Parkrun #41: Tyne Green
Good god, that hurt.
As soon as I crossed the finish line today, I knew I had to start this blog post with those 4 words. Despite the parkrun at Tyne Green (Hexham) being almost completely flat, I half killed myself getting a time of 26:20. In fact, I went pretty light-headed as I finished, showing how much I'd pushed myself. I guess this is the price you pay for the best part of a month with no running.
Other factors in play today were the cold (4°C) and a not-quite-right chest (wheezing and a hacking cough after finishing). But while the lungs in particular struggled today, it's fair to say the whole body joined them in that. And the cold weather really didn't help, with my toes going numb and my hands cold the whole way round; it was only when I reached out for my token at the end that I saw that the bottom end of every finger and thumb had turned blue. 😮 The pins and needles coming back from that were something else. So... maybe I'll wear more than just a t-shirt next time.
The course itself was pretty nice for an out-and-back course, giving good views of the River Tyne (you're right alongside it) in the first mile or so as you ran on trails through drifts of autumn leaves. After that, you follow a tarmac path next to the Newcastle-Carlisle railway line. And I mean right next to it; trains passed by, only about 2-3 yards from the path.
With the pleasant environment, I actually started the run in a good mood, enjoying just being among people who were likewise enjoying it. I felt like I was enjoying parkrun in the way that parkrunners are meant to; just a pleasant jog, nice environment, no pressure or need to compete... and then I saw that I was behind the 30-minute pace runner. Yes, I'd stumbled into a paced event, and despite them often getting me good times, I hate them. Instantly, I felt under pressure. There was no way on Earth I was going to settle for my first ever 30+ minute time. So, I upped the pace and instantly found it hard going. The fun was gone and the race was on.
Ahead of me, I could see a guy running in 27-minute pacer's bib. That, I figured, would be a decent result for my first parkrun in ages; only my second in 7 weeks, in fact. So, I pushed to at least not lose him. It took a good while, but eventually I caught up to him and for the next 1 to 1.5km just hung there in his footsteps. Only once we'd passed the turning point and run almost all of the tarmac section back to the river did I pull alongside and check in with his timing. "About 4 seconds fast," he reckoned. That was fine by me. And, to my surprise, I then started to pull ahead.
I didn't dare to look back for the rest of the course, but just ploughed on, puffing and panting my way onto the heels of a few more folk. Two young girls in brightly-coloured running socks looked like they were catchable for a while, but as soon as I got behind them, I heard one say to the other "Do you think we'll still manage a 25 [minute run]?". "Yeah," reckoned the other and off they practically sprinted. Good grief. I bet they did manage a 25-minute time too. (Update: they did. 25:36 and 25:50.) I envy people who can just choose their time like that.
Overall, I was happy with my performance today. I can't get away from the fact that it was nearly 2 minutes slower than my parkrun PB, but I can be proud of the effort I put in. I really didn't have anything left in the tank. Oh! And I nearly forgot: this was my 20th different parkrun location, so I've now unlocked the Tourist achievement in the app. Time to get designing myself a commemorative t-shirt with all of the events on it. But for now, here's the list:
- Jesmond Dene
- Leazes
- Rising Sun
- Blyth Links
- Town Moor
- Herrington Country
- Whitley Bay
- Gateshead
- Newbiggin-by-the-Sea
- Prudhoe Riverside
- South Shields
- Carlisle Park
- Druridge Bay
- Windy Nook
- Chopwell Wood
- Riverside
- Denton Dene
- Sedgefield
- Ashington Community Woodland
- Tyne Green
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