parkrun progress

I set out my stall last night: "I'm aiming to do Falkirk parkrun tomorrow in under 40 minutes" I said. I wasn't sure if I believed it, but I needed to try! Last week I'd done Tollcross is 40:27, and though I'd generally consider Tollcross a tougher course, Falkirk has a big hill in the 4th kilometre, known locally as "Heartbreak Hill". I haven't been managing in training to run 2 consecutive sub-8 minute kilometres, so it would need a bit of a push from me. I decided I would go for it.

The first km is mostly flat, and then slowly starts to climb. I did it in 7:40. The second km is a steady climb which flattens out, then very gently starts to go down. I was running 30 second intervals where I could, really pushing my speed when I ran and trying to keep a good pace as I walked. I did it in 7:55. I started whispering to myself "25 seconds in hand" as I carried on, the 3rd mostly being downhill, then flat. I tried to pic up my speed in short sections of the downhill, and finished that km in 7:22. Excellent! that's the fastest I've ran a kilometre all year so far! I told myself that the km with the big climb in it, the next one, would need to be under 9 mins, and I started the climb strong, before slowing to a walk. I tried to keep a decent pace, but my heart rate was soaring, and I slowed quite a bit. I said out loud "just keep moving" and kept an eye on my average km pace. Reaching the top of the hill, I continued to walk for a bit to try and recover, before starting to run 30 second fast intervals again. It was mostly flat here, and I managed to finish the 4th km in 8:25 - thrilled by that, really! The last km is downhill, then a flat 500m I always find a struggle because I'm generally pretty exhausted. I kept run/walk intervals and fast running when I could, and as I turned to the finish straight, my watch beeped (I didn't look) and I cross the line a few seconds later. The 5th km was also 7:22, and the wee bit of the finish straight took me to an overall finish time of 38:53. My heart rate as I crossed the finish line was 208!! Whoa!!!! On the big hill my heart rate had reached 203, but in general, running had been in the high 190s. My average for the whole run was 192 - indicative of how hard I was pushing.

That's my best time on that course since everything 'went wrong' with my running in October 2013 - and I know I can continue to improve now. The training I'm doing at the moment to meet my weightloss goals (circuits, tabata, HIIT) is having a great effect on reminding my body what moving fast feels like, even if it's only for 20 or 30 seconds at a time. As I continue to lose weight, train more and get fitter, my running will continue to improve. It's a nice side effect of 2015's ultimate aim, training for weightloss and building self-confidence - but it also motivates me, encourages me, and comes full circle to burning loads more kcals and helping me lose more weight. All in all, a successful morning on this increasingly interesting journey I'm on. x x