First Parkrun of 2013 and after a pretty full on Christmas in terms of alcohol and food consumption so not too worried about the time, although it's reasonable and maybe a bit better than expected. Got some pounds (if I'm honest - stones) to shift if I'm in with a hope of achieving a sub 4-hour marathon by April 28th.
Laid off the booze last night and watched a couple of episodes of Breaking Bad which i'm just getting into (I know, I'm a Johnny come-lately but better than a Johnny come-too-soony in most people's book if you catch my drift.).
Started a bit too far forward in the pack so ended up being overtaken for the first half of lap one but started to claw a few back during the second. In your face ten year olds! Eat my mud. A couple of friends had passed me by this point but, without really trying, I managed to pip them both at the post and still had a decent sprint in me. Chatted with a couple of people about joining their interval training session which could help with my PBs for parkruns (I'd love to get them down towards 23 minutes or, who knows, maybe lower by the marathon or the end of the year at least.)
Soundtrack - iPod shuffle.
It's rare that I let the shuffle take control on a run, especially a short one that needs a certain energy level maintaining. I can't access what it played but I remember it began with Beach Boys - Good Vibrations which was a great way to start. A bit of energy but also a laid back feel which helped me to settle on a pace. The Divine Comedy "To Die A Virgin", Jim Noir "How to be so real" and The Zutons "You could make the four walls cry" all came on in the first lap so a fairly steady, mid-tempo affair but it all kind of worked. Think I skipped a bit of Fleet Foxes because, lovely as they are, it wasn't working. I can't remember much else that came on other than midway through the second lap a big guitar riff kicked in. i thought it might be Hoodoo Gurus at first but turned out to be "She's On It" by Beastie Boys. A kind of forgotten single from their dubious early success as brattish misogynists. Strangely a song by New Kids on The Block came on the radio later in the day and I thought "That's pretty much a rip off of the Beastie Boys". Thankfully, by the time NKOTB started plundering the Beasties had already moved onto the glories of Paul's Boutique (a name synonymous with a great album to one generation and omnipresent branding of coats to another) and would later go on to make two of the best albums of the 90s in Check Your Head and Ill Communication.
I had toyed with the idea of building a Manchester only playlist for the run but I'm now thinking anything but. I love a good deal of music that's come out of the city but as a running playlist? A bit dour maybe. Might slip a few New Order 12"s on there to pass the time though and, if I time it right, Life and Death by World of Twist to finish (not technically Manchester I know but...). There's a thought. I need to load the Pre New's excellent debut album onto my iPod and try that out. Could be a winner.
I'm going to be setting up a page to raise funds for Leukemia research soon too ;)
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