Parkrun #19: Gateshead (the one where I walked)
Yesterday's parkrun was an odd one. Continuing my recent theme of returning to tarmac-based parkruns for the sake of not ruining my trainers with mud, I went back to Saltwell Park in Gateshead. It was a bit of a rollercoaster, and not just because of the ups and downs on the course.
Firstly, I had to walk for the first time ever on a parkrun (ignoring the congested starts). Not only that, it was at the very last corner; I had maybe just 150m left to go. 😧
Despite this, I got a time of 27:11, which was a new Gateshead PB for me (beating my previous run of 27:28). 😲
So, I'm not too despondent about having to walk, not least cos I've not yet said why I had to walk. There's no way to dress this up that will make it any less gross, so I'll just say it: I very suddenly got the intense feeling I was going to wee and/or crap myself if I took another running stride. I had to stop, just to concentrate on not embarrassing myself massively.
I've never known anything like it. I even have a parkrun checklist which includes an item for having a pre-race crap (yes, really) and I'd ticked that box on the day. I mean, I have in the past been sick after strenuous exercise, but that was about half an hour after the event. This emergency was during it.
Perhaps what was especially gutting was that this happened at the very last corner (which happened to be uphill) on the course, with maybe just another 150m to go. I continued to walk slowly for 20-30 seconds while matters downstairs settled a bit and I probably could've started running again were it not for how glum I felt. As it was, some legend clearly took pity on me, patted me on the back as he passed and said something like "Come on, you're nearly home!".
I had to admit he had a point, so given that the unthinkable no longer felt imminent, I started running again, just behind him. In fact, I ended up passing him with a small-scale push to the line, but then slowed just before it to make sure he finished ahead. It felt like the least I could do.
But what of the rest of the run? This time I had the benefit of knowing in advance what the hills were like and where it was mentally draining, so I'd steeled myself for that. That's not to say that I felt like I was doing particularly well; all the way round, I felt I'd been faster on my first run here. In the end, it seems that wasn't the case; maybe getting back to 3 runs a week is helping after all, even if they've only been flat/downhill 3K runs.
One thing I'd not remembered, however, was how many laps of the lake I needed to do. Cue me almost stopping to ask one of the volunteers on the first circuit. I'd also not remembered just how congested the start can be, even on a moderately wide path. Mind, there were 281 runners this time compared to 221 the last. And this time I started nearer the back, courtesy of me almost not making it in time.
One last thing of note was how soon I felt I was lapped by the elite runners (if you want to call them that). Thinking back, I do remember being lapped on my previous visit, but maybe not so early. That said, I suspect I was lapped by fewer runners this time.
Overall though, I'll remember this as the race I nearly soiled myself. Was I pushing myself too hard, or was it just unfortunate — I'll never know. If it was the former, I'm happy with that, as I feel I've not pushed that hard for too long. And if I think about the time I'd have gained if I'd not had to stop, and if I'd started nearer the front, I reckon I'd have been easily into the 26es. So on the whole, I feel on the up. Now I just need to continue the midweek runs. 🙂
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