Run#7 spring marathon training block

Run#7 of my journey to spring marathons (my 48th parkrun)

This morning I got myself down to the Blackweir parkrun (Cardiff), my outing was split into three parts:

Part 1 - warm-up on the way to the parkrun start

This morning I used the 1km commute to parkrun to jog, and do a dynamic warm-up (including a bit of plyometric skipping). It was a really good warm-up and happily I wasn't skipping when I passed two fellow Pegs Ellen and Caroline. Both of them looked to be well set for a good run and were doing their warm-ups looking relaxed.

At the start area I took of the extra layers that thought it wise to use for a change and left them in the parkrun baggage drop. Near enough the first time I have used it for warm clothes because I usually barrel down in my running kit, survive whatever the weather throws at me and then run home before I get to cold / wet (or both). Once I had sorted myself I stood waiting feeling clear in my purpose for my run session, a warm "good morning" from another Peg, Colin, made me feel even more at my ease.

Part 2 - Blackweir parkrun (A course)

So I set out this morning with a fully formed plan for both preparation and the run, and happily ended up nailing a good parkrun for the third in a row. The middle 3k were as balanced an effort as possible and the numbers look nye on perfect. Today was about borrowing some last kilometre speed and spreading it through the first 4k to take me to sub-30mins for parkrun for the first time this year. The last km was still a controlled burn and happily felt as strong as my last parkrun.

My kilometre splits according to Strava were quite staggering 5:59, 5:37, 5:37, 5:37, 5:00 - I focused hard in the middle on technique and rhythm but was surprised by the quality of the outcome when I interrogated my watch once I got home.

As soon as I got out of the finish token collecting funnel I enjoyed a quick catch up with Luke (another Peg runner), he finished well ahead of me and looked fresh but reported that he has been wrestling with some niggles that are stubbornly not clearing up. I hope he is back to full fitness soon as I hope to be chasing him around some more parkruns in coming months.

Once I was done I got my kit back on and stretched before setting off for home. Pre-warm-up and layers to put back on afterwards were all part of trying to go into each run from here with the best approach / preparation that I can.

Part 3 - the strategic walk home

So then it was the final element in my cunning plan... walking home warming down gradually. It felt good in the moment and I hope that the active stretching of the walk home will improve my post-parkrun recovery time.

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