The Covid Year
2020 Resurgence
New Year's Resolutions
New Year's Day Double
A Year of parkrun Adventuring
Running Challenges & parkrun Fun!
Sri Chinmoy Track Marathon
Western Sydney Half Marathon
Mid Year Reflections
Sri Chinmoy Royal National Park 10km
100 parkruns Milestone
March Recap
Reflections on Motivation & Planning
February Recap
Shellharbour parkrun
January 2019 Recap
Reflecting On 2018
2009 Relay For Life
Photos by Robert Nash
St George District Athletic Club Merit Award
Weekend Doubles
30 Jul 2019
As my fitness & endurance continues to improve I am enjoying more weekends with races on both days.
East Richmond parkrun (13 July)
5km ~ 32m 37s
It was a cold, clear morning when I visited the dead flat concrete paths of East Richmond parkrun. My intentions on arriving were to run conservatively for the full 5km & save my energy for the next day's 10km run.
My plan was executed perfectly for about 200m before I started running faster & passing other runners. By half way I was really pushing very hard, yet not quite on the ragged edge, & still passing more runners. With 1km to go I went all in & used up pretty much everything I had left to finish in my fastest parkrun time of 2019.
I was really happy, but now had really tired & sore legs with only 23 hours to recover.
Sri Chinmoy Dolls Point Fun Run (14 July)
10km ~ 69m 43s
In clear signs that my body is getter stronger I woke feeling great. I had no soreness in my legs, although there was a vague sensation of the previous day's 5km run. Weather conditions were perfect & I set off in good spirits.
In the first kilometre I was a bit stiff but otherwise running well. As I warmed up I found that my legs loosened & I made a conscious effort to stay with the runners just in front of me.
I was feeling tired by 5km & had begun to doubt my pace strategy as my targeted runner had vanished further up the road. My pace felt sluggish & I knew the hills of the Captain Cook Bridge were just ahead. My watch beeped for the 5km split & I looked at it for the first time - only 36 minutes!
I was very pleasantly surprised as it really didn't feel that fast. As I hit the bottom of the first hill I realised I was on pace to beat my fastest 10km race this year & so I went for it. I have never been a strong hill runner but have trained more hills in the past year than ever before so I know I'm getting better.
The runners ahead of me slowed so I chased them down. I think I caught & passed 8 runners by the time I finished the two bridge crossings & I was running really well.
I felt great as I continued chasing down runners in the final kilometre as I moved through the tail of the half marathon & 5km events. I crossed the finish line running up on my toes with a strong surge & was shocked at my time that was 5 minutes faster than my most recent 10km runs!