I love Tuesdays!
One of the great benefits of working from home on a Tuesday is that I have time for a lunchtime parkrun freedom run.
It may not be the nicest weather today in Coventry. It's overcast and damp with every chance that it is going to rain later, but I just can't wait to get out in War Memorial park for a nice gentle freedom parkrun.
I think that is probably the key, with "gentle" being the all important word. Since my breakthrough moment last Tuesday, where I realised that I really wasn't up for hard training sessions at the moment, I am starting to look forward to my runs again.
Today I am just going to head off for my parkrun freedom run, with no intentions other than running it at whatever pace feels comfortable. And if, after one parkrun freedom run, I feel that I want to carry on, then I may just do a second one.
So rain or shine (looks unlikely glancing out of the window) I will be heading up to War Memorial park for a lunchtime parkrun freedom run and I hope to enjoy it.
Showing posts with label parkrun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parkrun. Show all posts
Tuesday, 20 November 2012
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
parkrun Training log: 13th November 2012
Today's training session in brief....
On the plus side:
- parkrun freedom runs: Intended: 2 Achieved: 2 Result: SUCCESS
- Interval training:
- 1km Intervals (at 3:30 each): Intended: 4 Achieved: Only 1! Result: FAILURE
- 500m Intervals (at 1:45 each): Intended: 4 Achieved: Only 2 Result: FAILURE
On the plus side:
- I did manage my 196th and 197th freedom parkruns.
- I ran for over an hour in total.
- I ran 7.8 miles in total.
- I got out in the fresh air in the park.
Friday, 9 November 2012
Cross-country or not?
It must be roughly 23 years since I last did a cross-country race. I represented my school in the district cross-country championship and did pretty well to be honest. But I can't think of a single occasion in those last 23 years, where I thought "I really must get back into cross-country running!". Not once!
So why on earth am I considering it now?
Well I joined a running club (Sphinx AC) this year and running clubs do cross-country, or so I'm told. The first race of the year is this Saturday (10th November) and it just sounds like great fun.
Back in my school days I was one of the better cross-country runners in my year group. But being a footballer at heart, I only did the cross-country because I was told I had to. No cross-country, no football I was repeatedly told. I was always trying to get out of the training and the races, but never managed it.
Jump forward to now and I am actually looking forward to it. I can't wait to see what it's like. I'm looking forward to being part of a team again. It's been about 5 years since my competitive football days came to an end and I suppose that was my last team sport event. I really like the idea of all the club runners trying our best to beat runners from other clubs and all of our efforts counting towards the same result. Should be a great team bonding event.
Apparently it's going to get a bit muddy and messy. No great surprise there. Not quite what I'm used to. I suppose I'll just have to get over the fact that the brand spanking new pair of Saucony Grid Cohesion Trail shoes that have been sitting in their box under my bed for the last 2 months are not going to brand spanking new come Saturday afternoon.
The only other real question is whether I can risk doing parkrun in the morning and cross-country in the afternoon. At training on Thursday evening, the club coach for the men's team suggested that doing both would be a bad idea. I can't help but agree, but now that I am closing in on my 100 club top, I don't want to miss any at all.
Anyway, looking forward to it, so bring it on and lets see just how cross-country now compares to my school days. Somehow I think it's going to be a lot more fun!
So why on earth am I considering it now?
Well I joined a running club (Sphinx AC) this year and running clubs do cross-country, or so I'm told. The first race of the year is this Saturday (10th November) and it just sounds like great fun.
Back in my school days I was one of the better cross-country runners in my year group. But being a footballer at heart, I only did the cross-country because I was told I had to. No cross-country, no football I was repeatedly told. I was always trying to get out of the training and the races, but never managed it.
Jump forward to now and I am actually looking forward to it. I can't wait to see what it's like. I'm looking forward to being part of a team again. It's been about 5 years since my competitive football days came to an end and I suppose that was my last team sport event. I really like the idea of all the club runners trying our best to beat runners from other clubs and all of our efforts counting towards the same result. Should be a great team bonding event.
Apparently it's going to get a bit muddy and messy. No great surprise there. Not quite what I'm used to. I suppose I'll just have to get over the fact that the brand spanking new pair of Saucony Grid Cohesion Trail shoes that have been sitting in their box under my bed for the last 2 months are not going to brand spanking new come Saturday afternoon.
