It's been over 3 months since I last ran sub 18 minutes at parkrun. Around April time this year I actually started to consider sub 18 as my default time, but after an injury recurrence that is certainly not the case now.
Over my last 4 or 5 parkruns I have worked my way back to full fitness and today I turned up with real hope that this could be my first sub 18 minuter since early July.
To be honest I had no right to think that, as my usual 4 training sessions a week has been cut to 1 for the last 3 weeks and I missed parkrun last weekend too. Add to that a stag do last weekend and it doesn't really equate to running fast times. Nonetheless I felt confident I could get close.
And get close I did! Coventry parkrun is a 2 lap course. I completed lap one in a very promising 8:52, certainly on target. However, I slowed a bit on the second lap and even after a late burst I felt that I hadn't quite made it.
My brother was Run Director today so I hung around to watch the results upload process, only to find out that my time was 18:00:428! Missing my sub 18 target by 429ms, which could easily be put down to a couple of reaction times at the start and finish! He says clutching at straws.
But really, what's 429 milliseconds between friends! I think I should be more than satisfied and in a week or two i'll have another go at sub 18 with a little more confidence that I can do it again.
