Parkrun - 22:12 - New PB by 16 seconds and finished 5th!

[Aftabs]

Hi all!

I had a much better week running wise which set me up for this weeks Parkrun:

Sunday - easy pace 10km

Monday - strength training

Tuesday - interval training (3x1km at 4:10min per km pace)

Wednesday - strength training

Thursday - interval training (12x1min at 4min per km pace)

With it being so close to Christmas and getting colder the numbers at Parkrun have been reducing, this makes it harder to improve on PBs because it is less likely that I will find someone to race with because the field gets stretched out but it does mean I get to finish higher up the field!

I started very fast and found myself 3rd after about 200m and then settled into a steady pace. I had the Garmin set up to race against my previous PB and for the first 1.5km it kept switching between slightly ahead and slightly behind my previous PB. I was in 6th position at this time and was hoping that the person ahead would drag me along but he slowed a little and I knew that I would not beat my PB at this pace so I sped up and overtook him. From then on I checked my Garmin every so often and whenever I was running at less than 4:30min per km pace I sped up to get closer to 4:20min per km pace. Also I could see the guy in 4th in the distance so my aim was to make sure he didn't get any further ahead of me because I knew that he always had a good finish. At the 4km mark I was struggling but I knew I was on for a PB so I pushed myself very hard and finished in 22:12, 16 seconds off my PB! Hopefully if I stick to the training plan I can keep plugging away at the 5km times.

Happy running all!

Here is a link to my run:

connect.garmin.com/activity...

[notbad Graduate]

Well done aftab, you've really been working hard and it's paid off with a fab time and position. You're doing c25k proud!

[Aftabs Graduate in reply to notbad]

Thanks!

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

So you've only got to claw back less than 2.5 seconds per kilometre to hit that elusive 22 minutes! You are so close. I am so impressed. Congratulations. I am still waiting for my Parkrun time from this morning, but I am at least a whole five minutes adrift of you, Aftab. I am intrigued by the intervals. This is where expensive hardware helps, to give you accurate current pace stats. Are you walking between the runs?

[Aftabs Graduate in reply to IannodaTruffe]

When you put it like that I'm not too far off. Also I am walking in between the intervals. As I get better I will reduce the interval times for the first run and increase the speed on the second.

[IannodaTruffe Mentor in reply to Aftabs]

How long is your walk interval?

PS I am only 4 minutes behind you, I got a time of 26:18 this morning. I reckon you are safe though.

[Aftabs Graduate in reply to IannodaTruffe]

At the moment my walking intervals are as long as the running, so 4mins and 1mins for the two interval sessions. For the first run my aim is to get up for 5x1km at 4:00 pace and then start to reduce the walking slowly down to about 2 mins. This should help me get my time closer to 20min 5km

[IannodaTruffe Mentor in reply to Aftabs]

Thanks Aftab. I don't even think I can run at 4:00 m/k for 100metres!

[Fitfor60 Graduate]

Congratulations on your new PB Your time is amazing Agree with you that number of people running can affect how you run. I am at the other end of race and was last out of 280 runners but also got new PB

[Aftabs Graduate in reply to Fitfor60]

Well done on your PB! Most of my PBs have come when racing someone, it really helps in the last 2km when it gets tough. Hopefully having such a big field can help you along and everyone at Parkrun are so encouraging which has helped me along a lot.

[deb54 Graduate]

I latch onto others when I do parkrun - they do drag me round and it keeps me going. I have done 7 now and my times are getting better and better. Another reason for not going to the gym and the treadmill! Well done Aftabs!

[Aftabs Graduate in reply to deb54]

Thanks Deb54!