Sub 22 minute parkrun

Not blogged in a while but as a few interesting races are coming up I thought I would start again!

So as many of you know I have recently been dishing out more PB's than I could have imagined!  I guess my tactic of start the season slow and get faster has worked?!

I have always been wrapped up in my 10K times I haven't really gave any other distance a look in!  Now its went the complete opposite, I haven't raced in a 10K in months!

Its not very often I get to run at Strathclyde parkrun as I am often volunteering.  Its organised by a great bunch of runners and I couldn't think of a better way of spending a couple of hours on a Saturday morning.  I've made some great friends at the event and would encourage anyone who hasn't taken part to come along!

Conditions were ideal and this being only my 9th registered parkrun (I really do volunteer a lot) I was looking forward to it!  A smaller than normal field of only 94 runners with a lot of the regular faces up north for the Loch Ness Marathon.  Little if not any of the usual front runners so my chances of getting a good position had also heightened.  I have been doing a lot less running recently and a lot more cross training.  I've started swimming, going to the gym and using the dreadmill, attending yoga classes and weight sessions.  I have still been doing my regular 2 hours of running on a Tuesday night with my jogscotland group and squeeze another run in near the end of the week...but seriously, that's been it!  Exercising most nights you would think I would feel tired but nope, the cross training has gave me a new burst of energy and less pains and minimised my battles with injury.

I knew that I was stronger than my last run at parkrun in which I got a PB of 22.03.  So I though, I am just going to go for it!  I  squeezed myself to the front of the field and to the right of the starting funnel to ensure I could get out and over to the path as soon as possible to avoid slipping on the wet grass.  Conditions were ideal, and for once, no wind!  The starting signal was given by Jill Logan and off we went!  Normally I start slow but I took a new tactic of sticking to the set times for each kilometre over the 5km distance.  I am also used to my garmin in miles however I have now changed it to work in km.  So I had to run about 4.24 per km.  I knew I was doing well when the first km clocked in 10 seconds under my target and no one had yet overtaken me with only 10 other runners in front!  The second km passed quickly and I was still on target.  Alistair Kerr passed me between the 2nd and 3rd km, this always being my slowest section of Strathclyde parkrun after the bend.  I did however keep him in my sights and managed to maintain my pace.  Once we headed back out through the trees Andrew Scott snapped me up with his camera just after overtaking Garry Henderson, I felt great and even made the effort to give a dodgy wave!

photo by Andrew Scott

I managed to catch up with Alistair Kerr in the long straight back to the tent and was well ahead of my target time of 22 minutes.  I maintained the 10 seconds under my target and for the last km I picked up my pace and  the last km was my fastest, crossing the finish line with smiles on my face, breaking my last PB by 32 seconds and  achieving a sub 22 minute parkrun!

New PB time of 21.31 and a top 10 result!  Full results can be found here

Next target is a sub 21! :)

MHFS 10K 19.06.11

Today was my second run of the Men's Health Forum Scotland 10k run at Glasgow's Bellahouston park.  Last year the sun was beating down and pre-race we had to stand in the shade of the trees.  This year however, perfect running conditions.  Cool, little to no wind and plenty of moisture in the air.
With 4000 runners this year it was set to be the largest MHFS 10K in its 6 year history.
We set off at 10am in Bellahouston park, heading out of the park to the cheers of the spectators, and along Mosspark Boulevard.  The running crowd was fairly busy at this point and a few times I was nearly tripping over feet and dodging passed runner who clearly were in the wrong musta group and couldn't keep pace.  With still plenty of support from the crowd and already well over the 1st kilometre I was feeling good.  The Garmin had clocked about 4.30 for the first km, and round about that again for the second.  I was running faster than normal and kept telling myself that I would 'burn out' too soon if I kept it up.  I was feeling comfortable, my hill sprint training earlier in the week must have paid dividends.  All was going well and I felt great running up Haggs Road, too good to be true.
We headed into Pollock park, taking in the first live band who gave that little bit of encouragement that was needed in the gentle incline.  I didn't want to get caught up in the water station rush so stayed well out of the way.
This is where I really felt it, the undulation of Pollock park really began to take its toll on me.  I tried to slow the pace a little but not too much that I was being passed by too many runners.  It felt like we were running through the park for hours, it was gutting to be taken over by a runner in a tiger suit but later realised he must have been a sub 45 runner as later on in the park he was well ahead.
Coming out of Pollock park there was another strategically placed live band, right at the bottom of the hill on the way back out to Haggs Road.
As we made our way out back onto the main road I spotted the 8km marker and began to pick up the pace again.  I had worked out by this point that it wouldn't be heading for a sub 50min finish but was well on my way for a PB.  This section of the run was doubling back on a section we had ran on earlier so some of the participants brining up the rear were covering this park as we were passing them.  It was encouraging to see generations of families running side-by-side, wheelchair participants and of course, Tommy from Greenock as always in is clown outfit.
Before I knew it I could see the 9km marker and we are heading back into Bellahouston Park.  I decided to go for it and really push myself up the hill back into the park.  This would be my quickest kilometre despite the long incline.
I was happy to cross the finish line in 51.23.  A whole 1min 12 sec faster than I completed this run last year and a new PB.  My hill and interval training has paid off and I couldn't have asked for any better today.
It was a tough run for me both mentally and physically, I haven't really put the miles in recently that I am used to and I could tell but I definitely noticed a difference in my speed and found myself trying to slow down my pace at stages.  Maybe I should have pushed it just that little bit more and went for the sub 50 min time....

Blogging!

I have found a lot of local runners blog about it so I have decided to follow the crowd!

I have entered a number of road races in the coming months to not only improve my running abilities but I am also trying to raise a bit of cash for Yorkhill Childrens Foundation.  I fundraised last year for Cancer Research UK and managed to raise a fair bit of cash.  Fundraising took a back seat for a while and I was running races without a charity appeal.  I have decided to start a justgiving page and see how things go.  I guess every penny counts?!

Here is a list of upcoming races this year, of course I aim to blog about most of them and keep you up-to-date with all my goings on in running!

Troon Tortoise 10k 04.05.11

M74 Road Race 22.05.11

Mens Health Scotland 10k 19.06.11

Irvine AC 5mile 18.07.11

Helensburgh Half-Marathon 07.08.11

Forth Road Bridge 10k 14.08.11

Irvine AC 10K 21.08.11

Great Scottish Run Half-Marathon 04.09.11

Cumbernauld 10k 11.09.11

Great Edinburgh Run 10k 02.10.11

Run with the Wind 10k 06.11.11

You can visit my justgiving page and track my progress at:  

www.justgiving.com/anthonyjpbutler

Thanks

Anthony