Glorious parkrun morning! How many of us are park runners too?

[helcl]

I went out not in a good mood this morning, I'd only run once this week, and if my hubby had been even a tiny bit 'you can stay in bed if you want to dear' I would have taken him up on it. Last week was the first time I ran the full parkrun with no walk breaks and when I got there today, my ONLY goal was to not walk, even if I added 10 minutes to my time.

Got to the start, still grumpy, and we were off. But something strange seems to happen every time I go there. I discover a long dormant competitive streak! "Just going to plod along? PAH!" So off I trot! I tell myself to slow down and pace myself, but like most of the good advice I give myself, I ignore it. First km slower than last week, not good. Second km not bad, half way point, what was my time here last week? My husband finishes his run and joins me for the third and final lap - my own personal cheering squad. Thank goodness! The urge to walk is strong in me. Just want to finish, I tell him. I just want to get to the end without walking. Uh oh, the finish is in sight, and i might just push myself a bit here, maybe a bit more! I begin a lumbering charge, maybe if I run faster I can collapse sooner. But hang on? Only a couple of hundred meters left, and my watch is surely wrong? I'm very close to last weeks PB! Ok, I'm not having this. Have to push a bit harder!

And I just got my result! 3 seconds faster! WOOHOO!

[Hidden]

Well done. These Parkruns sound a really good way of making progress so I might just nip along to my local one in the next couple of weeks and have a look. I won't attempt to do one until the end of next month just to see how I cope with it in preparation for my R4L in June. Pleased you are enjoying yourself though and thank you for helping inspire those of us yet to graduate and thinking about post-graduation Parkruns. Good luck and best wishes.

[helcl Graduate in reply to Hidden]

You should go along. I hope your one is as friendly as ours. I started going along quite early in my running and walked more than I ran, but you can get a good idea of how fast your run is by looking at their results.

[kittih Graduate in reply to Hidden]

I wasn't sure whether I was up to a parkrun so decided to volunteer to learn how it went. I was so inspired I plucked up the courage to run it the following week as everyone was so friendly and supportive.I would definitely recommend it. Many people walk / run it.

[Hidden in reply to kittih]

Thank you for this information. There is a park run which is probably within cycling distance of home. I'm not sure I'd want to volunteer at this stage as I don't want to get committed to something more, although it would be a good way of meeting new and like-minded people. I'll go along just to look and make some enquiries at the time - see how I feel after that. Cheers.

[helcl Graduate in reply to Hidden]

All volunteering commits you to is the one session you've volunteered for. There's no pressure to do more. It's worth trying once.

[Shed79 Graduate]

I completed my first Parkrun over in Leicester today and was very pleased with my time, noticeably quicker than I have been doing on the lanes running solo, although I did seem to end up in a group of one for most of the way round. Also it is good to see another C25K runner just behind me in the results.

[helcl Graduate in reply to Shed79]

I think it does help your time but I find it impossible to pace myself when it starts. I get caught up in the initial frenzy. Did you enjoy it though?

[Shed79 Graduate in reply to helcl]

I did enjoy it, Still had to walk a couple of times but I started from the back and set my own pace. At least I now have a benchmark to work with.

[tal31 Graduate in reply to Shed79]

Hi Shed79, I think that was me just behind you! It was my first Parkrun yesterday too and I loved it. I'll look out for you next time and we can say hello

[no-excuse Graduate]

Excellent well done ! A new PB (clap hands) and no walking either. I had to give my Parkrun a miss this morning but did get out and do an early road run- a new PB for my 5k too! Can't wait for Parkrun next week though. Enjoy your running x

[helcl Graduate in reply to no-excuse]

Thank you. It just feels so nice when you can see constant little improvements. Congratulations on your run this morning.

[no-excuse Graduate in reply to helcl]

I know, its amazing me still, when I look back at that first week of the programme.x

[wilmacgh Graduate]

To answer the "how many of us are Parkrunners too?" go to you results and click on the club "NHS Couch to 5k" that will give you the others for your home run. then click the consolidated club results and you will see them from all round the country. It's currently giving last week's results.

Or try directly pasting parkrun.com/results/consoli...

There used to also be a post on this site but the consolidated results seems to have replaced it.

[helcl Graduate in reply to wilmacgh]

thank you

[TheMagicalPixie Graduate]

Wow well done you! I find my competitive streak comes right out with things like this as well, and running "against" so many others is really motivating! At my first parkrun they told me about a lady who was losing loads of weight and getting new PBs every week - thought that was something good to aim for! Here's to a new PB for you next week too!

[helcl Graduate in reply to TheMagicalPixie]

thank you. They are changing the winter course over to the summer one next week, and it has hills in rather than a gentle slope might take a few weeks to get another pb.

[ZoomZoom Graduate]

I've just done my 6th parkrun and have got PBs 5x now, knocking nearly 4 minutes off my first time.

I love it and am so surprised at how much I am improving. Even with yesterday's run I thought I won't be able to finish this, I'm so tired, I might have to walk, I don't have any reserve left for a sprint at the end but that competitive streak in me came out in the end and I did my latest PB.

I don't think I'll be able to pull it off next week though :/

[helcl Graduate in reply to ZoomZoom]

Congratulations! Sometimes you have to consolidate what you've done so far. That's what I tell myself when I don't get a better time. I went yesterday not even thinking I'd get close to last weeks time, but as I got near the finish, I couldn't be that close and not make the final push.

[Bazza1234 Graduate]

At my local Parkrun this weekend ( unfortunately I was at another one) , a "first timer" turned up and ran the 5Ks in 45 minutes.

What's go wonderful about that - you might ask??? Well - maybe nothing - he was the only entrant in his age category ---

85-89!!!!! :0

[helcl Graduate in reply to Bazza1234]

I think that's brilliant! Gives us all hope.