PB Hatrick

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It has been a good month for me. A hatrick of parkrun PBs has seen my time fall from 18:48 to 18:27. This was followed by a new one mile PB of 5:38, fifteen seconds faster than my previous best time. In between I also managed a Daventry parkrun PB of 19:09 beating the 19:57 I set at the inaugural event. I also managed to join the 100 club on June 7th. parkrun results

Where has this sudden spurt come from? What have I been doing to find the extra seconds after months of treading water?

The honest answer is I'm not sure. I haven't made any major changes to my routine or added any new techniques. As I pondered the reason for the progress I have seen I came up with five things that may have helped.

  1. Rest.
    After five months of 100 miles a month marathon training I decided to have a few extra rest days. This meant that I only ran on Monday and Saturday giving my body plenty of time to recharge and recuperate. 
  2. Press ups.
    Since the New Year I have been doing a minimum of 100 press ups per day. Although this hasn't made any drastic changes it may have helped with my upper body and core strength just enough to gain a few seconds.
  3. No pressure.
    After achieving my sub 19 goal early this year the pressure I had placed on myself was off. As a result I have felt more relaxed on the day and more able to run with how I feel. I suppose my body is therefore less tense and able to perform better.
  4. Mind over matter.
    I have discovered that I am quite strong mentally when I run. At times my body is screaming to stop and I can feel my legs try to slow but somehow I manage to keep them going. My focus has improved as has my determination and belief in myself to achieve what I set my mind to.
  5. Competition
    Each time I have achieved a PB it has been because of the people ahead of me. Now that I have run over 100 times at Northampton parkrun I know most of the faster runners by sight if not by name and have an idea of what they are capable of. By latching onto someone faster and trying to stick with them I have been able to exceed my own expectations.
So half way through the year and there is only one goal left to achieve - the 10K PB. I have managed 42:31 in training but would love to go sub 40.

2015 goals review at half way

1 mile - Time to beat: 5:53   Time achieved 5:38 15 secs PB
5K parkrun (N'pton) - Time to beat 19:08   Time achieved 18:48, 18:47, 18:42, 18:27 41 secs PB
10K - Time to beat: 42:31   Time achieved
Half Marathon - Time to beat 1:34:46   Time achieved 1:28:25 6m21s PB
Marathon - Time to beat 3:33:22   Time achieved 3:24:30 8m52s PB

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