Parkrun - 24:28 - Sore ankle but took a minute off my PB!!!

[Aftabs]

Hi all!!!

I am sitting here with a precautionary ice pack around my ankle but with a beaming smile because I ran Parkrun in 24:28 which is pretty much a whole minute off my previous PB. It was raining the whole time and I think that helped because I never felt hot.

My intention was to run about 26:15 today but before we started I introduced myself to a Barking Parkrun newbie who was here because his local Parkrun was called off. He told me he normally runs about 24:30 to 25:00. When we got to 1km I noticed that he was just ahead of me and that I was reasonably comfortable with the pace. I kept up with him and when we got to 3km he slowed down but I still felt that I could keep the pace up, even though it was tough going. At this stage I started to feel my left ankle a little bit, not a sharp pain but on each impact there was a bit of discomfort. I looked at my watch and saw that I was on to smash my PB so I thought I would push through it as long as the discomfort didn't get any worse. It didn't get worse so I was able to keep the pace up.

When we got the to finishing straight I could hear someone closing up on me and I thought I had worked too hard to let anyone overtake me at the end so I kicked on and when I looked at the watch I was delighted, well I was delighted after I caught my breath.

The ankle is a little sore now so I will ice it a little and make sure I stretch it throughout the day.

My Garmin showed the run as 4.9km but I am not worried about that because I read a few articles about GPS tracking and it isn't 100% accurate. The organisers of Parkrun have worked hard to map the course out so I trust it was 5km.

I will sign off with Woohooo!!!

Here is a link to my run:

connect.garmin.com/activity...

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Nice one Aftabs. That is a brilliant improvement, I hope you don't suffer for it. My first parkrun has been delayed by a pain in my heel which needs to be respected. But I hope to be out there next week, even if my time is five or six minutes behind you.

[Aftabs Graduate in reply to IannodaTruffe]

Thanks! I will see how my ankle is later today, at the moment there is some discomfort when I put weight on it otherwise its fine and there is no inflammation.

Two weeks ago I ran in 29 mins but I was easing myself back after a month off. I am on track for a 23 min run by the end of the year so I'm very happy.

Regarding your times: a true comparison is the age grading that is assigned to your run. This compares your time to the world record for your age group. This allows you to compare your time to people older/younger than you. I think I am one of the younger members of the forum so comparing absolute times isn't a true comparison.

[Plinth Graduate]

Wow! How do you go that fast? I can't get below 39 -40 mins!

[Aftabs Graduate in reply to Plinth]

I am currently running 4 x a week. If you click through the link above you should be able to navigate to my other runs. I am doing an interval session where I run flat out over shorter distances. I have a steady 5km, then Parkrun and a longer run. By running these different workouts I've been able to get a good overall workout which I hope will allow me to run a half marathon in October and a 23 min Parkrun by year end.

[ju-ju- Graduate]

well done thats a great time...my lad is hoping for similar...I am hoping for something around 30/31. we had a great parkrun today I really enjoyed it.

[Aftabs Graduate in reply to ju-ju-]

Thanks and say well done to your son from me. You will be getting a sub 30 min time soon!

[Rollertoaster Graduate]

Excellent time! Great stuff Aftabs

[Aftabs Graduate in reply to Rollertoaster]

Thanks!

[mason73 Graduate]

Wow great time again keep up the great training for hm x

[Aftabs Graduate in reply to mason73]

Thanks!

[Hidden]

Great PB Aftab, but please heed the niggle in your ankle and back off just for a short time, you don't necessarily need to stop just drop the intensity a little, with speed come increased risk of injury.

Now feel free to ignore me - all us runners are good at giving advice, but most of us don't take it

[Aftabs Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Phil. I'll be resting for a few days and will skip this weeks interval session to reduce the strain on my ankle. So I'll probably do one longer run on Wednesday before next Saturdays Parkrun. But I won't be pushing it now.