I was hoping for a reasonable time at the Eynsham 10k on the last Sunday of November but was not going for a pb as I remembered the course having a couple of minor bottlenecks and twists and turns, also last time I ran in 2009 the timing was gun to chip though this year it turned out to be chip to chip. I gave my legs a rest the day before by volunteering at Oxford parkrun instead of running and, on the day itself, only slightly regretted upping the gear on my hack fixie as I tried not to knacker myself riding out to Eynsham into a rather stiff headwind.

Dropping things at Oxford parkrun registration

We gathered at the start down the Old Witney Road dead end where I said hello to a few familar faces, lots of local clubs represented at this event as it’s got a well deserved good reputation. I was running in my Vegan Runners UK vest and despite some earlier worries the temperature was just right. Off we went, slightly downhill past the school where we would finish, through some older parts of Eynsham then out onto the road heading towards Swinford Toll Bridge where I could feel the wind on my back. Turning north I seemed slow a bit but this was very slightly uphill, I’ve yet to run a really, truly, flat course. Then out onto the A40 cycle track where the wind slowed down proceedings though I was pleased to pass a few without blowing up.

Glad to turn south, both out of the wind and slightly downhill. Then past Old Witney Road and we were into the second lap. Lots of local support cheering us round the course, being as it’s 2 laps we get a double dose. I skipped the water station as I felt fine and didn’t start flagging till the second charge along the A40 where the 9k marker had more of an ‘oh no, not another kilometre’ effect than an optimistic ‘nearly there, time to speed up’. The finish was on the school field and after letting one runner past I resolved not to let the shadow on my right shoulder also beat me. I tried hard but he trumped me just before the line and turned out to be George who was very pleased to have got a 4 minute PB. I was happy enough with my 47:48 276/612 – a course best and a season best that could have been a tiny bit faster without that wind.

What with the Eynsham effort, intervals run this Thursday and the Andy Reading 10k entered for next weekend I thought I’d settle for a slower parkrun this Saturday. I had a couple of beers the night before and while I pushed myself I stayed well clear of the vomit zone. My Garmin reckoned I did 24:15 but the results make it 23:37 14/36, 1 second short of my pb. I’m aware there were some timing hiccups so this may or may not be genuine but I’ll accept it graciously  🙂  Edit later same day: seems timing hiccups were full scale belches so 24:15 is correct but apparently still 14th position.

What’s this got to do with solar PV? Nothing, but as a footnote about ten days ago our Generation meter reading passed 2147kWh which is the predicted annual output based on the Standard Assessment Protocol adjusted for location etc. This is the figure they quote you when selling the system and as our system was commissioned 19th January 2011 we are almost 2 months, admittedly not very productive months, ahead of target. So yah boo sucks to all the naysayers who reckon the predictions are made up or exaggerated!