unironedman

A couple of runs during the week; modest 5k plus toddles through the park or down by the river. And then I had a hankering to try a parkrun. There are rumours that my local parkrun will be returning soon, which will be most welcome. It’s in the grounds of Castletown House and demesne, and must rank as one of the more beautiful settings for a swift run of a Saturday morn.

But it has not yet returned, and I fancied Kilcock. It’s further away than Lucan, but I know the course well as it’s all along the Royal Canal, starting in the heart of the village and running out west for 2.5k and then returning to the same point. I suspect there aren’t too many parkruns like this anywhere, but that’s a pure guess on my part. Paging Gary…

I recognised quite a few friendly faces as we gathered for the off. It was the relative calm before the arrival of Storm Dave, and the weather held up reasonably well. The first kilometre was about 4:10, followed by three more at about 4:20. The only pleasing aspect was the last k in about 5:06 minutes. I clocked it at about 21.19, and parkrun concurred later on, by text. (I appreciate the maths don’t quite add up, but these are rounded pace figures, plus there are often a couple of metres added on to any 5k race, regardless). What a fantastic organisation. Long live parkrun!

As Gary suggested, a parkrun is a handy benchmark for progress. The previous parkrun was mid-January in Lucan, and I managed 21.46, so I suppose there is some progress of sorts there. Different track, obviously. Still a long way to go…

Easter Sunday was a day pottering around the garden, having family dinners and filling skips. But on Easter Monday, with a day off work, I convinced Gary he needed a run (he really didn’t, but, ever the trooper, he joined me for a run along the canal. We left from his house and managed a decent 15k plus out past Kilcock along the towpath. Given we were both a bit tired (Gary had more reason to be tired than I had), we finished up with 5:36 pace. Happy with that.

The band were out on both Saturday and Sunday nights, with a lot of driving and late nights. Not ideal when you’re trying to get fit. But a gig’s a gig.