After the euphoria of completing Week 5 Run 3 last Saturday, it's safe to say I didn't lack for the motivation to get out of bed on Tuesday and Thursday at 6am to do the first 2 runs of Week 6.
Went out for a friend's birthday last night and the topic of conversation soon turned to running over our meal. One friend said he was running the local parkrun tomorrow and asked if I fancied joining him, but said I had 3 more weeks of the programme to go yet but nice to know he'll be there to run alongside me when I do decide to bite the bullet!
Got in late last night and woke up early with a sore head (my own fault!) and a request from my running mate to delay our run until midday as he was feeling worse than me! Stupidly, before we set off I text my parkrunner friend and asked how he got on. Wrote back as I headed out the door "23mins. Absolutely smashed it!" That just added to the butterflies in my stomach, think I'll need a few more runs to get near that pace!
The run itself was great! Let off a little sigh of relief when my running mate said he was happy to run at my slow pace rather than me chase him along the trails for 5km. So I ran slow and steady at my normal pace in my familiar route, and instantly forgot about the hangover No stitches or aches throughout and ran each km under 6 minutes. Even managed to run up the steep hill that usually starts my cool down period (albeit very slowly!) but I would've hit my friend if I had the energy as he sprinted past me with a grin and looking fresh as a daisy! Finished off the 25min and then carried on for an extra minute to reach my house for a total time of 31.06 (including the warm up 5min) completing the full 5k.
Bring on Week 7!