It's been a while since my last post and I've been getting the itch to start blogging again. That can only mean one thing, I'm running a marathon in the autumn. I had previously written that I would probably not be doing a marathon this year but unfortunately the itch became too much to bear without scratching and I crumbled! Plus my Power of 10 profile would look a bit weird without a marathon for 2016!
Anyway, what have I been up to? In short the plan for this year was to have my first proper foray into Cross Country and simply to try and get as quick as I could at the shorter distances (5k-10k) before attempting a marathon with my new found speed. Well let me tell you, it's been a roaring success. NOT! It has been a very frustrating six months, not least for my patient coach Mike Baxter, who thinks I'm a bit of a weirdo given my inability to convert decent training sessions into good race performances at any distance shorter than 26.2 miles! That said, despite the frustrations there have been some big positives. I have had a few good results as well as bad. I am learning more and more about my strengths as a runner but most importantly I have really enjoyed my running which is the main thing. Of course it goes without saying that I am incredibly grateful for all the support and guidance Mike gives me.
What follows is a run down of the year so far. I'll try not to bang on too much but as readers of my blog may know from the past, I do have a tendency to waffle.
January
Yorkshire XC Championships
So early January saw me tackle my first cross country race in a Leeds City vest and despite feeling fat and unfit (Christmas Excesses!) I ran a decent race finishing 8th in the County Championships, helping Leeds City to team Gold and also secured my first call up to the represent the County at the Inter-counties in March. Result!
Northern XC Championships
After this experience I couldn't wait for my second attempt at XC at the Northern Championships at Blackburn. Unfortunately during my session on the Tuesday before I noticed that I felt a little off and although I tried to ignore what was happening, the reality was I had picked up a pretty debilitating virus. I was so excited about the race though that I continued to be in denial about how I felt and traveled across to Blackburn. On my warm up, I felt horrific; legs were killing me at 8 minute miling and I couldn't stop shivering. Fair enough the weather was pretty biblical but it was more due to the bug than the conditions. I made a sensible decision, much to my frustration, that I wouldn't race and went home with my tail between my legs. Although running is an individual sport, more than anything I was disappointed that I couldn't run for the club as my fitness had been improving since the Yorkshires a few weeks prior and I really wanted to contribute to the team effort if I could.
February
Dewsbury 10k
The virus that I had quickly cleared and by the following Wednesday I felt in a good position to start training again and as I had Dewsbury 10k entered anyway, I thought I would give it a blast. At last I was hitting a shorter distance race feeling really really fit and ready to knock chunks off my PB. My legs also felt brilliant. As soon as the race started though, I hit a sea of lactic within the first mile and from there it was a real battle to the end. I ended up with a slow time of 32:48 for 8th position. Now granted, the weather wasn't conducive to fast times, but I genuinely thought I was in shape to be running close to 2 minutes quicker than that! On reflection I decided that perhaps my body just wasn't ready to be racing so hard after illness. I tried to shelve it and move on but it did bother me and I ended up having a few days off. I then came back to my training with renewed vigour to focus on the National and the Inter-Counties.
English National XC Championships
On to the National XC - my first and what an epic event. It goes without saying that it was far from plain sailing! Unfortunately I had picked up a cold a few days before which I carried with me into and beyond the race. That said, I felt fine compared to the virus that had stopped me from running at the Northerns and to be honest nothing was going to stop me from running this one! I was a little daunted by a couple of things though, firstly the distance cross country and the size of the race itself. It all seemed a little different to the flat tarmac of big city marathons! And so it was but equally brilliant in a completely different way! I started off really steadily, in fact in hindsight I started way to easily and although in my limited experience I think caution is the best approach in Cross Country, I did start off too easily and as a result I perhaps didn't quite have the race that I could have done. I finished in 102nd which wasn't a bad first attempt but I certainly learn a lot from this experience. Not least that National really does find you out if you're in anyway under-prepared.
March
Inter-Counties XC Championships
Disaster! The National broke me. I had noticed my tibialis anterior tendon had been quite tight in the days following the race but carried on running through it thinking it would gradually ease. It wasn't long before it was too painful and that I knew rest was the only option so ended up having two whole weeks off and I had to miss the chance to pull on the vest of the White Rose! Gutted, but I hope there will be further opportunities in the future if I keep working hard. And with that my XC season ended.
This also meant that I would miss my main race of the Spring, the Cardiff Half Marathon where I had been hoping to run under 68 minutes in a strong field!
