Week 5: Saturday - 6km easy
RunDMC
I’m in America! The Pacific northwest, Seattle. Flew here on Friday morning, landed in appalling weather, went to a couple of breweries in the city then retreated back to my airport hotel and passed out around 7:30pm, having been up for … I dunno, over 20 hours. Tired. I was staying at a hotel near the airport for one reason only: because there’s a Parkrun nearby.
The hotel had a breakfast buffet which starts at 5am, so I went down at 0515 for some rubbish eggs and sausages, then took a banana and two very sugary things back to my room. Watched Bubba Ho-Tep, drank a 650ml coke zero. Fueling, I am doing you.
Warmup
It was still dark when I left the hotel. Dark, and bleak. The area just south of SeaTac airport is pretty bleak, but I could have bought some cheap booze and smokes had I wanted any. The Parkrun site recommends getting a cab from Angle Lake station to the start, but that’s crazy. It’s much better to walk.
I mean, I say that. There was an unwelcome SIDEWALK CLOSED sign, so I crossed the road and walked past the prison until the pavement ran out, after which I walked the cycle lane until getting to the Des Moines Creek trail car park. TBH I could have walked in the road, there was so little traffic.
Des Moines Creek trail is a paved path next to the creek and surrounded by beautiful woodland, but any sound of wildlife is pierced, every minute or so, by a plane taking off directly overhead. Couldn’t even hear my podcast in noise cancelling mode, so gave up on headphones.
I was way too early to run, so I just walked the whole way at a very leisurely pace. Saw a handful of other walkers, everyone saying hello. They’re polite around these parts, maybe it’s the proximity to Canada.
4.5km and 122 metres of elevation loss later, I arrived at the Parkrun start. Still had time to go wander along the fishing pier, and the briefest of jogs to warm my hands up. Headed over to the start area and had a good chinwag with some of the volunteers plus the other tourist Brits.
The briefing was great, they really love Parkrun here. Lots of photos taken, and away we went.
Parkrun 388: Des Moines Creek, USA (54th event, 8th country)
I’ve said it lots of times and it bears repeating: best way to do conversational pace is to converse, and that’s what I did. I ran with Fran, one of the visiting Brits, as we ascended, and ascended, and ascended some more. The course is the creek trail, not something flat along the seafront. It’s 2.5km up, turn around and run back.
No km markers and I am 100% onboard with not looking at my watch these days, so I dunno how far through we were when Fran said “OK I think I’m done” and started to walk, or at least jog waaaaayyyy slower than we had been. I said fair enough, see you at the finish, and picked up my pace. I expect it was at about 1.5km, something like that. It’s kinda visible in the heart rate graph.
I’d been dreading this course. I don’t do hills unless I’m told to by Runna, and I had NOT been told to by Runna today. But … I felt strong, I felt good, I didn’t feel like I needed to slow down. I sped up! Overtook a few people even. It was so satisfying, I swear it simply must be tangible progress from the training plan. I can run up a hill for 2.5km!!!
Now, what I should have done at the turnaround point is hold back to an easy pace, but obviously I didn’t do that. No, instead, I hammered it as fast as felt sustainable. Curiously, the second half was much less fun than the first. I was working harder, and desperate for the end to arrive but despite having walked and run this path twice already, it felt unfamiliar and too long. I was bloody delighted when the end was finally in sight, even if I hadn’t managed to overtake my temporary nemesis.
I wish I’d overtaken my temporary nemesis. I came 28th. 27th is one of the only two remaining places I require to complete Parkrun Position Bingo. Oh well, never mind.
Official time: 26:57. Beyond delighted with that. Honestly I wonder what I could have done if I hadn’t spent the first while in conversation. I mean, look at the splits.
| Split |
|---|
| 6:16 |
| 5:52 |
| 5:24 |
| 4:32 |
| 4:40 |
I was gonna post the grade adjusted pace, but something went wonky with the watch’s ability to measure elevation - look at this silly graph.
I did not, I repeat, not start 40 metres under water.
Smashrun thinks the run was super notable. I’m inclined (no pun intended) to agree!
Hung around for a bit to recover, and let more people finish so that the path wasn’t so busy for my remaining 1km to complete the 6.
1km up
5:40 for the 1km upwards, during which a few volunteers and runners commented variations on “going back for more huh?”. “Yep - my hotel is up at the top!”
Didn’t enjoy this km, but had to do it. Walked the rest of the way, really not struggling at all. I can do hills! Me! Now I’m not going to get carried away but it does feel like a power I’ve unlocked. Well, that Runna has unlocked.
Week 5 complete!
Well that was the week that was. I hit 1000km for the year, did my longest run for a while, got told by Runna that I’m faster than previously thought, and I ended up in America - land of apple pie down the Alamo in New York City.
Week 6 looks difficult, logistically as well as what Runna wants from me.