Well on the whole 2019 has kicked off fairly good. Out of 6 parkruns on offer this month I did all 6.
01/01 - On New years day its double parkrun day. Although to be honest at the start of the day I was only thinking about doing one parkrun as I have not really been doing enough training to manage two. So I turned up to Pollok and gave it a good effort. I did have to walk in my ususal spot but apart from that had a pretty good run and ended up with a time of 31.51.
After the run I got talking to folk who were asking if I was doing the double. And eventually I just thought - well why not! So I drove over to Victoria parkrun for round 2. It was very busy with around 500 runners. I had a good run and was getting faster with each lap. There was a queue to cross the finish line so by my watch I was just about 30 minutes but my actual time was 30.20. Not too far away then.
05/01 - Next up was a trip across to Ruchill where I suddenly realised I had gatecrashed another Runbetweeners meetup (Although this one I didn't know about! honest lol.) It was good catching up with them before and after the run. The run itself was very good. This was the 7th time I have done Ruchill and this was the first time I had broken 30 minutes. My actual parkrun time was a bit faster than watch time due to the timer being a bit out of sync with the token sorting. But over the course of the year it will balance itself out especially as some of my times have already been slower due to queues at the finish line. But anyway my parkrun time was 29.07 and watch time 29.37. So pleased with it either way.
12/01 - Back at Pollok and it was extremely busy and not far off the record with 596 runners. Again I had a good run and finished round about 30 minutes. But due to the queue at the finish line the timer didnt click me till 30.40.
19/01 - The forecast wasn't great for this day and the previous night it had been snowing. So I thought it would be best to be on the safe side and go to a parkrun with an alternative course. So the chosen one today was Tollcross which I hadn't been to for a while. Turns out it was icy on the main course so they used the alternative. This is 4 laps on the grass and pretty hilly. I really didn't know how to pace it so just took it easy. I did really enjoy this one and it was good to see Jacqui as run director who I knew from my Giffnock days. Also bumped into Doug and his friend who I know from Rouken Glen. I finished this one in 32.14. Reckon I should be going faster than that but hopefully that will come as the year progresses.
26/01 - I had one of those days with this one where it was an achievement just to start the run. I was just not in the frame of mind for it at all. Sitting in my car at Pollok wondering if I should just wait for it to start then drive home. But with about 5 minutes to go I saw my brother and thought to myself I can't not do it now. So got out the car and headed to the start. I caught up with one of the run directors Alan in the first mile. And to be honest for the first couple of miles I was paying no attention to how fast I was going. Apart from talking to Alan my mind was well and truely away with it. Then when I got to the bottom of the glade for the second time I realised I had a lot left in the tank and actually recorded a segment PR for the bottom of the glade to the burrell which was even faster than my brothers time who ran the course 5 minutes faster than me today. I finished in 31.35 realising that I know I am fitter than that time shows but today was just an achievement completing it. With it being on every week your not always going to be at the races every week.
So overall a very good month. I know I went on a bit about timings not reflecting my watch times. I honestly realise that just happens and will do more as parkrun gets more popular. The reason I focus on it is that one of my challenges this year is to try and get my average parkrun time below 30 minutes. At the moment for January my average is 30:58. So I'll just need to get faster and get sub 30s to the point where queueing is not an excuse!
