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27:02 for me this morning, treated it as a training run. Ran the first mile in under 8:00 then just took it easy for the rest, I really feel like if I have a healthy week under my belt (been suffering with a bad back myself this week, must be in sympathy with Deadbox) I could really go for that 25:00, even though my PB is 90secs away.
Hope you all went well, and good luck for tomorrow Lauren!
Good effort! How did you find that first mile?
Thanks for the luck for tomorrow. I feel like I need it. I've spent all week getting myself really nervous about it, and calculating minutes per mile and minutes per km and trying to figure out what I think is realistic, and actually, I have no idea now! I think the hardest part is (as it always is with me) keeping myself going when it starts to hurt, but I just need to keep my aim in mind. I know I can run 5k in 27 minutes - and that's with a hill, this course is flat as a pancake - so I just need to do that twice. Maybe a smidge faster.
My plan is to do it for the team - keep you guys in mind and think how great it'll be tomorrow when I get to say "I did it!"
Any other parkrunners today? I guess Jlb might be the only one, unless Deadbox sneaked out...
Guys, I did it!! Finished in 52:59!!! One of the strongest runs I've ever done, I can't believe I ran that fast! I was aiming at 54 mins, and thinking I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do it, but I figured I'd try to stick as close as possible to 5:20 mins per km. I ended up with my average pace as 5:17, and my first 5k was 25:50, so once I'd done that, I realised I could definitely do the second half in 27 mins. PB smashed by nearly 5 minutes.
It was wonderfully chilly and wintery too, my favourite weather to run in. And the course was, as predicted, flat as a pancake. Honestly couldn't have gone better. My boyfriend was waiting at the end and he said he'd only just got there because he wasn't expecting me for another 5 minutes. Ha.
Well Done Lauren, thats amazing!! chuffed for you!
Oh dear Jlb, hope you haven't caught a bad back off me, well done on the parkrun. I'm loving your confidence, you'll all be running sub 25 soon.
Nah, I didn't sneak out. Haven't been out since last sunday. All I've done this week was having some mobs on my lumbar and writing essays for uni
Hope to get back to it this week, still gonna take it easy even though my back is feeling much better.
Crackin' effort Lauren, you totally smashed it! Well done.
I think I'm going to have to rest all week and see if this back sorts itself out, if not, a visit to the physio will be in order.
Call me a creep if you want, Rich, but I like to always check what position I would have come in if I'd actually done the parkrun and I happened to notice your time - fantastic improvement!! I might have to chase you next week!
Thanks for all the congrats - I'm still glowing from it, honestly. I haven't pushed too hard this week in training. Missed the club run again on Monday, I must start forcing myself to go! Then Tuesday night, I persuaded my boyfriend to take me out for a 7k run, because he always says he wants to go running but then changes his mind almost instantly. I think I'm a bit too slow for him really, but we stuck to around 9:30m/m which felt really fast probably because I was still tired from Sunday. Then I did about 4 miles by myself on Wednesday and 7 miles on Thursday. Surprisingly, I felt WAY better on the 7 mile run than I did on the 4 miles.
Went out last night, so the 12 mile run I planned for today has been postponed until tomorrow morning (not hungover, just very tired!! I don't seem to be able to sleep in past 8am regardless of the time I went to bed, haha). I'm quite looking forward to it - I've planned a new route through 4 parks/commons, so starting in Wandsworth Common, through Wimbledon Park, up to Wimbledon Common and finally Richmind Park, then back home again.
How are the backs doing, guys? Hope you're feeling better!
Another good load of training again Lauren, I really hope you get that sub 25 soon as I think you deserve it the most. I too look at the results every week to see where I'd finish lol
Come on then Richard, spill the beans, how did you do?
How's your back Jlb?
