Two runs in two days

My first week back at work was always going to be tough, but it hit me harder than expected. I had to give a couple of high-profile presentations whilst preparing for a conference presentation next week. At the same time, I was trying to put the finishing touches to an online course about the history of money. I did my best to have a proper lunch break, but I was too tired to go out running or do any other exercise.

Friday run

Friday morning was taken up by a course. I was glad to get out for a run with Rachel on Friday afternoon. It wasn’t fast because I’m unfit but I made sure that we completed 5km.

parkrun at Southampton

Saturday was parkrun as usual. I had planned to do a bit of parkrun tourism, but a last-minute invitation meant that I had to be at a train station by 10:45 am. (More about my trip in another post).

Stu and I met up with some old friends from Lordshill Road Runners before the start of parkrun. Rachel joined us on the starting line.

The weather has turned colder recently, so I decided against wearing shorts for the second day in a row. I slightly overdressed. I wore some long tights, a long-sleeved top, a gilet, a running jacket and some gloves. At 1km, I needed to remove my jacket and gloves. By that point, Stu (with M in the buggy) had run off, so I just had to carry them.

M was particularly grumpy at parkrun. It was cold and a bit wet, so we put the rain cover on the buggy. M hates having the hood up as it restricts her vision. She also despises the rain cover, so she spent the first kilometre howling. I expect that some people thought it was because we were running with her, but it was definitely just because of the rain cover.

Sub 31?

Towards the end of the run, I surprised myself. I started to breathe more easily and a 30 minute finishing time seemed a possibility. Despite pushing as hard as I could, I didn’t quite manage it.

I was disappointed to finish in 31:13 and even more frustrated when I realised that I was 2 seconds slower than last week. Hopefully my running will get back on track soon.

Did you parkrun yesterday? Where did you run and how did it go?