February parkruns

02/02 - The weather for this one was a bit dodgy. The previous day tempretures got down to -6 in Glasgow and some parkruns called off on the Friday with others in the Glasgow area holding off till Saturday morning to declare.  I had it in my mind to go to Tollcross again as I they had the good XC course. It came to Saturday morning and I was a lot more prepared than usual to deal with the elements and also cancelations.  I got down to my car for 8.15 and got rid of all the ice.  In the past I have missed parkruns due to not descraping quick enough - not today! I checked my phone and refreshed facebook reguarly for updates.  Victoria was first to declare it was on. I waited till about half past and no one else had posted yet. So I thought to just go for Victoria.

When I got there it was reasonably busy but it was quieter than I thought considering Pollok, Linwood and Ruchill were off plus Victoria is usually very busy at the moment.  The run itself was good. I think I started a bit too far back as for the first lap the pace was very much dictacted. For the second and third laps there was a lot more room so I actually ran a pretty good pace for me.  As it was the alternative course it was slightly longer so I reckon I would have been under 29 minutes if it was the normal course but I still managed under 30 coming in at 29.45.

09/02 - I went on a run on the Tuesday at work which was to change the way I want to approach running. It was a great run, I really pushed it and got round the route faster than I ever have before. Well below sub 30 min 5k pace.  However it took me days to recover from it and I did feel a bit dazed for the next few days as my body recovered. It made me realise that I was trying to race too many runs and I needed to take it easier if I am going to improve and be able to run more.

So with this in mind I went along to Pollok on the Saturday with my new easy approach mentality. I'm not going to say it was easy as the words "Pollok" and "easy" don't really go together. But I did run it more conservatively than I otherwise would and ended up doing it in 32.13. I realise this strategy is going to mess up my goal of averaging below 30 mins for parkruns throughout the year. But I am thinking of changing it so I do one all out effort a month.  This is something I used to do when I was a lot more successful a runner and I think it may be the way forward. I'll try it anyway and see how it goes.

16/02 - What a difference a week makes.  I have had a really good week running and I rept the rewards today.  It was Springburn parkrun time and I started off the run chatting to Pauline who is the ED at Rouken glen. Although she quickly realised I wanted to run slower and she wanted to run faster so off she went.  I maintained a comfertable pace all the way round and felt really good.  I looked at my watch when I finished to see 28.31. I could not believe it. A seasons best and the best I have run since I last did Springburn in September last year.

23/02 - I was due to run Pollok today according to the schedule. But that schedule has now gone out the window. I saw the weather forecast earlier in the week was meant to be good for the weekend. I fancied a bit of adventure so headed up to Aberdeen after work on the Friday and stayed overnight within a short walk of the start of Aberdeen parkrun.  This was an extremely good run. It is an out and back course. But the out is beside the road on a wide pavement with plenty of room for the 300 runners.  It takes a while before you get views down to the beach but they do come.  At the turning point you go down to the bottom path which is nearer to the beach so no problems at all with people getting in the way as you are on 2 different paths.  The path on the way back does have slight inclines and delines but this is a very flat and fast course. 

In terms of my own performance it couldn't have gone any better. Getting faster each mile and at no point I would say I was feeling it while putting in a good effort. I think taking it easier and have more runs during the week is starting to pay off. Time was easily a seasons best 27.40

So after saying I would scrap the average time thing in week 2 of this month. I have ended up getting an average of below 30 minutes this month. So average parkrun time this month was 29.32. And out of January and February average I have reduced it to 30.23.