Today marked the first of my ten weekly Saturday 5k Park Runs and boy oh boy was it a chilly start to the challenge.
I've decided to take on the challenge of running the free Saturday morning 5k Park Run for 10 weeks in a row rain or shine starting today in order to raise money for Save the Children. It's a very worthy cause and also gives me a clear goal to focus on, win-win.
I was fuelled along with tunes by Bloc Party on the ol' ipod this week (something about the song Flux just makes my feet keep goin') and I was determined not to slap my feet on the ground as I ran. I've only paid a little attention to my form previously, but lately I have been reminded, and now am very conscious of the fact, that good form whilst running is the ideal way not to get injured (along with a few key other elements like stretching properly and not overdoing it, of course).
So I was concentrating on keeping my feet in line and rolling along smoothly, rather than slapping down (you know that rhythmic *fwack, fwack* you hear occasionally when a runner passes by that makes you want to cringe with the discomfort you imagine they'll be feeling).
It was nice to have a clear focus during the run other than just focussing on finishing the full course which has been the main thought in my mind on previous runs.
I've just received confirmation of my official time which was: 27:44 and marks a new personal best, yippee!
So all in all, a good first 5k to begin this challenge of doing 10 in a row......roll on next Saturday!
My Just Giving page can be found here: http://www.justgiving.com/Melissastenweekchallenge
