When I can wake up when I'm on holiday, I love me a little bit of Parkrun tourism and seeing as we were in the Lake District, the temptation of a picturesque 5k was more than enough to tempt me from a comfy bed and hit the trails.
Keswick Parkrun follows an old railway route and even starts from the old platform (James!), heads over a few bridges (a bit dodgy) as well as including a couple of hills. You meander, following the river and to be honest, it's a lovely 'there and back' Parkrun and one I wish I could do weekly.
Not knowing how trail the trail would be, I went with my actual trail running shoes and stuck to somewhere in the third quarter of the starting pack - also mindful that I had a 10k the next morning that I wanted to be fresh for.
Started off slow and found my rhythm whilst taking in the surroundings and making sure I didn't face plant onto the rough ground that threatened to trip you with big rocks strewn around.
After hitting 2.5k, I remembered reading that the second half of the route should be quick, so I picked up the pace a little. After I had tackled the last major incline, I realised what they meant - what seemed fairly flat at the beginning was actually now downhill - and so the pace was upped again, still a comfortable stride. With three people in front, a maintained pace and had a mental battle about whether to overtake or just settle "10k tomorrow, no need to push, just stick with it. Go hell for leather, sprint sprint sprint!". So yeah, I sprinted past the trio to the finish and managed to finish in 29:49.
The next day, we set off early to get to Blackpool in time for the 10k & made it in enough time to have a toilet break at my sister's, and then head up to the start with her and my niece without leaving excess time to stress myself!
Actually feeling pretty calm about heading into a race in the heat, we crossed the start at snail's pace for whatever reason and after half a minute we got up to a pace of around 9:30/mile. Not going for a PB, I stuck with my sister although truth be told, it felt like a faster pace than I would have set off at!
Sticking with her, weaving in and out of slower runners, we bombed down the prom from North Shore down towards the Pleasure Beach in what felt like an eternity before 5k appeared.
It was at this point I lost my sister in the crowd at the water station (I don't stop at stations unless it's crazy hot) as I continued the pace we set at the start.
What I had forgotten from last year was that just because you're at the seaside, doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to be flat and at Blackpool, you don't realise there are any hills until the end where they then seem never ending.
Powering through each of the final hills, the finish was approaching and I had prepared myself to pick up the pace once I could see the finish, and then once again to sprint finish. Somehow, I found an extra gear on top of my usual sprint and made sure I overtook a couple of people at the line, including Fred Flinstone.
According to my Garmin, I finished in 58:31, but due to the autopause at the start, I was expecting the chip time to be slightly different. It was, but recorded 59:15 which my friends, is finally a sub 1 hour 10k for me!
Honourable mentions to my sister who, with a bad ankle after 5k still smashed it in 1:01:23 and my niece who ran her first ever 10k distance in 1:05:10. Amazing achievements!
Now I'm home, it's time to get back training for the final few weeks before London...sub 59...?
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