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+--- Thread: Goal to Improve Parkrun (/Thread-Goal-to-Improve-Parkrun)
Goal to Improve Parkrun - TheEd - 04-12-2025
Hi Neil .. here is a new space for you
keep the text short for now and we continue
RE: Goal to Improve Parkrun - NeilJ - 04-12-2025
Thank you Gavin I will post the result of my Parkrun from Saturday whenever you are ready.
RE: Goal to Improve Parkrun - TheEd - 05-12-2025
Neil provided the following feedback from his parkrun training:
Hi Gavin, what a very interesting morning it was at Saturday’s Parkrun. The route after a short circuit of 1.4K is a two lap course going up and down two hills twice. As the recommendation was to run the hills hard and recover on the downhills this is precisely what was attempted,
herewith the data:
DATA:
1st circuit (warm up) 1.4Km zone 3 HR135
1st Hill 1.4 - 1.6 K (200M) 4:48 - 4:00 min/K HR 160BPM
2nd Hill 2.25 - 2.40 K (150M) 5:00 - 4:20 min/K HR 158BPM
3rd Hill 3.2 - 3.4 K (200M) 5:00 - 3:54 min/K HR 160BPM
4th Hill 4.08 - 4.23 K (150M) 4:48 - 4:20 min/K HR 160BPM
The 1st and 3rd hill are the same as are the 2nd and 4th hill. The times were derived from the Suunto graph and represent bottom and top of the hill, the Hr was Max Hr on each hill segment and not average. I should have pressed actual lap times for better accuracy but I think for now the data extraction from the graphs tell a good enough story.
Condition:
The 1st hill came as a bit of a shock and I actually felt that I went into oxygen debt at the top.
The second hill was fractionally slower and shorter and felt okay.
The third hill, repetition of hill 1, felt better, I actually managed to duck under 4:00Min/K by the summit, and I felt much better than 1st time round.
The 4th hill repetition of hill 2 was run at the same pace as the 1st time around and again felt
okay.
Comments:
What I did notice is that my HR over the top of the hills between segments remained fairly high between 142-145 BPM and never came down. I was hoping to get it a bit lower between hill segments but if I ran any slower I would have at times been at walking pace. I don’t know if that should be of concern.
That was the fastest I have been uphill certainly in the past 5 years and was quite surprised that I could manage the stress with few ill effects other than the 1st segment, where I think it may have been a bit of a shock to the cardio vascular system and I was gasping for breath.
I did deliberately finish fairly quickly as I felt fairly good over the final 200M.
Overall I was actually fairly happy with the performance, as there was initially a little apprehension as to how I would hold up over the 4 segments. Post run my legs are feeling fine.
Please do see the Strava data should you require any additional info.
Thanks Neil.
RE: Goal to Improve Parkrun - TheEd - 05-12-2025
Hi Neil .. in response to your above data .. this is where it gets interesting .. when you run the hill hard the lack of aerobic endurance (stamina) shows the most and hence why you slowed down to almost a walk, so with this in mind consider that when you run the that parkrun course, even when you conservative on the hills it is still taking more energy out of you due to the lack of aerobic. What will be nice to see, is how the hills become easier once your body begins to move forward.
Were you able to do a 1k session this week?
TheEd
RE: Goal to Improve Parkrun - NeilJ - 07-12-2025
So Gavin this is just a catch-up after I destroyed my forum profile. I notice that the original forum is now working again so sorry if this is a double post. You have my lengthy report from last week’s Parkrun above.
Last Monday morning I ran my slow 10K up in the vineyards to the top of Zevenwacht. It’s actually quite a brutal climb with around 485M of vertical gain over the course. This was my go to weekly run when I was marathon training a few years back, a really tough but beautiful route mostly on farm roads. I did however manage to keep it pretty much within the zone 3 parameters as stipulated. The run itself was good, but I was pretty fatigued at the end and can feel that my glutes are quite tight. The time was a very pedestrian 1:18’53 over 10.84Km at an average HR of 130BPM.
RE: Goal to Improve Parkrun - NeilJ - 08-12-2025
Herewitha report and review of last Wednesday mornings run:
I started with a solid 20 minute warm-up and then went into 3 x 1K intervals getting my heart rate back down to around 100BPM in between them.
1st 1K @ 4:50 Probably started a bit too quickly and felt a little blown out at the finish.
2nd 1K @ 5:00 Felt a little jaded especially in the quads and hamstrings, fatigued at finish.
3rd 1K @ 4:55 Ran a little better knowing it was the last one, but still felt hard to finish.
I think that I was not entirely recovered from Mondays very hilly 10K. It is the toughest run I have had over the past 5 years, even at the slow pace. These 1K intervals were the acid test to which I was looking forward, as I think there is much that can be learnt from them. Next week I would like to repeat the session with a more moderate longer slow run.
The route I chose for the intervals did have a gentle incline which was obviously the same on the return leg. I will definitely run my next session on a single straight 1k stretch of tar and not an out and back route. The chosen course was also run on a dirt road with patches of fairly thick sand which also took its toll, initially I thought that this would replicate the Parkrun but is in fact tougher underfoot than our Parkrun surface.
Let’s see what next week holds for this session.
RE: Goal to Improve Parkrun - TheEd - 08-12-2025
Hi Neil, in response to your post regarding the aerobic run. 1st Dec 10km. It is truly brutal getting used to those runs again. I highly recommend swimming for leg recovery.
I see on your strava that the 10k run has a fair amount of downhill gradient at the end, if anything that is probably what would fatigue your legs the most before the 1km session
considering, your 1km session was a good introductory. Everything pretty in-line with your current running
for this weeks 1k session look to do the same, let me know how things are going body wise before the Wednesday session
TheEd
RE: Goal to Improve Parkrun - NeilJ - 09-12-2025
Thanks for the response Gavin I will definately look to get a swim into the program. You are spot on I never really thought about the damage to the quads from the downhill. I have been hammering this route home as part of my program for years, no wonder my legs feel like they've been put through a meat grinder.
Today on Monday it was my Aero run from home to golf course and back. Ran a steady 12K this morning 1: 20”29, Av Hr 132Bpm. Really enjoyed this morning’s run over a route, I haven’t run for many years down to the golf course and back. The route is fairly undulating but nowhere as challenging as last week’s beast of a run. There was an elevation gain of 420 M but spread out fairly evenly across the length of the run. 12 k is the furtherest I have run in 5 years, but it felt okay with a little fatigue over the final Km.
RE: Goal to Improve Parkrun - TheEd - 09-12-2025
Hi Neil .. if you add some light leg extensions to your exercise program it should help a little, low weight and only 10 reps.
hope all well before tomorrow's session
TheEd
RE: Goal to Improve Parkrun - NeilJ - 09-12-2025
Thank you kindly for the advice, I will try the 10 leg extensions together with my banded clamshells which I find are great for my lwr back and glutes.
Lets see what tomorrow brings?