A wet start to the day, but it wasn’t cold, and once again my Garmin Epix Pro (Gen 2) was very aware it had work to do, tracking my performance over the 5km of the Stanley Park route.

A couple of firsts this week… my first time out and running in my Bowel Cancer UK vest and Matty the PT finally turned up to run alongside me.

During the briefing rain was definitely in the air but eased off a bit as we formed up on the start line and 9.09am we were set on our way. The question was “how long would Matt stay with me?” Well, I didn’t have to wait too long to find out the answer to that question, After about 500m he zoomed off into the distance.

Congestion wasn’t too bad this week and I was able to maintain a good steady opening pace of 5:42 and 5:40 for the first 2 km respectively. Going through the half way mark and on the second lap and my 3km pace was a respectable 5:30. I think I came up against some congestion in the woods during my second lap with my 4km pace dropping to 5:50. Putting in a good final km would see me hit a new Personal Best.

Unfortunately, about 500m from the end, just before approaching the turn down to the lake, nature called. Could I keep going or hope for the best? No, was the conclusion I reached very quickly but had to decide what to do about it. Luckily the stretch I was on was lined by trees and bushes so there was only one thing for it… a slight deviation off the path.

Total time of this unexpected detour was 2 mins 50 secs. Frustrating knowing this time was just ticking by. But, once suitably relieved I was able to pick up the pace and put in a good finish with a 1km that would have been 4:54 without the stop!

Matt was waiting at the finish line having, obviously, finished ahead of me.

So, my final confirmed time was…

31mins 26secs

Exactly 2mins 30secs off my previous personal best. Taking my ‘detour’ into consideration, I was on track for another good PB this week. I am improving and, as always, next week comes round very quickly.

My Garmin GPS Heat Maps are heating up week on week.

My Garmin watch continues to record a plethora of performance metrics for my running and all activities feeding into my training programme.

Heart rate is looking good and my Stamina levels are excellent and showing that I have a lot more to give once I reach the end of the 5K.

One of the most interesting metrics relating to my training is my Endurance Score – which has jumped up massively from last week’s 5332 to 5618 with today’s performance and all the past weeks training. Just 82 points off a rating of “Well Trained”. I joked, last week, about reaching the level of “House trained” but I’m not sure my detour into the woods counts.

• Elite – 7,300 and above
• Superior – 6,800 – 7,299
• Expert – 6,200 – 6,799
• Well-trained – 5,700 – 6,199
• Trained – 5,100 – 5,699
• Intermediate – 4,600 – 5,099
• Recreational – 1 – 4,599

My results table, on the face of it, looks a bit disappointing with today’s result. But today’s story is a positive one. My pace was good and continues to improve week on week.