Parkrun 16: 31.32. Age-graded: 48.78%

Wow. Didn't expect this. I took 1.06 off my time from two weeks ago.

I had last week off, as it was too much of a faff to get to a parkrun from Church Stretton, so I expected to have lost fitness.

For some reason, though, after a massive and stressful week, I set off like a machine and didn't get the dip in the first stages. So I kept going.

Up behind the weir was fine, around the far field was fine, and the stairs were OK (walking - and for a little at the top). Then I set off again slowly, but by the time the second downhill section behind the weir started, I was stuck behind slow people, and I just overtook them. Fast. And then regretted it, feeling sick, and had to slacken off.

By the time I got back to the flat, I was ready to push again, and I was at my maximum for the rest. Swept up by the rather vocal crowd of colleagues around me, I pushed to the finish (not very fast), and was rewarded for my efforts by feeling sick again, and having a weird soupy sensation with my breathing. It wasn't wheezy or coughy, just hard to get air in my lungs fast enough. I'll be keeping an eye on that.

But anyway, I'm happy. It's a good position to be heading for Australia in. Hopefully I'll be able to get some reasonable times, despite probable heat, and early (8am) starts.

Parkrun 15: 32.38. Age-graded: 47.14%

My first parkrun in the snow! It wasn't laying on the ground, but falling as grains, and bouncing off my face as I ran. The ground was fairly muddy and slippery in places. The temperature was about 3 degrees - certainly made my eyes water until I warmed up. I had an extra layer on my legs, which I regretted after about five minutes.

I took off fairly well, but made sure I paced myself sensibly. I only slackened off once or twice, and like last week, I only began to feel properly comfortable after about 3km. The only niggle I was aware of was tightness in my chest, which was probably to do with the cold air (it passed about half an hour after I stopped running).

I was pretty comfortable in the last kilometre, and I was able to put in a decent push to the finish.

Again, it was hard to tell what my time was going to be. It felt faster than the week before, but I didn't think it was by much. To have knocked off 35 seconds felt good.

I'll probably miss next week as I'll be away with FDO, but might venture up to Shrewsbury for some tourism.

Parkrun 14: 33.13. Age-graded: 46.31%

So it turns out that a break of seven weeks really is enough to totally lose your fitness. I did just over 4km in the field on Monday morning, and I think that helped me today, but both sessions were incredibly hard work.

The ground was pretty wet this morning (and incredibly wet on Monday), which didn't help, but it wasn't too cold. I set off OK, but seemed to have lost my ability to have the first five minutes for free. I was struggling by the time I got to the high path immediately after the start, but I plodded on. It wasn't until about 3km that I started to feel remotely comfortable, which was the same on Monday.

After that, I struggled, then I was able to push on, then I struggled, pushed, etc. At the steps, I walked up them fairly energetically, but needed to keep walking for a little. Then I went back into the push/struggle pattern again. I had a tiny bit left to push for the finish.

My lungs were particularly in shock this time, and I kept coughing for a few hours afterwards. My legs also felt pretty ruined. Damn this lack of fitness. I'd got so used to just gliding through parkruns.

I was expecting something more like 34 or 35 minutes, so I'm glad I wasn't as bad as that. It will get easier after a few more weeks.