Hi! If you’re reading this, chances are that – quite unlike me – you enjoy moving your legs quicker than normal to get from A to B.
My name is Sarah and while I’ve been a gym fanatic for a few years now (there’s nothing quite like lifting heavy things and putting them back down again to make you feel nice and strong), it’s come to my attention that I don’t do very much cardio at all. Basically, right now I feel like I could lift a bus but I’d die if I had to run to catch one.
A few years ago, I decided – in my infinite wisdom – to wake up on the day of the Manchester half-marathon and run it… with no training. As all you experienced runners out there will have probably guessed, I ended up with a rather debilitating knee injury that has taken a few years to overcome – thanks to the hard work of the amazing Alex (as he shall henceforth be known) at Manchester running training school FixMyRun.
Because my knee is now back to its usual self (I can cross my legs and everything now, and I can run without pain!), Alex and I, and his new business partner Joe Best, cooked up a bit of a plan to get me more interested in cardio and find a new challenge for me. Goals are good! And I’m always smashing mine (lol – maybe!) so finding new targets is a must to keep me in the gym and training hard.
I’m a very competitive person so, even though I know it’s not a competition, we have decided to try and see if I can win parkrun – the free 5k that I’m sure you already know know about.
Today marks the first day of my endeavour at Longford Park in Stretford. The time to beat for women at this particular parkrun event is 16 minutes or thereabouts… so I definitely have my work cut out for me! At 37, I’m not sure if it’s possible for me to get my time down to 16 minutes but I’m definitely going to try. As I say, goals are good!
So how did today go? Well, it started off well because I didn’t go out last night to celebrate New Year’s Eve… the first time that has happened in years!
It was lovely waking up fresh – I jumped out of bed at 07:30, made some carrot, apple and ginger juice, and went on my merry way… only to arrive at Longford Park at 08:30, the only parkrunner for miles. A quick glance at the Stretford Parkrun Facebook page told me that the event started at 10:30 because of hangovers, presumably. Yes, you’re right, I should have checked last night.
What your face does when you realise you’re 2 hours early for parkrun
So back in the car I get and pop off to Tesco to do the shop that I was going to do post-parkrun. Efficiency gains! Eventually, I find myself on the Longford Park running track, ready to set off… using the timer on my phone to track my time because I’d left my Fitbit charger in the office and because I failed to print my barcode off. It seems I might be a little disorganised! Something to work on…
I felt pretty strong on the first lap of the park and was making good time but stumbled a bit on a tree root trying to overtake someone and turned my ankle a little… nothing drastic and it felt fine to run on, but on my second lap my previously-injured knee started twinging a lot, which was massively upsetting.
But, whereas a few years ago I would have ignored that twinge and carried on, I decided to listen to my body and walk the rest of it. No point injuring myself on my very first parkrun but considering that I had purposely got an early night and avoided the pub, I’m a bit annoyed that I didn’t do better and that my knee flared up a bit. Help me, Alex! I might as well have gone for beer last night…
If any more seasoned runners are out there reading this and have any hints, tips and advice for running without injuring yourself, as well as for pacing (something I know I’m going to struggle with) and for shaving minutes off your time, I’d love all the assistance you can give me!
Please help Sarah win parkrun in 2020! (Even though it’s not a competition…)
In the car feeling sad after a parkrun fail!
Till next time, pals!
Sarah x
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Coaches View
Sarah’s physical preparation for her run was great (even though the organisation and timing side of things left a little to be desired). A good night’s rest, no alcohol (it really messes up performance and recovery) and good nutrition (light healthy fresh juice).
During the run, it sounds like Sarah was going well until she stumbled overtaking (maybe leave the overtaking for another time). We always say you can run injured but not in pain so whilst the ankle felt ok, the opposite knee starting to twinge was a real-time demonstration of the body offloading forces and trying to protect the ankle. Sara’s brain was already creating a compensation movement pattern to take strain away from the immediately affected ankle. Stopping and walking was the best, most sensible thing Sarah could do.
As for tips on running without injuring yourself, and pacing; that’s why Sarah is coming to us in the first place. It’s what we specialise in.
Looking forward to the next instalment with hopefully no drama!
Alex
