Continuing on from where I left off last weekend, today I followed up my interclub and Worden Park successes with a victory in the Lancashire Championships 5000 metres, at Stanley Park, Blackpool.
Now, I would not consider myself a proper track runner, far from it - this was actually only my second ever race performance on a track. My first came exactly 12 months ago when I claimed silver in 16:00.
I do train on the track once a week, at UCLAN sports arena, in Cottam. But the prospect of racing on the surface and in that environment has never really appealed to me for whatever reason.
Perhaps it is the conception that you have to be rapidly quick to enter track races, and the fear of not being quick enough? Also, with training for Spring marathons over the last 3 years, it has always clashed with the short track season, meaning I miss out. I don't know, but for some reason it is something that has just never materialised properly.
Anyway, encouraged by Team Chairman, Lee Barlow, Wesham has managed to turn out in force at this particular event in the last two years. For the second campaign in a row we took home the team prize and Gold medals -Well done all on team Wesham!
Myself, Lee, club stalwart Alex Rowe and team captain Garry Barnett wore the club colours out there today and all did the vest proud.
Individually, I took the win, and Gold medal - meaning I am Lancashire men's 5000 metres champion for the next 12 months!
Ok, so many of the top runners weren't there - but what's the saying? "you've got to be in it to win it"? I have no doubts that I would have gone quicker if I had someone to battle it out against, but I feel like I put in a solid performance in the circumstance.
It's a shame that there wasn't a few more quicker guys out there, as I feel I would have really benefited from that. But I am confident that when I go out and race at a more 'loaded' race in the future, that these experiences will stand me in good stead and I will be able to take advantage of being in company then.
Running fast, and pushing yourself physically can be difficult anyway, but trying to do it out on your own can be really tough, finding the motivation to find that extra couple of percent to boost your performance. I set off looking to run15:30 pace (5 minutes per mile), and ended up with 15:39 after fading in the latter part of the race.
It was a lovely sunny day, and despite being clear out front I still had plenty of targets to sight - as I found myself setting a little personal challenge to lap the rest of the field (which I managed - sorry!!) and that helped me to keep going all the way in to the finish.
A great day, fantastic result, and a couple more medals for the cabinet. A good start for a summer on the shorter stuff!
Saturday, 23 May 2015
Sunday, 17 May 2015
First 10k of the year
I can't believe we have made it to the middle of May and prior to today I hadn't raced a single 10k all year!
Ribble Valley was my last outing over the distance back in late December. Although I had meant to have been doing various races before now, for one reason or another it just never happened.
Today I started to put that right. A combination of wanting to get out of Moll's hair whilst she revised for Monday's exam, feeling fresh after Thursday's interclub and the fact that the race had been added to Wesham's club championship, saw me venture off to Leyland to do the Worden Park 10k.
I last did this race back in 2013, when I finished second place in 35:34. It isn't the easiest of courses, is undulating throughout, with quite a tough hill at the end of each of the two laps. Unfortunately the wind hadn't dropped any from Thursday either, so conditions didn't exactly help for fast times.
There was some good competition on the start line today, so I knew that I would have to be switched on and "on it" from the off, with Matt Thompson (who I am still to beat at crosscountry!) club mate James Mulvany and young Joe Monk all very good standard runners.
Joe ran practically the same time today as I did two years ago, it is obvious that he is going to be a high class athlete in a couple of years time. If I had any advice for him, it would just be to stay patient and keep working hard - I remember what it was like to be the youngest at races and trying to close that gap to be winning races. He will do it sooner or later, but hopefully when he does I will have continued to develop myself and can keep up with him!
As we set off on a downhill start, it was actually Joe that was really the only one to pull away with me in the early stages, I think I dropped him after about a quarter of a mile, and from then on in I was on my own. It was just like a re-run of Thursday's interclub all over again, with the knowledge that as long as I didn't do anything daft, the race was already in the bag - but despite the conditions and nature of the course, I really fancied a crack at my PB.
To get that PB would require me to run an average of 5:15 per mile, and my first mile got off to a good start, posting 5:09. The second mile of the course levelled out from the downhill start and then began to add a few gradual inclines and undulations, a check of my watch saw that I had slipped to 5:20 for the mile. The third mile was mainly uphill, and with a tough kick towards the end of the lap. I managed to maintain the same 5:20 pace from the previous mile by digging in a bit more.
