An eggscellent weekend....

Please excuse the pun, in search for a title I stumbled upon a very obvious and silly pun!

Please also excuse any errors, days not making sense etc. When I started writing this blog I'm sure it was Monday. I then got close to completing it on Tuesday evening, only for the Blogger app to not save my work and leave me back at the start of parkrun. A very frustrating blogging platform, perhaps time to get something else out there. It is now Saturday and I again updated the blog yesterday only for the android app to fail to upload it. Despite saving the draft it appears I need to edit it some more here.

Easter weekend brought two successful runs, a third should have taken place but I felt like rewarding myself. My original plan was to run long on the Friday and Monday bank holidays and sandwich a parkrun in between.

The Run #1

Despite the temptation to stay in bed, I decided to forgo a lie in, lace up and get out on a beautiful bank holiday Friday morning. I had two hours to play with so headed to Elsenham where I would combine my loop towards Newport with a journey back via Rickling Green & Manuden if I felt good.
As always with an easy run, the first km was slow, a 6:30 & not something I concerned myself with. This allowed me to get straight down to six minute pace as the road headed into Elsenham. Fast forward an hour and I was turning left onto the main road between Stansted and Cambridge, crossing the M11 and at a decision point as to whether I head home or add some extra kilometres to the run.
I felt excellent so turned right in Quendon and took the road from Rickling Green to Manuden. I didn't pass anyone on this two and a half mile stretch that cuts through the countryside, enjoying the views and slipping into a quicker pace. My 15th km was the fastest, a 5:34, in fact the run was a genuine negative split, with my pace excellent throughout.
I returned home with a hugely satisfactory 19km in just over 1:53, or in easter terms, with 10 free creme eggs banked!

The Run #2

There was no last minute planning for this weekend's parkrun. I had tried to persuade my brother in law to make his parkrun debut in Chelmsford, but once that plan was shelved we set the sat nav for Sudbury and towards the Great Cornard event.
Another relatively new addition to the parkrun family, this would be my second successive event in Suffolk and my 25th overall different event. After parking up and wandering through a leisure centre we found the familiar sight of a parkrun volunteer huddle. The run director gave us a short and friendly brief, making sure everyone was aware of the double turns required on each lap and encouraging everyone to buy cakes at the end of the run!
Even before we started the race director was keen to order people according to pace, encouraging faster runners to the front and politely suggesting slower runners started at the back of the field. With everyone lined up correctly we were under-way and I was thankful for not being a sub 20 runner as the marshal at the double turn directed many right instead of left! Luckily the more experienced runners encouraged those that made the wrong turn to either pirouette or U turn to get back on track!
Once the opposing right turn had been completed we headed to the football and cricket club next door for a lap of the field, before getting back to the school field to complete a lap.
My pace felt adequate, a glance at the watch every km suggested I was running at 5:00/km and just over. I was a bit disappointed as it looked like the sub 25 streak would end, but I could understand why having run for 2 hours just a day previously.
With a decent time looking unlikely I gave the photographer a big thumbs up and just tried to get on with it. As I completed the first lap I noticed my gps might be measuring short. I put this to the back of my mind and carried on, embracing the tarmac at the start of the lap before heading out to the cricket field once more. My pace continued around the five per click mark, just slightly over. We were soon out of the field and I found myself basically running against no one.
Second time around and there was no thumbs up for the photographer. A brief glance of my gps confirmed that the course was measuring short and I was midway through the 22nd minute. With around half a kilometre to go I realised a PB was possible. This provided a surge of confidence and I pushed for home. I decided against taking on the long jump pit and got my head down as I turned for the line. As I approached I even tried a pose, something the finish photographer missed!!

The Eat

Before we get to the result, let me tell you about the culinary delights that await a parkrunner should they venture into Sudbury following the event finish. Unfortunately the swimming pool & its slides are not available as there are lessons taking place. That leaves you with a quaint market town that offers a Wimpy (bonus), Cheese stall on the market (another bonus) & Rafi's Spice box (http://spicebox.co.uk) where you can stock up on spice packs for homemade curries. We also saw a couple of independent bakeries & if you find the Wimpy Shake to be a bit disappointing like I did, you could venture down the road to Starburger to see if they can do better.

