Anyone else had a go at parkrun?

First topic message reminder :

Was wondering whether anyone else on V2 has had a go at "Parkrun". It's a 5k run every Saturday morning at 0900 in parks or other similar venues. It's free and is organised by volunteers. There's loads of venues all over England and in several other countries as well.  It's not really a race, other than you against yourself, you can see all your timings on line, including how fast you are for your age group, and (if applicable ) how much you've improved week on week. Many venues have several hundred people of all ages taking part.  I'm *ahem* well into middle age, and was completely unathletic. But my daughter got me started and now I take part nearly every week.

Stella wrote:Ran 5K in 21.36. Not an official parkrun but as good as. Got the heart pumping!

Wow, that's a stellar performance, Stella!    

Did 10k race yesterday evening.  51:24 on a flat but quite tough off road course, with slippery mud patches and quite a few tight turns.  Took a tumble on one of the corners.  Pleased to come 2/18 in the old crocks section (M60+), tho tbf quite a few were probably considerably older than 60!

Finally managed to dip below 24 mins yesterday at local parkrun (23:58). 

Funny how much satisfaction you can get by lopping a few seconds off your time.

Tried going for a run and doing the half marathon distance last week, six and a half miles in with no bother then landed awkwardly in a dip in the pavement in front of someone's driveway...'twanged' my knee and had to ring my wife to come and collect me. Hurt like f*ck for a few days but seems to have eased. May give it another go this week. Really want to do the full half Marathon course before the official run at the end of October. The weather has started to turn slightly and there's more head wind than I'd like but I'm not bothered about my times as much as completing the full distance.

Nice one corporal

Plenty of time left, Dave. I try not to run of the paths, for that same reason. Going out really early when there are few cars does enable me to run on the road for most of the time.

I made the mistake of wearing, and walking around in flip-flops whilst on holiday, which put pressure on my calf muscles, which therefore gave me an annoying pain around my heal. I 'touch wood' seem to have ran it off over the last three days.
The flip flops will be going in the bin.

Had a good run at Rye Harbour 10k race. Flat course on hard running surface. Bit of a stiff headwind on way out.  Pleased with time of 48:57 - which meant I nicked 1 second off my 10k PB. It's a lovely place to run - on a nature reserve with saltmarshes and shingle.  Also managed to control tactics better than usual. With the aid of the headwind which slowed me a fair bit on miles 2 and 3 I managed the elusive negative splits.

Stella wrote:
I made the mistake of wearing, and walking around in flip-flops whilst on holiday ....
The flip flops will be going in the bin.

Wearing flip flops always a mistake - and not just for runners...

Car in for the MOT last Friday so ran six miles to get home, mostly uphill with my work stuff in a rucksack. Took me an hour! Quite pleased, haven't really done much running of late.

In other news.... I knocked 1 further second off parkrun PB last Saturday.  23:57.

Did a warm and quite hilly 7 mile race today in Knole Park, Sevenoaks. 58:58.

Yay - knocked 41 secs off parkrun PB - 31:16 Was visting a parkrun with a flat course.  Certainly makes a difference doing a 5k with no hills.

23.16? Good going, corporal

Indeed Stella, 23:16 was the time. Running seems to have affected my ability to type numbers! 

Impressive running there , Corporal

I confess to having put off contesting a timed run , despite getting some decent training in...just haven't felt free enough and , to be honest , not wanting to find out just how much I have slowed up with a few years out !
But I do mean to have a crack at one of these 5k things soon. Am bringing my running shoes to England next week and will see if I can find one of these flat courses...

I embarked on my first Couch to 5k last night, and thoroughly enjoyed it!

Who knows, in a couple of months, a ParkRun might be on the horizon!

Went for a run on Monday, aerobically I'm fine but my knees are f*cked and keep giving out after seven miles. Have tried resting for a few weeks, strapping them up but pound to a pint of p!ss, after seven miles, I'm limping home. Looks like this half marathon at the end of October is going to be a non-starter.

DAVE667 wrote:Went for a run on Monday, aerobically I'm fine but my knees are f*cked and keep giving out after seven miles. Have tried resting for a few weeks, strapping them up but pound to a pint of p!ss, after seven miles, I'm limping home. Looks like this half marathon at the end of October is going to be a non-starter.

Fat c*nt.

