Another week, another comeback PB

After smashing my previous comeback PB of 21:23 last week, bringing it down to 19:56, I knew it would be really tough to get another one this week.

I would have settled for any improvement over last week, but to be totally honest I had 19:30 in the back of my mind. It's been a fair few months since I was able to do a parkrun at that pace, so I wasn't certain I had the fitness to do it, irrespective of how the calf felt. But I was prepared to give it a good go.

The problem I have at the moment is a lack of confidence in my calf. This rules out fast starts and sprint finishes, and calls for fairly even paced running. I worked out 3:54 per kilometer, and very luckily I was lent a Garmin to help me.

A fairly fast start and the early downhill stretch got me nicely ahead of target with a 3:48 first km. Right there and then I knew it was possible and mentally committed to sub 19:30.

Six minutes later and reaching the halfway point in 9:45 (exactly half target time) and now feeling the effects of running at that pace, I started to feel slightly annoyed with myself for the earlier mental commitment. But a deal's a deal and once committed I am not one for backing down easily, so it had to be done.

The 4th km was not good. I drifted out to over 4:00 pace and very quickly realised that this was the time to go for it or miss it! I knew I had the comeback PB in the bag, but could I go sub 19:30 too?

Knowing I couldn't risk a sprint finish it had to be a hard last km. On lifting the pace and maintaining it for 3 or 4 minutes I felt that on the limit, on the verge of sickness, heart pounding feeling you get when you get close to your limit. Even though this can be a horrible feeling, it is one I have always found addictive. This is the best bit of exercising for me. I know I'm wierd!

Somehow, not only did I manage the comeback PB and to break 19:30, I finished in 19:21, my fastest time for months.

Unfortunately I now have to wait 2 weeks for my next parkrun and to continue my comeback PB streak.

Still another 90 seconds to get back to my very best, but for a while I'll be looking at 5-10 second improvements each week. There is a long way to go, but no rush to do it.

I can't wait to give it a go again in 2 weeks time.