.....none for ages then two come along at once.
Last weekend I ran my local Woodbank Parkrun and surprised myself with my third (only my third) PB of the year. 23:04 was 11 seconds faster than my previous fastest for that course, which I did in June 2010. My older brother joined me for his first running of this Parkrun with its two big hills, and beat me by 1 minute and 8 seconds. I knew he would probably be faster than I but the fact that the difference was so big came as a bit of a shock. It just proves the benefit of daily shorter runs - which my brother is far more committed to keep doing - over my usual one long run (sometimes very long run) per week for producing speed. Well done Julian!
Wind forward to today and I found myself running Woodbank again, having been telling myself all week that last weekend's result wasn't a fluke just because I saw my brother slowly disappearing into the distance, causing me to push that little bit harder. No, I always push hard, brother or no brother.
I know myself well because I was right. I got my 4th PB of 2011 with a 22:49 finish - 15 seconds faster this time. This increase in speed is becoming meteoric. Where could it take me, to hell and back or over the moon? I think the latter.
Tomorrow will be another short blast, this time on the Gravy Pud fell race. Although I don't sound like one, I am a northern boy and I do love gravy. I shall be partaking in the Bull's Head afterwards, probably in the form of a lake contained within a giant Yorkshire pudding.
Roll on to next weekend and it's the Stockport 10 on Sunday. I'll be helping out on Saturday with packing the famous goody bags. I shall get a sneak preview but my lips will remain sealed.
Moving forward to the following weekend brings the Tour de Helvellyn - a 38-mile serious undertaking in the Lake District - to begin the end-of-year wind-down with just the odd fell race over the holidays to keep me on my toes. Here's what I wrote about last year's inaugural TdH in exceptional conditions.
Watch this space.
Good stuff Nick, I think with these short events one trains you up for the next. I do the winter league with my club monthly over Winter and I always get the best results in last few races.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy Helvellyn, keep getting tempted by that one.
DE, why not yield to temptation and email Joe to beg a late entry? There may still be time. I'll show you 'round. There's even spare accommodation available should you wish. Go on. You know you want to.
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ReplyDeleteBecause I called it the Gravy Pub Race!!!! ... So Nick, is Ham the elder joing us in the vasque next year? Whilst you're in the Gravy PuD Fell Race, I'll be fagging around the Percy Pud 10K courtesy of Sheffield Striders - a large, fully subscribed blast on the outskirts of Sheff ... obviously a pud as opposed to a goody bag: Lovely!!!. Watch this space ... :-p
ReplyDeleteWell done Nick. The TDH looks good. Have fun
ReplyDeletebisto..aahh
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