So at halfway I found myself about 5 seconds shy of PB pace, but still within touching distance. Mile 4 was a repeat of the first mile of course, and I clocked the exact same time for it as first time around (5:09), meaning that for the first time since the early stages of the race, I was back in the realms of a PB time.
I knew that mile 5 would be tough, as the mental aspect began to get harder, knowing that the race was well won already, I admit that running into that head wind it was tempting to relax a little. I resisted though and pushed on - and ran 5:23 for the mile. I was slightly disappointed to be back behind the required rate, but knew I was still in with a slim chance if I could summon up a big finish.
Sadly, the second time around the big final climb did for me, I chucked everything in to that sixth mile, but clocking 5:24 I knew the game was up.
I did however, still have a shot at the course record (32:47), and I gave it my all in the last stretch into the finishing line. I came up just short again however, finishing in a time of 32:49.
All things considered though, I am delighted with both my performance and application to the race, and it gives me huge confidence moving on to more 10k's through the rest of the year. I will run quicker, but today will have benefited me massively I reckon.
To top it off, Wesham claimed another men's team prize, to round up a fantastic week for the club again!
On we march #teamwesham!!
Ribble Valley was my last outing over the distance back in late December. Although I had meant to have been doing various races before now, for one reason or another it just never happened.
Today I started to put that right. A combination of wanting to get out of Moll's hair whilst she revised for Monday's exam, feeling fresh after Thursday's interclub and the fact that the race had been added to Wesham's club championship, saw me venture off to Leyland to do the Worden Park 10k.
I last did this race back in 2013, when I finished second place in 35:34. It isn't the easiest of courses, is undulating throughout, with quite a tough hill at the end of each of the two laps. Unfortunately the wind hadn't dropped any from Thursday either, so conditions didn't exactly help for fast times.
There was some good competition on the start line today, so I knew that I would have to be switched on and "on it" from the off, with Matt Thompson (who I am still to beat at crosscountry!) club mate James Mulvany and young Joe Monk all very good standard runners.
Joe ran practically the same time today as I did two years ago, it is obvious that he is going to be a high class athlete in a couple of years time. If I had any advice for him, it would just be to stay patient and keep working hard - I remember what it was like to be the youngest at races and trying to close that gap to be winning races. He will do it sooner or later, but hopefully when he does I will have continued to develop myself and can keep up with him!
As we set off on a downhill start, it was actually Joe that was really the only one to pull away with me in the early stages, I think I dropped him after about a quarter of a mile, and from then on in I was on my own. It was just like a re-run of Thursday's interclub all over again, with the knowledge that as long as I didn't do anything daft, the race was already in the bag - but despite the conditions and nature of the course, I really fancied a crack at my PB.
To get that PB would require me to run an average of 5:15 per mile, and my first mile got off to a good start, posting 5:09. The second mile of the course levelled out from the downhill start and then began to add a few gradual inclines and undulations, a check of my watch saw that I had slipped to 5:20 for the mile. The third mile was mainly uphill, and with a tough kick towards the end of the lap. I managed to maintain the same 5:20 pace from the previous mile by digging in a bit more.
So at halfway I found myself about 5 seconds shy of PB pace, but still within touching distance. Mile 4 was a repeat of the first mile of course, and I clocked the exact same time for it as first time around (5:09), meaning that for the first time since the early stages of the race, I was back in the realms of a PB time.
I knew that mile 5 would be tough, as the mental aspect began to get harder, knowing that the race was well won already, I admit that running into that head wind it was tempting to relax a little. I resisted though and pushed on - and ran 5:23 for the mile. I was slightly disappointed to be back behind the required rate, but knew I was still in with a slim chance if I could summon up a big finish.
Sadly, the second time around the big final climb did for me, I chucked everything in to that sixth mile, but clocking 5:24 I knew the game was up.
I did however, still have a shot at the course record (32:47), and I gave it my all in the last stretch into the finishing line. I came up just short again however, finishing in a time of 32:49.
All things considered though, I am delighted with both my performance and application to the race, and it gives me huge confidence moving on to more 10k's through the rest of the year. I will run quicker, but today will have benefited me massively I reckon.
To top it off, Wesham claimed another men's team prize, to round up a fantastic week for the club again!
