The parkrunner.

  It was time for another 5km test run for me at the Fountains parkrun at Ripon today, the weather was just about perfect yet again so there was no reason to readjust my expected finishing time. Working off my last 5km time at Fountains then my target was to be 17 minutes 15 seconds but seeing as I was a couple of seconds slower than expected last time then 17 minutes 13 seconds was what I should be aiming for. Such close margins seeing as I have no check points or using any sort of GPS devices but it seems to be working for me so I will stick with it.
   There was a few front runners absent from today's run which in all honesty doesn't seem to effect my finnishing time, I would of thought having someone to chase would help me go quicker but apparently not. The race got underway and I started to pull away at the front as I had expected the only thing I had to do was continue suffering at the same amount for the entire distance and my expected time should be on. At the uphill climb through the finishing line on the first lap I didn't ease back this time and if anything I put in extra effort which was a good indicator of my climbing ability getting stronger. The rest of the way went as planned besides the sprint finish which still needs working on, it must be because its uphill and I am already at near maximum effort that I struggle to sprint. I will keep working on this as I'm sure there could be a good chunk of time to be saved. So 17 minutes 14 seconds and first place, seeing as I treat it as a personal time trial and not a race I won't be adding it to my victory counter. I didn't allow for heavy legs after last weeks high mileage which was handy as I felt totally ok.
   So onwards with the training it is and the start of operation SUB 17 which will be my mission next time I am at the Fountains parkrun.