Longest day runs: 8 sub-24 runs in 6 parkrun parks

tl;dr - Ran 5k 8 times between 09:00 and 18:30 across 6 different parkrun sites. Every one was done in less than 24 minutes. Also ran over a marathon's distance for the day - 42.6km in 3:26:20


Longest day 1/8. Eastleigh. 23:35 5 km 04:43 pace

My goal was all 7 parkruns in under 24 minutes. Last year I did them all in under 25 minutes and jogged an extra 7.2k to make a marathon distance overall for the day.

The day started thinking we'd do 7. Only later did we think about adding an 8th. And the extra mileage for a daily marathon came for free from the Netley Abbey jog from the car to the start and back

There were about ten of us at Eastleigh. Dave Williams, Mark Pocock and Luke Saker are the people I knew.

http://www.strava.com/activities/156858511

Distance Split pace Elev. chg. Avg. HR Max. HR Avg. cadence
1.00 4:39.62 +4 145 (78%) 158 (86%) 85.3
2.00 4:41.66 -9 158 (86%) 166 (90%) 85.0
3.00 4:52.81 +23 163 (88%) 168 (91%) 84.5
4.00 4:33.82 -16 161 (87%) 165 (89%) 85.1
5.00 4:47.41 -2 164 (89%) 169 (91%) 84.8

Longest day 2/8. Winchester 3-laps. 23:31 5 km 04:42 pace

A touch easier than Eastleigh. Mark Pocock only did the Eastleigh one. Tim and May were there and May ran it. There were 3 or so guys who were doing Eastleigh and Winchester.

Only Luke, Dave and another guy named Ulen Neale went on to Queen Elizabeth Country Park.

http://www.strava.com/activities/156858501

Distance Split pace Elev. chg. Avg. HR Max. HR Avg. cadence
1.00 4:38.02 0 144 (78%) 152 (82%) 85.5
2.00 4:37.72 +0 156 (84%) 160 (87%) 85.8
3.00 4:50.93 -1 159 (86%) 160 (87%) 85.2
4.00 4:42.46 0 161 (87%) 163 (88%) 85.0
5.00 4:42.20 -1 162 (88%) 166 (90%) 86.0

Longest day 3/8. QECP. 23:51 5.01 km 04:46 pace

Kieron (Race Director) and another guy also ran with us (not alongside, behind).

A 12:10 start and it was getting warm, although the sun was mostly behind clouds.

By the top of the big hill on the 2nd lap I was 44 seconds behind where I need to be but I made it all back in the next downhill kilometre. My Gradient-adjusted pace as quicker for the climb than the descent though - 4:24/km for the main climb (km 3), 4:54/km for the descent (km 4)

I worked fairly hard on this run but I wasn't fatigued so it was overall fine.

http://www.strava.com/activities/156858496

Distance Split pace Elev. chg. Avg. HR Max. HR Avg. cadence
1.00 4:32.94 -30 152 (82%) 163 (88%) 88.1
2.00 5:27.60 +32 165 (89%) 174 (94%) 85.4
3.00 5:13.11 +33 172 (93%) 175 (94%) 84.7
4.00 3:51.01 -72 163 (88%) 172 (93%) 88.7
5.00 4:46.84 +22 168 (91%) 172 (93%) 86.6

Longest day 4/8. Havant. 23:49 5.01 km 04:45 pace

The sun was properly out by now and it was 23.5C I wore my peaked cap to keep from burning too much.

Dave lead the way and we had a slow start so that Ulen who hadn't done it before could find the route. The first km is also downhill, so a slow km that includes the only downhill is a Bad Thing.

For the last 4km I was working pretty hard to catch up the deficit. The last 3km features an average heart rate of 172bpm. Not clever. And this is on twisty stony tracks so this was really quite tough.

