Another run today with husband and son. They are so much faster than me I just told them I'd pootle along on my own. I took this as an opportunity to do an NRC run which I haven't done for years, 'Out strong, back fast'. The idea is that you run for 12 minutes then run back the same route but faster so that you arrive back at the starting point in 11 minutes.
It starts off easy, recovery run pace. The coach is based in Dubai so the first bit was all about running in the heat. Apparently in Dubai the temperature is over 30C for 9 months of the year. This morning in Essex it was 7C so it was a bit weird to be told about taking it easy and not getting too hot.
It was actually a bit chilly when we set off. I'd put my windproof jacket on as we left home but taken it off again as I decided it would be too warm. A minute or two later, on the warm up walk, my hands were freezing.
We reached the fields and the lads were off like greyhounds after a rabbit. I set off. much more sedately on the guided run. It starts at recovery pace. It's a challenge to keep the pace down, especially with the natural tendency to speed up once you get into a rhythm. Have to confess that the time dragged a bit and I was quite surprised at how much ground I covered.
After 12 minutes I turned back. The pace picks up over the course of the run especially in the second half as there is less time for the same distance. I was going quite a bit faster than my comfort zone but it felt fine. The landmarks went past much quicker than on the way out, a good sign.
It got to just a few minutes left. It still felt a long way from the starting point so picked up my pace again. A corner turned and there was the tree where the run had started ...except as I approached it I realised I was kidding myself, the right tree was a couple of hundred metres further on! I sped up again, only a minute left, faster, faster... and then the run was over, still a bit short of my goal. I stopped and caught my breath.
Coach was very encouraging, suggested that if I was short of my goal it was probably because I'd gone too fast on the first leg. What a nice lady! Once my heartrate was back to a reasonable level I set off at a comfortable jog to the end of the path. This is probably the best bit of the run, it feels so easy and relaxed to do a gentle effort after you've been pushing yourself.
By the time I got back the others were already there, and as a bonus my son cooked us a big fried breakfast! What a great morning 
week3run1 ✅. 3 x 17 mins with 1 min walks. 
How did your parkrun or (not)parkrun go?