It’s generally a good idea to warm up before you run. It makes it that little bit easier and can help avoid injuries.
Leave the car at home and walk to Frenchfield, jog down slowly or go by bike. It’ll loosen and warm the muscles.
When you arrive do some skipping, and a few short fast runs, just 10 seconds or so each time, to get your heart rate up. Get slightly puffed out. Rest for a few minutes and enjoy the introductions before the run starts.
The course has been mostly soggy for the last few parkruns, and today was no different. It’s puddles and mud pretty much all the way round although the weather was kinder today: dry, calm and warm.
Here we go again. Some participants push for a personal best, 19 managed that today, beating previous PBs or friends’ best times.
For others it can mean completing the course without walking, or getting round any way they can.
It’s meeting up with friends and running together whilst having a chat (I have no idea how they do that), making new acquaintances along the way or just running alone. And every run adds to the magical milestones: 25, 50, 100 and 250. Is there a 500 T-shirt?
I’m trying to get below 30 minutes again. I don’t mind if I don’t but I’d like to if I could (30:06 this time). I get up and I get down there and I run.
It’s tiring, it hurts, my hips ache. I feel slightly nauseous at the end, occasionally, because I’ve sprinted too hard to the finish line, but it’s a great feeling passing that line and collecting my barcode, making it worth the effort.
I’m tired afterwards; it’s a comfortable tiredness, a satisfactory tiredness, especially after some cooling down exercises that are just as important as the warm-up ones. I go home, have a shower, have some breakfast, sit down with a cup of coffee and a good book for an hour. I’ve earned the right to relax and I need it, too. It’s a nice way to start the weekend.
An ‘unknown’ finished first today in a smaller than usual field of 223 runners (89 females and 130 males). There were 39 Penrith first timers (that’s a lot) and 19 personal bests.
Thirty-four volunteers ensured Penrith’s 448th parkrun went smoothly today as it always does. Thanks, as always, go to all of them.
For a full list of participants, results and volunteers, please visit https://www.parkrun.org.uk/penrith/results/latestresults/
