Parkrun 19: 32.35. Age-graded: 47.21%

Now this was disappointing. I can only put it down to jetlag/tiredness and the reintroduction of hills.

It was a lovely bright morning, and Christian dropped me down the hill.

I took off OK, had a slight dip immediately, but then got more comfortable. Based on recent experience, I didn't push too hard early on, and as a result, I felt OK throughout. I walked for a little after the steps, but otherwise had no difficulty keeping going. But my time was poor.

Oh well, next time will be better.

Parkrun 18 (Newy): 32.09. Age-graded: 47.85%

This was really tough.

Clint and Jess were on pacing duty with their club, the 'Wooters', at Newy parkrun and Clint's mum Janice had agreed to give me a lift in from Warners Bay. The weather had been generally windy and wet (i.e. frightful), and I was sorely tempted to either go to Lake Mac instead, or give up altogether. In the event, I went through with it, and glad I did.

It was overcast and really warm and cloying. Clint was pacing 25 mins, and Jess was pacing 32.30, and so I knew I'd end up between them. The course was an out-and-back around Throsby Creek. We set off, with the first 15 seconds or so at walking pace through the narrow gap. I got running, and kept it up at a decent pace until about 3km (after the turnaround with the guy wearing a terrible orange mohawk), though I lost sight of the 30 min pacer. And then I flagged again - it's an ongoing problem at the moment. I guess it means that I'm setting off too fast, but this time, I'm sure it was the awful humidity that just taxed my energy.

It was all I could do to stop myself from walking, but plod on I did. Jess's sister Megan was playing the flute with a keyboard player in a gazebo on the way, and it was nice to hear the sound making it across the water. I saw Jess coming up on me at the end, and knew that I'd done a poor time, but a 32.09 under the circumstances wasn't the worst outcome. I limped over the line, and was so hot and sweaty that it took me about 15 mins to properly recover.

Lucky we were due to have breakfast with Clint and Jess afterwards. I needed to replenish my strength badly!

Parkrun 17 (Lake Mac): 31.22. Age-graded: 49.04%

My first Australian parkrun! How exciting!

I didn't run last week, but I did do 5k on Pidge's treadmill. That was quite good, but I pushed harder than I probably should have, bringing my 5k, including speeding up from a standing start, to 31.18 (I think). I felt it afterwards, though.

This week, I was in Warners Bay, and so decided to do Lake Mac parkrun. Mum and Tom came with me, to see what all the fuss was about, and to do their own walk around Marmong.

I chatted to the run director about whether my barcode would work, and he said it definitely would, because his barcode had worked in the UK (he had a British accent). It was nice to chat.

I had a pre-run briefing as a first-timer on that course, said bye to Mum and Tom, and took my place in the starting order. In hindsight, I went a little too far back, as after we were set off along the narrow path, I had to overtake people straight away.

It was like the previous parkrun, in that I was able to power through about 3km without feeling anything. The course is almost completely flat (apart from the slight incline to approach each bridge). But then I had to slow down as I felt a little ill. I was able to push a little more, but had very little left.

I crossed the line in 31.22, which I'm pleased about. I thought I might have gone a little faster than that, and I probably would have if I hadn't had to slow down after 3km. It's still a PB, albeit by four seconds.