Run for Fun

Tearing it up at Wynnum!

I've had a great couple of weeks of simply running for fun.  It's so nice to have the marathon pressure off and no other events on the horizon, so I can just run for enjoyment.

I'm loving mixing up my exercise with bootcamp twice a week - it's such a great workout.  And I've been able to increase my distances while running a bit too.  I'm having no issues with my shins, which is a huge relief!

Dean had a brainwave to start up a Wednesday night running group in our local area, which is a 7km or 11km route along the waterfront.  The first one was last week & we had about 23 people turn up - amazing!  I decided to head down with the pram and just do a short run, since it was pretty much the kids' bedtime, but I didn't want to miss out.  It was BLISS!  I loved just running slowly, chatting to the other ladies, enjoying the cool, still, night air (lately my arvo runs have been hot and windy).  I did 7.5km, which is my longest distance since the marathon - but it felt like about 2!  I absolutely loved it.

The "Bayside Breeze" Wednesday night group

I'd been doubting my ability to go any further than about 6km at the moment, but I could've easily done the 11km if I didn't have the pram, and didn't have to take the kids home to bed.  Running with other people really does make a big difference!

On Saturday morning, we visited Wynnum parkrun for their 1st Birthday celebrations.  It's a great course that's fairly similar to ours, as it's also along the foreshore.  It was a super hero theme and there were some amazing costumes, which was good fun.

Dean pushed the pram and we decided to stick together...but it meant a very slow start.  They had record numbers at Wynnum, and we started a fair way back in the pack, so we got pretty trapped and took a while to be able to get any pace up.

I sprinted to the finish and ended up with a time of 27:06 - and my best stat of the morning was finishing 2nd in my age category of women 25-29!  But as an indication of what a slow start it was, here's my pace splits for the 5kms:
1km - 6:21
2km: 5:36
3km: 5:07
4km: 5:17
5km: 4:45
Very interesting to break it down!

And as a true sign that I'm really getting back on track, I went for another 6km run that afternoon as well, as I knew I wouldn't get a run in on Sunday.

Things are looking up on the running front!  It's a welcome change to be able to run for fun!