I completed my self-imposed Challenge of the 12 Runs of Christmas, actually racking up a thirteen day streak, and am now settling into a 5 day per week pattern for the moment, which can be adapted as time progresses.
My first Parkrun was on the first Saturday of the month at my "Home" event in Waterstown. It was an exceptionally wet start to the running year, and many layers were on as I took an easy run around the course in 27:25, a long way short of my Parkrun PR, but given the day, I was happy enough with the run.
This Saturday, it was a Tourist Trip to Marlay Park, and their Parkrun, along with the guys from #RSP, the great Runners Support Page gang, and the Official Launch of our Team Vests. Given the weather on Friday, I awoke with some trepidation, expecting high winds and rain. Pleasantly surprised to spot a blue sky, and a couple of buses later, I was in Marlay Park, meeting up with the gang.
Marlay is a very popular Parkrun, with regular events of over 500, which is a fantastic turnout, but creates a few problems on narrow park paths, and the start is a little difficult with so many people. Yesterday was no exception, as there were 512 finishers, and it took me nearly 2 Kms to get into a natural rhythm. Once into a regularised pace, I was able to start picking off people ahead of me. Some I recognized in their #RSP shirts, and a shout of encouragement each way helped along the way.
Gradually I latched onto two of the lads from the team, Derek & Darren, who were running a good steady pace, so I kept up with them , pulling me through the latter stages of the run. With around 500m to go, they pulled away from me as I wasn't increasing my pace, as they did. The finish was visible to us for all this time, and my thoughts were harking back to the days when I never lost a sprint finish (I used to run 400m on the track in my younger days, so always had a good kick!), I couldn't let them get away with it. But I knew I had to time it right, as the likelihood would be they would be faster than me if push came to shove - I'm not 25 anymore! I timed it perfectly, with less than 50m to go, I kicked hard, flew (OK, ambled a little faster than they were!) past the lads, shouting a greeting, and headed for the line :) - Wonderfully captured by Diarmuid, one of our faster runners, who had finished well before us, and was acting as finish line photographer for Team #RSP. Didn't give them a chance to recover, and clocked home in 26:04, not a brilliant time, but perfect on the day.
My Smackdown will no doubt come back to haunt me, as I am sure they will get the better of me in the future, but it was fun, and brought back memories of speed in my youth! Coffee and great chat with the rest of the team afterwards, and this morning I went to the gym and ran an easy 6 Km on the treadmill, as I continue to build up slowly and steadily, not wanting to overdo things, which would only set me back. Next stop, two weeks on, the Raheny 5 Miler, on the 25th.. Onwards and Upwards.
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