Parkrun = Life

Over the past month or so, I have started running 5km every Saturday morning at 7am.

For those uninitiated, Parkrun is weekly running group run by volunteers and sponsored by various corporates. The idea is you go to a local venue with those in your area, and run 5km.

That’s it.

You arrive. You run. You kick off your weekend with a bit of exercise in the bank.

There are no obligations to achieve a certain time, there are no medals at the end, no free orange slices or banana.

As I job (somewhat slowly) along the running path, I couldn’t help but reflect on how there are similarities between my weekly run, and the rest of my week.

Here is my thinking…

1. The uphill runs show you how prepared you are.

While most parkrun paths are pretty flat, there is the occasional incline run.

During these times, you take a deep breath, draw some drive from within, focus on the uphill ahead and push through.

It is on the uphill that your tested.

It is on the uphill that you understand what you are made of.

2. Use the downhills when you encounter them to recover.

With every uphill, there is a downhill. We aren’t always on an uphill battle (despite how it may feel at times).

During the downhills, it is important to lean in to how gravity can help you along.

Enjoy the downhill, reduce your energy expenditure, and let the laws of physics carry you.

3. Activity is better when done with others – community is key.

There is the old adage that if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to far, go together.

Ideally - I could do both...alas...I am not a natural runner.

I could run 5km almost any time. At any point in between work and other life commitments, I could carve out time to run.

But – there is something to be said for participating in parkrun with others.

Despite their complete lack of awareness of this fact, running with around 400 other people at the same time achieves a lot for my mental game.

Running with others fortuitously creates a sense of community; a village of like-minded people also keen to achieve a goal.

They motivate me. They encourage me. All while having no idea that they gift me this every Saturday.

Having a village of great people around you who understand what you are trying to do, is pretty great.

4. A great playlist can make the grind all the easier.

There is no doubt that having great tunes blasting through your ears as you run, helps push you along.

Having tunes at a BPM (beats per minute) that can coincide with your gait and cadence, help distract the mind and keep you on your path.

Music is the frosting that helps me get through the work.

(and – if you happen to have any particular bangers that you like listening to while you run/workout/work – hit me up in the comments).

5. In the end, you should only really compete with yourself.

While I run parkrun with around 400 other people – the majority of them are faster than me.

But you know – it doesn’t bother me.

It doesn’t particularly matter much.

Why?

Because I am not there to compete.

I am there to run.

To put in the work.

To enjoy being active.

And to see how I run from week to week.

The objective I have for doing what I do, can be, and is likely to be, very different to the goals and objectives to others – so why would I compete?

My only goal is to get better and enjoy the run.

And I love that I achieve this goal every Saturday (well…almost every Saturday).