The only other real question is whether I can risk doing parkrun in the morning and cross-country in the afternoon. At training on Thursday evening, the club coach for the men's team suggested that doing both would be a bad idea. I can't help but agree, but now that I am closing in on my 100 club top, I don't want to miss any at all.
Anyway, looking forward to it, so bring it on and lets see just how cross-country now compares to my school days. Somehow I think it's going to be a lot more fun!
Saturday, 11 February 2012
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!
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!
Thursday, 5 January 2012
5 parkrun targets for 2012
Late last year I set myself a few targets for parkrun for 2011. Even though injuries plagued my year I still achieved a few of those targets, so I thought I should do the same for 2012. So here goes....
1. Get back under 18:30 before the end of April.
2. Get a new PB (under 17:49) before the end of the year. This will be very tough, but what is the point of easy targets?
3. Run 35 parkruns in the year. This would take me to 85 in total and leave me on target for the 100 club by June 2013!
4. Run at 2 new parkrun locations. Brueton for sure and at least one other.
5. Finish in the top 5 in the Coventry points table.
If I remember I'll try to check in on how I'm doing with these targets during 2012!
1. Get back under 18:30 before the end of April.
2. Get a new PB (under 17:49) before the end of the year. This will be very tough, but what is the point of easy targets?
3. Run 35 parkruns in the year. This would take me to 85 in total and leave me on target for the 100 club by June 2013!
4. Run at 2 new parkrun locations. Brueton for sure and at least one other.
5. Finish in the top 5 in the Coventry points table.
If I remember I'll try to check in on how I'm doing with these targets during 2012!
Monday, 2 January 2012
New years parkrun resolutions
1. I must stay injury free.
2. I must do as many parkruns as possible this year. I think 35 should possible given volunteering, holidays, weekends away and all other reasons for missing out.
3. I must volunteer at parkrun at least 5 times. I know 3 is the suggested minimum, but I feel I owe parkrun a little more than that.
4. I must get back below 20 minutes by mid-February. That shouldn't be too tough given that I did 21:10 on the tough Leamington parkrun course last weekend.
5. I will try to get back under 19 minutes by mid-March.
6. I will try to get back under 18:20 by mid-April. That would leave me within plausible reach of my PB for the remainder of the year.
7. I will try my upmost to get my friends along to parkrun whenever they come to stay (be warmed friends!).
8. I will continue to blog about all things parkrun. parkrun in general, my parkruns, freedom runs and any other parkrun topics I can think of.
9. I will try to get along to at least one or two other parkrun locations.
10. I will consider joining a running club.
2. I must do as many parkruns as possible this year. I think 35 should possible given volunteering, holidays, weekends away and all other reasons for missing out.
3. I must volunteer at parkrun at least 5 times. I know 3 is the suggested minimum, but I feel I owe parkrun a little more than that.
4. I must get back below 20 minutes by mid-February. That shouldn't be too tough given that I did 21:10 on the tough Leamington parkrun course last weekend.
5. I will try to get back under 19 minutes by mid-March.
6. I will try to get back under 18:20 by mid-April. That would leave me within plausible reach of my PB for the remainder of the year.
7. I will try my upmost to get my friends along to parkrun whenever they come to stay (be warmed friends!).
8. I will continue to blog about all things parkrun. parkrun in general, my parkruns, freedom runs and any other parkrun topics I can think of.
9. I will try to get along to at least one or two other parkrun locations.
10. I will consider joining a running club.
Friday, 16 December 2011
The parkrun 50-club
I am now rapidly approaching my 50th completed parkrun.
As I am sure most readers will be well aware and no doubt already members of, completing your 50th parkrun gets you into the 50 club and entitles you to the fantastic 50-club t-shirts. Adidas, one of parkrun's official sponsors gives these away to all parkrun 50-club members for free. Isn't that amazing! Not only do we get all the fun of parkrun for free, but once you reach 50 runs you get a t-shirt for free. Not only that, but if you have seen the new 50-club (technical) t-shirts, they are fantastic and far nicer than the old Nike ones. They look the part, I believe they are made of the right materials and are therefore breathable and they are the must have parkrun status symbol!
