More milestones beaten

As I continue on my weightloss journey, which now is incorporating a lot more running, milestones continue to fall. This weekend was one I really wasn't confident would happen any time soon: I ran the Glasgow Tollcross parkrun course without walking once. That doesn't sound much - I've been doing all of my running without walk breaks for around 10 weeks now (by itself, a huge milestone!) - but actually, Tollcross is a 5km course with 10 hills in it, so for me, yep, a HUGE result!!

I was meeting Myles there for his first parkrun in over 3 years, and Davie was due to run from East Kilbride into Glasgow then run parkrun, so it was fab to meet up with them both. Myles and I had a wander and chat around the first half of the course, then back to catch up with people at the start area. My plan was to not worry about speed, just run with the intention of using the downhills as recovery and pushing on the uphills to keep going. Bring my stride length in to go up the hills, and just stay focussed. Even though parkrun is timed, this run wasn't a time trial for me - so instead of using the downhills to build momentum to 'throw' me up the next hill, I purposely kept my speed steady. My heart rate chart shows how I used the downhills to recover for the next up - I'm really pleased with how I went.


I managed the parkrun in 33:53, feeling comfortable most of the way (except on some of the hills) and thrilled at the end - even when Davie and Myles joined me in the last 400m or so and gave me plenty of cheek! :-) "It's not about the time!!" I cheerfully yelled out, as I threw myself down the hill to the finish line. I was thrilled - it was my 12th time running this course, and first time without a walk. The guys had done well, too - Myles had clocked a very impressive 20:43 for a 5k PB (which he will smash next week, on a flatter course), and Davie had finished in around 22 mins, which was pretty awesome when you add in his 7.5 mile 'warm-up' run...!!

Big milestone for me, and a very positive day with fabulous people - caught up afterwards in the café with the Downeys, who were going to head up to Fort William for their first marathon - which they smashed the following day. Brilliant. So inspiring spending time with these sort of people - I drove home in a good mood, lol. I still find it really difficult to fathom than only 7 months ago, I was struggling to run parkruns in 42 mins, and now a 34 minute parkrun happens when I'm not pushing for speed. Seriously?? The journey this year continues to overwhelm and fascinate me.

Sunday was a good run in the morning, 10k along the coast - it brought my total mileage for the week to 22½, which is, I believe, the most I've ever ran in a week. So another milestone! :-) Plus, I wasn't running Sunday's session at top effort, by any stretch of the imagination (it was basically half marathon pace, with a pick-up in the middle), and still accidentally completed my second fastest ever 10k! *mind blown* Today is a rest day - definitely happy about that, but there are a few tough runs planned for this week, and I'm looking ahead with a mix of excitement, and trepidation. Plus, of course, the weekend I head to Tyndrum/Fort William for Devil o' the Highlands ultramarathon!! It's gonna be a great week - happy Monday, folks. x x