The date is Friday 30th September and it is coming up to 9pm. It has been a lovely day as my four year old daughter had graduated from Pre-School and we had had a celebratory meal in Frankie and Benny’s (other average pretend Italian chain food establishments are available). I’m nursing a sore foot that had developed after the Fleetwood Half Marathon the previous Sunday. My fear is that the session of physio and acupuncture I had received on the Wednesday wasn’t going to get me in shape enough for the Blackpool Hilton 10k in the morning. I was taking Ibuprofen ‘Trainspotting’ style in the hope that any swelling to the strained tendon would ease and I would line up, fit as a fiddle, and ready to address my 10k PB of 45:11 on a flat course.
Cue- painful right foot 45 minutes before the start! It was decision time, line up and run or pull out. I went with the ‘line up’ option with the intention of ‘seeing how it feels’. I got talking to two guys from Liverpool Running Club who had commented on the lack of Black and White vests at such a local event. We then moved on to PBs, current mood/training/commitment to running and our targets and goals for the impending trot. The two fine gents told me how they would be aiming for a sub-42 but would be happy with a sub-44 due to recent niggles/hospital visits/nights out and I thought to myself ‘I am going to use you!’
I set off with their pace in mind and fair enough, I was able to stay with them for the first mile. I had set the Garmin to auto lap at each km; these two guys were talking in miles so I tried to avoid the maths and run comfortably, bearing in mind I was hiding my pain pretty well! The conditions were good. There was some wind but it wasn’t blowing for or against you with any venom- it was just blowing. Like I said, I managed to stay with them for them for the first mile...but then I started to ease away from them. I felt organised, I felt in line, I felt controlled and metronomic. I felt like something good was in the pipeline as long as I stayed calm and didn’t do one of the two things I am consistently guilty of- 1) the mid race lull or 2) the final stretch flop. There was only 10 seconds between my fastest and slowest km split, a sign of my development perhaps, that I am now able to pick a suitable pace and run it? Who knows? But, it was working today as the miles slipped away and the vests fell behind me.
I crossed the line in 43:50, a PB by 1:21! I realised then that things were beginning to change for me. I could almost feel the competitive streak changing it’s parameters inside my head. I was under 45 minutes for 10k…I was getting closer to 40 minutes…just imagine if you were half a stone lighter…imagine what would happen if you worked on your core…who is your next scalp…was this a one off…get off your heels and on your toes…just think without that sore foot…and so on. I had run the race of my life, and you know what it felt great! Kudos once again to the Fylde Coast Running gang for putting on another small but well organised race that utilises what they have right on their doorstep.
The date is Saturday 14th September and it’s late afternoon/early evening. The mighty blues are walloping Chelsea all over the hallowed turf at Goodison Park, yet I am in a pub in Newcastle eating pasta with some running buddies thinking and talking about the Great North Run in the morning. The biggest field yet with 56,000 entrants headed up by three of the biggest names in distance running- Bekele, Farah and Gebrselassie with new kid on the block Cantwell starting in Orange block C!! The foot was feeling ok, I had rested well through the week with a gentle tuner on the Friday morning and I was thinking what if I could improve on my PB of 1:41:38 at this amazing event. The Sunday started well with a good breakfast, an efficient toilet visit (or two) and an organised taxi to the starting area. It’s at his point that you begin to realise the scale of the operation. A start line which is over 1km long, 56,000 colour coded runners that will be moving at varying speeds from one place, through another and finishing in a third about 13.1 miles away. It’s hard to imagine logistically but they have it down!! Maybe the best organised event I have ever been involved in!
The gun metal sky and the blue-ish hue to the air indicated rain at some point but it was keeping its cards close to its chest. ‘How much’ and ‘when’ replaced any possibility of ‘if’. The great bowel debate was opened again but on this occasion it was too close to the start time to wait in line and see so I decided it was nerves and filed in to my pen. I had a running buddy for the race and we had decided on trying 7:45 minute/miles and seeing how we went on , both unsure about the course profile and how busy it was going to be out on the road.
The gun went off and seven minutes later we crossed the start line, game on. The support was phenomenal from the off and what came as a surprise to me was just how consistent the support was. I didn’t pass 100m of road that didn’t have spectators on it in the whole race. Well done and thank you to the people of Newcastle, Gateshead and South Shields for putting on a terrific show!
