Training: Jesmond 5K

What's that? A midweek run? Have you lost your mind?!

Yeah, so they're far too rare an occurrence these days, but hey, I actually got out of the office for a run at work today. The intent was to head to Exhibition Park, but I wandered off course — out of boredom — on the way past the Civic Centre. It was around about that time that I hit the 1K mark and got an unpleasant surprise as Google told me I'd taken 5:50 to get there. Even with a duff chest, that was far slower than I was happy with.

Jesmond Metro (the above-ground bit, with its oft-missed art). Photo from Geograph.

With a revised plan to head past Jesmond Metro and then along Clayton Road (past Willi's and the other cafes), I tried to up the pace a bit. The second kilometre was a much better 5:16 pace, but it was clear that turning back at Clayton Road was going to mean I might not actually do a full 5km, so I extended the run past the Newcastle School for Girls and up towards the shops by West Jesmond Metro.

By this point, I was really struggling though. Whether it was a general lack of fitness or the phlegmy chest, I honestly started to doubt that I'd be able to keep on running for the full 5km. At least, it seemed doubtful at this pace. Indeed, when the 3rd kilometre arrived, I'd slowed again. But at least I knew I'd be heading directly back to the office, as I'd hit 3km on Forsyth Road — the furthest point on the twice-revised route.

I don't even remember the 4km mark — probably because the phone was drowned out by the sounds of traffic — but I was mainly just concerned with not being too late back to my desk. I'd been fairly lucky with road crossings for most of the run, but that all came undone once back at the Civic Centre, where I had to wait a good 30 seconds to cross St Mary's Place. That ruined the time for the final kilometre (5:47), but overall I was still reasonably happy to get a 5K time of 27:47 — considerably better than last Saturday's parkrun.

I do wish this chest would sort itself out, but it's one of those things that will probably take weeks to clear up (it's been a couple already). In the meantime, all I can do is keep getting out there and running, not least to keep the parkrun game alive. Saturday 23rd is already booked in for a return to Whitley Bay (meeting up with John and his family again), but what of this weekend? Not sure, right now. Silksworth might be a bit too far to venture when there's Christmas stuff to be getting on with... but it would be nice to add to the Tourist tally. Wherever I go, I think I'll avoid the muddy ones. Let's keep the trainers clean for a while longer. 😁

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