Also the watch tracks poorly in the woods so I over-ran the finish by 200m - else my time was more like 23:07 (according to the segment http://www.strava.com/activities/156858482/segments/3628982173 )

http://www.strava.com/activities/156858482

Distance Split pace Elev. chg. Avg. HR Max. HR Avg. cadence
1.00 5:10.01 -18 143 (77%) 154 (83%) 86.2
2.00 4:49.40 +9 162 (87%) 166 (90%) 85.0
3.00 4:35.35 +2 170 (92%) 172 (93%) 86.1
4.00 4:38.43 -3 173 (94%) 175 (95%) 85.1
5.00 4:35.69 +9 174 (94%) 177 (96%) 85.6

Longest day 5/8. Netley Abbey. 23:52 5.01 km 04:46 pace

Paula Wilson's friend and family were at this one. They also did the next 2. Well, the kids did a lap, the husband did the full distance. Sun still out and hotter if anything. A bit of a breeze from Southampton Water perhaps but toasty. Loads of people at the park.

We parked 1.1km away in the free car park near the Co-op. Luke and I shared 6 icecream "split" lollies on the jog to the start.

On the first lap we took a path too early for the real "triangle" and so did a bit of extra distance at slow speed. We got it right the next 2 laps though.

The tracking under the woods was again poor with the watch showing us losing time even though I don't think we ran any slower in this section.

This meant the final km needed to be quick to catch up - 4:25/km is 7:07/mile

Overall we worked harder than we should have - probably because we ran further than tracked and lost time navigating on lap one. Not too bad though - better than Havant for sure.

http://www.strava.com/activities/156858457

Distance Split pace Elev. chg. Avg. HR Max. HR Avg. cadence
1.00 5:05.05 +10 153 (83%) 159 (86%) 86.2
2.00 4:37.62 -7 162 (88%) 166 (90%) 85.2
3.00 5:03.95 0 164 (89%) 167 (90%) 85.0
4.00 4:40.11 +4 167 (90%) 169 (91%) 85.6
5.00 4:25.43 -2 170 (92%) 172 (93%) 86.1

Longest day 6/8. Soton Course C. 23:46 5.01 km 04:44 pace

We saw Tim at the start, plus Paula's friends again. No Race Director, and given that Luke and I had decided to do a "bonus" parkrun here, we ran Course C for the first one while the others did Course A.

Luke let me set the pace, although he pulled away on the main hill by 5-10m or so. Strava agrees our gradient adjusted pace was too fast on the climbs and too slow on the descents but never-the-less I'm happy with the pacing.

Average heart rate of 158bpm was pleasing given the 164, 164, 163 of the previous courses. I was in my racing shoes, plus the ground is concrete so an easy course overall even with the hill.

Felt pretty good on this one but when we finished we walked to the car for a drink and legs felt heavy/tired. Still, only 2 more to go!

http://www.strava.com/activities/156858434

Distance Split pace Elev. chg. Avg. HR Max. HR Avg. cadence
1.00 4:51.94 +14 150 (81%) 159 (86%) 89.3
2.00 4:39.19 -1 162 (88%) 166 (90%) 87.3
3.00 4:42.34 +4 158 (86%) 162 (87%) 86.8
4.00 4:56.28 -2 161 (87%) 165 (89%) 85.9
5.00 4:36.13 -22 157 (85%) 160 (86%) 86.6

Longest day 7/8. Soton Course A. 23:53 5.02 km 04:46 pace

Tim told us that the bit past the paddling pool was no problem so our "bonus" parkrun was to be Course A.

We'd finished Course C quicker than needed and our legs were tired so we paced this one to over-achieve by less. Luke particularly found it tough for the last 2km or so. I wasn't too bad but my legs were just getting "flatter" and heavier all the time.

http://www.strava.com/activities/156858428

Distance Split pace Elev. chg. Avg. HR Max. HR Avg. cadence
1.00 4:55.21 +11 146 (79%) 155 (84%) 89.4
2.00 4:49.52 +4 159 (86%) 163 (88%) 87.1
3.00 4:30.65 -14 158 (86%) 161 (87%) 87.0
4.00 4:49.52 +5 162 (88%) 165 (89%) 85.8
5.00 4:48.44 -6 159 (86%) 162 (87%) 85.9

Longest day 8/8. Eastleigh 23:45 5.01 km 04:44 pace

The final event. Or the one after the final event if you're doing the standard 7 parkruns in one day.

Because we'd done 2 at Soton, we had a quick dash to get to Eastleigh. Waiting for us were Paula's friends and Ulen (doing his 7th of 7).

Luke and I were mashed by this point, but "just one more" I figured. Luke wasn't so sure, and dropped out after one lap (I think, will find out later).

