"32 years you say?"

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been feeling the stresses of my job a little bit more than usual. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not 'Falling Down' stressed but you know how it can be- its on your mind when the head hits the pillow and two hours later you're still not sure how you're going to help THAT person fix THAT problem for THAT customer! But you know what, it's ok because I have a great little family who love me and, fair play, my other half knows exactly how to deal with my sulks. I also have running. And running allows me the time to switch off and think about nothing. Well, not nothing...I think about the same things, I just care less. I do maths in my head and I convince the devil on my shoulder that he's got no chance tonight!!!!

So, my point is that for me, and probably most runners, running is a break from the stresses of paying the bills. Whether it be a sneaky 25 minute jog outside or a treadmill session on my own. Or with the PLS in a race or a session, they all do the trick nicely thank you very much. 

Have I made a big mistake? Have I added a stress factor to my solace? 

In 32 years, the 4 Villages has grown to be a favourite Half Marathon of athletes, runners and joggers from all over the place and as far as I know, has always been held in the month of January. I've heard lots of good things about it but have never got round to taking part in it. It, has also never been cancelled. "I'll get on that...should fit nicely in with the plan. And it obviously won't get called off for any reason!!" Is that right? 

Now don't get me wrong, I can see exactly why it has been called off and I feel sorry for the organisers who had to make the tough decision to call the event off. But I'm a selfish kind of guy...do they not know what I am trying to do here!!! I mean please...this is Guinness level stuff I'm attempting here. I'm thinking OBE, SPOTY 2013 nomination at the least!!! 

My point is this- running became stressful today and will be stressful tomorrow. The stress might continue until the end of the month, I'm not sure. 

I was being picked up in the morning by one of my running buddies and I was going to be chauffeur driven (in a Ford Transit) to the parking area in Helsby where a coach would take us to the start. We would wax lyrical about smashing PBs and discuss our favourite pre-race meal. Heck, we may even go as far as talking about enjoying a nice pint of ale post race. I would then run the race I have been preparing for and then look forward to seeing the results posted on the forum, with maybe even the letters PB after my name and time!!! No worries!!!

 In the morning I will be heading up to Preston to see if I can somehow wrestle my way into the already full Inskip Half Marathon. It's a 10.30am start so I'll be on the road at about 7.30am to get to the front of the imaginary queue I have invented that is signposted 'Queue here for uncollected numbers or dropouts'. I will probably eat breakfast on the M6 and I will no doubt forget something essential. The 'chimp' will be all over me, giving me jib, calling me names and telling me to turn around and go home.

If I get in, great. If I don't, who knows? All I know is this...THAT bloke with THAT problem for THAT customer will not be keeping me awake tonight. The stresses of being a 'runner' will do just fine!!!

"...in each month? Are you sure?"

When you wake up one day, and the first thought that comes into your head is "I know...I'll do a 5k, a 10k and a Half Marathon race every month next year!" and you believe it to be the idea of a normal person...you know that you have the bug. I ran my first ever mile (as an adult, I did XC when I was 11 at school) on April 1st 2010 and it took about 11 minutes and I have been jogging/running/taking part ever since. This year, I decided that the only way to fight my reversing metabolism would be to run it into submission. And, as I am turning 36 in December, I thought doing 36 races in my 36th year of being alive had a nice ring to it. The 36x36 Challenge was born, although technically I will not have completed all 36 races by my 36th birthday, I will have done by the end of December. If you hold it far away, on an angle and squint a bit it makes sense!!!
It's now mid-January and I am one race down. The excellent and ever-popular Princes Parkrun on Saturday 5th January. A crisp and even morning, we gathered in the park and discussed if we were going to smash it or take it easy and fit it into a training plan. As I had let my psychological 'chimp' operate my soul through the whole of December as usual, my goal was more marathon-like than sprint as I just wanted to 'get round'. I wore my club vest just in case I pulled a sub-16 out the bag but I did have to put a T-Shirt on underneath it. Not because of the cold but because there was a little too much 'December Side Boob' on display through the arm hole of the vest. Come June I will try and pass them off as pecs...but there is just no hiding them this soon after Chrimbo!!
I plodded a respectable but unimpressive 23:19 out and stamped it with a 'Room for Improvement'.

So blogging eh? Not something I've tried before and I don't know if I should be writing for me to read or if I should write it with the notion that somebody else might actually read it!! I'll just tap away on this keyboard once a month or so and see what happens!!

Looking forward to January's Half Marathon, which is The Four Villages in Helsby on Sunday 20th and the following Sunday is The Chernobyl 10k in Preston. I do hope the weather holds off a bit because if either of these get cancelled...it was the worst attempt at something like this ever!!!