Mile 1- 7:31/mile
“Might be a bit quick, we should pull it back a little” I suggested but we were feeling grand.
Mile 2- 7:40/mile
“That’s better, still drop it a bit if you want you know” I suggested, feeling strong and fluid.
Mile 3- 7:34/mile
“Creeping up again here, what do you think?” I asked as I passed Mr Maker off the tele.
Mile 4- 7.43/mile
“Right…bang on!! Keep it like this” I ordered.
Mile 5- 7:57/mile
“We can afford to push a bit” I chimed, feeling nervous about the first four miles.
This is when the promised rain arrived. And it was in buckets!! I was dreading the rain would somehow make it harder but thinking back, it came at the perfect time. I was just starting to feel the heat a bit and the rain had a great cooling and soothing effect on me, so well done again to the organisers.
Mile 6- 7:34/mile
“I’m feeling good are you?” I prodded approaching halfway.
Mile 7- 7:33/mile
“Something isn’t right here” I feared as the miles began counting down.
Mile 8- 7:37/mile
“Six miles to go” I exclaimed before my astonishing lack of mathematical ability was corrected.
Mile 9- 7:52/mile
“We are definitely going uphill” I spewed through pumping arms and increased cadence.
Mile 10- 7:46/mile
I didn’t speak at the make or break point of every half marathon I have ever run.
Mile 11- 7:50/mile
“What have you got left?” I asked hoping the reply would be“plenty let’s kill it!”
Mile 12- 7:42/mile
“Is a sub-100 on the cards? Not with this cramp warning in the right quad!” my chimp told me.
Mile 13- 7:13/mile
“Just soak this up…it doesn’t get better than this Andy La!!” I said to myself as Dave was sprinting to catch up.
The Point 1 bit- about a minute!!
“You little dancer!” I beamed as my thoughts turned to beer drinking and food.
An official chip time of 1:40:52 and a new PB by 46 seconds!! On an undulating course, in a large and congested field…I was one happy chappy! It was the race of my life…part 2.
Since these two races I have had a mixed bag of results once again. I have managed a new PB over 5k at the Princes Parkrun. This now sits teasingly at 21:29 which makes me think that a sub-21 is a possibility. I struggled around Preston 10k the day after that, not knowing that Preston was so hilly!!! That was another well organised event with a nice route through town, park, over bridges and under tunnels. I learnt why the Congleton Half Marathon is called the ‘Sting in the Tale Half’. Somebody has built a massive, PB stealing hill right after the 12 mile marker so I came home four seconds outside PB. I threw myself around the Wirral 10k on Sunday even though Merseyrail and my guts tried their very best to disrupt my preparation for it by one of them cancelling the train and the other needing ‘a sit down’ 6 minutes before the start!! Again, I bounced home just four seconds outside of my PB. This disappointment was intensified due to the fact that it was a relatively flat course and that I had plenty left in the tank when I crossed the finish line in 43:54.
So, I have to squeeze in my October 5k somewhere and then November is the PLS Lamplight 5k, Leeds Abbey Dash 10k and the Conwy Half Marathon. The final three of the 36x36 races are going to be beauties!!! The Clonakilty Half Marathon in Cork is booked along with a double race weekend in between Christmas and New Year with the ol’ faithful Princes Parkrun (get down to it and don’t forget your barcode) and I finish off with the Ribble Valley 10k!
For these last races I will be putting into action, some of the things I have learnt recently. They are:
1)
If it hurts, rub it a bit.
2)
If it still hurts, go and see somebody to rub it better than you.
3)
Do a mini taper before race day.
4)
Warm up before the race.
If this works and I stay focussed on my diet, I step up my core work a little then I hope to join the following clubs by the end of the year:
1)
The sub-21 5k Club
2)
The sub-43 10k Club
3)
The sub-100 HM Club
Next year, when the dust settles on the 36x36 challenge, and I have been able to answer all the question I have asked myself or been asked, I will have one running aim! It will be to join a very elite club, a club so strict that even the position of its existing members isn’t secure. It’s a club that advertises itself as ‘open to anyone’ and has a very reasonable subscription and excellent benefits. If the truth be known, it has few members, and even they are easily disgruntled. You join the club with joy and you make a promise to be a life-long member only to find yourself in front of the ‘committee’ almost immediately! The club I am referring to is ‘The Happy with my Marathon Time Club’ and I would like to be a member before the end of May 2014 please.
