Hi Guys,
I've been running on alternate days for a few weeks now, slowly building up the distance. Currently I'm on 2.1 miles (15mins approx) and intend on increasing every week by small amounts.
The thing is though, I used to be very good a long time ago and I'm iching to get into a race. I've seen a 5k (entry on the evening) event, Redcar, NE England, Sept 4th (only 4days away) and would just like to ask - never having run 3.1 miles, would it be sensible to enter.
Comments
Thanks for the info.
No, I hadn't heard of it. I'll do a search now. Thanks.
Laurence, I'd definitely recommend parkrun: it's free and it's friendly and there will be people there of all ages and all abilities. You can track your progress week on week. Just remember to register and take your ID barcode with you. They're on every week, so you can run one as soon as you're happy to run the distance.
As for the race you mention, go if you want to, but recognise that you might have sore legs the next day!
Btw The Redcar parkrun in Locke Park is permanently marked so you can go and get a feel for it anytime you like - it is a 3 lap flat course.
Debra,
Thanks a lot for the Parkrun info. I've registered and will try it this weekend.
Still might enter the 5k, depends on how I feel after trying the Parkrun 5k, could be tired and maybe two 5K's in 3 days would be too much!
Parkrunfan,
That's good to know, my next run is Sunday (Did 2 miles this morning). I normally run alternate days, but thinking I may not be doing enough for good progress.
I was going to mention parkrun but I see that *everybody* has beaten me to it. I love it though - real nice community feel to it and a great way to test yourself over 5km. I even wrote a blog post about it:
http://takeitinyourstride.co.uk/2012/08/parkrun-a-free-weekly-5km-race/
I need to get a life don't I?
Simon: I like your blog post. I'd say you have a life, one that includes parkrun, and that's a good thing. parkrun is a major part of my life. Volunteering at my local parkrun kept me from going nuts when I couldn't run for four months early last year due to injury. I went initially just to run, and ended up as Volunteer Coordinator and then Event Director. I love the fact that it's for all ages, all abilities. I'm now mainly running much longer distances (ultra) but I still think parkrun is great.
Thanks Debra, I'm new to blogging so really nice to hear someone likes it! I agree - those are the things that make it special. It is a lovely idea made possible by lovely people.
Thanks to everyone for suggesting Parkrun. I ran my first one this morning.
Seems that Redcar are having problems publishing the results though. At the run apologies wee for the last two events that had hiccups. Still no results up from todays run, but I timed myself.
I really enjoyed it, and will be there every week from now on!
Laurence, glad you enjoyed your first parkrun. Be patient regarding the results - sometimes the technology messes up, sometimes it's human error - a while back our electronic timer stopped working properly and we had all sorts of problems until we got a new one (and a backup stopwatch).
Debra, I'm not worried about the time. The event really has motivated me though. It was great running with a group of people instead of just me and the dogs every other morning . The marshalls were also very good at spuring everybody on.
I'm looking for a running plan now to help improve my distance and speed.
It looks like another parkrun success story
Good stuff, got to love parkrun. I've never known issues with the timing at our one so hopefully it'll just be a short term problem.