Midweek: Weetslade Country Park

What with guide running and junior parkrun being my only weekend outings, and work lunchtimes proving tricky, I was keen to get back out for a decent run this last week. I finally made it on the Thursday, but that meant I'd gone over a week without proper exercise. And, in the end, it showed.

Working at home on the Thursday, I decided to give myself a bit longer than usual, sacrificing lunch, to get a slightly longer run in. Intending to follow the advice of Mark Lewis to go longer at a slower pace (to ultimately make 5K seems easier/quicker), I even considered a 10K. A colleague at work had recently shared a 10K route that goes pretty close to me, which was tempting:

These are not the roads you're looking for.

In the end though, I just didn't have that much time to play with. Instead, I thought I'd take inspiration from it, even if I didn't do the full route. I figured maybe I'd start heading north, do the upper half of the eastern edge, then the whole of the northern edge before cutting back through Gosforth Park. Being fickle, however, I instantly set off in the wrong direction as I couldn't face running alongside the busy road — Sandy Lane — on the northern edge of the route. 🙄

I did head north in the end, but went along the disused railway lines towards Weetslade Country Park instead, which is just off the northern edge of the map above. I realised the folly of this not far into the run. As I'd gone further north, it meant I'd need to cut the run a bit shorter and not even get as far south as to cut through Gosforth Park. And that meant I'd be running back along Sandy Lane in the end anyway. Doofus.

In the meantime, running up the railway line was satisfying enough, as it provided another demonstration of the Brooks Adrenaline 22s' ability to soak up the uneven ground (stones, tree roots) without troubling my dodgy feet. I do still wonder whether any old pair of trainers with a fresh, uncompressed sole would've been just as good, but before I cast final judgement, let's see how long these ones last.

One kilometre in, Google called out my pace as 5:29/km. (What Google says while on a run is different to what it reckons after crunching the numbers post-run.) Already, that was around about my current parkrun pace, which totally wasn't the idea. I'd intended to be going slowly. However, telling myself I felt fine, I decided to aim for a different target that I'd also picked up from Mark Lewis: negative splits. That is, do each successive kilometre faster than the last — even if only slightly so.

By the time I got to 2km, I was beginning to realise how hard that would be. And how much less fit I was than I'd thought. In fact, even according to live-Google, I'd already failed. My second split was identical to my first, at 5:29/km. I was now running into a gusty headwind across Weetslade Country Park, so it felt inevitable that my my next kilometre would be slower. I fought the wind, but I was really struggling with my pace and breathing now. Unbelievably, I clocked a 5:20/km. Ignoring the earlier identical times, it felt like it was back on!

The fourth kilometre was hard. I'd really not felt this unfit for quite some time and was convinced I'd not make the negative split. As it was, I hit another 5:20/km, according to the announcement from Google. My left knee, however, was complaining. And then there was Sandy Lane. I had no choice but to wait for the pedestrian crossing to stop the traffic. The breather was welcome, but the negative splits would be ruined. 😞

My motivation was flushed out of me and the slight incline up onto the main drag of Sandy Lane felt like a small mountain. My choice of a fleece over a t-shirt was feeling incredibly unwise at this point too, as I was overheating. I noticeably slowed and then the left knee gave a major wobble with a flash of pain to accompany it. I carried on till the 5km mark ticked over, but my split had stretched out massively: 5:49/km.

With motivation gone, replaced by an increasing sense that I was doing myself damage, I paused the run shortly after that and walked for half a kilometre. The final 2km to see me home were a mix of gentle running and walking. The knee was clearly not right, so I didn't want to overdo it, but also had to remember I had work to get back to, so I couldn't be too long.

Anyway, I had kinda crocked my left knee. It's clicking really loudly when I climb stairs and hurting when it does so. And that explains why I didn't do a parkrun today. It wasn't worth risking making it worse. I may even sit out junior parkrun tomorrow. It's a shame I've gone and done this; feels like every time I head out for a longer run, I end up injuring myself. First my hip and now my knee. Maybe I just need to learn to slow down properly on these longer runs. 🤷‍♂️