The rollercoaster that was parkrun #25

This morning I completed my 25th parkrun and 12th this year! To celebrate the occasion I joined my cousin-in-law Hayden at parkrun Lake Ginninderra. This was our first time running together and neither of us had run Lake Ginninderra before—so we weren’t entirely sure what to expect. All of the lake courses I’ve done previously are flat and fast, ideal candidates for setting PBs. The morning was crisp and the humidity low. So I thought we’d give the sub 23:00 a crack. If we managed to pull off this endeavour I would break into my top 10 parkrun times, all set in 2018. There was a certain charm to the idea of achieving this on my 25th parkrun.

However, achieving such a time was definitely going to be an effort, as my fastest parkrun this year had been 24:17, down from 30:25 in late December. I’ve been dropping time consistently, but I was going to have to drop over a minute! Using my watch I’d determined we would need to average 4’36”/km. Up until today, I’d been running on heart-rate, on account of my Apple Watch underestimating distances from 50m to 200m over a 5km course. So sticking to a pace fanatically has felt somewhat pointless and fraught with inaccuracy, but to achieve the 23:00 I was going to need some real-time feedback.

Things didn’t start off well. We missed the start call and ended up behind the pack. We had to weave between people and dodge branches on the side of the path. However, despite the less-than-ideal start we managed to run a 4’30”… 6s up our sleeve already and heart rate looking good! Alright, alright, alright.

At the end of the first kilometre we were presented with the first climb of the course — up and over a bridge. I was not expecting this. The course then undulated up and down for the next kilometre… our pace took a hit and we completed the second kilometre in 4’42”. This course was proving to be anything but flat or fast. However, at this point we were averaging the target pace of 4’36”. Maybe there was still a shot!

As we reached the turn-around point it was 11:35, we were only five seconds off the required pace. “Nothing a quick finish couldn’t resolve”, I thought to myself. However, then it happened. My heart rate began to rise to an uncomfortable level. The inner voice started piping up. “Why am I doing this, just stop. Walk for a bit”. But this started to get countered by “think of all of the effort you’ve put in to be right here, to have this opportunity. The discomfort is temporary”. This back-and-forth monologue lasted well into the third kilometre. At this point I would love to say we got a second wind, mustering up courage and strength and giddying right up… but we didn’t. Our pace kept slowing 4’47”, then 4’53” before a last ditch effort of 4’43” in the final kilometre. Final average pace 4’44”… 8 seconds an kilometre off the pace resulting in a finishing time of 23:39.

Although things didn’t go to plan, and beating any of my times from last remission in 2018 continues to elude me, it was a great morning and I set a PB for this year in great company on a less than ideal course.

Until next time. Just. Keep. Moving!