New Personal Best


In an act of reasonable anal-retentiveness, somebody took a measuring wheel and checked the distance of the Singapore Parkrun course, and determined it was thirty metres short. So, with the new year came a new, improved Parkrun, 30 metres longer than the old one.

I’d already set a new PB today, for my journey from home to the start of the race. Those new tyres I’d purchased worked a treat. I took five minutes off my previous best time, and still made less effort to get there. Judging actual calorie expenditure from heart rate is a tricky and controversial method, but the estimated calories I burned today was 10% less than last week, with a 16% improvement to my time. I assume future gains will be much smaller, until I get a skinsuit and start shaving my legs…

Although there was some grousing about the new course, people should have realized that meant they all got a personal best today. I came in ten seconds faster than last week, which gives me 20:12. That’s 20 seconds slower than my best over the old course, which means I was still a bit slower (you shouldn’t be running 30 metres in 20 seconds) but since I set that time without riding to the race I’m happy for now. Plus I have a new goal for 2015: getting my 5k below 20 minutes. Again.

Afterwards, I went to the Starbucks as usual and was pleasantly surprised when my wife and daughter arrived to meet me. La Serpiente had a good time running around, climbing up stairs and shouting at the world, and then I chucked them in a cab and sent them back home while I cycled back. On my return I didn’t feel quite as wonderful as on the way out; I suppose running so hard your watch tells you to take a 24 hour break is going to slow you down a bit.

Still, a good start to the day. And further evidence that my bright green vest makes me go faster.


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