As the week progressed and I ticked off the miles and split squats the excitement grew. The weather forecast for parkrun was at last favourable and many of the team would get their opportunity to attempt breaking that elusive PB.

That excitement quickly turned to disbelief as I drew the blinds, early Saturday morning, to discover the road covered in a thin layer of white powder (I’m pretty sure it was snow).

My own plans of a 30 minute warm up including perfectly executed B Skips and Butt Kicks was instead replaced with scrapping ice off the car and using up the last remains of my floundering car battery, trying to heat the windscreen.

Luckily the battery held out (for now) and we made it to lower ground with 15 minutes to spare. Enough for a quick pit stop and to hear the advice of run director Arrianne stating “THESE ARE NOT PB CONDITIONS”. She was very clear about that.

Paul Lambert is one of the team who’s been gunning for a quicker 5K time. A few weeks back in far less favourable conditions, albeit with more grip, he recorded his highest ever park run finish of 3rd place in a time of 19:10.

Paul’s PB stood at 18:50 and I was confident he could beat that by a few seconds. I myself had hopes of a top 10 finish on the understanding many of the runners would have paid attention to Arrianne’s advice. I was wrong.

Paul took off like a greyhound and I’m pretty sure he was in the lead for a good part of the first kilometre. I knew then, unless he was a victim of the ice, that PB was going to be smashed.

Despite the surprisingly strong field, I still had high hopes of that Top 10 finish, but they were dashed when one of the Goat Ledge Marshall’s had taken it upon himself to count our race positions. 15…16….17….17th, seriously? Why had this suddenly become a thing? Almost as if to rub my nose in it, that a Top 10 finish was out of my reach.

At what number did he stop counting? 20? 50? 100? He was kind enough to inform me on the return leg that I’d gained one place in the last 2.5km, that being the Vegan Runner who’d done his best to stop me in my tracks by cutting right across my path, shortly after the halfway point.

Another reason why massive headphones should be banned, that and they look stupid. Given his plant based life choices and the fact I was able to pass him before the number counter, he was forgiven.

I was happy with my own efforts, despite a few passing me in the final stretch, including Mr Jack Matthews who’d spent the other 4.8k right on my tail. Once I caught my breath it was a case of finding out how Paul had done. The result? 18:06. A 44 second PB. Wow!

Hugging became a thing for me before Covid and I’ve yet to really embrace it since. But that hug with Mr Lambert felt special. I think it was out of mutual respect as well as happiness.

Running isn’t all about Personal Bests but when you work hard and achieve one, it feels pretty special.

Attention quickly turned to my other runners as I cheered Adrian and Matt across the line. For a 2nd week running Adrian had recorded a parkrun PB, this time by 30 seconds. I think wearing the PB Runner tracksuit top made all the difference, as last week he had to pause at the Azur to sort his attire out. Get yourself one for Christmas folks, they are great.

Matt was unfortunate to miss out by just 10 seconds, but I know in better conditions, it’s coming.

Sue Wilkinson is also in search of that 5k PB, but perhaps somewhat more sensibly decided to wait for a better opportunity. I have full confidence her time will come too.

Further afield in Goodwood, Allan Payne was looking to break the sub 2 hour mark for the half marathon. A goal he missed out on just 15 days earlier when running 2:05 at Battersea.

I knew there was the potential to go quicker and with his running in great form, having another attempt so soon was a good choice. What happened next was beyond my imagination. Bear in mind at track on Tuesday Allan questioned the Hastings AC 8-80 age banner, asking “does that mean I need to give up in a few years?”.

Not only did Allan go sub 2, he ran a 1 hour 50 half marathon. Wow! All this after recovering from a nasty leg break in the past 18 months. Go Allan!

In somewhat contrasting conditions Louise Weatherly completed her 2nd training plan. Apart from a small knee problem in the last few weeks, Lou has done really well with her running in recent months.

What brings me even more satisfaction as a coach over PBs, is runners enjoying themselves and Lou has really embraced that positive mindset, even when the odd race hasn’t gone to plan.

The 2nd plan concluded in Benidorm with the half marathon. I have it on good authority those involved were in bed at 9pm every night, only drank water and feasted on vegetables, fruit and nuts.

That helped Lou run her 3rd fastest half marathon and I’m confident the best is yet to come.

These recent results are further evidence that these plans do work. But they only work if you stick to the schedule. I get it. No-one likes running in the cold or rain, but the rewards at the end of it are well worth it. Trust me, it’s a journey I’ve been on, and the reason I got into coaching. Sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to in order to achieve our targets.