Kingston ParkRun 1/12 Race Report

Finally managed to make it to one of the ParkRuns after chatting to a cycling clubmate.  I'm happy enough with my effort, but heavy legs paired with truly terrible pacing mean I'm certain I'll improve the next time.  

In the lead up to the race on Saturday, I'd raced XC at Ally Pally, done a 90mile ride on the bike and some decent swimming too.  I no longer track my TSS but I'm sure my TSB would have been seriously negative going into the race and I could really feel it.  During my warm up, I felt like I'd just finished the race with heavy legs and a poor technique.  Nevertheless, I lined up just behind my clubmate who I knew would be at least a little faster than me.  I hoped to stick with him for at least a mile before he inevitably pulled away and I would do what I could to hold on until the finish.  The plan worked well enough, but I hadn't taken into account how quick the first mile would be - we went through in 5:41.  I've recently done a couple of 5km efforts as training and quite comfortably held 6:15min/mile efforts but this was starting slower and building up.  This race was pretty much the opposite as we went off quick, before I blew up and ended up crawling in to the finish.  The next time I race, I'm going to stick to my own race plan, as I know I take 0.5mile - 1mile to get into the pace of things and can then start winding up to the finish.  I really feel like I can average just under 6min/mile for a 5km which would give me 18:33.  It seems like a big jump, but looking at some of my splits from today I really did wreck my race in the first mile.  With some good pacing and some good legs, I think it's a possibility.  On a more positive note, it's still a PB and I broke the 19min barrier so much to be pleased with.

Official time - 18.57 (6:06min/mile)