Parkrun #34: Blyth Links, run 3

Earlier this week in the office, I was telling Lorraine how chuffed I was with my time at Herrington Country Park last weekend. I even dared to suggest that if I could do a 25:16 there, with its hills, I could be on for a sub-25 minute time at Blyth this weekend, where it's really flat. I quickly followed that by saying I shouldn't jinx myself, but... did I manage it? YES. YES I DID. 😁 And I didn't just scrape it; I absolutely smashed it. 24:27, baby. GET IN THERE, LEWIS!

You know, I'd normally stick one of my photos in here, but I was a bit too focused on my time today to even think about taking any. Instead, have someone else's photo of the beach huts on the prom:

Sky looks about right for today's rainy weather, even if it looks doctored for this photo

Anyway, yeah. Let that time sink in. 24:27. It's not that long since I was feeling glum about my PB having been set in October and standing for over 6 months at 26:07. I was doubting that I'd get close to it again, let alone dip under 26 minutes, let alone break the 25 minute barrier. These last few months have been insane.

Don't get me wrong though; it hasn't been by chance. I feel I've worked really hard for this and today's run was no exception. Just as with Herrington, I purposely set off at a pace that I felt I couldn't maintain. I was probably right about that, but I kept enough pace to do the job, though it felt like it was killing me. I did find myself thinking "If I get this time, this is the last time I go for a target time, as this just isn't fun. I want to enjoy parkruns again." And I thought back to this recent Mark Lewis video about why he was quitting parkrun. Of course, my oxygen-starved brain was arguably missing the point. It's not fun when you're pushing for a PB. But the reward comes afterwards. And even if I tell myself I'm going to take it easy at a parkrun, when it comes to the crunch, I'll bet that I push for a good time again. I just can't stop myself.

So yeah, today was planned anyway. At the start, I mindfully positioned myself about a third of the way from the front of the pack, to avoid having to weave past too many people. I also made damned sure I didn't get boxed in on the way down to the first turning point, running wide early on. On reflection, I feel I really helped my race by doing this. I probably overtook a few more people early on that who passed me later on, but it was close. And actually, starting this far forward, it was a really pleasant surprise to find myself with a bit of space early on instead of feeling constrained in a big pack. I could definitely get used to that.

As for the weather conditions today, it was a mild 14°C with light rain whose intensity varied. Have to say, the rain was very welcome, as I was struggling with my head's heat any time it eased off and I had the gentle breeze behind me. Heading southbound, the slight headwind combined with the rain kept me at a good temperature. But heading northbound the lack of wind or rain on my face saw me overheat badly.

But... at the end of the day, I held on. At various points, I focused on different runners to pace myself. Some of them slowly pulled away, others ebbed and flowed, and one even began walking at about 3K. But two guys having a decidedly relaxed chat ended up being the ones whose times I matched. By about 500m from home, they'd pulled out maybe 25m on me, but my push to the line (and their lack of urgency) saw me pass them again just at the mouth of the finish funnel. (Turns out those guys have PBs of 18:39 and 18:45, which explains how they could have a relaxed chat while I nearly had a cardiac arrest. 😂)

Yearly goals update: 🟢🟢🟢🟢🟢⚫ 5/6 achieved

So then, that's goal #5 of the original 6 that's been ticked off. I really didn't expect to get a sub-25 minute time this year at all, let alone by the end of July. And the only remaining original goal is to run at 30 parkruns. While I'm on track and up to 18 now, that goal's still around 3 months away from completion at best. I have set the one stretch goal now, though: 10 new locations by the end of the year. And by chance, that's just been made easier, as a new parkrun has started at Ashington today. I'll tick that one off shortly, I hope, which would take me up to 6 new venues so far.

It's probably time to set another new stretch goal though. And this time, maybe I should aim for something that's not about a PB time. Instead, I should just aim for consistency of getting the runs in. Maybe something like an average of 3 runs a week (incl. any parkruns) for the rest of the year? I figure if I just focus on keeping the habit going, the fitness and the pace will come by themselves. Or maybe I could aim for a longer run (7.5K+) once every couple of weeks on average? I'm often limited by factors outside my control (e.g. meetings at work), but I would hope I could find time for at least that frequency of long runs.

OK, yeah, let's set those goals. 3 runs a week on average from August to December, and an average of one 7.5K+ run every two weeks. At some point, I'll work out how many of each type of run that means in total, but right now it's bed time. ¡Adios!