ShahenshahG wrote:

DAVE667 wrote:Went for a run on Monday, aerobically I'm fine but my knees are f*cked and keep giving out after seven miles. Have tried resting for a few weeks, strapping them up but pound to a pint of p!ss, after seven miles, I'm limping home. Looks like this half marathon at the end of October is going to be a non-starter.

Fat c*nt.

To be boring. I feel for anyone with running injury issues.

ShahenshahG wrote:

DAVE667 wrote:Went for a run on Monday, aerobically I'm fine but my knees are f*cked and keep giving out after seven miles. Have tried resting for a few weeks, strapping them up but pound to a pint of p!ss, after seven miles, I'm limping home. Looks like this half marathon at the end of October is going to be a non-starter.

Fat c*nt.

Shah, this thread is for people with an interest in running, it's not for you to come on just stating your name like Matt Damon in "Team America"

DAVE667 wrote:

ShahenshahG wrote:

DAVE667 wrote:Went for a run on Monday, aerobically I'm fine but my knees are f*cked and keep giving out after seven miles. Have tried resting for a few weeks, strapping them up but pound to a pint of p!ss, after seven miles, I'm limping home. Looks like this half marathon at the end of October is going to be a non-starter.

Fat c*nt.

Shah, this thread is for people with an interest in running, it's not for you to come on just stating your name like Matt Damon in "Team America"

I do a lot of running, else i'd be in Guantanamo now.

ShahenshahG wrote:

DAVE667 wrote:

ShahenshahG wrote:

DAVE667 wrote:Went for a run on Monday, aerobically I'm fine but my knees are f*cked and keep giving out after seven miles. Have tried resting for a few weeks, strapping them up but pound to a pint of p!ss, after seven miles, I'm limping home. Looks like this half marathon at the end of October is going to be a non-starter.

Fat c*nt.

Shah, this thread is for people with an interest in running, it's not for you to come on just stating your name like Matt Damon in "Team America"

I do a lot of running, else i'd be in Guantanamo now.

Guantanamo for the One-Tonne-Mofo

alfie wrote:Impressive running there , Corporal

I confess to having put off contesting a timed run , despite getting some decent training in...just haven't felt free enough and , to be honest , not wanting to find out just how much I have slowed up with a few years out !
But I do mean to have a crack at one of these 5k things soon.  Am bringing my running shoes to England next week and will see if I can find one of these flat courses...

Yay! Good luck, Alfie.

Scott is Back wrote:I embarked on my first Couch to 5k last night, and thoroughly enjoyed it!

Who knows, in a couple of months, a ParkRun might be on the horizon!

 Well done, Scott.  Stick with it as it only gets more enjoyable. Providing that you look after your body and take things steadily 

Well I finally got to tackle a park run this morning in Minehead...not so much "park" as pavement as the run here is along the beach front - about the only flat bit available locally
Took off way too fast : feet apparently thought it was still about 1996 but after about 400 yards the rest of me reminded them that we are all a little older...suffered during the long into wind stretch ...finished OK and although I was a little disappointed to clock 26.30 I guess it wasn't a disaster for a first try after several years "off".
In retrospect perhaps scrambling up and down rugged coastal paths and moorland all over Somerset and North Devon as I indulged my Lorna Doone obsession was not the ideal training for a bit of flat running ; but hey , all fun and I am glad to have at last got around to having a go. Now to see what I can do about improving that time...

alfie wrote:.....Took off way too fast : feet apparently thought it was still about 1996 ....

Lol!   Glad you enjoyed it Alfie.

Minehead parkrun sounds good - I see it's only recently started.  I've done sixty something parkruns, but not so far done a seafront one - I guess all of them are prone to being windy.

Been pretty much crocked with a soft tissue injury since getting parkrun PB in early Sept. But working way back in recent weeks and did first race for over 3 months on Thursday - a 10k in 51:46.  Not a spectacular time by any means but pleased with it.

Tried Bradford Half Marathon the other month. Knee gave out after seven miles

Corporalhumblebucket wrote:Been pretty much crocked with a soft tissue injury since getting parkrun PB in early Sept. But working way back in recent weeks and did first race for over 3 months on Thursday - a 10k in 51:46.  Not a spectacular time by any means but pleased with it.

Bad luck getting crocked just when you were flying , Cpl ! Though it is often the way , unfortunately...

