Hi All I normally lurk rather than participate, but a comment on the forum prompted me to find out who Mr Bennet was.
I normally pound the mean streets of South London running for just over an hour seems to be my sweet spot. This gets me into the 8/9km region, so not a fast pace more a relaxed jog through the city streets. I’ve never been bothered by my speed, reasoning it is what it is and with continuing to run my speed and fitness would improve over time. I quite like discovering the joy of finding new routes in my local area and that ‘I never knew that route would lead me here’, serendipity moment.
Roll on to the discovery of Park Run (I’m now on run five) and there is that bit in me asking the question can I run faster? It’s fun running with other people, even though almost seventy years old I’d still like to improve my 5km time which currently stands at about 35mins.
Enter that nice Mr Bennet and his beginners 5km plan.
I wasn’t certain how I would enjoy having a trainer, but this has motivated me to reassess what I can achieve. So week one completed and thank goodness Mr Bennet tells me I can run these anyway I like, so speed work and then long run completed one after the other then a rest day then again combining the two sessions.
I did rather find that combining the two sessions from week one into one continuous session was more tiring than just running longer distances, but it’s early days and as the sessions continue I may well have to split the sessions up into multiple days. So roll on week 2 of the 8 week plan and let’s see if there is any improvement in my 5k time.
I did rather enjoy celebration pace, where that is on the perceived level of exertion is a mystery to me. All I know is at that moment in time I couldn’t run any quicker. My Fitbit doesn’t give me that kind of feedback, just distance travelled and number of steps taken after the fact, it should have a joy setting as well as celebration pace was short but fun.
Parkrun didn’t go quite to plan. In my head I thought my NRC beginners 5km training would boost my speed - wrong. I was slower than the previous week. It’s early days yet and here comes the excuse. One section was very wet with water over the top of my shoes and I had that squelchy experience between my toes and that was just lap one. By the time lap three had come I was amazed how much heavier my feet felt. I also discovered running in a plastic blouson to ward off the rain isn’t good, dry from the rain but rather unpleasant inside it. You’ll be please to hear I abandoned the blouson with a friendly marshal to be retrieved later after the race.
Outcome of parkrun, slower at about 38mins and I’ve even dropped another place in my age group now third. Never mind there is always next week!
Two questions if I may, what options are there for very wet feet ditto a better rain jacket? My budget is low.
If you read all they way through this you’ve done better than me and now back to lurking.
Written by
Unclesteve2004
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
These may not be suitable for you at all, but here’s a link to some “waterproof” trainers which are amazingly reasonable for the quality. I use the standard ones, not waterproof, but find them so comfortable for my neutral foot strike. Puma already factors in extra space I think, so if you go down this route, you might like to read their info regarding sizing first of all
Hi and thank you for the suggestion, I’ll have a look when I have a moment.
Did you have any thoughts on a rain jacket? I can get away with my nylon blouson over longer distances, it became apparent during the 5km of parkrun it kept me dry but was just too warm.
Monday and it must be my long run day combined with advice from that nice Mr Bennet. Let’s see how week seven goes and then it’s back to lurking.
You could try this, it’s shower proof on the top half, then a sort of flexible material underneath. It won’t keep you totally dry in a downpour but it’s relatively breathable and doesn’t crinkle or feel as though you’re running in plastic bag! There are some old reviews you can still find online. Price to function good I’d say
hi and thank you for the suggestion. I had a look at the jacket today, it appears they only have size medium available as of today. So my quest continues prompted by a decent soaking yesterday.
If you buy merino wool socks and your feet get wet the socks miraculously wick the water away from your skin and your toes stay dry and comfortable. They cost more than I would normally pay for socks but they last ages and are really nice to wear in all conditions.
My first pair are still going strong nearly 2 years on, I only bought a second pair because I lost the first ones (didn't notice the black socks against the background of a black snare drum, goodness knows why I thought that was a good place to put them).
They will cost you under £15, much less than new trainers, and your feet will thank you for pampering them come rain or shine (they don't get over hot even in the summer, I've worn the same pair at -10C and +25C and they've been great).
Hi and another thank you for your info. Who would have thought of cashmere running socks, sounds wonderful. I’ve never sort advice about kit before, apart from gait analysis at a reasonably local running store.
I’ll order some socks next and progress from there. They should arrive prior to parkrun where looking at the weather forecast they will be thoroughly test!
Shoes and rain jacket I’ll put on hold for the moment. One thing at a time, but I thank you again for the suggestions.
Hey, enjoy C Bennett, I can't help with plastic blouson suggestions, when I run in the rain I get wet and that's it! Oh yuk squelchy wet shoes, I have never braved parkrun, mostly because I work a lot of Saturdays, I've heard there are waterproof socks which would be less expensive than waterproof running shoes I'm guessing. But I'm in awe of your running, you'd have beaten my fastest 5k by 2 minutes and you call it slower! Wel done you
Hi and thank you for the encouraging message. I just ordered some new socks, should have checked the delivery time! Definitely won’t be delivered before for the Parkrun this weekend. Never mind it sounds like another water between the toes run.
Sorry to hear your busy working on Saturday and not able to give Parkrun ago. Fear not about the time, the previous week I walked the course with someone not able to run, but still wanted to give it a go. We actually ran/walked and she was simply delighted to have got around in under an hour. Even sped up nearing the finish line and beat me. I put it down to the loose dog which I had to run around…well that’s my story.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
week3run1 ✅. 3 x 17 mins with 1 min walks. 
How did your parkrun or (not)parkrun go?
