A while ago I ordered myself a “proper” Parkrun barcode- you can just print a paper one off the website, but they do get a bit wrinkled in your pocket while you run. I decided they would be good presents for my Dad and brother too, so I got my Mum to sneakily email me their numbers, and they all came in the post a few weeks ago. I got them from the official place, here, if anyone else is interested.
Please excuse the awful chipped nail varnish that needs to come off asap!
The last time I went I couldn’t use it as my brother came with me, but today I was all on my own so I took it along to give it a try (with my paper one as backup!). The weather predicted rain, but luckily it held off until much later (around 11 am I think). The start was jam packed- I tried to stay on the path as the grass was quite long and very muddy- it looked very slippery. It started as the bells went off at the local church, and I spent the first section going pretty slowly. I overtook a few people in the end, but had decided to use the first bit to warm up as it was freezing! I kept my long sleeved top on the whole time, and wished I had worn tights instead of capris. It was such a good morning for a run, although the air was so cold so it was tougher breathing. I thought that for some miracle I would get around the first loop of the lake without being lapped, but alas a speedy person came past me right at the turn! Another speedy runner nearly pushed me over as he shoved past- how rude.
I had glanced at my Garmin a couple of times- I knew my first mile was slower due to the crowding, but the second mile was much quicker, so again I flipped my watch around so I could not look at it for the final bit. This seems to help a lot. There is a tiny hill (slope? It is steep but only for a few steps) before you run back along the path again, and this often seems to sap all the energy from my legs, but today I was feeling OK in my legs- it was my breathing that could not keep up (I think the cold air made my throat dry, and then I had a few bits of saliva in my throat which I could feel moving when I was breathing if that makes sense- felt like I might choke). The finish chute is on the grass, and annoyingly someone overtook me on the mud (I felt very unstable) and then stopped right before he got to the chute- at least the volunteer asked him to keep moving but I nearly smacked right into him! (And I just checked on the results and it was not even his first one!)
The queue for chip scanning was huge (but no wonder- I was number 171- the same as 2 weeks ago)- I was very glad of my top then as I was getting very cold indeed. One problem with turning my watch around is that I forget to stop it when I finish- I noticed it was still going on 28 something, so I knew I had gone quite fast, but no idea of my time. It meant that the text message was a lovely surprise- 27.16 so not bad- only 26 seconds off my pb- and my third fastest time. I am sure I run better in the cold.
What was weird was that in my final lap I wasn’t by many people, so it felt like I was near the back. But as I was in the queue loads more people came in, and a total of 274 people completed it, so there were just over 100 people who came in after me- it didn’t feel like that!
My race number for the Brighton 10K arrived this week too- exciting stuff!
Once I got home I had a lovely hot shower and some porridge before getting on with the housework- I think I cleaned the house in record time!
Then I made some tea in my infuser- love it! Along with a little chocolate- I was going to use this in baking but wanted to see what it tasted like on its own first.
Also marathon talk released their 200th episode this week. You guys all know how much I love it, and I could ramble on, but this post sums it up really well. So have a read.
Have a lovely weekend 🙂