A cold and wet parkrun, the perfect time for my second fastest parkrun of the year.
Parkrun 14: Nulkaba Parkrun
Location: Nulkaba, NSW
Time: 31:47
Position: 31
The torrential rain that started in Queensland earlier this week finally made its way down south overnight and came with a vengeance. I found myself checking facebook around 7am to see what local parkruns would be going ahead.
The thought of giving this one a miss on account of the weather was appealing, even if I’m due to miss next week’s run due to a trail race (although part of me thinks this will be postponed due to volume of rain we’ve had the last 24 hours). Alas, it was not to be in any case – the Nulkaba parkrun will be going ahead with the course in good order despite the rain.
I got up, and made sure I prepared for the weather with some full-length tights and a fully waterproof rain jacket. It’s probably overkill, but there’s a lot more rain on the way.
When I arrived at Nulkaba, it was still raining. There was a lot of water pooling in the surrounding paddocks, so I’m guessing the same will happen at various points on the course.
Today it’s a small field, unsurprisingly. There’s the usual cohort of die hards who will set the pace, and a few new runners who could be in for a tough morning out, given the weather. There are surprisingly few parkrun tourists today, one guy from London and a few others who try to avoid eye contact with the run director.
We’ve met undercover, but we will start running in the wet, so before long we’re making our way down to the start before it’s 3..2..1.. Parkun!
It’s pretty wet underfoot and before too long it’s seeping into my shoes, ensuring wet socks for both laps, but strangely, I still find myself trying to avoid puddles. I find this juxtaposition fascinating and a mystery of human psychology.
I feel I’m going quick, but also not quick. I’ve been training a bit during the week and I’ve also stopped drinking (today is day 17), so I am wondering if both of these things are having an impact on my speed. It’s a nice feeling and although I’m still a fair way off a sub-30 attempt, it is starting to feel within reach for the first time this year.
As I round the end of the first lap to start the second, I can immediately feel myself slow down. Not hugely, but enough to be noticeable and provoke a thought about it. Indeed, as I work into the lap, I’m seeing the people I’m attempting to catch drift away. The first kilometre of each lap here has the majority of the rises, so it comes as no surprise that later I find that kilometre number 4 is the slowest of the run. But as I reach the turning point at the halfway point of the lap, I know that it’s now mostly downhill before the last 300 metres or so, so I start to pick up the pace.
That last kilometre is the first sub-6 minute kilometre I’ve run in a while, although I don’t know it at the time. But it felt good. There were points where it felt that I was really in control, with decent form, and it’s been a time since I felt that way.
In the end, I cross the line, stop the watch, and pause when I realise it’s the second fastest of the year so far.
Which only means there’s more to come.