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| The Famous Killie Strip -pic by Ross Goodman |
I’ve been a bit fed up and somewhat frustrated at not being able to exercise recently. No sooner was I over my injury when I went down with an infection. It started with a sore throat but moved down into my chest. I now sound like a smoker, as I cough my way through the day. However I couldn’t miss the opportunity to join in with the happy bunch of volunteers and runners at Strathclyde parkrun, as they celebrated their first ever anniversary.
After filling up, with hot lemon and honey drink and cough mixture, I was a bit late in setting off on Saturday morning and as I made my way to the motorway at 9:00am, I, briefly, considered changing my plan and joining the spate of cars heading into Pollok Park for the Glasgow alternative. I decided to stick with my initial plan, as I had packed my camera, just in case I arrived in Motherwell too late for the event and/or didn’t feel up to running.
I arrived at a sunny Strathclyde Park in ample time to get changed. I decided not to join in the organised warm-up but instead to conserve what little energy I had for the run itself. I say ‘run’ rather than ‘race’ as I didn’t want to push myself too much. I had even decided to wear my 125th anniversary Killie top to ensure that no-one mistook me for a serious runner (as if!). This was my first run since 28th February and it was good to be back in the running scene. I enjoyed catching up with some of my running buddies before lining up, somewhere in the middle of the 120 runners.
52nd Strathclyde parkrun
After the usual pre-race announcements and some anniversary ones too, the 52nd Strathclyde parkrun set off at 9:30am. This was my sixth time running Strathclyde and my 67th parkrun. We set off alongside the loch with the sun on our backs. I started off at a steady, slow, pace and reached the 1k marker in a time of 4:34. A bit later my Garmin bleeped to advise me that I had completed the first mile in 7:17. I was happy enough with that and, knowing that I would need to work a bit harder as I tired, I decided that I would try to maintain the pace for the next two miles or so. I was feeling quite good as, even at this pace, I was catching up a significant number of runners, who had set off too quickly and couldn’t maintain their initial speed. It’s always best to start slow as it's such a confidence booster when you overtake your fellow runners. The second mile, which included the turning point, had taken me 7:16 and I was now running into the sun. The return section of the race route can seem a lot longer, as you can see the Finish line away in the distance after the turn but I wasn’t bothered with that today. I was just enjoying my run. My pace for the first four kilometres was: 4:34; 4:30; 4:33 and 4:34. The race was getting a bit congested near the finish. Not only was there a group of runners in front of me but there was also a number of park users strolling along the pavement towards us. I decided to overtake the group before the strollers restricted the route and increased my pace a little. I 'held on' to run the final kilometre in 4:18, a total time of 22:29. Although I wasn’t really interested in my time, I was still pleased to have completed the 5k just two minutes slower than my course PB. I placed 35/120.
I had also decided to dust down my Heart Rate Monitor, which revealed that my average HR had been 152. 137 for the first k, 153 for the second, 157 for the third, 154 for the fourth and 160 for the fifth k.
Post Race
The lovely weather helped ensure that a lot of the runners stayed behind for post race banter and the inaugural prize giving ceremony, accompanied by free home baking, refreshments and birthday cake before heading our separate ways into the west of Scotland morning sunshine. Well done to all concerned, it’s great to be a runner!
Results
Photos
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