With that my attention moved to the Highgate Harriers Night of the 10,000m PBs which was on 21st May.
April
I spent April Getting back into the swing of training and ran with the club in the 12-Stage relays. We managed to get the silver at the Northerns thanks to a fantastic last leg where Mike Burrett just held off a strong challenger from Morpeth. It was a great run from Mike and all the team. The medal was certainly a hard fought one given a depleted squad and a very strong Salford team which took the honours by quite some way. We didn't have as much joy at the Nationals and I found myself on a long leg such was our depleted squad. I didn't run particularly well here but put this down to being tired from a hard weeks training. I had assumed I would be on a short and thought the previous few days training wouldn't have left me too detrimentally tired unfortunately I hadn't reckoned on being handed a long leg.
May
The focus then moved to a few shorter distance races and first up was the Northern League 5,000m where I came third. It was an official PB of 15:43 but still some way off what I should be running for the distance. I had also entered the Yorkshire 5,000m Championships in the hope of being dragged to a decent time. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it!) most of the County's top runners had decided to race at a BMC meeting in Manchester the previous evening. This resulted in me winning the race in another PB of 15:37.86 for my first individual championship medal. You can only race who turns up but it was shame really that the event wasn't more well supported given the dedication of all the volunteers that make the sport happen.
Highgate Harriers Night of the 10,000m PBsWhat can I say about this event? It was just amazing. I was terrible(!) but the event was absolutely incredible. Ben Pochee and co at Highgate Harriers have done a phenomenal job of putting this event together and continuing to make it better and better, year after year. The atmosphere was electric. It was basically like the Tour de France but on a running track with spectators screaming encouragement five deep all the way around the track. There was a fully stocked bar on the back straight complete with MC and a vociferous crowd! It also included the Olympic trials race so it was great to watch once I'd finished my race. I got off to a steady start and felt good aerobically but by half way my legs had gone. I had stupidly decided to wear spikes for the race and as a heal striker with limited experience of wearing them this was to put it bluntly a little stupid. Especially for a track 10k! The last few km were incredibly painful and my calves were screaming for me to stop. I even tried to go to a more 'natural' running style but I just slowed down too much! I toughed it out though but to another disappointing time of 32:30.8. I will get the 10k right one day!
I think the below picture covers my anguish quite well.
June
I've had a couple of races in June, firstly a 3,000m(!) on the track at Leeds City Open which I won in an unimpressive 9:14. It wasn't
that bad though considering I had had a very dodgy gut for a few days. I did feel I could have gone a bit quicker had I had someone closer to me to race with but I took the win quite comfortably having led from just after the first lap.
Otley 10
This race incorporated the Yorkshire 10 mile championships but given it was on a Wednesday night there wasn't a particularly deep field. I had decided before the race that given the notorious hills I would just race for a change. I have become too much of a slave to the watch recently and I just wanted to run a race and do as well as I could on the day and feel like I was in control of the process. A nice
group formed, including myself, clubmates Mike Burrett, Jon Wills and
Ilkley Harrier Jack Wood. Jack is a decent fell runner who incidentally lives
on the course so must have been familiar with what we were dealing with
although I understand he probably could have done with a few more hills!
To be honest the hills were plenty for me as I felt like I was walking
up the second big climb! Anyway, as we approached the four mile point, I
was feeling very comfortable and knew that the first hill was coming.
That coupled with getting a sense that my competitors were struggling a
little to maintain pace I put in a bit of effort and gradually built up a small gap.
This then continued to increase to the finish and I won by over a minute. It felt great, I had run a race well within myself finally after so long and come away with a result I was really pleased with. So although the first half of the year has on the whole been pretty average I certainly didn't expect to be two time county champion!
What's next?
As I mentioned I am planning an autumn marathon and have decided on Yorkshire Marathon at the beginning of October. This was where I had a big breakthrough a couple of years ago where I largely plagiarised Steve Way's training to good effect! I also know the course to be quick and I'll be able to stay at home the night before as its only half an hour away. I cant wait to get stuck into big miles and big sessions at the beginning of August. I am going to take a slightly different approach this year and incorporate a few different ideas but much of it will be the same. If it aint broke, don't fix it as the saying goes! But for now I just want to have a bit of low pressure training and racing. I really need to hit the beginning of that training block in good shape and get my running mojo in a place that is ready for the rigours of marathon training. After Yorkshire Marathon I will then be changing focus to the XC season and am considering my first 50k (31 miles) in the Spring as ultra marathons could be where my long term running career lies.