On we march #teamwesham!!
Thursday, 14 May 2015
Getting the job done.
Tonight saw the second Interclub fixture of the 2015 season.
It was the turn of Lytham Road Runners to play host, and so that meant a 5 mile race. The course, as usual, taking in the promenade and Fairhaven Lake in St Anne's.
In the build up to this race, I didn't really know what to expect, but had hoped to keep myself in with a shout of the individual title having won the first fixture at Blackpool last month. However, little over two weeks recovery from the marathon meant that this was far from a by-gone conclusion.
My chances were aided though by the decision of many of the top Preston Harriers runners not to partake in the race. The men's Masters Relays is this coming weekend, so the chance of a medal meant that Rob Affleck, Gethin Butler, Gary Pennington, Jason Parker and a couple of others took the decision to rest up instead.
Furthermore, with track races over the weekend to focus on Dave Rigby and Chris Tulley also opted out and instead did a training run along the front.
So, on the start line I knew that I would have a good chance of building on my opening win, and was probably favourite to make it two in two. But that doesn't mean it was a foregone conclusion, I still had to go out and put in a shift and good performance to be sure of the point and to help lead the team to hopefully a good finish too.
As we set off, I quickly moved to the front and decided to attack the race fairly hard from the off, in order to try and set my marker and see who would break away with me from the rest. It soon became apparent though that I was in fact opening up a rather big gap behind already.
I clocked a decent 5:06 for the first mile and was told just before the mile marker by Sue Samme that I had a "50 metre lead", I tried not to take my foot off the gas and ploughed on in mile 2. This one was all in to a big wind though and naturally my time was effected by the conditions as a result - therefore I am rather pleased with 5:20 for the second mile, as I moved further away from those chasing behind.
Chris and Dave had run past me in the other direction and urged me to relax a little as I was well clear, but in my mind I still wanted to have a go at running a good time, even if I was running alone.
At the half way point of the race, you come around the lake and return to the main road heading back in the direction of the promenade from which you first set off. At this stage I allowed myself a little look over my shoulder to see just how much of a gap I had, and was delighted to see my Wesham team mate Karl Lee in second place!
The third mile had seen the pace drop as possibly I had slackened off a bit, and as a result I went through the mile in 5:26, at this point the PB looking out of reach.
With the wind behind me on the way back though, I managed to find a few seconds again in mile 4, clocking 5:14, and again being urged by Tulley to relax and conserve energy with the race won. The truth is though, that I genuinely didn't feel as though I was pushing it - I definitely had some in the tank - which is good because I want to race again this weekend!
I enjoyed myself in the final mile, and knowing that the sub 26' wasn't going to be on, I had a bit of fun and enjoyed the moment instead, playing up to the camera for David Wood and waving to my mum and dad in the home straight. It felt good to claim the win - even if some of the bigger hitters were absent.
Despite all this, looking back at my time, I finished in 26:19 - or 5:16 pace on average, which means if I had maintained what felt like a comfortable pace for another 1.2 miles I would actually have equalled my quickest time for 10k!
So that makes it two in two for the season, and 3 back to back interclub wins if we include last years result - something to motivate me and look to build on at Preston in a few weeks time.
Also, Karl held out for second place - his best interclub placing, and I think - although not yet confirmed - Wesham even claimed the team victory on the night!
A fantastic night for team Wesham!!
It was the turn of Lytham Road Runners to play host, and so that meant a 5 mile race. The course, as usual, taking in the promenade and Fairhaven Lake in St Anne's.
In the build up to this race, I didn't really know what to expect, but had hoped to keep myself in with a shout of the individual title having won the first fixture at Blackpool last month. However, little over two weeks recovery from the marathon meant that this was far from a by-gone conclusion.
My chances were aided though by the decision of many of the top Preston Harriers runners not to partake in the race. The men's Masters Relays is this coming weekend, so the chance of a medal meant that Rob Affleck, Gethin Butler, Gary Pennington, Jason Parker and a couple of others took the decision to rest up instead.
Furthermore, with track races over the weekend to focus on Dave Rigby and Chris Tulley also opted out and instead did a training run along the front.
So, on the start line I knew that I would have a good chance of building on my opening win, and was probably favourite to make it two in two. But that doesn't mean it was a foregone conclusion, I still had to go out and put in a shift and good performance to be sure of the point and to help lead the team to hopefully a good finish too.
