Parkrun #40: Rising Sun, run 6

A time of 26:22 today was an event PB, but a poor night's sleep, a stotting headache and a painful toe meant I very nearly didn't bother this morning. But by 8:15am, the headache was clearing even if I wasn't anything like ready. The previous night's plan of attending Silksworth was well out of the window, but I still had time to shower, dress and get to the Rising Sun.

The rising sun at the Rising Sun

In the end, I turned up in plenty of time for the start and probably ended up stood around for about 10 minutes in perishing cold (4°C but with a windchill that felt like -1°C according to Google) waiting for the run director to finish his spiel.

The start was a bit chaotic, with over 300 runners squeezing down the narrow paths. One person clipped my heels without apologising while plenty of others dodged right in front of me, causing me to check up or risk tripping them. I quietly seethed. The higher than usual attendance was probably down to it being Rising Sun's 300th event, but that doesn't mean you have to act like an idiot. I wasn't even near the front, so god knows what it like up there.

Eventually, things settled down. This was my first time doing Rising Sun by myself on its normal route. That meant there was a good chance for a PB, as its Storm Arwen-alerted route has actually been longer than 5km. However, the run really felt long, what with not having someone's conversation to pass the time. At least there were no puddles though.

Coming through the trees between 1 and 2km, someone a few yards ahead of me actually fell — presumably tripped by a tree root. They seemed okay, if a little shaken, but at least someone had stopped to help them. That was the nicer side of parkrunning.

Just before 2km, the rate at which I was being overtaken started to match the rate at which I was overtaking others. Someone in what I think was a red hydration vest went past slowly enough that they seemed a good pacer to latch onto. Sticking with them up to the 2km point, they then pulled out 10–15 metres in the next 500m. But from there up to about 4km, I kept them at that distance.

That stretch felt interminable, mind. The bad toe has gone from giving occasional twinges of sharp pain in the first kilometre to a constant low level discomfort. The knees were also feeling rather second hand. Keeping it going for the final kilometre, I was in hanging-on mode more than pushing-on, underlined by some silver-haired lady breezing past me.

Approaching the end, I really struggle to judge the point at which I should kick, or even the degree to which I'd be able to kick. Turns out leaving it as late as the final hairpin before the funnel was far too late. I had plenty of kick left in my legs and could've used a lot more of it — something I regretted not doing as I sprinted back past a couple of people who'd recently overtaken me. Hey ho.

So, a PB today, but an underwhelming one. Given the shorter course length than I'd done here before, I probably should've been well into the 25-minute times. It is, on the whole, a very flat course and there weren't even any puddles to dodge today. Never mind.

One thing to come from the day, however: I've decided to have a week off. Of course, that's gonna kill my 3-times-a-week goal, but so be it. My feet and knees are complaining and I need to listen. I also feel I've earned it with this year's achievements. Maybe I'll volunteer next weekend or maybe it'll be my only run of the week. We'll see.