Park Run Progress!

I have not written about my training progress for a while but it has been quietly proceeding in the background. My social life has gotten in the way for the last few weeks but this last Saturday I managed to squeeze in a Park Run at Temple Newsam. One of my targets for this quarter was to get a Park Run PB there so I really had my sights set on it.

On the morning I was feeling ok but the rain was coming down hard. I could feel the grip on the tarmac was going while I warmed up so conditions were not ideal. My previous PB was 21:10 so I knew what I had to beat. I was fortunate for the presence of a 21 min pacer who I could use to my advantage.

Started off in the middle of the pack, struggling to get around other runners. By the time we had descended the first steep hill I had let loose a bit and managed to make my way to the top 10 group, and I was actually ahead of the 21 min pacer.

Towards the end of the first lap, going up the big hill, I was really starting to feel it. I am usually strong on hills and try to take advantage of that, but today I really felt like I was plodding and was overtaken – crucially by the 21 minute pacer.

Disheartened but not yet ready to surrender, I gritted my teeth and fought to stay with him. Every time he seemed to get away from me I found the force to regain the lost ground. Coming to the end of the second lap I was frequently checking my watch and I could tell it was going to be close. The 21 min pacer was about 10 seconds in front of me, which put me exactly at my previous best time.

Passing through the rhododendrons the 21 min pacer, still ahead of me, shouted back that he was ahead of time and if we pushed we could beat 21. This was exactly what I needed to hear and I put in all the power I could for the last hundred meters. Collapsing over the finish line in the rain, I stopped my watch but was nervous to check it. When I finally looked down I saw 20:55, beating my PB by 15 seconds!