As we set off, I quickly moved to the front and decided to attack the race fairly hard from the off, in order to try and set my marker and see who would break away with me from the rest. It soon became apparent though that I was in fact opening up a rather big gap behind already.
I clocked a decent 5:06 for the first mile and was told just before the mile marker by Sue Samme that I had a "50 metre lead", I tried not to take my foot off the gas and ploughed on in mile 2. This one was all in to a big wind though and naturally my time was effected by the conditions as a result - therefore I am rather pleased with 5:20 for the second mile, as I moved further away from those chasing behind.
Chris and Dave had run past me in the other direction and urged me to relax a little as I was well clear, but in my mind I still wanted to have a go at running a good time, even if I was running alone.
At the half way point of the race, you come around the lake and return to the main road heading back in the direction of the promenade from which you first set off. At this stage I allowed myself a little look over my shoulder to see just how much of a gap I had, and was delighted to see my Wesham team mate Karl Lee in second place!
The third mile had seen the pace drop as possibly I had slackened off a bit, and as a result I went through the mile in 5:26, at this point the PB looking out of reach.
With the wind behind me on the way back though, I managed to find a few seconds again in mile 4, clocking 5:14, and again being urged by Tulley to relax and conserve energy with the race won. The truth is though, that I genuinely didn't feel as though I was pushing it - I definitely had some in the tank - which is good because I want to race again this weekend!
I enjoyed myself in the final mile, and knowing that the sub 26' wasn't going to be on, I had a bit of fun and enjoyed the moment instead, playing up to the camera for David Wood and waving to my mum and dad in the home straight. It felt good to claim the win - even if some of the bigger hitters were absent.
Despite all this, looking back at my time, I finished in 26:19 - or 5:16 pace on average, which means if I had maintained what felt like a comfortable pace for another 1.2 miles I would actually have equalled my quickest time for 10k!
So that makes it two in two for the season, and 3 back to back interclub wins if we include last years result - something to motivate me and look to build on at Preston in a few weeks time.
Also, Karl held out for second place - his best interclub placing, and I think - although not yet confirmed - Wesham even claimed the team victory on the night!
A fantastic night for team Wesham!!
Sunday, 10 May 2015
Striving for consistent mileage
After more or less a full week off following the London marathon (not quite zero miles, as I did go for a 7 mile stretch of my legs the Saturday after), this week was about finishing my recovery and starting to get underway with my next training wave.
Perhaps aided by the bank holiday (I managed to fit in an extra run on Monday) I actually completed 65 miles for the week - the same amount that I averaged throughout the peak of my marathon training.
To be honest, I wasn't exactly sure how this week would go - I started the week still a bit leggy from the effects of London, but by mid-week I felt fully recovered and so have pressed on with training as normal.
Taking advantage of the bank holiday Monday, I decided to start the week off by doing Avenham Park 5k, although I knew I wouldn't be able to perform at 100% just a week after a marathon, I took the decision that the race would be beneficial to try and blow some of the lactic out of my legs. A 3 mile warm up, and a slow 3 mile cool down, took me to 9 miles for the morning.
In the evening, I then headed to the running club, and offered my services as a marshal for the club handicap, but ran to the marshalling point and topped up my mileage with another 4 miles.
Deciding to wait another week before my return to the usual Tuesday track session, instead I just went out for a steady one hour run this Tuesday, managing to tick off another 9 miles, though the legs still felt a little sore from the previous mornings race.
Wednesday was put aside for a day off, but I ticked over with a nice 2 mile jog with Molly around Moor Park - she did well, and I hope I didn't do her head in too much!
Thursday saw me go for an 8 mile progressive tempo run with Mr Affleck and Mr Butler, averaging 5:53 pace, with a mile and a half cool down taking it to 9.5 miles for the day. The tempo run was actually completed slightly quicker than our final 'hard' session prior to the marathon - and felt easier too, so hopefully those are good signs for the future!
On Friday, I took the decision to run home from work in St Anne's, although I nearly bottled it when I saw how atrocious the weather was when I prepared to set off. It was absolutely launching it down all the way home! But I got through it and logged another 10.5 steady miles. Once I got going I actually enjoyed the run, in spite of the weather - and luckily my phone didn't get too water damaged either...
