My first 5km run…!
Well, not technically my first 5km run - I have done two charity “runs” a few years ago, with times of just under 50 minutes if memory serves. Not really runs at all in fact. However, after my six week training plan, it was time to see if it would do what it says on the tin and get me around a 5km run.
Every Saturday morning there is a run in Bushy Park near Kingston-upon-Thames. The Bushy Park Time Trial (BPTT) is free and a varying number of runners (normally 130 to 200+) turn up - David has done it a few times now. I lined up at the back of the start line - butterflies in my tummy - and after a quick warning about the frisky stags, we were off! I had a 1km rough marker and 2km rough marker in my head, so knew vaguely what I should be aiming for time-wise. This was ruined straight away, as when I reached the 1km point, I was about 50 seconds faster than I normally do (usually I am about 7:40 min/km). Hmmm. I appeared to have gone off too quickly. David conversely said he went off too slowly, which is why he looks so comfy in this photo. Must have got carried away in the excitement! Anyway, I plodded on. The plan that David and I had discussed was for me to run as far as I could before stopping to walk for a minute and then running again, hopefully to the finish.
The six week training plan had enabled me to run for 15 mins, walk one minute, then run for 15 minutes again, covering a distance of just over 4km. The idea is that after the six week plan is finished, you should be able to run 20 minutes before walking. I reached 15 minutes, then 20 minutes and finally managed to reach 26 minutes without stopping! I walked for one minute and then started to run again. Amazingly I was about to enter the “home straight” which David had told me was the final kilometre. He had finished in 20:14 seconds (slightly less comfy in this photo!), so had a few minutes to wander up to me at 27 minutes - and then he ran down the final kilometre with me again. I crossed the line in 34:55, which was 6:59 mins/km!! I was over the moon - and finished 143rd out of 148, so not last 
All in all, a successful Saturday morning, incidentally David was 28th out of 148. I don’t think I will ever catch him somehow. My next target is to be able to get around the whole thing without having to stop. Oh - and still talk at the same time as running. Not that I have anyone to run with, so if anybody fancies a running buddy…?
3 comments October 1st, 2006