I was a bit nervous pre-parkrun this week as I was pacing for the first time. I’d wanted to give it a go for years but I’d never been confident enough that my back issues wouldn’t play up on the day. Now that my spondylitis treatment has been stable and reliable for a few months, I finally feel ready to do things like this.
I was pacing 34 minutes. I knew that the course always measures long on watches, largely due to the crowded start, so aimed for roughly 10:52 min mile pace (rather than the 10:57 needed for an exact 5k). The first few minutes were tricky but I soon settled into a nice steady pace, looking at my watch probably once every ten seconds or so!
I kept as close to target pace as I could all the way round and came in at 34:03. I’d like to be a few seconds under rather than over, but that’s not bad for a first attempt. I’ll try again next month if they’ll have me.
A more sedate kind of volunteering next week as it’s Great North Weekend!