Personal Best 'Smashed'

Saturday 10th March 2012, Norwich Eaton Park, perfect weather. Last time I blogged was 2 weeks ago and in that blog I talked about some advise I'd been given by a fellow Norwich parkrunner who had many parkruns and many PB's under his belt, about only attempting a PB once a month, by resting the legs a few days prior to the attempt and for the rest of the time, just turn up and enjoy the atmosphere! Well little did I know I would be forced in to taking this advise, as I came down with a stinking cold and cough, that stopped me training for 2 weeks (something us runners hate more than anything!!!) however, by Thursday this week I was dieing to run, so I did a sneaky 5K from home, which went really well, I then had a PT session, but I made sure he stayed away from working my legs and just focused on arms and core, so that come Saturday morning at 9am, I was ready to go for it and go for it I did!!! I got to Eaton Park just after 8:30 for my normal preparation, which is a gentle jog with a few sprints and lots and lots of stretching, all 298 of us were called to the meeting point, we acknowledged the fantastic support of the volunteers and off to the starting point we went, men, women, children and dogs connected to people with ropes! I waited in the back of the first 3rd, ready to press my iMapMyRun GPS whilst Marilyn Manson boomed in my ears!! The hooter went and off we went, I must admit I felt fantastic and at 2.5K I was running sub 5 min/K's so I knew this was good, I knew I was in the right mind frame to keep it going, no matter how what, on the last lap, the legs started to feel heavy, the breathing got heavier too (last reminants of the cold) but I had told myself to push and I could rest after the run, as I came down the final straight I gave it everything I had left in the tank and managed to overtake 2 other runners, as I crossed the line my GPS said 24:09, I thought this can't be right, my previous PB was 25:08!! I got scanned, stretched a little and got my breath back and did my normal post parkrun ritual of getting a coffee and a slice of banana cake. As I sat drinking my coffee I spoke to a few people and said I think I've had a good time but my GPS can't be right as it looks like I've wiped a minute of my PB, but would rather wait for my official time. The official time came out and said; Your official time at parkrun Norwich is 24:00 your place is 119 out of 298 runners, well done on your new PB, 68 seconds off your previous PB!!! I smiled all day and told everyone who would listen!!! I would like to finish by saying I am raising money this year for Alzeihmers by doing 6 challenges in 2012, including cycling from Vietnam to Cambodia in November, my main sponsors are Plumbase and Viessmann Boilers, but I need all the support I can get please www.justgiving.com/ian-golden-2012 or text GOLD51 £2 to 70070 Thanks for reading, I hope you've enjoyed it.