Beep Beep 2

Back in 2007 I posted about my new shiny car awaiting me, and now I am doing it for the second time! This time, I got the car new, which I wasn't really going to do, but we had a solid 2 weeks of test driving, walking out on dealers, getting phone calls to come back in then walking out again, etc, until we were able to talk the price down on a car that I really liked. I picked her up on Friday, tearfully saying goodbye to my older car and remembering all the good times.

So of course one of the first journeys I have taken with her was going to Parkrun this morning! I woke up not quite happy at early o'clock, and was thinking:

Me: Meh

Other me: Uh, think it's park run right?

Me: Not worth it. Sleep

(Sleeps)

(A few minutes later)

Other me: Wake Up! You can do this.

Me: Go away.

Other me: You are going to regret it later if you dont.

Me: I think I'll regret it if I do.

Other me: Time to wake up

(Sleeps)

Other me: GET UP! GET UP NOW!

Me: I think I'm sick.

Other me: But you have a shiny new car. Maybe you'll find someone to show off too!

Me: OMG! New Car! I want to drive my new car!

So the reason I went to parkrun was not to run, but to talk about my car, lol. Thankfully I found Ruth who humoured me and had a look at all the cool stuff. I did run, and I did feel a little sick and sleep deprived. 

My run started out a bit slower than the previous week, with a 4.55 1st k as opposed to what I did last time. My focus was to really push at k 2 - 3 (5.05) and then a bit more at 3 - 4 (which wasn't really although I felt it! 5.23). I also pushed the last k, when D ran past me and said 'oh come on, you are faster than this. D usually runs at 26, so I was pretty sad for a moment and decided to give up and crawl in, but then I was like 'you don't know how she is running today' so I tried to keep her in my sights. This was a good plan. I hurt a lot and people ran past me, then I ran past them and a few more people, which was pretty cool. Finally I followed her around the final turn and finished about 4 seconds behind her.

Turns out my time was 25.31. Despite really pushing it towards the end, I finished in better condition than the week before. (25.21). Still puffed out, but not as sick at the end, yay. I didn't have fun in this run this time. I felt pretty tired the whole way through.

But I did it, I got a good time for me, and I got to show Ruth my car! Pretty happy with that. :)

My 5k time improving just a bit.

So this week I didn't have a great training week, but managed consistency and pushed it on a shorter run to what the Garmin was suggesting I do. (Or me, telling the Garmin to tell me what to do.) Not bad overall, but I am so doing a long run tomorrow as I didn't really do one this week.

The Garmin sleep tracker is having a type of personality crisis at the moment. It keeps thinking that when I take it off I am sleeping. It tracked a bit better last night, but told me I got a fair few more hours sleep than what I did.

Although this was the case, and I didn't feel 100% this morning, I made it to the Lake G parkrun. The crowd turnout was larger than normal, so I had to park in the secondary parking area. I have just realised this will be the last parkrun I take my car, Saphira, to. I feel a bit sad about that.

I didn't stretch or warm up as much as I would have liked, but sneaked behind Geoff to push past heaps of runners at the start. This is a great idea, as I know enough people around my pace to get a feel for where I should start now. There are a few people who are still too far ahead or behind, but I know about 5 or 6 rows back is good for me.

I was breathing heavy early on, and was a bit concerned about that. I have been tired all day since, and my heart rate had a bit of a story to tell. Regardless, I pushed my way through to a 4.40 1st k and felt at ease. The hill onto the bridge didn't bother me much today, so the hill work I did on Tuesday appears to have worked okay. I made sure I continued a good pace around the next k and ran a 4.42.

The previous week I slowed on the 3rd k, this is where there are trees and undulations. It is really pretty but it is around here that my lack of endurance kicks in. It did again today, and I certainly felt one of the small uphills, but I was able to manage a 5.02, which was better than the previous week.

The 3rd to 4th k is where the continuous hill, which the Garmin tells me is actually an undulation (I hate its honesty!) exists. I always struggle here and today was not an exception. I lost significant pace, but not as bad as the week before, and managed it in 5.21.

I ran out the final k still above 5 minute pace with a heart rate in the 190s. Definitely working hard. I felt bad on the bridge, but refused to back down. I also pushed on the final part towards the end. I looked down at an unspecified time to see 22 minutes had passed, I think I look around the same place last week and saw 23.

I finished in my fastest 5k parkrun for the last 2 and a quarter years, running 25.21. Not brilliant, but I will take whatever I can.

I need to still work on stretching and core work to develop my running and times.

Christmas present

I received an awesome Christmas present from a wonderful husband who really listened to what I wanted, lol.

I unwrapped a small package, not realising what it contained, but then saw words on the package that made me squeal. 'Garmin 630'.

For those of you not in the know, half way though 2004, the Garmin 201 that I received from Flashduck about 8 years ago finally died a death of no more rechargable battery. I have been running without one ever since, which does make lifting the pace a little hard to do when you don't know what you are doing. I have been happy running 'blind to time' as I really didn't want to know my times while running 27 minutes continuously for 5k. I can't believe how slow I am, and just want to get on with it instead of dwelling in my lack of speed.

My new Garmin 630 has been a welcome gift at a time of great wish for it. My times have plateaued again around 26 minutes, with a shocker of 27 minutes the week before Christmas. Since then I have managed a 25.50 and 25.40ish time for 5k, and I'm certain I wouldn't have without it. It also does sleep tracking and heart rate monitoring.

I ran 32 30ish for the jogalong last Sunday which is getting better than this time last year, but I still have a long way to go until I am happy.

The good thing about the holidays is having the time to run. I haven't been sick apart from the first few days (where that shocker 5k happened) as well.

I have noticed my training runs are all pretty soft, although my regular run is just short of 6k which is what I thought it was!  The good thing about it is now I can lift my training runs a bit now that I know what I am really doing. (7.30mins per k, although uphill, is really slow!)