Righty. So trying to keep up with sopmeone at what I presumed was a 25min pace turned out really rather well. It was obviously someone completely different who was well within so by keeping up with them and forgetting about my own time, I actually came in at 23.42
I think my plan from now on is to just aim to keep up/over take people ahead of me and then hopefully the times will start to tumble down as a result. I think it must be a bit of competitiveness coming through.
The only annoying thing is I have no motivation to get running the longer distances. How do youn guys motivate yourself to go and do it and how do you keep going if it starts to get a bit boring?
Rich
Take it slow with increasing the distance - if you go out and suddenly try to run 10 miles having only done 5 before it will feel like a long way, but to go from 9 miles to ten means its only another 10 minute.
Brilliant progress though, you'll be aiming for sub-23 next! And Deadbox, glad you've been able to get out a bit too!
I like your idea about about running to the pub Lauren! Do you get a taxi back? Haha
Great work Rich, next time I can manage to get to Parkrun I'm definitely just going to stick with my 24:00 friend for as long as possible.
The longest run I've done to date (14k), was to a cafe for a cooked breakfast and a try-bake lol, it was along a path that used to be a railway-line I think, so it was quite pleasant. Once I'm out the door I don't really have motivation problems, just free-time problems.
My back is still an issue, I had the week off all exercise and chewed on a fair amount of pills which sorted me out at the time, but as soon as I stopped taking pain killers the pain returned; worse than before if anything. To make matters worse, I've woken up with the dreaded man flu this morning
It was my birthday on Sunday and I've got the money together for a Garmin Forerunner 405 with heart monitor, looking forward to getting it on the wrist. Got rightly drunk on Friday night which has probably contributed to man flu and general crappy feeling I have today. Definitely past it!
Hope everyone is training hard?
I suppose this is a kind of un-answerable question, but I'm going ahead anyway. I have almost always run with a garmin - do you find it hard to monitor your pace without it? I'm tempted to try a parkrun without it and see if that makes a difference, as I do get a bit distracted by the numbers.
Had a good week of training so far. After the 12 mile monster on Sunday (I got the train back after we had lunch) I went to Monday's club run which was 5 miles AND I ran the 2 miles there as well.19 miles in 2 days took it out of me a bit!
I'm really looking to drop under 21 minutes in the next few weeks and then hopefully manage a sub-20 by Easter at the latest. My training involves an easy 3-4 miles, a much faster 4-6 miles and then an easy long run (did 7.5 miles last Sunday, looking at 9 miles this week). Due to my location, all my runs involve various hills. What else can I add to my schedule or routes that would push me to faster times?
I think we should be asking you for training tips lol.
Hi guys, anyone parkrun this week? I was going to, but the cold I've been dodging for a YEAR has finally caught up with me... started to feel a bit rough on Friday, but felt better after a speedy 4-mile run. I figured it would work onSaturday too, so I went for an ill-advised slow 9-miler yesterday morning though, and at 8 miles I had to stop and walk the rest of the way. I was just exhausted.
So, after strict orders from my mum and boyfriend, I'm resting. BORING!!
JLB, have you got your Garmin yet? I'm keen to hear what you think of it! I got mine for Christmas last year, and I don't think I've worked out half the things it can do yet!
How are the bad backs, also?
Ewan - I'd agree with JLB that we're probably not the best bunch to be offering tips!
Managed to drag my bad back and sniffles to Parkrun but it was a bit of a debacle, I felt totally drained and stopped for several walk breaks. Not too happy.
Got the Garmin at the weekend but have yet to un-box, I might take it out for a few miles tonight, although it's been snowing here in Belfast, so might take motivatiom that I am lacking at the mo.
I got down to my local Park Run and had a right go at the 21 minute target. Just missed out as I hit 21:08 but really happy with that as that's 29 seconds shaved off in three weeks.
