Up until today I had been "showing up" at Gainesville's Depot Park, with the outstanding and selfless driving of Melissa, who has been very, very supportive of my efforts to recover physical endurance fitness after suffering the limiting side effects of recent brain cancer treatments. Until this morning's Depot Parkwalk 5K, my previous successful Parkrun 5k effort took place on January 10...I managed to walk it in a little over 78 minutes. So for the previous few weeks I had gradually been incrementing my distance covered, getting through three of the course's four laps a week ago.This morning I resolved to use all of my mental powers to finish the race and actually accomplished the deed, with Melissa always there to supply needed hydration, encouragement and photos to yours truly, who felt (and probably came across as) a grumpy old cuss. I prepared for the Parkrun by starting toplay Sufjan Stevens's great 2003 album Illinois (~77 minutes) on my smartphone. My walking pace was slow, but not excessively so, so it was a bit of a surprise when, at the two-thirds point, I suddenly stopped, turned abruptly around, and complained at the volunteer tailwalker that they were following too closely and should have passed me long before...they responded sweetly, saying that their tailwalking assignment mandated that they remain behind in last place. After I finally completed the course..the first time I did so in 3 1/2 months...I let Melissa prop me up and guide me as I staggered over to the lady doing the scanning. I finished today with a time o 65:16: click HERE to view the final Depot Parkrun 5K results. As for photos, I had difficulty uploading some previous ones Melissa took that she tried to send to my phone. In the races's aftermath, I feel proud that I got mental AF and stuck it out to the end, but a little chastened when I expressed frustration at other participants who seemed to be getting too close to me, especially on laps #2 through 3. Now I'm resting at home and looking forward to upcoming Parkruns. Well, if I only cover the distance,nice and slowly, following the examples and suggestions of Martinus Evans...
Nice to read here that you have successfully put your mental powers in gear and finished the 4 laps (5ks) there at Depot Park. I have to laugh, though, because, looking at your time, if I were your tailwalker I'd probably be fired because I wouldn't have been able to keep up with you. I average 20 minutes per km, whether I'm walking on flat land or hiking uphill on my rainforest trails. At that pace, I can get as much as 17 kms done before exhaustion sets in. But if I try going any faster, I can't even get 2 kms in before I just can't catch my breath anymore. I enjoy my long, slow walks, though, whether they are along the beach or within the forest and if they take me a long time to complete, then so be it. But if you're doing 1 km in 13 minutes, then you'd be the one flying past me!
ReplyDeleteThis morning I solidified my hold on the next ledge upin my recovery,over the 5K milestone. I'm still going down the Martinus Evans "slow run"route and, with medical issues hopefully delayed a lot, will be able to (slowly)complete 10K and even half-marathon events, at least by this fall's scheduled races. While I was in the process of making my 5K walking comeback 2 weeks ago, I turned and complained to the volunteer tail walker that she was stressing me out by not passing me. I've vowed to myself to be sweet and civil throughout today's Parkrun, and I think I somehow succeeded in that. I exercise in small increments, only measuring the time i'm out there slowly crossing real estate. This week I'd like to get to a level of sustainability with my "geezer" slow jogs. Maybe next Saturday, if weather ancircumstances permit,, I"ll be doing my "magic carpet act" for a few seconds at a time.Time to push it a little harder.
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