Shorter and harder.....

Is not something I ever thought I would enjoy more than long and slow :-D

I do realise there is a place for both.

Yes, I am talking running.

If you had said to me this time last year I would be enjoying racing 5 and 10ks now I would have laughed in your face. My plans revolved around completing a 100miler. However, you can go off running. And boy did I.

But I'm forever saying 'if you don't like it, change it' and eventually I did. (Giving advice to yourself is always hard cos there's a bloody idiot who won't listen). So now I'm training myself to run long and hard, which tbh still scares the crap out of me, but I'm doing it slowly, with proper help and finally a belief in what I'm doing that other people see before me. Yeah ok, I'm coming round.

So parkrun yesterday. I know this course now, very well. I know where I could go quicker, I know that I will lose time on the hairpin if I approach it wrong, I break the course into small chunks and try to stretch out on parts and also hang on to whoever is in front of me ..... That is a massive change in attitude for me. It's racing rather than running.

So long story short I PBd again. 21.38, 3rd overall, 1st lady. Cool. Can't be unhappy with that, though the man in front wasn't that far ahead ;)

Felt fine after, I generally do after 5k and didn't think I had harmed my chances in today's 10k. I was a bit nervous though. Partly because I haven't run one since 2010 and because I have not run over 3 miles for a few weeks. I looked at last years results and decided a PB would be my main aim, but an AG prize would be my gold star standard.

So, met up with club mates put my special shoes on :) and lined up. Near the front, my new tactic. I was looking for women around me but it seemed to be mainly men there.

And we are off. Basically I always run the first mile like a nutter. I can't help it. I need to get to my own space, there were lots in front of me and as soon as we started about 5 men shot past me but no women. Good.

First mile 6.36. I feel ok though and some was downhill. 2nd mile 6.56, ok I will take that....still fine. Decided to next look at 5k.

21.50 elapsed. Brilliant!

Except what you can now see is the people in front snaking up a winding hill. It's not steep but it's bloody long. So I look down. And dig in.

I'm doing Ks now not miles so I don't look at my watch. 6k I have a chat with a guy who asks me if I've done it before.

No.

Ok I won't tell you what's coming.

What's coming is a bastard of a hill and boy does it hurt but I keep pushing.

At the top is a water station and I can hear the volunteers discussing when they are going to see the First Lady!

'It'll be a Benfleet girl' says the bloke 'isn't that a Dagenham lady there' says the woman :-D

Bloody hell I am First Lady.

I am still at 8k, and 9k. I run the last k like my life depends on it because I have no idea where 2nd lady is.

No one passes :))) I cross the line by my watch 45.39. A PB by more than a minute on a much tougher course.

And a cash prize of £100. Mr H immediately starts looking for more races for me to do :-D

Was brilliant to see my friend Vicky from Barking RR get 3rd lady and her second PB in 2 weeks, and the barking ladies team (all parkrun friends) get 3rd team prize (Vicky, Vicky and Nikki) yes you have to have a rhyming name to be in their team.

Brilliant support from Steve and his dad as always, and obv Mr H too who did look a bit stunned when I ran down the finishers chute. Lovely compliments from my club mates too :)

A good weekend.