Park run jog

I'm doing the Spitfire 20-miler at Dunsfold tomorrow. I wasn't even planning to do this Park Run but in the end I couldn't resist.

I am disciplined and jog slowly. Eventually Karen from the club catches up to me. She is pace leading the 26 minutes group. Not sure I was even planning to run as fast as that. I end up chatting away to Karen about marathon training and the like. After a while her group starts to drop so she goes back to try and push them on.

I continue at a steady pace. I had decided to ditch the coat at the start and had been initially chilly but by the finish it is a lovely spring day.

In the final run-in I can't turn of my competitive instinct. I decide to sprint and catch a couple of the runners in front (much to their surprise)

A gentle jog on a glorious spring day. Once this marathon lark is out of the way I am determined to come back and give park run a really good crack.

25:15 5km

Quick and Slow at the club

Tuesday night and I'm out with the club. I'm a little tender after last night spent quaffing large quantities of Champagne that my work running club had won over the year.

All day I ponder which group to run with. I rule out 5 and wonder whether it should be 3 or 4. I am also doing the Dunsfold 20 miles on Sunday.

In the end I go with group 4 lead by Emma (instead of James this week) I sit at the front as Jerry torments Emma. The pace is inconsistent and the people at the back struggle.

I then decide to drop to the back of the group and skulk there for a while. I soon move back up through the group.

We go past Jerry's house, Chislehurst Station, and then eventually we come to Summer Hill. A few people go off the front, I'm slow to react but then keep going and fly up the hill.

I drop to the back of the group again. Emma says that the run up Southborough Lane can be done at your own pace. I sink back to the slowest runner. Last night starts to catch up with me and I think about Sunday. Then I decide to go for it. I massively pick up the pace, fly through the spread-out pack and sit at the front. I then slow again and finish at a medium pace.

It was a good decision to run with group 4. Apart from a few crazy charges of my own instigation it was an easy pace.

10.69km 57:52 (5:24/km)

Run to work, not quick but PB!

I was going to go running early with Jerry yesterday morning, but in the end took the kids swimming. This meant today I was due a longish run so I decided to run to work.

I wake up and my legs feel tired. Fortunately I have packed all my kit the night before which spurs me on to get going.

Unlike most runs which are a fixed distance I have special rules for what I consider a PB for the run to work. Short cuts are all fully allowed. It's a point to point race as quickly as possible. Because going down into the Thames valley is downhill I have a separate record for to and from work.

I have recently identified a short cut across Beckenham Place Park. This probably knocks off a km from the run. However the park is shut at night and the last few times I have had to slog over Beckenham Hill and round the park.

This morning it is light and the park is open. However I am struggling and I'm not enjoying my running. I crack on and keep going. The nearer I get to the city the easier it gets.

By the time I cross London Bridge, I am flying again. I gradually chip away at the average pace figure on the Garmin and zoom to the office, weaving through the crowds.

When I arrive at work I realise it is a PB. The short cut is pretty effective, if I can PB off a poor running performance.

16.5km 1:37'00 (5:52/km)

Park Run Fun

After yesterday's run home and a few beers last night I decide to take it easy today at park run.

I have hat, coat, glove and unusually even my Ipod. I run fairly easily most the way round. It is cold and I can feel yesterday in my legs.

As I near the finish line I see some people start to spring behind me. I don't like being beaten so I put in a sprint comfortably seeing them off. I cross the line a whisker over 23:00.

At the start of Park Run it took me ages to beat the 23:00 mark on a full course. Now days on a gentle easy run I am cruising 23:00. When the weather warms up and the ground firms up and the marathon is out the way it will be interesting to see how fast I can go.

23:02 5km

Run home as it gets colder

I plotted to run home tonight. So after I had done my day's work I donned the aquas and set off on the run home. I had a couple of glasses of red wine last night and have felt a little sluggish today.

I run through Peckham High Street and it is still thronging. The first hour is hard. Especially up Peckham Hill.

As I run through the back streets of Peckham, I see a girl, of maybe 22 years, sitting crying on the kerb side. I stop to check that she is okay but she refuses help. She seems to have hurt her ankle and blames her "drunken" friend. In the end I get her moving off home. I set off again, wondering what I should have done. I see a Police van so I stop to see if the occupants are around but after a couple of minutes none appear. I run off, wondering what I should have done the whole way back.

Sunddenly after about 50 minutes my fitness kicks in. At the moment I struggle at the start of runs, and then at the 1 hour mark it all become easy. Brockley is the high point (in terms of altitude of the run) and while not downhill, it does become easier after this.

Initially my legs were a little sore from running in the aquas, but now I am moving effortlessly. I continue to pickup the pace most of the way home and start to enjoy. I fly up Beckenham Hill, somewhere I have previously struggled. Once it is light I will be able to cut through Beckenham Place Park, saving this big hill and maybe half a mile.

Since darkness fell it has been getting colder and colder. I look forward to getting home and out the cold!

I turn down my road and home. The first time I ran home from work I had to go straight to bed. These days, I run home fast, virtually barefoot and hardly notice it.

17.7km 1:46'27

Bad mood

I am in a bad mood. Work in particular is irritating me. At lunch time I decide to fit in a quick run.

I decide to run down the Embankment towards Waterloo Bridge. I start off fartlek-style. Zooming in and out of the crowds. I run like a man possessed. After a km or so I calm down. My furious style has abated a little. I reach Waterloo Bridge and turn back.

I return back to the office, ready to reignite the fury.

On Thursday I had ran this same route, gently, gently in 30:00. Today, running semi-normal but no way pushing it (apart from the 1st crazy km) I did it in 22:21.

4km 22:21 In a fury

Group 5+

After last nights return to form, I decide to go out with group 5 at the club. It is advertised as 8-8.5 minute miles. At the weekend there had been a number of good performances by club members at the Tonbridge Half Marathon.

Tonight we run down to the Keston Mark. A couple of guys at the front keep pushing. The pace seems faster than meant to be. John stops to do his shoe lace and I joke to everyone that we should quickly rush off. John is easily fast enough to catch up.

Then disaster. My shoe lace comes undone. I have to stop. My cold fingers struggle to undo and retie the laces. All the time the rest of the group streak off. I chase after them and eventually battle my way back to the middle of the group.

We run the through the large houses of Farnborough Park. The fast guys at the front take a wrong turn and go a couple of 100 meters off track. This gives a chance for me to push at the front and reset the pace. The last mile or so the pack splits. For the first time I'm not struggling.

The last couple of hundred meters I really sprint hard. I am surprised how fast I go.

I have my non-gps stopwatch on, so I know how long I ran for, just not the distance. Someone tells me it is 12km. Based on that pace I would have run a 1:42 half marathon. My PB is around 1:42. Training runs are never as fast as races...

I've definitely recovered from the ultra and am on track for the marathon.

12km 58:10 (4:50/km)