Parkrun x 2 - 1st 5km in 23:10. 2nd 5km in 23:25

[Aftabs]

Hi all!

Barking had a Christmas run today and I normally do my long slow run on a Wednesday or Thursday. So I decided to turn up early and run the course in reverse so I would complete 5km and then join the rest of the field and run a 2nd 5km. I was the 1st person there so I ran my warm up km with my bag on as there was no-one to keep an eye on it. By the time I had done that and warmed up one of the volunteers was there. I wanted to run the 1st km in about 23 mins so I waited until 8:37am and then started my run. We always start a few minutes late so I was confident that I wouldn't miss the start. It felt comfortable enough and had to make sure I didn't run too fast at the beginning. Once I got into my stride I was fine. As I got to the 4th km I kept worrying that I might turn a corner and have dozens of people run headlong into me but thankfully that didn't happen! I got the the start line as everyone was about to head off. I had to wait a minute which made it all the harder when I had to start again. I ran the 1st 5km in 23:10 and was happy with that.

When I started the 2nd 5km with everyone else it was a struggle because I haven't tried a fast 10km in about 7-8 months. My shins started to burn but I didn't have any cardio issues. I aimed to run the 2nd km in a similar time to the 1st but really struggled. I kept my eye on a group of people and thought to myself that I would try and overtake them nearer the end. I hung on and when I got to the last km I upped the pace and then had a strong finish in the last 200m. I managed to overtake most of the people I was focussing on. The 2nd 5km was 23:25 and I am happy with that.

My Garmin lost its GPS when I got to the 2km mark on the 2nd 5km, which has never happened before. However I have a footpod which kicks in when GPS fails so I still have my run recorded.

So overall the 10km was 46:35. I don't think I can classify it as a proper 10km due to the minute rest but my current 10km pb is 50 minutes and this shows that I can beat that by about 3-4 minutes if I try.

Happy running all and enjoy the holidays! Here is a link to the run:

connect.garmin.com/modern/a...

[c4ts Graduate]

Its Christmas of course you can think of it as a 10K, well done on completing both runs. I'm just back from Carlisle Parkrun and as I have no technology I just have to wait for them to post the results online.

[Aftabs Graduate in reply to c4ts]

Thanks and I hope you got the time you was looking for :-).

[janda Graduate]

Fantastic runs Aftab. I am away from home for a few days and managed to sleep in through to 9am so missed the chance to do another Parkrun here in Scotland . Plan to be catch up on Saturday at Falkirk then do the New Years Day at Oak Hill. If I'm brave I may do the double with Grovelands (it's all in the timings) then. Keep on running!

[Aftabs Graduate in reply to janda]

Thanks James. That sounds like a good plan with the double on new years. I have a chance to do that too but one of the Parkruns is a trail run and I avoid them after our half marathon adventure in Weald Park!

[AncientMum Graduate]

Fab fab times there Aftabs. Merry Christmas

[Aftabs Graduate in reply to AncientMum]

Thanks!

[hilbean Graduate]

Wow! Great run. Really don't see why you can't count that as a 10k run

[Aftabs Graduate in reply to hilbean]

Thanks, I am happy with the run but at some stage will do it again but non-stop so I can see what 10km time I can do.