After completing wk5, I felt confident to give it a go, fully intending to just stick to running in line with wk6r1. But with my conficence up from doing the 20 min run on wk5r3, I felt I had some more running in me so I decided to treat it the same and see how I got on. It helped that the run was totally flat and conditions perfect. So I warmed up, said to my 4 family members also doing it (2 experienced and 2 reluctant runners/walkers) that I was doing ‘my own thing’ and I’ll see them at the end. We all stood together at the start (which was a little daunting) - 526 runners that day- but I listened to the main instructions, waited for the hooter, then put my music on and walked towards the start with the masses. No idea what happened to my family but my walk turned into a slow jog and the masses quickly spread out. The first 1km was probably the hardest, just finding your rythm and luckily, this run had the pace runners with the time placards so, after starting mid pack, around 32m marker (no intention there, just happened that way), many, many people overtook and I found myself tracking the 38m marker. Happy to get under 40m, I fell into a steady pace and found some people overtook, but also some had stopped or were walking so I ended up being the one who overtook. That felt amazing, just kept putting one foot infront of another at a slow and steady pace. I had my water and headphones and had warmed up so I focused on my breathing to avoid a stitch and to keep it steady. I had no idea where my family were but it didn’t matter. I looked out for the distance markers and when I saw the 3km one and was still feeling reasonable, I knew I could finish. I spotted the next time placard runner up ahead and, with 1km to go, decided to pick the pace up a little to get closer to him which I did and it felt incredible. My knee was twinging ever so slightly so didn’t want to push too much but at 36m pace, it still felt a slowish pace that I could stick to. After all, the end was in sight. My official time was 35.49 so nearly 5 mins better than I expected. I surprised myself and felt really proud I’d done my first Park Run in a decent time too. I just wanted to finish it, injury free and preferably without walking and that’s exactly what I did. I made sure I did my stretches afterwards so I could still walk the next day and treated myself to a fancy coffee and sausage baguette, guilt free and rather smugly! I think I will now find a flat 5km route near home that I can do instead of reverting back to wk6 and start to call myself an actual runner! Thank you for your support on my journey so far and good luck with your own journeys.
First Park Run done: After completing wk5, I... - Couch to 5K
First Park Run done
Congratulations on completing your first park run .
My advice however would now be to go back to the programme !
It is still very early days in your running journey and by missing out the rest of the programme you are taking a big unnecessary risk of injury .
An overuse injury can come out of the blue and stop you in your tracks for days, weeks or even months , don't take that risk .
Just enjoy the programme, develop your strength, stamina and your resistance to injury at the rate laid out in the programme.
There is no rush.
Enjoy!
Thank you. I will do that as I certainly don’t want to risk injury
It can be difficult to hold back sometimes , but hopefully you get used to the signals , like a niggly knee for example .We have all been there 😁
That sounds like a fantastic Park Run and is very encouraging to read as I hope to do my first soon. But I agree with Instructor57, it would be such a shame to get so far with the programme and not finish and graduate - it's a brilliant feeling!
Well done on your first parkrun and first 5k
I agree totally with Instructor57
We are all capable of doing way more than our bodies are conditioned to do, but not without increasing our injury risk. Sticking to gently progressive training plans is the safest way to push our limits, whilst gently increasing our resistance to injury.
Injury often strikes out of the blue and can stop you for days, weeks or even months.
This FAQ Post about parkrun gives our recommendations about how to deal with parkrun. healthunlocked.com/couchto5...
One of the commonest phrases uttered to new runners by physios is "Too much, too soon."
Take your time and you will keep running. Rush and all your enthusiasm could come to nought.
Take care.
Keep running, keep smiling.
Thank you. That makes sense and I’ve got nothing to lose by reverting to finishing the plan. I certainly don’t want to get an injury
Well done on your park run!
Just to echo what everyone else says with some added maths (always my happy place!), most programmes don’t recommend increasing your distance/time by more than 10% a week. You’ve jumped by 78.5%! It’s really easy to get carried away in the moment but it’s best to try and rein yourself in so you don’t get hurt. Feeling like you’ve got more running in you is a good thing! Your knee twinging sounds like your body telling you that you might have been pushing it a bit far.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do next.
Thank you for your advice and encouragement
Hi Mojoxxx , well done on completing a Parkrun with over 500 runners, that would terrify me.
However, as everyone else has said, please do go back to the C25K programme now. It's so tempting to think that you've cracked this running lark and to want to do more and more, but building up gradually will make you a much stronger, better runner.
C25K graduation is just the start, not the finish, and there'll be many more runs waiting for you in the future. Enjoy!
Well done! I am looking forward to a Park run when I finish the programme - I’m super slow and struggle for the last 5 mins of a run so hoping to build my stamina up for the last two weeks of it.
In my long and varied experience of parkrun (one run yesterday!!!) there is a huge range of runners there from people finishing in 17 minutes (how?!!) to people walking most of it. It’s absolutely fine to take it at any pace you like and there’s no need to feel you’ve got to run it all. Really good luck for your debut.
That’s good to hear - I’ll let you know how it goes ☺️
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