I was psyched. We had planned to head to Wynnum parkrun, a location that regularly gets several hundred people and as a mid-pack runner it makes for a crowded and rather unpleasant experience. So why was I psyched (read: excited)? It was scheduled to rain.

I was doubly psyched because this is also the Gold Coast Marathon weekend which means every serious runner (and at least half the not-so-serious runners) from the whole of South East Queensland were headed AWAY from their local parkrun and setting up camp on the GC.

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Thus, Brad and I--both seasoned runners in our own right--were looking forward to small numbers at Wynnum parkrun. To our delight we got it, but what I also got was another head cold 🤦‍♀️ I woke up with a head full of gunk at 2 am and did my best to gently coax myself back to sleep 'til the 5 am alarm.

If you've been following me for a while you'll know I've been actively trying to take better care of my body. My mind is strong; it wanted a PB today, but another part of me reminded me that the long term plan of being as *healthy* as possible so Brad and I can have as many *adventures* as possible is waaaaay more important than running 5km faster than 27:32.

I aimed for middle ground.

My *belly* was also unhappy (a regular challenge in Caroline land) and it wasn't happy with sitting still. My *head* thought sitting in the car with the heater on and just waiting while Brad warmed up was too stiflingly. My *wisdom* told me being outside in "running layers only" when I clearly have a head cold was a recipe for getting worse. And the part of me that has diligently been doing extra strength and cardio work wanted a chance to show what it could do. 

So I did the only thing I could think of that would make any sense with so many conflicting needs: I slowly, gently warmed up. Then I made use of the nearby toilets, lingering in the slightly warmer location until just before the main briefing before 7 am.

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And then--committed to not harming my body--I ran a reasonable pace that felt sustainable but not exactly slouching either. I only needed to run 5:25 (mins/km) *ish* pace to beat my previous course PB and once I'd found my stride in the very small crowd I realised I was running between 5:10-5:20 pace.

"Let's see if that still feels easy in the second half," I thought to myself.

Turns out it did. I'd found a sustainable pace, I'd found a person to keep my eye on who was my anchor, so to speak, and I focused on staying as calm and connected as possible with my environment and how my body was feeling. That felt like a solid, sensible plan until the second turn-around marshall at the 4 km mark said, "Those three old guys look stuffed. I reckon you can catch them."

Damn it! Once you give me an idea like that I struggle to get it out of my head 🤣

So off I went, slowly increasing my pace from 5:20 to 5:00 then to 4:40 and finishing strong in just under 4:10 mins/km pace... and passing those three "old" guys, of course 😅😁

Despite pushing it over the final kilometre, I think I struck a reasonable balance of caring for my body while not pushing it too hard. Time will tell, and now that I'm home I've switched into recovery mode, I'm full of warm coffee and I'm all rugged up in lots of layers.

I got my course PB with a new fastest time (for Wynnum) of 25:27. While it's still a long way off what I know Really Healthy Caroline is capable of it's way faster than I expected to run today. Only having 88 runners present on this double-out-and-back, concrete course made for lots of space. (To out it in perspective, they usually get about 240 runners, joggers and walkers). It also gave me the lowest finish position I'll probably *ever* get at Wynnum: Number 31 across the line 🎉

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My favourite part of the morning maaaay have been patting this puppy dog called Marley! 😀 I can't wait to start house and pet sitting again! Just got to sneak it in between work...

But plans are afoot for more travel, more parkruns in new locations and more adventures. Best get back to recovering and helping this body get super, super healthy again ☺️

*All photos by Brad, aka @new.things. Thanks, babe!*