I worked on Saturday morning, so rather than going for my usual long run, in the afternoon I went on a shorter session run. I did a one mile warm up, 4 mile tempo (at 5:39 average pace) and two mile cool down. In much warmer conditions, this was a tough little session, but a good one to get out of the way.
To complete the week I ended up doing a 15 miler this afternoon. I hadn't intended to do a long run this week, instead I was planning on doing 10-12 and then picking up the longer stuff again next weekend, but I felt strong and decided to take advantage of the fact. This topped my weekly mileage up to 65 and completed a very satisfying weeks work.
If you had said to me this time last year that a 65 mile week would be 'standard' for me, I probably wouldn't have believed you. I used to feel tired off 50 miles and didn't have a clue how I was going to cope with the extra workload, but by increasing it gradually I have managed to reach a point where this is now a normal weeks work for me.
I know some runners do 90-100 miles a week (plus), but I don't think I will ever be in the position to put that amount of sheer mileage in. With the nature of my work and lifestyle it can be hard to squeeze in too many extra miles, but if I carry on doing it slowly and gradually, and manage to tweak a few things here and there, maybe this time next year I will be putting in 70-75 miles a week regularly, rather than just on 'high mileage' weeks. We will see!
Perhaps aided by the bank holiday (I managed to fit in an extra run on Monday) I actually completed 65 miles for the week - the same amount that I averaged throughout the peak of my marathon training.
To be honest, I wasn't exactly sure how this week would go - I started the week still a bit leggy from the effects of London, but by mid-week I felt fully recovered and so have pressed on with training as normal.
Taking advantage of the bank holiday Monday, I decided to start the week off by doing Avenham Park 5k, although I knew I wouldn't be able to perform at 100% just a week after a marathon, I took the decision that the race would be beneficial to try and blow some of the lactic out of my legs. A 3 mile warm up, and a slow 3 mile cool down, took me to 9 miles for the morning.
In the evening, I then headed to the running club, and offered my services as a marshal for the club handicap, but ran to the marshalling point and topped up my mileage with another 4 miles.
Deciding to wait another week before my return to the usual Tuesday track session, instead I just went out for a steady one hour run this Tuesday, managing to tick off another 9 miles, though the legs still felt a little sore from the previous mornings race.
Wednesday was put aside for a day off, but I ticked over with a nice 2 mile jog with Molly around Moor Park - she did well, and I hope I didn't do her head in too much!
Thursday saw me go for an 8 mile progressive tempo run with Mr Affleck and Mr Butler, averaging 5:53 pace, with a mile and a half cool down taking it to 9.5 miles for the day. The tempo run was actually completed slightly quicker than our final 'hard' session prior to the marathon - and felt easier too, so hopefully those are good signs for the future!
On Friday, I took the decision to run home from work in St Anne's, although I nearly bottled it when I saw how atrocious the weather was when I prepared to set off. It was absolutely launching it down all the way home! But I got through it and logged another 10.5 steady miles. Once I got going I actually enjoyed the run, in spite of the weather - and luckily my phone didn't get too water damaged either...
I worked on Saturday morning, so rather than going for my usual long run, in the afternoon I went on a shorter session run. I did a one mile warm up, 4 mile tempo (at 5:39 average pace) and two mile cool down. In much warmer conditions, this was a tough little session, but a good one to get out of the way.
To complete the week I ended up doing a 15 miler this afternoon. I hadn't intended to do a long run this week, instead I was planning on doing 10-12 and then picking up the longer stuff again next weekend, but I felt strong and decided to take advantage of the fact. This topped my weekly mileage up to 65 and completed a very satisfying weeks work.
If you had said to me this time last year that a 65 mile week would be 'standard' for me, I probably wouldn't have believed you. I used to feel tired off 50 miles and didn't have a clue how I was going to cope with the extra workload, but by increasing it gradually I have managed to reach a point where this is now a normal weeks work for me.
I know some runners do 90-100 miles a week (plus), but I don't think I will ever be in the position to put that amount of sheer mileage in. With the nature of my work and lifestyle it can be hard to squeeze in too many extra miles, but if I carry on doing it slowly and gradually, and manage to tweak a few things here and there, maybe this time next year I will be putting in 70-75 miles a week regularly, rather than just on 'high mileage' weeks. We will see!
