Week 7: Saturday - Easy run

Ouch

The pyramid intervals and resultant pace reduction were 24hrs behind me. I’d spent the night sleeping in the living room, not as a consequence of any domestic incidents but because our bedroom is being painted/refreshed. Helen was concerned the chaise would not be a comfy thing to sleep on, so it was to her surprise that I declared just how good a night’s sleep I’d had. Yay!

7km easy

Last week I ran a really fast warmup kilometre off-plan, before Broadwater Parkrun’s newest course plus an extra km after scanning my result for the 6km easy. Not so this week, when I decided to run a 2km conversational warmup plus Parkrun itself. No fast stuff today.

First 2km

As happens way too frequently, the warmup was interrupted by the level crossing. The barriers didn’t come up after the train went through and I got fed up waiting, so ended up running to the bridge where I bumped into a neighbour and another lady both heading to Parkrun. We chatted about the new route, plus rumours about why it was necessary. Interesting!

Parkrun 390 // my 97th @ Broadwater

The starting area seemed really busy. I haven’t looked at the stats but it seems like attendance has been ramping up a lot recently, which is simultaneously good and bad news. The paths are pretty narrow in a lot of places so the busier it gets the more it turns into a fast queue.

As usual I ran around with a friend, chatting the whole way. Going clockwise around the lake didn’t see as weird this time, and in fact the golf course section was nicer too. Conditions underfoot were better which helped. Pretty nondescript conversational run with nothing to really talk about, until with 250m to go I tripped over and shouted FUCK loudly while tumbling to the floor. Bashed my knee a bit, and my left hand and forearm, and my chest hurt a bit too. Glasses came flying off and I was covered in grit and mud.

Fail. Dusted myself off and jogged to the finish, full of adrenaline so not yet sure the full extent of the damage. As luck would have it, by losing a few positions as people overtook while I was on the deck or recovering, it meant I came in 127th – and 27 was one of only two remaining numbers I need to complete Position Bingo! Combined with a Date Bingo too, this almost made falling over worthwhile.

Pace was alright. 2nd km was 5:30 but that’s largely because I sped up to get to the bridge while being hindered by the level crossing. Last km obviously would’ve been a bit quicker had I not fallen. But didn’t overcook it at all. It’s weird not trying my hardest every week at Parkrun, like I did for the first, I dunno, 384 or so. It’s the worst thing about being on a plan and sticking to it so religiously. OTOH for the next two weeks I’m running at two hilly courses so won’t be fast anyway.

Aftermath

Got scanned and wandered off to the shop to buy eggs. Kept looking at my knee, it was more mud than blood. Same with my hand, and my chest had stopped hurting so much. Walked back up the hill to home without any bother. Basically I just had a couple of minor grazes but had avoided any proper damage. Phew.

Week 8 beckons, and it’s gonna be different.