Last Sunday we finally conquered the 5km roadblock.
Normally we run around 4.7km on our regular run from home but it's so hilly that we have to slow to a walk on at least two of the hills. I have named the three big hills 'K2, Everest and the Mattahorn'. We have managed to scale K2 all the way but we are still struggling with the other two and so haven't managed a 5km run without slowing down yet.
But after the walk around Croydon athletics track for Relay for Life we decided to try running around the track to see if we could improve our running form.
And we did.
Athletic tracks are 400m around the inside lane, and according to various info on the net, the lanes are approximately 8m longer for each subsequent lane. So we calculated we would need to run 12 laps non-stop to conquer the mystical 5km roadblock.
So we went with the frame of mind to pace ourselves and simply get to the end of 5km without stopping. Around lap 8 I got the mother of all stitches but I pushed on, despite the severe head wind around the south side of the track, and at lap 10 suddenly got a second wind that enabled me to struggle in to the end and over the line with barely enough energy to really call it running. But I did it. Whether you would call it jogging or running doesn't matter. I didn't slow to a walk and although my red face factor broke all records I ran my first ever 5km.
Stats: heart rate = 177av, 186max, 32mins, 5km. Red face factor = 11.