Good to see you're on the road back now. Even if the time wasn't , as you say , spectacular - completing 10k successfully shows you are back in town

First parkrun back in about a year or more. Ran a 21.33 (just over a minute outside my previous best). Relatively happy. Signing up for my first 10K in April so will get a few more park runs in between now and then as well as a few 6 mile training runs. Think 44-45 minutes would be a reasonable target?

lfc91 wrote:First parkrun back in about a year or more. Ran a 21.33 (just over a minute outside my previous best). Relatively happy. Signing up for my first 10K in April so will get a few more park runs in between now and then as well as a few 6 mile training runs. Think 44-45 minutes would be a reasonable target?

Yeah it's reasonable. Pretty much bang on a 45 minute equivalent. But most people struggle to replicate at higher distances so you'd probably be a bit slower unless you improved your fitness a bit.

Aiming to break 20 minute for 5k this year. Which would be the first time for over 10 years. In pretty poor shape at the moment.

Scottrf wrote:

lfc91 wrote:First parkrun back in about a year or more. Ran a 21.33 (just over a minute outside my previous best). Relatively happy. Signing up for my first 10K in April so will get a few more park runs in between now and then as well as a few 6 mile training runs. Think 44-45 minutes would be a reasonable target?

Yeah it's reasonable. Pretty much bang on a 45 minute equivalent. But most people struggle to replicate at higher distances so you'd probably be a bit slower unless you improved your fitness a bit.

Aiming to break 20 minute for 5k this year. Which would be the first time for over 10 years. In pretty poor shape at the moment.

That is my immediate aim as well sub 20min for 5K. Would expect to be at 20.30ish by the time the 10K roles around next month so slightly fitter than i am right now.

Out of curiosity anyone been keeping up with the Colin McCourt bet on twitter (ex GB 1500M runner). Seems that since retiring from athletics in 2012 he packed on 3/4 stone and was generally just in really bad shape. Made a bet with 17 friends that by the end of 2017 he would have run a sub 16 minute 5K.(A solitary 24 minute park run in 2016 gives some indication of the shape he is in). Terms of the bet are if he does it he gets £100 from each friend, if he doesn't he gets 17 tattoos chosen by them!! Not a bad way to motivate yourself to get back into shape...

For a normal person trying to knock 8 mins of a 5K time in a year would be remarkable. Have to think though that an ex international athlete will be able to do it. Think he is still relatively young too, just north of 30.

Find it very hard to believe he was trying for the 24 minute run.

Looking at the picture of the shape he was in 24 minute would be a great effort! Really did just look like a typical badly out of shape 30 year old who spends all weekend in a bar... Went from 94kg to 80kg in 34 days. That alone is an impressive achievement IMO.

Ran my first 5k in the States a couple of years back. All age groups taking part (my 60+ uncle ran 23 mins!) and the lad that won the juniors was something like 14 or 15 years old and did it in 17 mins something!!

TopHat24/7 wrote:Ran my first 5k in the States a couple of years back. All age groups taking part (my 60+ uncle ran 23 mins!) and the lad that won the juniors was something like 14 or 15 years old and did it in 17 mins something!!

That's a good effort. Sadly my dad was a serious runner so wouldn't appreciate any run I did where I didn't break 15 minutes

TopHat24/7 wrote:Ran my first 5k in the States a couple of years back. All age groups taking part (my 60+ uncle ran 23 mins!) and the lad that won the juniors was something like 14 or 15 years old and did it in 17 mins something!!

Yeah there are guy at my local parkrun (both ends of the scale) who regularly put down scary times like that! A guy in the 60-64 bracket with 18 mins 40 and kids at 12/13 running similar/quicker times. Good thing they announce at the start of every parkrun that it isn't a race it's a timed event otherwise i might feel really bad about myself....

Haha well you can all feel better knowing I've only just got my time back down to 26 mins and have still never got my fat arris round quicker than 24m30s!!

Well, I'm going to be timerless for the next couple of months to spare the embarrassment.

Did my second HM in Feb. (The same one I did a year ago).  Quite pleased to take off 7+ mins from last year and get time down to 1:53:09, which is nothing special, but quite satisfying considering age and my negligble athletic prowess in youff. (Basically I made sure my music lessons always coincided with games. Got quite proficient at that!)

All fairly quiet on parkrun front.  Doing it regularly, but with rather muddy conditions it's not generally realistic to set PBs in winter months.  Putting most of my efforts into 10ks and HMs.