My average heart rate of 163bpm is 6 higher than the previous parkrun, but it felt *much* harder. I wanted to quit but didn't really ever think I would - I just knew it was going to hurt.

I got to the start of each lap "on the money" so I was quietly confident. I got to the top of the hill on the last lap with 10 or so seconds to make up but with the final part being 400m of gently downhill I knew I could do it.

I was pretty wrecked by the end, with pain in my quads, breathing heavily, and wanting to lean against things.

Stats then:
8 parkruns all sub 24 minute
Average parkrun tracked 5.0km time 23:45
Average time to the official finish probably 23:20
Average parkrun tracked 5.0km pace 4:45/km - 7:38/mile)
42.61km in 3:26:24 (marathon in about 3:21)
Fastest tracked 5.0km 23:31
Slowest tracked 5.0km 23:53
Most painful: final Eastleigh
Toughest course: QECP (with Havant on the day being a close second)
Easiest course: Winchester

http://www.strava.com/activities/156858406

Distance Split pace Elev. chg. Avg. HR Max. HR Avg. cadence
1.00 4:47.67 +5 151 (82%) 159 (86%)
2.00 4:47.66 -13 162 (87%) 165 (89%)
3.00 4:57.71 +15 166 (90%) 169 (92%)
4.00 4:38.90 -5 165 (89%) 168 (91%)
5.00 4:33.07 -2 169 (91%) 172 (93%)

Overall - a great day out. Shame there weren't the 20 or so people who did all 7 last year, but still a very enjoyable way to spend the longest Sunday of the year.

Warwick half marathon

tl;dr

I ran a negative split 1/2 marathon PB in 1:36:20 and enjoyed it.

Introduction

This was only my second ever proper race. I entered just one week before - we were visiting Emma's parents and they told us about it. So no time to train. My running fitness isn't bad but I'm 1/2 stone heavier than October last year.

Goal setting

On the Monday I did a 10k tempo test to see if my "finger in the air" goal of sub-100 minutes is realistic. The McMillan tool said a 44:50 10k is equivalent to a 1:39:59 half marathon. I managed a 44:30 without ruining myself but because I haven't had any recent fast long runs I left the goal as "merely" sub-100  That meant 4:44/km average pace (7:37/mile)

The course is all on road and is undulating - lots of ups and downs as well as some flat stretches.  The final 3k or so is nicely downhill, so a fast finish to make up time was on the cards.  If I averaged around 4:44/km to the half way point then that'd be great because factoring in the remaining downhill I'd be ahead of schedule.

Morning

On the day I had a coffee and 2 Sainsburys granola slices for breakfast. I walked the 2k to Warwick race course and picked up my British Heart Foundation red T-shirt. It isn't a technical one so I decided to run in the Stratford marathon one I bought last year. I made a final toilet stop and checked in my bag for safe keeping.

I had 12 jelly babies for the run but no drink. I figured the 3 water stops would cover me fine.  The holding area was divided in to sections based on finish time: 2-3 hours, 1.5-2 hours, sub-1.5 hours.  I made my way forward a little bit but stopped in the sunshine for a 2 minute wait before we started.  We walked towards the start line and jogged from 50m before. We hit the line running.

The start

The people I started with were around the same pace but mostly slightly slower. My first kilometre was the slowest of the whole race at 4:59 although it was 20m uphill so not that bad. I'd decided to make an effort to not start "hot", and I only overtook people who were significantly slower than me. There's also the hill to climb and I definitely didn't want to go in to the red in the first kilometre.

At 3km by the Woodloes estate roundabout I saw Emma and niece Jessica. Cheers of "Go Russ" were appreciated. To this point I was about 8 seconds ahead of the sub-100 schedule - perfect.

There's a long gentle drag from the A46 roundabout up to Leek Wootton (48m over 1.8km = 2.7%) which took back nearly all the seconds ahead I'd gotten. We turned left on to quiet country lanes and soon hit the first water stop. 330ml bottles of water with the caps already off.

This section was quite exposed and there was a headwind as we ran up and down hills.  I was mostly catching and passing people. I don't recall any/many people passing me.

This phase was kind of featureless. There were clumps of people clapping and shouting encouragement but there weren't really any landmarks of note.  At one point I got out my bag of jelly babies and dropped 5 or so on the floor, leaving me with only 2.  But after a mile or so we reached a family where the kids had trays of jelly babies. I grabbed a handful without slowing much and got 5 back. Result!

