I live in Southsea, which has one of the easiest Parkruns going, so long as it's not windy - 2.5k East along the flat seafront promenade then turn round and come back. Some 270 or so people do it every Saturday, and I live 5 minutes walk from the start line. I sometimes run part of the course. I have not summoned up the nerve to do it yet, so you can probably guess why I am writing this post.
I graduated at the beginning of March at which point I could run 3.5k in 30 mins (58 year old female with short legs). I told myself I wanted to be confident in being able to run the Parkrun in 40 minutes before I did it, so I wouldn't be holding the organisers up / embarrassing myself. I've not yet run 5k and have not moved my speed up a lot yet. Last Friday I managed 4.2k in 37 minutes and felt I could have gone further. On Monday I attempted to run consistently at more than 7.5k per hour (the speed needed to finish in 40 minutes) and found I was blowing up after about 25 minutes. Yesterday's run was a complete disaster with legs made of lead, done in too much heat and aborted after 15 minutes.
I think being in Kuala Lumpur for 3 weeks set me back a bit as I struggled to find the time to do anything beyond jogging on the treadmill. Since getting back I have been able to reestablish my weekly routine of 2 swims, 2 Aqua classes, a weights session and quite a lot of steady walking, on top of running 3 times a week. I often I feel as if my legs are empty with no ability to accelerate, plus I struggle with stiffness in the 24 hours or so after running.
Long post but net net, wondering if I should try the Parkrun this Saturday.
I am also wondering if I would benefit from changing my routine to build in some rest days - I am not running every day, but there has hardly been a day since I got back from KL when I haven't been doing something strenuous.
Any views and thoughts appreciated, especially if you have experienced similar issues in stepping up.
Have you looked at your local Parkrun results page to see what the times are like? I ran my first one last week, I held off doing it because I was worried about coming in the last few, and I did but it really doesn't matter. If it was me, I'd run the course in its entirety to see what time seems to be achievable and either give yourself a few weeks until you feel ready, or just go for it (which is what I did in the end). And definitely build in a rest day!
Yes, it's unusual for anyone to take more than 42 minutes, so I think I will be last one home. There were some C25k people who used it a few weeks ago for their graduation run and took longer, but it's not usual for this course.