Good job Corporal!

Second Park run of the year, ran a second slower than 2 weeks previous (21.34 vs 21.33). Was quite disappointed with the time but was having one of those days when you just aren't feeling it. First mile was 7.04 compared to a 7.16 the previous parkrun. Difference was this time round after the first mile I felt very tired.(In hindsight the dinner of a Pastie Supper with a few beers on Friday night may not have help my cause).

Hopefully a better effort this Saturday with only 24 days until my first 10K.

P.S Well done Corporal. If my working out is correct you were operating somewhere in the 8.30-8.40 min mile range? Good running.

lfc91 wrote:P.S Well done Corporal. If my working out is correct you were operating somewhere in the 8.30-8.40 min mile range? Good running.

Thanks - that's right. It was about 8:38 mins a mile for the HM.  In a burst of enthusiasm I entered another HM at start of April and am doing a 10k this weekend.

lfc91 wrote:Second Park run of the year, ran a second slower than 2 weeks previous (21.34 vs 21.33). Was quite disappointed with the time but was having one of those days when you just aren't feeling it. First mile was 7.04 compared to a 7.16 the previous parkrun. Difference was this time round after the first mile I felt very tired.(In hindsight the dinner of a Pastie Supper with a few beers on Friday night may not have help my cause).

Hopefully a better effort this Saturday with only 24 days until my first 10K.

  One advantage us old crock runners have got is we're usually more aware of the fraility of our bodies and their propensity to go on strike if not looked after!

Yay! Took a huge slice (well OK - four seconds ) off my 10k PB on Sunday. Down to 48:53.  Unpromising blustery weather, but actually turned out that conditions were not too bad as hedges either side of the lanes shielded runners from the worst of the wind.

Nice. I think I'm aiming to beat you by September, but it's going to take a lot of improvement...

Scottrf wrote:Nice. I think I'm aiming to beat you by September, but it's going to take a lot of improvement...

Yes - I reckon once you're running regularly and systematically you'll be taking great chunks off your current/recent times.

Always love a PB at any distance. Great feeling and well done. Will still be aiming for a sub 45 10K come April 9th but im less optimistic than i was last month. Been carrying a few niggles & after my return parkrun time of 21.33 I have done a 21.34 then 21.36..... (Note: The most recent run was slightly affected by weaving through the couch to 5K people)

Yeah at 26 I thought I could still operate like I was 16 and eat whatever I want but that appears not to be the case anymore....

lfc91 wrote:Always love a PB at any distance. Great feeling and well done. Will still be aiming for a sub 45 10K come April 9th but im less optimistic than i was last month. Been carrying a few niggles & after my return parkrun time of 21.33 I have done a 21.34 then 21.36..... (Note: The most recent run was slightly affected by weaving through the couch to 5K people)

Yeah at 26 I thought I could still operate like I was 16 and eat whatever I want but that appears not to be the case anymore....

Are you training specifically for 10ks? Longer tempo runs, upped your mileage etc? Should be doable but you're probably near the limit. I broke 20 minute 5k before 45 minute 10k. Although have never ran 10k flat and probably didn't have as much endurance as needed.

Scottrf wrote:

lfc91 wrote:Always love a PB at any distance. Great feeling and well done. Will still be aiming for a sub 45 10K come April 9th but im less optimistic than i was last month. Been carrying a few niggles & after my return parkrun time of 21.33 I have done a 21.34 then 21.36..... (Note: The most recent run was slightly affected by weaving through the couch to 5K people)

Yeah at 26 I thought I could still operate like I was 16 and eat whatever I want but that appears not to be the case anymore....

Are you training specifically for 10ks? Longer tempo runs, upped your mileage etc? Should be doable but you're probably near the limit. I broke 20 minute 5k before 45 minute 10k. Although have never ran 10k flat and probably didn't have as much endurance as needed.

My week will generally be a run of 3-4 miles on monday, 5-6 miles on Wednedsay/thursday then Parkrun on a saturday morning (with a very slow mile home from the park afterwards).

Yeah would definitely add a longer run once a week (slow) if you're planning on moving to 10ks. Not that it will make much difference for April 9th.

Oh sorry that was poorly worded, I have been following that pattern for around 6 weeks now. Only issue is that I previously focused solely on runs in the 4-6K range. Longer runs seem to be having a less than ideal affect on my legs (Specifically left knee and Achilles).