So since last year I've been going on and off to the local Park Run. It's fantastic concept and I love the idea of of it, plus plenty of mates swear by it to get you into running! I love the mixture of fast runners, club, those training for races, and it's perfect for anyone just getting into running or after some time off.
St Albans Park Run is getting more and more popular, and since I don't go enough it seems to have grown each time I go. I'm trying to go a lot more now as i have only been 8 times. I tend to only go whilst non marathon training, as otherwise I have to do my long run sometime at the weekend so a 5k run would either not be far enough, or i'd have to run on the Sunday morning as well (which i may not have the time or inclination to do, and i miss church to often due to races so I prefer not do a training run on a Sunday unless I have to).
A few times i have combined Park Run with a training run and this has worked well. In March I did Park Run with my brother Chris and sisters Becky and Jess, as Chris was back home for Easter. Plan was to do the 5k and then immediately carry on for a further 15 or so miles til I had banked the required 18 I was due to run that weekend. To save time I ran with my gel belt on which looked a bit over the top for a 5k - but they were much needed later on! I even bought 2 bottles - a small one to drink before and during park run and then a larger one for the rest of the run that would be totally full for the 2nd part of the running day. At the end Chris took my barcode and queued up for both our times, and off I went.
Last week i did something similar, but i ran before Park Run and then a shorter way home. It was 9.3 miles beforehand, then the 5k and 4 miles home = 16.4 miles. There were longer breaks of 10-15 minutes between each run though. I will probably do something similar this weekend, as long as I can time the first long run so i get to the lake as close to 9am as possible! It makes a big difference knowing that you'll soon get to run with a big group, and the middle 5k goes by really quickly. The run home is tough though as the legs have had a chance to seize up, so unfortunately can't take full advantage of the social scene and go for cake straight after park run!
5k PB stands at Park Run at just over 26 mins too, one cold winters day last December following Chris's pace! Sadly times are nowhere near that at the moment, with a regular decent 5k being around 30 mins, and when combined with a long run it's more like 35 minutes!
Also a good excuse for showing off your latest race finisher's tee-shirts :)
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