12 minutes in 12 months #6: Big Leap

The goal for May was to break 30 minutes. In the first Park Run of May, a lovely crisp morning, I did this - a 29:11, which is a massive 97 second improvement on last week. I was 20th in my age group last week, 15th this week. It's a relief to be finally out of the 30+ doldrums, which is a kakka standard for a half serious runner.

I did the first km in 5:08, 2nd in 5:42, 3rd in 6:22 and 4th, a hilly section, in a not terrible 6:32. Still had something in the tank to finish the last km in 5:30. Average speed about 5:50, but howz this: maximum speed 3:53 min/km.

Part of the reason for the improving is clearly less weight, although 97-98kg is still hefty. I also finished work on my last book earlier in the week, which meant I wasn't as chairbound as usual. I also did less training this past week, but what I did was pretty intense quality, with a fair amount of hills.

Getting up for this run was tough, since my sleep cycle has reversed again in the slew of frantic editing over the past few days. But managed to get in about 90 minutes sleep before the run. And then the main complex gate wouldn't open, possibly due to the cold doing something to the mechanism battery-wiring or something.

At this stage I'm about a minute ahead of schedule on the 12 minutes in 12 months thing. So far, I've carved off more than 3 minutes in just over 1 month. I'm probably going to need that voorsprong during those tough last 4 months though.

Too ambitious to try to crack 29 on run #7?