*bounce bounce*

[Adzriel]

After all of my feeling down and self conscious last week, todays run was great!

I barely slept last night, so when my alarm went off this morning less than 2 hours after I'd finally got to sleep, I elected to get another hour in before work, and go for my run after work instead.

So at 7pm I fastened up my trainers and headed out into the drizzle. Tuesday it turns out is after-school 5-aside club day, so the park was full of kids in high-vis vests. There were other runners, and most of them over-took me at some point, and there were loads of people walking their dogs. But mostly I didn't worry, only once when I ran past a bunch of teenagers did I have the self-doubt. and the run was great! I'd researched the route that the Park Run takes, and decided to follow that and see how it felt. Part of the run is up-hill, which I'd studiously avoided doing before, but it was fine! I had to keep telling myself not to speed up too much on the downhill, and to keep a steady pace, but I felt like I could run for ages!

The 25 minutes (week 7, run 1) felt almost easy, and I even upped the pace when Laura said I only had 60 seconds to go!

I managed half of the Park Run distance in my 25 minutes, so at my current pace it will take me 50 minutes to complete it, but I'm confident now that I'll make my goal of completing it before the end of October

[Jefna Graduate]

Ah that's great! Well done, sounds like a very confident boosting run! I love those ones!

Keep it up, you're doing brilliantly

[LMS2110 Graduate]

Great news Adzriel! So pleased to hear that you've had a satisfactory run. Wooohooo that graduation date is getting closer... Good for you gal, keep up the good work

[NSB001]

After reading your post about feeling self-conscious and then seeing this, I am so happy for you! That's a fabulous attitude to have after feeling down, good for you! Keep going! I'm starting week 1 today and hope I can get into your swing when the weeks get harder...!

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Go for it Adzriel! You have the respect of everyone on this forum. With that attitude you will graduate in no time. Park Run is a real treat and a rite of passage for any runner.

Enjoy your running.

[riotgoddess]

Thank you for the inspiration. X.

[Realfoodieclub Graduate]

I am on wk 7 runs and its great to read about someone feeling so confident about them. Well done. Look forward to reading your blog about your first parkrun.