Forgive me Father, for I have sinned. One of the major rules of parkrun is DFYB – Don’t Forget Your Barcode. So, what did I do today? That’s right, I forgot my barcode!
I don’t often go to parkrun. I absolutely love the concept, but it’s fast (I’m not) and my local event is a 45-minute walk from my house so quite often I just use that time to do the 5k closer to home.
However, occasionally I do go and today was one of those occasions.
This weekend marked the second anniversary of my first ever logged run and my parkrun debut. I went on the same weekend last year so figured it’d be interesting to go again today to see how I’ve progressed over those two years – sort of like an annual report.
I also have traditionally attended parkrun on the Saturday before my local 5-mile race, and since that is this Wednesday I really had no option but to go today.
Although, the fact I did was something of a minor miracle. I’m dosed up with a summer cold. I’ve been sniffling, sneezing and spluttering for the last couple of days and even went back to bed this morning for an hour after getting up to feed the cat.
Normally I wouldn’t have bothered going out but, well, it’s tradition now as I explained.
Even realising halfway there that I’d committed the cardinal sin of parkrun didn’t deter me. I was prepared to grovel and beg for forgiveness but, in the end, it was totally painless … I just gave them my runner number and they sorted it. Big up the Ecos parkrun core team!!!!
So what of the run itself, that’s why you’re here after all!
Because of the lurgy I wasn’t expecting much but, in the end, I recorded my second best parkrun time coming over six minutes faster than this time last year! That can be considered decent progress, can’t it? Better than that, today was also my best ever age graded result. I know it’s only a rough calculation and not to be taken too seriously but I’ll take it!
I started off well, coming in at PB pace for the first two kilometres until at around the halfway point I stopped for some inexplicable reason … I have absolutely no clue why I did it. I mean, I was running along chatting with Chris and Grace and then I just stopped. I don’t recall struggling either, and was actually quite glad of the opportunity to chat because I thought it’d keep me going – maybe I just lost concentration, I don’t know. It’s just one of those things I suppose.
I’m guessing that lapse cost me my PB so it’s something to remember for next time. My last two kilometres were quite pleasing, usually at this point in parkrun I start to struggle a bit but I ploughed on, even tackling the incline just before the finish which I rarely do.
All in all, I’m getting there. Next up is the Fairhill 5 on Wednesday night, my local race. I’ve got a score to settle with it after last year’s disaster …. so, bring it on!
HUFF, PUFF AND SHUFFLE 