A couple more weeks into my return to shape, and that 5K Parkrun PHDPB has come down again. I wasn't expecting massive improvements each week, and in a positive way, I don't want to be overdoing things, so the last two runs have seen me drop my time from 27:06 in my last blog post, to 27 minutes dead last week, and this morning I ran a 26:52, a further improvement of 8 seconds.
However, I wasn't happy with my run this morning. My whole ethos of this return was based around steady improvement, slow and sure. Today I went off far too fast, and I was aware of it. The first few hundred meters of the Waterstown Parkrun are downhill, before a brief ascent, and then a long drop to the River Liffey. Each week I have run this course I have taken it steady on the start portion, before consolidating along the flat portion along the river. Today I went off quick - I was feeling good at the start, but by the time I reached the River, I knew I had gone off way too quick, and needed to ease back.
I kept it going, at a slower pace, but was breathing far too heavily, and struggled to keep up my pace, even the slowed down one, and I was kicking myself for having gone off so quick. I was checking the watch, and knew if I could push on up the "incline" at the end, I would be under 27 minutes, and I managed just that. The hill that is strategically placed within 100m of the finish, is a killer, and my legs felt like jelly as I reached the crown, but kicked on, squeezing the last energy in them, and came home eight seconds ahead of that 27 minute mark, but it was tough.
Things are still going in the right direction, and I have entered the Rathfarnham 5K Race on Sunday the 28th, which will be interesting to see how that goes on a different course, without a hill at the end. That 25 minute mark is still a fair distance away, and I need to work harder at my training to improve the stamina as well as the speed.
Thought I'd pop in a little pic from last week to show how I am progressing.
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