"...and they let you enter?"

I was asked this question by a fellow runner at The Inskip Half Marathon last month and it has stuck with me ever since. I'm pretty sure it was a question that had congratulatory tones involved but I have played it back in my mind over and over and I have been able to transform the element of surprise into an element of shock and disgust at my lack of respect for racing etiquette.

Allow me to back track a little...it was the morning of the scheduled Essar Four Villages Half Marathon that fell foul of the white stuff and I was in desperate need of a half marathon to run. (There is a sentence I never thought I would say, write or think!!) I kitted up and set off for Inskip, not far from Preston, in the hope that I could somehow blag my way in to a full, 'no entry on the day' race. I was the third car in the car park and the tea urn on the butty van had barely boiled when I asked, with extreme politeness, if it would be possible to enter. My wish was granted after a quick call to the organiser and I had a number, the challenge was going to stay alive for at least another day.

Ok, before I have a go at writing a 'race review' (which I can't see going too well), I would like to explain my cold sweats about the simple question I was asked that morning. "...and they let you enter?" A few years ago I took up golf as a hobby. A few of my friends and work colleagues played and they got me into it. I fell for it pretty heavily for a bit and played quite a lot. I tended to play with good golfers, or at least golfers who had played for a long time and one of the first things I learnt about the game was the etiquette. These 'rules' are often unspoken or unwritten but universally understood and applicable. Many of them add nothing to the game and are used to seperate golfers from people who swing sticks at balls. In fact, it was the etiquette that had kept me away for years and one of the reasons I don't play much anymore. It was this question that made me think I may have crossed an etiquette line. I have crossed these lines in other races but I have learned from the experiences. Like running with folk who kept me company/spurred me on in tough races and then pulling away towards the end...tut tut tut...lesson learned. Had I done it again? Does a race that states 'no entries on the day' really expect no 'extras' to chance their arm? Is it frowned upon? Have I brought my club into disrepute? Is there a secret book, full of secrets that is drip fed to the uninitiated through painful lessons, being pulled to one side for a chat or finding yourself looking at the backs of people stood in a knowing huddle?
Or, was my running cohort, just really pleased for me? Probably.



Before The Chernobyl 10k



Enough about the inner workings of a rampant self-botherer, how has The 36 Classics Challenge faired through January and February? Oh by the way, I now know that other people have read these blogs so I now imagine what is going through your minds!!! January saw two fairly unimpressive outings over 5k and 10k. A pedestrian Prince's Parkrun and an unjoyful plod around Chernobyl 10k near Preston. An almost multi-terrain affair which includes roads, toe paths, ankle-deep puddles and about 8 soul destroying climbs of no more than 30 metres in length similar to that little swine in Prince's Park. Only, with wet feet and twice the spite!

 

And after!!

Inskip Half went much better though. A country road and track race, quite flat and certainly pretty enough. The miles ticked by comfortably, I wouldn't say fast, but they came and some surprised me with their seemingly early arrival. I got through the 13.1miles and didn't feel too bad at all. I'd also managed to strip almost a minute off my PB from The Windmill Half 2012.

Inskip Half Marathon

February consisted of the 100th Parkrun, which leads me on to a massive thank you and an even massiver congratulations to the event's organisers and hardcore group of volunteer marshalls who make it THE place to be at 9am on a Saturday morning in Liverpool!!! Another typical 5k effort ensued with the 3km to 4km lull on full show for all to see as they pass me with grace and ease. If your a seasoned athlete, and your 5k PB is at this Parkrun, then fair play to you. That's an effort! If you are a novice and your only 5k race is at this Parkrun...get on another one (not instead of it though), you might just s41t at what you are capable of!! Next came the Mad Dog 10k and a new PB!! I really emjoyed the simplicity of this out and back, and would certainly consider it for next year. It was well organised, plenty of facilities which really helped as the 30 minute delay was the only let down. Great tee, great medal and a ma-hoosive goodie bag. The best thing about this race though...the amount of Striders that romped home to PBs, SBs or times they were pleased with. Well done guys!



Mad Dog 10k Pre-Race



And finally, almost the race of my life!!! Yesterday was the Village Bakery Half Marathon, near Wrexham. A very popular run, advertised as flat and fast and discussed in running circles as an excellent PB opportunity. It rang an Inskip bell as it loops around the surrounding countryside and had a similar elevation map. But, do you know what?? I'm going to say the last 5k was 'bumpier' than the flat they promised and it ripped me to shreds!!! The aforementioned race of my life slipped away and left me with the comfort blanket of a new PB and a Bara Brith fruit loaf which I will be having for breakfast in the morning, toasted and lightly buttered.

Me and my fruit loaf

"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!!!