Monday, 4 May 2015
Heavy legs!
After a week off from running - and dealing with the media lol - it was back to action today at the Avenham 5k.
This is a race that I won last year, but the quicker turnaround - with the marathon being a fortnight later this time - meant that I was never going to be quite in shape for this one.
But it felt good to be back out there and running and trying to let my feet do the talking!
The race got underway at 11am, and the sun blessed us with an appearance, making for nice conditions for a run.
As the gun went off (or Shane Cliffe shouted "right go on then!" to be a bit more precise haha, a young lad in shall we say 'dubious' running gear went flying off like the clappers. The rest of us had a good laugh and left him to it, knowing full well that we would catch up to him and pass by the minute we got out of the park...
...which we did, and from there on I took the race on from the front and stretched the field out a bit. I knew that I would tire as the race went on and wouldn't have my usual sprint finish, so tried to gain as much of an advantage early doors as I could.
We went through the 1 mile mark in a steady 5:15 pace, roughly what I had targeted running, so I was happy enough at this point. By now only Gary Pennington of Preston Harriers had come away with me and then there was a decent sized gap opening up from Gethin Butler (Preston) and a Blackburn runner in third and fourth place.
Half way through mile 2 it became increasingly apparent that Gary was now sitting on my shoulder and ready to make a move, but with the undulations and hills through this section of the race, the pace slowed down and I maintained the lead as we passed through the second mile marker. The pace had dropped through that mile though (5:30 for the mile) and mile legs were now starting to feel heavy.
With about a mile to go Gary made his move, passing me and moving a few seconds ahead before I managed to react, I tried to keep him in range, but knew that if it came down to a sprint finish then I wouldn't have much of one in me today! As it was, I eased off as we re-entered the park and decided to settle for securing second place, mile 3 was a 5:26 mile and Gethin had managed to close up the gap again, but not enough.
I went through the finish line clocking 16:21, the exact same time that I produced at the race last year when I won, but off two weeks less recovery, so overall a decent enough performance which blew a few of the cobwebs away. A good point to start from as I look to ease back into full training over the next week or so.
This is a race that I won last year, but the quicker turnaround - with the marathon being a fortnight later this time - meant that I was never going to be quite in shape for this one.
But it felt good to be back out there and running and trying to let my feet do the talking!
The race got underway at 11am, and the sun blessed us with an appearance, making for nice conditions for a run.
As the gun went off (or Shane Cliffe shouted "right go on then!" to be a bit more precise haha, a young lad in shall we say 'dubious' running gear went flying off like the clappers. The rest of us had a good laugh and left him to it, knowing full well that we would catch up to him and pass by the minute we got out of the park...
...which we did, and from there on I took the race on from the front and stretched the field out a bit. I knew that I would tire as the race went on and wouldn't have my usual sprint finish, so tried to gain as much of an advantage early doors as I could.
We went through the 1 mile mark in a steady 5:15 pace, roughly what I had targeted running, so I was happy enough at this point. By now only Gary Pennington of Preston Harriers had come away with me and then there was a decent sized gap opening up from Gethin Butler (Preston) and a Blackburn runner in third and fourth place.
Half way through mile 2 it became increasingly apparent that Gary was now sitting on my shoulder and ready to make a move, but with the undulations and hills through this section of the race, the pace slowed down and I maintained the lead as we passed through the second mile marker. The pace had dropped through that mile though (5:30 for the mile) and mile legs were now starting to feel heavy.
With about a mile to go Gary made his move, passing me and moving a few seconds ahead before I managed to react, I tried to keep him in range, but knew that if it came down to a sprint finish then I wouldn't have much of one in me today! As it was, I eased off as we re-entered the park and decided to settle for securing second place, mile 3 was a 5:26 mile and Gethin had managed to close up the gap again, but not enough.
I went through the finish line clocking 16:21, the exact same time that I produced at the race last year when I won, but off two weeks less recovery, so overall a decent enough performance which blew a few of the cobwebs away. A good point to start from as I look to ease back into full training over the next week or so.
Tuesday, 28 April 2015
Hand in hand: part 3!
YES PLEASE!?!
Oh my days.
We had to finish in separate funnels, so got separated just short of the line, but I got a nice cuddle afterwards. Paula even said to me "I was looking for someone to finish hand in hand with, thankyou". Wow.
