Last weekend I ran the Eastleigh parkrun with the aim of finishing in under 19 minutes.
Southampton is a much flatter and faster course but I like Eastleigh as it's smaller and with more interesting terrain... in the depths of winter it was really a mini cross-country course with plenty of mud around. My best time at Southampton is 18:22, while at Eastleigh I've been chasing the 19 minute barrier.
Last summer I ran my best time of 19:05. A few weeks ago on 6th April the ground had dried out and it was a faster course again. To my great surprise I came over the line in first place with 19:04.
On Saturday I set off fast and after a minute my legs were sore and my breath ragged. three people overtook me in the first km and I struggled to hang on. I pushed hard with no stopwatch to guide me (the battery failed 30 seconds after the gun) and I had no idea how I was doing. I finished in 3rd place (not sure what happened there - one of the runners can't have been placed - I was 4th really )and awaited the results email - 19:03! After a struggle and a race where I didn't feel strong this was a very satisfactory result.
Next time - another second will be fine, another 4 seconds will be fantastic. And then I'll have another crack at Southampton and see what I can do on the flat.
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