)- My right leg is no longer sore but I did walk for 5 minutes today giving me a total time of 37.16 and an age grading of exactly 50%.
Well done Al. Great effort and yes I agree, ditch the word Virtual. After a year I am so sick of that word. Next week I’ll change the subject of this post to just (not)parkrun .
Morning all.Nothing remarkable to report today. Just 5.02km which according to VRun was 37.29 (an "official " time saves me having to deduct anything over 5k, but that agrees with my calculation )
But it is day 450 of our 10000 steps a day streak.
The charity shop is due to open soon, so I will have to plan my steps around that. It is hard for me to get the 10000 on Tuesdays. I will have to use Rick's step videos to make up the shortfall when I get home
Hello Damienair and fellow runners, I woke up with an urge to run this morning although I usually avoid Saturday mornings because of the numbers on the prom, but I went out at 10.00 and it wasn’t too bad.
It was dry with 9C and a westerly wind 22kph. There were a lot of runners out and I saw a few familiar faces along the route . Time of 33.32 is not too shabby as I did have to walk a couple of times to avoid close contact.
I think there will have to be lots of publicity about parkrun returning so that pedestrians avoid the route between 9.00 and 10.00. It would be totally impossible at the moment. I had a reply from my councillor this week to my letter seeking his support to the return of parkrun. He said that his mother (70s) and 2 sisters do it so he very much appreciates the health benefits of parkrun! Whoopie, he gets my vote in May.
I’m just back in after mine and catching up on the street with a few neighbours. Today I decided I was going to make a proper attempt to return to form. I’ve been just ambling along now for a few months, rudderless without any specific goal or training plan. I want to get back to comfortably running 5K in a sub 30 minute time. So I started out with a warm up run which was faster than I’ve been running for a while and after 1.5K I took a quick rest before continuing on with 1K and 500 meter intervals. I finished in a total time of 26:35. It was not a continuous 5K run, but I really pushed myself. Felt hard but I feel good afterwards.
Thanks Dexy, no I can’t count it as a (not)parkrun time as it was intervals. I was stopping to catch my breath after each interval. So it was not continuous. But I’m going to work towards it.
43:57. Not a personal best but it was pretty blowy out there and colder than I thought, having gone out in a short sleeve tee and capris, but I warmed up after about 10 minutes. I seemed to be running against the wind most of the way even though I ran in a sort of loop and my hands were cold all the way round. I could probably have done with a thin jacket and had to walk briefly a couple of times to blow my nose but it still felt like a good run.
I seem to be enjoying my runs more lately which is a good thing although my VO2 has been 26 for about 6 months which Garmin informs me is in the bottom 30% for my age and gender 🥴. I did sneak up to 28 a couple of times but stuck at 26 almost consistently since.
This time last year it was between 33-35. Still it’s only an estimate .... surely? 🤣
Well done limberlou , I was the same, I ran my usual 5K loop and somehow managed to have a headwind most of the way around. It was my first time this year to run in a T-Shirt , it was chilly but after 1K I was warm. I’ve never paid any attention to VO2 Max etc. I just care about pace, distance and time.
Thank you for taking the time to explain this to us newbies, there is so much information to take in from these boards it can be a bit confusing, and overwhelming, and I guess the virtual runs and environments just adds to the mix.
I ran my first 5k this morning and enjoyed it, was really surprised as I had walked that distance around week 6 of c25k and thought I would never manage to run that far
I dont have a plan for when my next 5k will be, i have a few more 30 min consolidation runs to do first.
Huge congratulations to you on your first 5K run. Very well done. parkrun is an amazing movement which has spread all over the world. Most towns have one now in a local park. In my town our park has a 1.5K loop so the parkrun course is 3.5 laps of the park. It is amazing. In England and Wales it starts at 9am every single Saturday morning. In Scotland, Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland it starts at 9:30am every Saturday morning. People of all abilities turn up and run, jog or walk 5K. It is the complete opposite to a race. No one finishes last, as there is a volunteer tail Walker and that is their job. Actually the people who finish towards end get the warmest applause. And because the same people do it every single Saturday you feel part of a very special community and make lovely new friends. After the run some of the crowd even head off to a local Cafe for a post parkrun breakfast.But since Covid-19 it is canceled. We can’t wait for it to return, so until it does we do this every weekend. I’ll put a post up every Saturday. Please join in again next week. Your more than welcome. You don’t have to run it all. You can walk or run and walk.
Thank you, I joined parkrun and my local park run and I am second 🎉 (out of two) so i transferred to the closest city and I am somewhere in the back of the crowd but not last, and it was interesting looking at peoples times, you never know by next Saturday I may be recovered enough to have another attempt at a 5k.. 😊 thanks again, truly appreciated
We’ve got the HUHM tomorrow and I was going to take it easy but I felt good today after a couple of ropey days so I just did what my body was happy with doing.
It was quite windy but thankfully a cross wind most of the time. It did keep the temperature right down though.
I think some of our parkrunners have started getting back into it as I saw some familiar faces on route. So looking forward to it coming back!
What I won’t miss from our (not)parkrun route is our final corners by the petrol station as it’s always the busiest bit whatever time we do it. And, today, as I hit the last corner a car was backing out of its drive and a bike was coming round the bend. I had to wrap my arm round a lamp post to sling shot round the corner so I didn’t tip into the path of the bike as I moved away as far as I could from the car. Normally I would stop but I only had about 10 metres to go!! So, a restrained 28:58 this week. Hay fever lungs are keeping everything a little restrained at the moment.