What has followed since has been crazy.
Local press, TV and radio have all wanted interviews, there was a giant picture of the hand in hand finish in the Guardian, whilst today two running magazines rang for interviews with little old me! Plus messages off Paula Radcliffe and Nell McAndrew amongst others. Surreal.
This was a once in a lifetime moment, my own little piece of history. Things like this are a freak one off, so I have tried to have a laugh with it and use it to publicise my club as best I can.
You only live once and should never take yourself too seriously.
The moral of the story? Anything is possible, so dream big everyone.
Xx
Image courtesy of Jane Monti
Oh my days.
We had to finish in separate funnels, so got separated just short of the line, but I got a nice cuddle afterwards. Paula even said to me "I was looking for someone to finish hand in hand with, thankyou". Wow.
What has followed since has been crazy.
Local press, TV and radio have all wanted interviews, there was a giant picture of the hand in hand finish in the Guardian, whilst today two running magazines rang for interviews with little old me! Plus messages off Paula Radcliffe and Nell McAndrew amongst others. Surreal.
This was a once in a lifetime moment, my own little piece of history. Things like this are a freak one off, so I have tried to have a laugh with it and use it to publicise my club as best I can.
You only live once and should never take yourself too seriously.
The moral of the story? Anything is possible, so dream big everyone.
Xx
Hand in hand: part 2!
Miles 16-18 were probably the toughest of the race. I found myself dropping off from the nice pack that I had been in and running pretty much on my own for 3 miles. I lost satellite signal on my garmin through a section of this period of the race, so my garmin recordings may not be 100% accurate, however I logged 6:14, 5:59 and 6:20 through this section.
I took on board my second energy gel at 16 miles, and I don't know if it didn't agree with my stomach or something, but I suffered stomach cramps and was sick in my mouth about ten minutes after taking it!
During that difficult section of the run, it struck me just how isolated you can feel when running on your own, even in a field of some 38,000 runners, in the best supported race on the planet. I am not afraid to say that I really, genuinely felt like jacking it in at points through that period. I felt rubbish, and the thought of having to run another 8-9 miles when I felt sapped of energy already was incredibly daunting.
It seems crazy now looking back, but that is how I felt, and I'm sure there are many, many others that know that feeling from during their own runs at times too. That is part of the challenge of the marathon, answering your own mental demons and questions of how strong you are. But I dug deep and remembered Mr Affleck's words of advise - that when the going gets tough to remind yourself what your running for and all the hard work you had put in to preparing for this run.
I got things together again for mile 19 and 20, deciding to go for it and putting in my quickest miles of the race, clocking 5:41 and 5:44 respectively.
Just before mile 20 I heard on a tannoy that Paula Radcliffe had just passed through that mile marker - Paula Radcliffe!! - I knew it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to be able to say that you have run within touching distance of one of the sports all time greats, so I worked hard and faught my way up to latch on to the pack.
Once I was there I felt comfortable in and amongst the pack. The noise that surrounded us was immense - certainly louder than anything I have ever experienced before, and you could just sense the amount of will power and support the crowd were offering to Paula to urge her on to the finish. It was impossible not to get caught up in it and pushed on yourself. The crowd was shouting "come on Paula!", but I'm sure it helped every single one of us that was in that group to find that little bit extra.
Mile 21 was a solid 5:53, but then the pace dropped off and this was the point where I really had to dig deep. Just as the motorbike with a big tv camera strapped on the back of it decided to plonk itself right in front of me...
I have to admit, I am not camera shy haha, my first thought was 'yay, hopefully this bit makes it on the tele!' The only problem being I expected it to follow us for a few seconds or minutes. Instead after a couple of miles, it dawned on me that this camera was going to be fixed on Paula and of course the rest of the group in and around her through to the finish. My legs were tightening up but I just knew I couldn't give up and let this opportunity to keep running with a legend pass up. I tired and tired, but more than anything I think in the last few miles it was sheer will power and determination not to give up that saw me through.
After recording 6:01 and 6:06 in miles 22 and 23, mile 24 was ultra tough and much slower, down to 6:42 for the mile.
From there on in though, we were into the final stretch and mile 25 saw the pace pick up again with a 5:42 mile.
