Hadn't been at the Parkrun for a few weeks and was surprised how busy the carpark was this morning. Turns out they were marking the 3rd anniversary of the Edinburgh one with various awards for highest points and for the regular volunteers who make it happen.
They also had some people pace setting - took me a moment to realise why they had numbers on their back. I haven't been managing to run as often as I should recently, so was taking it steady. Managed to pass the 30min runner fairly early and decided to track a bit behind the 28min runner to over half way. At about 4k had to slow down because of heartburn and finished in just over 28 minutes. Nice surprise at the end today because it was a special day there was juice and tray bakes.
I'm still not getting my head in the right place for these runs. Lying in bed I imagine myself really speeding up as per the C25k+ Podcasts in the last k, then sprinting to the finish for a new PB. The reality is by the time I get to 4k I'm just convincing myself to keep going. Once I'm past the finish line and in the queue for the barcode I'm thinking "That wasn't too bad maybe I could have run a bit faster." Have been wondering if doing some longer runs might make 5k seem less far or maybe I just need to motivate myself a bit more?
Driving home it occurred to me that it was a year since I had started trying to get fit. I'd had some health problems and various tests which all turned out negative but I decided that losing weight and getting a bit fitter wouldn't do any harm. I was 77kg or 12st with a BMI on the border between overweight and obese so I set myself the target of getting to 64kg or 10st which would be a BMI between normal and overweight. Got about half way by January using Myfitnesspal app. Signed up for Race for Life in May and somehow came across C25k website and decided to use it for training. By April I was on week 6 and did my first Parkrun. Managed to run the whole RfL in 33 minutes in May and graduated C25k in June. I'm now hovering around 65kg and have gone from a size 18 to size 14 and have a PB of 27.5min.
I know I couldn't have done it without C25k and this blog. I really appreciate the support from others and hope people find my comments helpful.
For those people starting out on this journey, stick with it however hard it can seem. It does work and when you look at back you will stick at it as you don't want to loose the gains from all that effort.
Second parkrun - and a personal best!
Week One, Run One! (kit advice too, please)
9th Parkrun, pb, 3rd place
Another running goal ticked off 
5th January - One Year Anniversary !
