Run > Race

Mile End parkrun #75

Came today aiming to beat my time from two months ago (24:08) and ideally get under 24 minutes. As usual very excited the night before and in the morning. I actually woke up 10 minutes before my alarm was due to go off!

By 9am it was already a very warm morning, which was a little bit worrying, but being out in the park in such amazing sunny weather was very nice.

After some announcements the Race Director set us off very abruptly and we were off before I knew what was happening! As with last time I had deliberately positioned myself several rows back from the start, but I had the same experience of people immediately flooding past me, which always makes me feel like I'm running very slowly.

In fact I was immediately on target pace of 7:45 per mile and held that almost dead-on for the entire first lap. I was running behind a guy in a blue shirt all that time, but otherwise there didn't seem to be anyone around me. Towards the end of the first lap the guy ahead opened up a gap of 20 meters or so, so I was on my own, but I passed the half way point feeling pretty good and dead on pace.

The second half was inevitably tougher and the very warm conditions were making things difficult. I could have done with a drink mid-race. I carried on however, generally losing a few seconds on the uphills but making it up coming back down. At about three quarters distance I was a few seconds behind target but gradually caught and passed the guy who had been ahead of me the whole way, then on the last big uphill I passed the girl and guy who had been ahead of him. I also passed several people who had had to stop and walk. In contrast nobody passed me at all after the first couple of hundred meters so I very pleased with the even pace I kept.

I got to the top of the last big hill and was about 5 seconds behind target. Some quick mental arithmatic told me that to get under 24 minutes I needed to make up about 10 seconds in the last half mile, so I accelerated down the hill and then managed to hold the harder pace to the end. The last 30 seconds were actually at 6:30 pace which suggests that I had managed to hold some energy in reserve for the end. I almost caught someone at the line but ran out of course just before I caught him.

Time by my watch was 23:38 and distance 3.08 (same as last time) for an average pace of 7:41. very pleased, with this as it is 30 seconds faster than last time I did this course two months ago and only just over a minute slower than my fastest ever parkrun from 2010. I think the heat made things more difficult today so given that it was a great performance. Official parkrun time was 1 second slower, 23:39.

The plan now is to try to be sensible. I need to avoid pushing up my speed or milage too much and also to keep up with twice weekly bike rides as they seem to help. If I can avoid breaking myself and keep training consistantly I think I could set a new PB late this year or early next year.

7:45, 163
7:48, 176 (mile ended at the top of the main hill)
7:34, 185
(6:29, 191)