It was at this point that it came in to my mind that the London marathon team, on its website, twitter and Facebook page, had been pleading and appealing all week for runners to mark the 35th anniversary of the 1st London Marathon by finishing hand in hand with another runner, just as Beardsley and Simonsen had done to win jointly in 1981. Surely not...?!
I made up my mind that if I managed to stay in and amongst it in this final mile then I would ask Paula if she wanted to finish with me.
A 6:12 mile later and there we were entering The Mall, a matter of a few hundred metres from the line, Paula had pushed on ahead by now and I had to find a bit of a sprint to catch up. At the same time I think she may have been easing off. Taking in the moment, soaking up that last bit of support before she retires?
Maybe, but whatever it was, it saw me alongside her with just 100m to go.
I shouted "Paula! Do you want to finish hand in hand?" And half expected that she wouldn't hear me.
And then she replied "Yes please".
I took on board my second energy gel at 16 miles, and I don't know if it didn't agree with my stomach or something, but I suffered stomach cramps and was sick in my mouth about ten minutes after taking it!
During that difficult section of the run, it struck me just how isolated you can feel when running on your own, even in a field of some 38,000 runners, in the best supported race on the planet. I am not afraid to say that I really, genuinely felt like jacking it in at points through that period. I felt rubbish, and the thought of having to run another 8-9 miles when I felt sapped of energy already was incredibly daunting.
It seems crazy now looking back, but that is how I felt, and I'm sure there are many, many others that know that feeling from during their own runs at times too. That is part of the challenge of the marathon, answering your own mental demons and questions of how strong you are. But I dug deep and remembered Mr Affleck's words of advise - that when the going gets tough to remind yourself what your running for and all the hard work you had put in to preparing for this run.
I got things together again for mile 19 and 20, deciding to go for it and putting in my quickest miles of the race, clocking 5:41 and 5:44 respectively.
Just before mile 20 I heard on a tannoy that Paula Radcliffe had just passed through that mile marker - Paula Radcliffe!! - I knew it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to be able to say that you have run within touching distance of one of the sports all time greats, so I worked hard and faught my way up to latch on to the pack.
Once I was there I felt comfortable in and amongst the pack. The noise that surrounded us was immense - certainly louder than anything I have ever experienced before, and you could just sense the amount of will power and support the crowd were offering to Paula to urge her on to the finish. It was impossible not to get caught up in it and pushed on yourself. The crowd was shouting "come on Paula!", but I'm sure it helped every single one of us that was in that group to find that little bit extra.
Mile 21 was a solid 5:53, but then the pace dropped off and this was the point where I really had to dig deep. Just as the motorbike with a big tv camera strapped on the back of it decided to plonk itself right in front of me...
I have to admit, I am not camera shy haha, my first thought was 'yay, hopefully this bit makes it on the tele!' The only problem being I expected it to follow us for a few seconds or minutes. Instead after a couple of miles, it dawned on me that this camera was going to be fixed on Paula and of course the rest of the group in and around her through to the finish. My legs were tightening up but I just knew I couldn't give up and let this opportunity to keep running with a legend pass up. I tired and tired, but more than anything I think in the last few miles it was sheer will power and determination not to give up that saw me through.
After recording 6:01 and 6:06 in miles 22 and 23, mile 24 was ultra tough and much slower, down to 6:42 for the mile.
From there on in though, we were into the final stretch and mile 25 saw the pace pick up again with a 5:42 mile.
It was at this point that it came in to my mind that the London marathon team, on its website, twitter and Facebook page, had been pleading and appealing all week for runners to mark the 35th anniversary of the 1st London Marathon by finishing hand in hand with another runner, just as Beardsley and Simonsen had done to win jointly in 1981. Surely not...?!
I made up my mind that if I managed to stay in and amongst it in this final mile then I would ask Paula if she wanted to finish with me.
A 6:12 mile later and there we were entering The Mall, a matter of a few hundred metres from the line, Paula had pushed on ahead by now and I had to find a bit of a sprint to catch up. At the same time I think she may have been easing off. Taking in the moment, soaking up that last bit of support before she retires?
Maybe, but whatever it was, it saw me alongside her with just 100m to go.
I shouted "Paula! Do you want to finish hand in hand?" And half expected that she wouldn't hear me.
And then she replied "Yes please".
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)