Look at your hands

This year has taken me a bit of getting used to.

Initially I had a gentle introduction to 2018 as I reluctantly shrugged off my Christmas duvet. I'm gradually getting back into the swing of things. This includes getting back into my running regime. The goal for this year is to try and run a marathon in under three hours.

I'm tentatively off to a good start. Unlike last year I start without any injuries and kicking the booze (blimey December was a really boozy month for me) has seen my pace gradually begin to return. Part of the campaign saw me do my first official Parkrun for a year on Saturday morning. I'd one one or two last year but hadn't handed my barcode in to get the runs recorded.

The plan for the Parkrun is to beat my PB over the next two months and run it in under 19 minutes. So there was nothing resting on Saturday, it was just a base level run to get back into. I was still a tad nervous, and my left hamstring had been aching a bit, and I'd forgotten to put on my compression sock. I had at the back of my mind that I could stop if it wasn't going well.

The Parkrun have finally got a decent PA system, so everyone could finally hear the announcements and indeed enjoy a selection of Queen's greatest hits before the run. I located myself in the time coral I thought was realistic and set off. After the initial crush and I found some space and pushed myself at a decent pace. I'll not pretend it was comfortable and wobbled at my usual spot by the Welsh College of Music and Drama. In the last half I focused on beating a runner with a manbum and then felt sick in the last 1000 yards (I don't think the two events are connected). When I crossed the finish line my eyes began to water and I did think for a moment that I was going to be sick (as the picture above illustrates), but I was fine as I stumbled towards a steward to show my barcode. I got a decent time of 20:35 which is okay for the time of the year.

I'm heading down to the Parkrun again this Saturday morning with ambition to shave a substantial amount of time of 20:35.