Slowing down: 3 laps of the quayside

So, no running between Saturday's parkrun and today. I really am struggling to fit it in at the moment and it's telling in my pace. Or rather the lack of it.

Went for an almost-5K run at lunchtime today, around Newcastle's quayside. The headline is that Google Fit reckoned my pace for 4.73km was 5:25/km on average. But when you factor in Fit's generosity re the distance you've run, it's more like 6 minutes per kilometre. For me, that represents a significant backwards slide. 😞

As for the route, it was largely flat, as you'd expect for a riverside run. The loop from the Guildhall along the Newcastle side of the river, over the Millennium Bridge, along the Gateshead side beneath the Sage music centre, and then back over the Swing Bridge makes a decent option if I'm not sure how much time I can spare; gives me a chance to cut it short if need be. And, like a loop near my home, it's also almost exactly 1.5km — at least, according to Google Fit.

Now that I'm completely over my initial embarrassment of jogging in public places, it makes a reasonably pleasant run out. Being a riverside route, it's almost completely flat, with just a few short slopes: one each side of the Swing Bridge; the steps on the south side of the Millennium Bridge; and the curved hump that is the Millennium Bridge's deck.

Anyway, I did that loop 3 times in just over 25 minutes. I may come back to it again in the future, to use it as some kind of benchmark. To be honest though, I think what I really need to do is get back to the couch-to-5K routine. That is,c onsistently running 3 times a week, and doing so for 30 minutes at a time. Never mind this 5K-or-thereabouts malarkey. Maybe if I focus on half an hour of running, I'll find the parkrun's 5K to be a breeze? We'll see.