Only since September, Ewan? Impressive time! The things that have really helped me get faster is basically running further and running faster! I've massively bumped up my mileage - until September-ish I was only doing about 15 miles per week max, now I'm pushing 25-30. I have also joined a running club and pushed myself to run with faster runners, especially during track sessions. I've noticed my increase in speed more in 10k races - in May, I ran 10k in just under 58 minutes, a couple of weeks ago, I did it in 53. Since mid-August, I've cut down my 5k time from 27 minutes to 25:47 (parkrun with a huge, horrible hill!). I understand hill training is going to make you a more powerful runner, but I haven't been inclined to try it yet (haha, pun intended!).
In races, the thing that spurs me on the most is getting really competitive with another runner. I like to get it in my head that I'm not going to let "that girl" beat me, and it's amazing what I can make my body do if I really believe that I have to beat them. Just keep plugging away at it. The better you get to know your parkrun course, the easier it will become to know where you can really push it.
I still maintain that I'm not the best person to ask, this is just from my limited experience. Take a look on the forums and you'll find a TON more advice from more experienced and faster runners.
In other news - my cold was quite short lived. Feeling much better today and I did a good, hard BMF class tonight, and I seemed to be absolutely full of beans for some reason! Planning to have another bash at the parkrun on Saturday, and I'm hoping to get my boyfriend to pace me. Just need to get myself into the right mindset. It's their one year anniversary, so there's a bit of a party with cake afterwards - that'll drag me there if nothing else!
JLB - shame about the Garmin! Hopefully they get a replacement to you quickly! Don't beat yourself up about your parkrun - not at your best, so it's an achievement to even drag yourself out of bed early enough!
How s everyone else doing? Deadbox? Rich? You've all gone a bit quiet!
Good job on Movember! Were you glad to shave it off in the end?
I'm getting myself all nervous about the parkrun tomorrow. I'm running out of weeks to get this done, and I'd REALLY like to at least get close tomorrow! It's the first anniversary, so for some reason they're changing the route slightly. It means that the hill is right at the start, so at least the first time around, I'll have the energy to run up it at a decent pace. I think that's where I often fall down a bit because I tend to have slowed down a fair bit by the second time on the hill (sometimes I even walk a bit *shame*). Just got to keep pushing. Think conditions will be quite good (for me) - nice and cold, a bit of adrenaline, promise of cake at the end...
Hope everyone has had a good week?
Brian.
Brian, that's great!
I had what felt like a nightmare of a run this morning, but ended up coming in at 25:59, which isn't too bad, I suppose. It was SO COLD - normally I like running in the cold, but I couldn't even feel my legs and feet for the first lap and then my chest tightened up and I had to walk a couple of times. Given how bad I felt by the end, I'm quite glad I didn't finish slower.
I'm considering trying a different park next week, as I only have 2 more weeks to get in under 25! Old Deer Park is pretty flat and reasonably easy to get to, so think I might give that a go. When I did that 10k the other week, I did the first half in 25:50, which says to me that I can definitely do it quicker with the right terrain and knowing I don't have to do it all again right after!
Hope the weather isn't getting in the way too much for you guys. I adore this weather - it was lovely and crisp and clear this morning. Beautiful!
Well done Lauren, that's still a PB isn't it? I'm sure you will manage it soon, you certainly deserve it the most. Would you not prefer to do it at your normal course?
I've been told I may resume running properly again as long as I keep up all my exercises for my back. Was all excited about getting out this weekend and then I've been struck down with a tummy bug and stinking head cold
Did anyone else get out this morning?
Ugh, results got mixed up on Saturday, I actually came in at 26:16 or something.Of course I would prefer to do it at my normal course, and I've actually just heard that they might be re-instating the original route (they had to reverse it due to building works), which might be a bit quicker - still a hill, but it's a shorter, steeper hill rather than a long medium-steep hill, and therefore a really long downhill to the finish to get that last sprint in! It's a 5.5k hard run at running club on Thursday. I'll see how I get on there and decide what I want to do after that.
Hope you feel better soon, DB - you must be going mad being stuck inside!