Parkrun newbies and trying a sub 30 - keeping each other motivated! 🏃‍♀️ 🎉

[Lemontreeinthecity]

Hi
Starting a new thread for those who are trying to achieve a Parkrun sub 30…and newbies to parkrun….and also experienced! Basically all! 😊

Im trying to get a sub 30. I’ve been up early and done the parkrun route before the kids get up!
Time was 31’32”
I felt like I was wearing too many tops and was getting hot 🥵
But I didn’t stop and ran the whole way.
anyway here we are!
im hoping to beat that on Saturday.

over to you….

x

I did 28 minutes @ race for life on saturday. Only tips are keep running 2-3 times a week.

I like running but have just done HM and onto next challenge. Faster running is a goal but need to do more intervals. I also want to keep up the distance with the aim of a HM next year NOT hating it for the last 5 or 6k!

My PB on PR is 28 and I tend to run there and back (12k total). I do PR to get a bit more speed in my run and it works because i did the first 10k of the HM running at 5m30 to 6m30 . I'm routinely 30mins Round the local PR course . I can run at 5m30s per km but tend to do 6m or 6m30s.

Also planning on joining my friends who tour many park runs now I'm not glued to distance running!

I would squeeze in 5k this morning but it's raining!

Do you do intervals or hill reps @Lemontreeinthecity? they’ll help increase your general running speed.

I have a slightly different parkrun aim for my local course. It’s a hilly route over farmers fields and it’ll never be a 5k PB course. But I’m aiming to be first female at some point this year 😂. I’ve been second a couple of times, but never quite managed first place.

I also want a 5k PB but I’ll go for that possibly at the local 5k series at some point (though I keep offering to marshal it rather than running it). Or I’ll go a flatter parkrun to do it once my long races are out the way.

@Neurodiversitydoctorthats a great time! Are you running 5k on the other days that you run?

@ZenNudistthe last parkrun I did I was pace 6m15s which I thought was ok..but slowed off in the last km. Time was 34mins.

also wondering if eating before PR isn’t helping? like I have a slice of toast with almond butter for the protein when I wake up…

I’m hoping to get back under 30 minutes at parkrun this year, but I don’t think it’ll happen unless I lose weight.

i also need to mix up my training a bit. For years I went to a running club, but they train when I have to take DD to cubs, so I’ve joined an informal running group that goes from the same location as where cubs is. The people are lovely, but we just go out for a run, rather than do hills or intervals or anything like that.

Started running Parkrun last year having never run before in my life (always last at sports day etc). I think my first time was about 38mins, but I was (and still am!) so proud of myself for being able to run that far! My PB is now 31:27 and I really want to run sub 30!

However, my current aim is a 10k in October. I haven't yet run further than 5k so that will be a massive achievement! I am going to start training properly for that in a couple of weeks and I am hoping that upping the numbers of days running in a week and all the extra fitness the training will give me will also help me get the sub 30 Parkrun too.

I got under 30 mins once (29:59 😂) in October and I want to do it again, but just can’t seem to get the extra few seconds! I run 4 times per week, the parkrun, 2 x 45/50 mins slow runs and one other Jeffed run where I run the running parts quicker than my parkrun pace.

This week is my 25th parkrun, maybe this will be the one!

Great idea for a thread! I did my first Parkrun a couple of months ago and accidentally sabotaged my future enjoyment of it by running so, so much at the upper limits of my ability.
I achieved my sub-30 ambition by 12 seconds! But I literally felt sick for the last km (I even felt like I would have a diarrhoea attack ) . And I KNOW that without the novelty of the first-time run I won't be able to match that speed again, unless I do some training that starts to put sub-30 into my comfort zone.
The result is that I haven't been back to Parkrun.
It is meant to be a gentle, self-compassionate, social experience and i have poisoned it. I need to find a way of approaching it in a better way, still with the sub-30 ambition, but building towards that more sensibly.

@MyThreeWords do you have another course near you? If so maybe the change would get you back into it.

i have about 4 places I can go with in a 30 min drive. A couple are good for faster times but my most local one isn’t a fast course. If you have one that is a generally slower route that might be worth a go. You won’t feel as much pressure to go as quick as you can.

That's a really good idea, @Whataninterestinglookingpotato . I hadn't thought of it because the course I ran on is literally just a quarter mile from my house, so I have been thinking of it as the only one I would ever choose. But finding another one, esp a hilly one, would be liberating.

