After a week off, another comeback PB!

Unable to run at parkrun last week and only one training run in the last week didn't bode well for today's parkrun.

The freezing temperatures and the multiple layers on every part of my body also suggested a fast time would be very hard to come by.

Two weeks ago, at my last parkrun I got my comeback PB of 19:21. I was really hoping to beat this today. Beating it at all would have been fine, but in the back of my mind I was thinking about a sub 19 minuter.

I set off as fast as I dare with all my recent calf strain problems. This saw me lose 10-15 seconds on the people I used to start and run with. But after that I seemed to maintain the distance to them.

Aiming for 4:45 (19 minute pace) at the halfway point on the first lap I found myself about 7 seconds ahead of schedule. Money in the bank! I obviously then kept a consistent pace to the halfway point, completing the first lap in 9:32. This is on I thought.

So attention now well away from comeback PB and firmly focused on sub 19! I have to say that I felt really good considering it was my fastest lap for 4 months.

The first half of the second lap I just held position and pace. Then the last half lap I decided that to avoid the need for a fast finish, that was the time to make sure of the sub 19 and picked up the pace accordingly.

Reaching the normal 1 minute to go point I knew I had done it with a few seconds to spare and actually eased off a little to ensure no injury risk.

I finished with a time of 18:52 for another comeback PB, beating the previous one by 29 seconds! Another huge improvement. This equals a time I did in October and is my fastest since mid May last year! 9 months ago.

I have had a great day as a result, finally feeling close to getting back to my best.

I'm volunteering next week, and then the web upload, so I'm hoping that another week off makes me come back with similar enthusiasm and determination as did so well for me today!

Santa parkrun is....great fun

Yesterday saw the second official Coventry Santa parkrun. Considering the very cold conditions it was still a very good turn out at just under 150.

It was good to see so many getting into the Christmas spirit. Plenty of full Santa suits, a Rudolph, a present, lots of Santa hats and even a very festive Elvis Presley made it to the start line!

On Friday I laid down a challenge (on the Coventry parkrun Facebook page) to other parkrunners to try to beat (what I believe) is the Coventry parkrun record for a fully suited up Santa. Last year, at the first annual Coventry Santa parkrun, I managed a time of 18:35 to finish in 2nd place.

I even mentioned this "record" time to my brother, knowing that he would probably be the fastest Santa on the day, with me still in no fit state to run anywhere near that kind of time. I thought this was a very risky tactic for my record, but what value does a record really have if no one knows it even exists?

And so the challenge was set!

Running at my own pace, again significantly quicker than last week, but slow enough to feel that I wasn't risking injury I was a long way from the front of the field so had no real idea who the lead Santa was.

It wasn't until nearly 18 minutes into the run that I had any idea whether my record would be broken. At this stage I saw that my brother Andy was indeed the lead Santa and he seemed to be on target for one or two seconds either side of my record time. It looked like it would be very close.

I then had to wait another 6 minutes until I had finished to find out from Andy that he thought he had missed it by 1 or 2 seconds. As it turned out it was 3 seconds. A great effort but not quite this year!

With it being Christmas eve next week, a number of us have agreed to get a bit more use out of our Santa suits this year and do the same again. The question is, should Andy (or anyone else) beat my time, will it count as "the record" or does only the official Santa parkrun count? I'm sure there will be plenty of friendly banter discussing that next week!

Looking forward to another (unofficial) Santa parkrun next week! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!