There are of course also the elusive 100 and 250 clubs and the associated t-shirts, but they are (probably) many years off for me t the current rate, so I'll concentrate on the 50 club for now!
It's has been an up and down parkrun year for me. There was the high of my 17:49 PB in February followed by months of disappointingly recurring injury problems. Those injury problems have significantly hampered my progression towards joining the parkrun 50-club. At one stage I was on target for reaching the milestone in late September. That shows just how many events I have missed.
I said that I was approaching my 50th "completed" parkrun. I say "completed" because there have been a few (maybe 3 or 4) that I have started and not completed. Amazingly, with all the injuries I have had, only one was due to injury. The others were runs started with my kids and stopped half-way. The kids enjoy parkrun and want to complete one (well they do before they start), but half way through they have always had enough and its better to stop before they hate it (or me!).
So the 50th run and joining the 50 club beckons. I believe I have completed 47 parkruns now. As long as I don't have any injury problems in the meantime, tomorrow will be number 48, Christmas Eve will be 49 and (I can't do Christmas day) New Years Eve (Coventry parkrun #99) will be my 50th!
Hopefully I will be one of the last parkrunners to join the 50-club in 2011 and if I don't manage that, then one of the first of 2012. 50-club, make room for another member, I'm on my way!
As I am sure most readers will be well aware and no doubt already members of, completing your 50th parkrun gets you into the 50 club and entitles you to the fantastic 50-club t-shirts. Adidas, one of parkrun's official sponsors gives these away to all parkrun 50-club members for free. Isn't that amazing! Not only do we get all the fun of parkrun for free, but once you reach 50 runs you get a t-shirt for free. Not only that, but if you have seen the new 50-club (technical) t-shirts, they are fantastic and far nicer than the old Nike ones. They look the part, I believe they are made of the right materials and are therefore breathable and they are the must have parkrun status symbol!
There are of course also the elusive 100 and 250 clubs and the associated t-shirts, but they are (probably) many years off for me t the current rate, so I'll concentrate on the 50 club for now!
It's has been an up and down parkrun year for me. There was the high of my 17:49 PB in February followed by months of disappointingly recurring injury problems. Those injury problems have significantly hampered my progression towards joining the parkrun 50-club. At one stage I was on target for reaching the milestone in late September. That shows just how many events I have missed.
I said that I was approaching my 50th "completed" parkrun. I say "completed" because there have been a few (maybe 3 or 4) that I have started and not completed. Amazingly, with all the injuries I have had, only one was due to injury. The others were runs started with my kids and stopped half-way. The kids enjoy parkrun and want to complete one (well they do before they start), but half way through they have always had enough and its better to stop before they hate it (or me!).
So the 50th run and joining the 50 club beckons. I believe I have completed 47 parkruns now. As long as I don't have any injury problems in the meantime, tomorrow will be number 48, Christmas Eve will be 49 and (I can't do Christmas day) New Years Eve (Coventry parkrun #99) will be my 50th!
Hopefully I will be one of the last parkrunners to join the 50-club in 2011 and if I don't manage that, then one of the first of 2012. 50-club, make room for another member, I'm on my way!
Sunday, 14 November 2010
parkrun - what's it all about?
So what is parkrun? That's an easy one to answer, or is it.....?
There's the factual explanation.....parkrun is a free, weekly, 5km timed running event, in over 50 locations across the UK (and Denmark). But that's not enough.
There's the emotional explanation.....parkrun is a phenomenon, bringing communities together each week for the good of all.
The true meaning of parkrun cannot be explained in one single blog post. I will endeavour to explain what parkrun means to me and my fellow parkrunners over the coming weeks and months. I will tell you how I found out about parkrun, got started, became obsessed and how I intend to spread the word to as many people as are willing to listen. Saturday mornings will never be the same again!
There's the factual explanation.....parkrun is a free, weekly, 5km timed running event, in over 50 locations across the UK (and Denmark). But that's not enough.
There's the emotional explanation.....parkrun is a phenomenon, bringing communities together each week for the good of all.
The true meaning of parkrun cannot be explained in one single blog post. I will endeavour to explain what parkrun means to me and my fellow parkrunners over the coming weeks and months. I will tell you how I found out about parkrun, got started, became obsessed and how I intend to spread the word to as many people as are willing to listen. Saturday mornings will never be the same again!
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