Wimped out of the Parkrun - then ran my fastest 5k

I decided to pluck up the courage to register for my local Parkrun yesterday and then was quite relieved when it looked like my registration wasn't going to come through in time................ but then the emails arrived last night so this morning my daughter and I went along to the local park - about a 15 minute drive away, arriving about 5 minutes before it started.

I had been expecting about 80 people but there were quite a lot more and they all looked really fit and raring to go!  A few of them were dressed in Union Jack t-shirts or shorts or flags for the Jubilee which was nice.

We lined up at the back of the group and set off.............straight into a steep slope!  Now I really don't like hills, especially not at the start of a run, and everyone had set off at quite a good pace.  I got to the top of the slope (only about 300 yards) and gave up.

Just like that.

I don't know why but I just couldn't face struggling along at the back and coming in last.

After I'd stopped and gone back to join Mr Locket and the other children, I noticed the runners coming back down the slope and although most of them were speeding away at the front (even the ones pushing buggies) there were some slower ones going at my sort of pace so I probably should have just kept going.

I was really frustrated with myself for giving up and immediately began to doubt my ability to run at all so, like they recommend when you fall off a horse, I was determined to go straight out for a run as soon as I got home.

My daughter had decided that she didn't really fancy running so I set off by myself which was unusual. The first mile was really tough - slightly uphill part way and my legs were hurting from the start so I was doubting whether I could keep going.  Endomondo told me I had done the first mile in 12 minutes 10 seconds which was fairly average for me and I began to feel better about it all.

I had gone back to listening to Laura on week 9 as I felt that I needed some support on this run and the 5 minute encouragements were really helpful.  I did the second mile quite a bit faster at 11m36s - possibly because it was flatter than the first mile or possibly because by then I was running along the main road through the village so I was definitely on show!

I was a bit worried that I was going to lose motivation as Laura started to wind down the podcast and tell me how well I had DONE when I knew I needed to keep on running through the warm down walk and maybe a bit longer to cover the 5k, but I just kept on putting one foot in front of the other and didn't even give in and go home when I ran past the top of my street.

My third mile was my fastest at 11m14s and I finished 5k in 35m57s - my fastest time ever by a minute or two so I was really chuffed - especially after my failed parkrun.

I think I'll go and have a practice run of the route before I try an official parkrun again.  I have a feeling there would be a few more hills round the course so I would need to be prepared for that.

Overall I'm really pleased with today's run - even if it was my second attempt!