Half way

I was checking my cumulative average pace from time to time, having done calculations the night before as to what "catch" pace I'd need from the 14k (2/3rds) and 16k  (5k to go) points.  I also had the Garmin Virtual Partner feature enabled and set to 4:44/km  After one particularly long hill (ending at 11.5k in) I was 10 or seconds behind my goal pace but the 1.8k downhill the other side at 4:21/km pace brought me back to 4:41/km overall (35 seconds ahead)

Downhill is great

After a short spell of climbing I realised that I had reached roads that I'd run before from Emma's parents' home and that there was a consistent downhill for the next 2km. I think I must have pushed a little on the previous climb because my breathing was a little heavier but it felt OK so I carried on with a work rate that maintained that breathing.

Half way down the descent I saw that I had already made up the time to average 4:40/km (7:30/mile) for the whole thing, so I started thinking about my previous fastest (training) half marathons and what I'd need to average from there to get close to them. But mostly I just carried on working hard without pushing over the edge on the climbs. I was generally passing people on the downhill and flat bits, maybe losing some ground to them on the ascents.

5k to go

With just under 5k to go the 2km downhill ended and we had an undulating climb up to Budbrooke. But I knew it was a definite downhill finish so I kept pushing, actually catching and passing people on the final climb - novel!

Downhill finish

With 2.5km left I finally hit the highest point in Budbrooke and picked up speed. As we emerged on Hampton Rd  there were people with more water bottles (not marked on the map) but I figured I was so close to the finish that it wouldn't make any difference and I'd lose time taking and drinking one.

The first km was net 2.8% downhill, the next 1.1%  There was also a tailwind (finally!)

I averaged about 3:59/km for the first km, 3:56/km for the second. I caught and passed quite a few people. The gradient leveled out and the final 350m was 0.4% uphill so maintaining pace was hard but as soon as I saw the finishing arch I just nailed it, averaging 3:44/km (6:02/mile)

I collected my medal, a couple of bottles of water and a finishers goody bag containing a chocolate coated seed bar, rice oil (?!?) and BHF literature.

Position, time and PB

By chip timing (not absolute finishing position) I was the 207th finisher of 1906 (196th man of 1242) with a time of 1:36:20

I overran the finish a little to make sure I was over the 21.1km  My watch says 21.14km in 1:36:24 which is a slightly faster average pace than the official numbers.

Strava says this run includes a 1:36:10 half marathon PB. It actually equals my previous time but this one had more hills (406m versus 268m) so I'm happy to take this one for my official PB.

Negative splits and final 5k pace

Over the first half I averaged 4:42/km (7:33/mile) although it was net uphill 47 metres. For the second half I averaged 4:24/km (7:05/mile) which includes the equivalent downhill plus a little bit of tailwind and a high effort finish.

The final 5k was undulating but net 26m downhill and was covered in 21:25 at an average of 4:17/km (6:53/mile)

Closing thoughts

I really enjoyed the race, probably helped by running within myself for the first 2/3rds before picking up the pace. A downhill and tailwind finish always helps. The unexpected PB is the cherry on the cake.

Splits

# Split pace Gradient Adjusted Pace Elev chg. Cadence
1 4:59 4:30 +20 90.4
2 4:25 4:39 -17 90.1
3 4:39 4:29 +2 89.9
4 4:36 4:36 -3 89.5
5 4:44 4:25 +10 89.4
6 4:58 4:12 +34 88.9
7 4:41 4:40 -10 89.0
8 4:46 4:36 +3 88.6
9 4:22 4:21 -4 89.2
10 4:54 4:34 +13 88.6
11 4:43 4:36  +3 89.0
12 4:55 4:31 +13 88.4
13 4:21 4:32 -13 89.0
14 4:37 4:31 +0 88.9
15 4:20 4:31 -17 89.1
16 4:16 4:29 -13 88.6
17 4:26 4:24 -2 88.2
18 4:41 4:24 +9 87.8
19 4:29 4:24 +0 87.7
20 4:00 4:22 -26 88.8
21 3:57 4:01 -10 89.8
21.1 3:21 3:19 +0 94.0