Nice run Damien, intervals or not! You should be very happy with that. 👊
No proper (not) PR from me this week. I bimbled my 5k on Thursday before the HUHM tomorrow and counted it for the record (36:39) but it was really just a leg stretch. Good to feel totally better after a week of the post vaccination mehs, and I’ve enjoyed a couple of days off all ready for the morning. Again I’ll be running in the wind - but who cares? I’m going out regardless!
Best wishes to you Cheeky on your Half Marathon today. Hope your feeling strong after the jab. Thanks, it did feel good to push myself and I'm surprised today. I had a couple of aches in my legs yesterday evening but today they are fine.
After my 10 miler on Sunday, I forgot to walk on Monday and went out on a far too fast short run on Tuesday, during which I tweaked my ankle again. Not enough to cause pain or swelling, but enough to set off warning bells that I shouldn't run for a bit.
That said, I have been doing short (30 mins) evening walks each day just to keep things moving.
I've decided my next run should be a repeat of C25K's W1R1, both because I want to be easy on my ankle, and also because I first attempted C25K just over a year ago.
Congrats on your run today Damien! I pushed it out a bit today as well - it was such a beautiful morning and as I knew that jet-washing the patio/garden path was on the agenda later, I thought I might as well enjoy myself to start the day off!
Along the main road, down the dual carriageway (very little traffic thank goodness), through the park, some side roads and back along the main road (wind-assisted). Result 29.14 - job done!
Nice, very well done Jonathan. Great time. I'd be very happy with that. I looked out the window this morning and almost cried. I'd spent all day last Saturday doing gardening. I mowed the lawn, scarified it, spread top soil and grass seed out in the bare patches and spread out fertilizer. Looked out this morning after a very heavy night rain and I'd say the grass seed is just floating around in puddles in the back lawn. Aaaarrrrggggghhhhh.
Sorry guys, my mojo deserted me this morning and I didn’t even attempt to go out 😥 However, I am determined to complete my HU 10k tomorrow and hubby and I went for a very windy walk in the Lincolnshire Wolds this afternoon, just the 2 of us since our son has gone back to his own place in London, which was lovely. Oh well!
Just a 10k Damien - I’d never manage a HM after a year of lockdown 😂 It was OK apart from the 40kph headwind on the way back 😖 5k time 31.37 so I’ve logged that for (not) parkrun 👍
First time on this thread , I’ve never done a Parkrun but started to log not a parkrun in late December . Came to a halt with a calf strain but have now got going again and logged 3 since coming off the IC.
Just saw this post so yes, I did my 5K yesterday , very blustery but sunny , blue sky day . Good run , not my best at 38:33 but not far off ( I’m not a fast runner) 🐌😂.out early, changed my route to go down the beach, quiet , shimmery sea ( been wild some days 🌊💨🌊) and came back feeling great 👍🏃🏻♀️
At the moment I’m happy not to be setting too many goals , just get a few regular runs done, take care of the calf and try and do a 5K each week.
I’m really looking forward to my local,parkrun getting back as it is being relocated to sit adjacent to the Caledonian Canal ( it used to be two laps of the rugby pitches ) . A second swing bridge has been built over the canal so lots of nice green spaces and a duck pond created I think .
Anyway sounds like it’s going to be a lovely course .
My run seems to have landed on a Saturday so I’ll remember to pop in here now 😃
Fantastic and so great to have you on board. I look forward to having you join us again next weekend. Well done on your run and your new parkrun course sound lovely. There is a new one starting up 10 minutes away from me which will be nice to visit. And there is another new course starting along a canal in the town where I was raised and grew up, so will be doing that one too. I'm looking forward to the return of parkrun.
I’ve not posted for ages as been on IC but coming back and did my first 5k today so can post here😀. It wasn’t quick but it was non stop. Took a bit of physio and acupuncture which was a first. Think continuing to walk has kept my fitness up. So pleased to be back !!!
My first (not)park (not) run in 56'08''. I had a calf injury and then I have been ill this week. Some bug knocked me out for a couple of days and I have been lethargic most of the week (doubt it was Covid - just an early Spring bug). So I decided to test everything out by walking one of my 5K routes. All went well and cut the grass afterwards. I think a 30 minute jog is in order tomorrow 12 days after my last run. Fingers crossed.
I ran my 5K on Thursday...choosing to revisit one of my lockdown routes. Originally I was going to run the main road route...but decided against it as it’s quite exposed, and it was rather windy!
So the more technically difficult Incline Run it was...
5K in 47:36, ave pace 9:30, elevation gain of 63m. It’s my 31st (not) Park Run entry, can’t wait to run a real one!
That's a good run for you LottieMW, revisiting one of your lockdown routes, certainly I don't run on main roads and you were very wise on not running along it, I prefer a steep hill to a main road, I am sure it won't be long before you can get a sub 45 minutes 5K, congratulations on your 31st (not ) parkrun. 😊 🏃🏾
Well done Lottie, Yes me too. So looking forward to the first one. I think it will be exciting and emotional that first return back to the real parkrun.
They are amazing. I love my local one and traveling to different ones too. I used to do a different one once per month and most weeks ran my local parkrun. What I love is that you see the same faces every week, after a few weeks they recognise you too. Then they say hello. After another few weeks you chat at the start line, and before you know it you have loads of new friends. Post parkrun coffee and breakfasts are also amazing, it can be very social and you feel very much part of a very special community.
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