As well as sub-30, I was first in my age/sex group and did really well on that special percentage score thingy that Parkrun also provides. It was really rewarding in the short term to get those results, but now it is a shackle.

(I am the same with weight: when I weigh myself and get a good number, it just sets a trap that demoralises me next time I step on the scales. I torture myself with data!!)

@MyThreeWordsi would give the parkrun another go this Saturday. There is no harm in just approaching it as what will be will be…
Some people I know have done it in 28mins, 34mins the next week…got an injury and didn’t do it for a few weeks…back to 31mins!
give it a go this Saturday!
We can all feedback how we felt running …weather….dogs we spotted on the way etc etc 😂

@MyThreeWordsLook out for a local course with pacer runners as that can really help. I’ve found that as well as hills, how busy the course is & whether it’s muddy / sandy can also affect my time.

Very pleased to have found the thread for help with running motivation!

Sadly I can't do Parkrun on Saturday, but I will be looking to see how you all get on. Good luck!

If it’s any reassurance I found building up from 5km to 10km loads easier than going from 0 to 5km!! If you can run for half an hour, then running for 35 mins proportionally isn’t that much more. Then when you can comfortably do 35 mins, then 40 mins isn’t too big a leap etc etc….

Before you know it you’ll be at 10km. Good luck!

5k is the most brutal distance for newer runners I think, both in terms of getting there in the first place and in trying to get a PB. I found 10k pretty easy after 5k, I just had to slow myself down, but if you can run a 5k then you can almost certainly run a 10 at a slower pace if you just want to complete the distance.

And remember that people have so many motivations for doing PR. Sat is a short easy run day for me so I will sometimes do it at PR, without any aim of PBing, just for a change of scenery. No one can PB week after week in a distance outside of a very novice runner making those newbie gains, the vast majority of PRs a person does will be above their PB. I got sub-30 a while ago and haven’t tried another 5k time trial since as I find them fucking awful to run!

5k is the most brutal distance for newer runners I think

I certainly agree with that, @hugasaurus . It's short enough that you really feel that you should just push on as fast as you can for the whole run. When I was younger I did a few half marathons. They felt much more relaxed. It was easier to feel that most of the challenge was simply completing the run in a reasonably respectable time, almost regardless of PBs.
Also, the notion of a PB is pretty meaningless when you are running on a range of different half-marathon courses. With Parkrun, you get the chance to run the same short course repeatedly every week, so the PB becomes more meaningful -- and therefore more tyrannnical.

How are we all feeling about tomorrow mornings Parkruns?
Also just a random question - does anyone listen to music or podcasts as they do PR or generally running?

I listen to Parenting Hell with Josh Widdicomb and Rob Beckett. I did nearly fall into a bush cos I was laughing so much..maybe not a good idea to listen!

@Lemontreeinthecity im marshalling my local parkrun tomorrow as saving my legs for cheddar gorge challenge marathon on Sunday! I always enjoy marshalling and it means I don’t get tempted to just run it anyway when I have a long race on the Sunday.

as for music at parkrun it actually depends. Sometimes I have music, sometimes I don’t, just depends how I feel on the day. I don’t even know whether to bring music on Sunday. I always would for a road marathon but wouldn’t usually for a trail race. However I’m doing it on my own and it’ll be a long old time, so maybe I will. We shall see 😂.

I saved Dulwich to try to break my target as it's flat and fast, then the pandemic came and I got fat. Oh well.

Happy Saturday!
How did everyone go?
I didn’t get my sub 30….33mins 12seconds.
i wore my hoodie over two running tops 😫
Got hot half way - had to wrestle my hoodie off and headphones and cap…seriously felt like 2 minutes wasted 🤪🤪
Anyway! Onwards to next Saturday …but will be doing a practice on Wednesday morning.

How did you go?

I am 70 and aiming for sub 40.

I was too late for a sub-30 - lateness is my parkrun downfall!

I’m consoling myself with having had a good run (very pleasant through trees) & with feeling a bit fitter than earlier in the year.

I did my first ever park run this morning… 39.17 and I was proud of that and went along on my own so feel like I’ve done well all round this morning! I have just started running 3x a week and have never done a run with others but really enjoyed this morning!! Also impressed with the app, like seeing all the stats!

Well done all who ran this morning. I marshalled today as they were short. I enjoy annoying the runners with my bell and cheering everyone on.