I had to get out to Norman Park pretty early today as I had to get to Christmas lunch at my son's rugby club. I started while Junior Parkrun was still going and I'd forgotten how muddy that top bit of path gets in the winter. Both the junior and adult Parkruns come across the grass and hit the path at that point and as a consequence that bit of track was very wet and muddy. The soil is quite sandy too so it's a bit sandpapery on the hands dribbling through that section. It also takes a little more effort as the mud takes some of the bounce out of the balls.
I settled into a rhythm and had a few comments from people today. Some from friends associated with Junior Parkrun and a few more from other park users, most notably from a fitness class on the grass at the top end of the park. At about 9 miles or so, as I passed them, they all stopped what they were doing, came over to the edge and clapped and cheered as I went past. A little embarrassing really!
I stopped very briefly every mile today for a quick time check, a jelly baby and a sip of water. I wanted to make sure I averaged under 9 minute miles and I managed to do it, just. Obviously it's getting a little tougher but I completed the 15 miles in 02:14:28 which is an average of 08:58 per mile. This gives me 01:56:15 to complete the last 11.2 miles which gives me around 10m20s to complete each mile which would allow me to slow considerably. Clearly I'd like to run a more even pace but if I can keep up the 9 minute miles so much the better. As I increase the miles I'll get a better feel for the pace I need to start at.
In other news, my running club, Petts Wood Runners, have very generously given me one of their club places for the VMLM for my record attempt. This takes away the huge burden and responsibility to raise thousands of pounds for a charity place and allows me to concentrate on my training. I'm incredibly grateful to the committee for their generosity and belief in me. Although I don't HAVE to raise a fixed sum for charity I do want to help some good causes and I have chosen Orchid Cancer and Demelza Hospice Care for Children. I have chosen Orchid because they are a testicular cancer charity (and other male cancers) and I figure there's some good PR to be had out of the two balls link. And I have chosen Demelza because they do a lot of good work for the children at my wife's special needs school and I raised money for them doing my very first half marathon several years ago.
I'm going to have a little break over Christmas now, I'll still run but the balls (that I've now named Steph and Kyrie after Stephen Curry and Kyrie Irving) won't get another outing until the new year. In the meantime, if you'd like to support my charities you can sponsor me at:
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=KevHowarth&faId=774354&isTeam=false
Happy Christmas!
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| Me, Steph & Kyrie |