The Conclusion

23:52.

Once I'd stopped my watch & got scanned I realised that I was absolutely gassed! I attempted to tell Paula it was a PB, no idea what slobbering statement she heard! According to the gps the course measured 200m short, but as far as I'm concerned it's a PB!!

To gain a new record was a complete shock. It tells me that training for Helsinki is going well & although my aspirations of a 1:50 half won't be met this time around, I'm in excellent form with two weeks to go. I'll never be good for age & to some that means I might not be anything more than a fun runner, but I can be good for me & that provides all the motivation I need.

Thumbs Up on lap 1

Powering to the finish line!

More parkrun tourism

It's been a bizarre and at times frustrating week. I didn't complete a long run last Sunday & that's also been the case this Sunday. Circumstances on both days have conspired to prevent running. Then a sluggish 7km on Tuesday sapped my enthusiasm, only for a really decent 12km to encourage me on Friday.
Then there was parkrun on Saturday. With building work ongoing at home we've been heading out on Saturday mornings to allow the work to continue without us being in the way. This has led to four successive parkrun visits. By bedtime on Friday we still hadn't decided on where to visit. Pymmes and a visit to Ikea was a possibility. It wasn't until 0740 that we made the call to head north towards Bury St Edmunds. Timing was tight, but thankfully traffic meant we parked up with ten minutes to spare.

The Run

After a quick briefing I lined up with the rest of the field, choosing this time to stay nearer the front. The course was a two lapper, probably 80% grass, 15% trail with the remainder on tarmac. Probably the perfect course for Paula, but she opted to resume her role as RFTE photographer.
Two minutes in and I felt horrific, out of breath and slow. A glance of the gps confirmed the reason I was struggling, a 4:15/km pace! Not slow at all, but no wonder I was feeling gassed. I relaxed and settled into a more suitable pace, going through the first km just outside of five minutes.
The course appeared to climb slowly over the first half, then ease off before heading downhill through the trails and back towards the end / lap start.
For the first lap I appeared to be in a decent group that were all pacing 25's and I started to feel comfortable. By the climb of the second lap I'd broken clear of a number of people and was starting to haul in runners in front of me. I wasn't sure what my end time would be, my garmin was suggesting the course was measuring short so my consistent 5:03ish pace might be leading to a sub 25. I continued to maintain and improve pace towards the end of the run, breaking from the remaining person I was running with (there were a couple of kids dotted around us, but their pacing is impossible to gauge).
I crossed the line in 24:44, stretching the sub 25 streak to four successive weeks. Even more impressive was the processing of results, I'd received my text by 10:15!

The Eat

After the parkrun we headed into Bury St Edmunds. This isn't a place I'd visited since I was very young and the only things I could remember regarding the place was that the city used to be the countries smallest (based on the cathedral rule) & that they have a Woolworths (pretty sure no longer there).
The city was a pleasant surprise. Easy to find parking and a great range of shops. You had your standard run of generic every town shops that were complimented by a lot of independent offerings and a decent market.
We picked up some beers from an excellent continental beer shop & some scotch eggs with a sausage roll next door from Gastrono-Me. I even polished off my Danish Chocolate Milk despite not running on Sunday.

The Conclusion

Even though I didn't run on Sunday, the results of the easy run on Friday & the parkrun were very satisfactory. We're now in the final stretch before Helsinki and I'm a couple of long runs short, I feel comfortable though, especially as my pace is fine.
One other conclusion / idea is that parkrun must be good for local economies. Sure, not everyone is a parkrun tourist, but we headed into the city after the run and spent a decent amount in the local shops. I'm sure the head office promote all kinds of benefits a parkrun can bring to an area, just wonder what the economic impact is.

Basildon parkrun makes it's debut

Saturday morning arrived and the continuation of building work at our place gave an excuse for some parkrun tourism. With parkrun moving the goalposts for their table of events attended I was no longer showing, you now need 30 different events or 10 inaugural runs to make it. This means I can't make the league table once more until I've picked up my 50 shirt.
Basildon parkrun was due to debut on April 5th so I persuaded Paula that we should take a drive into south Essex to support their first event.
The first thing to note if you're considering a visit, get there early. The park car park fills up quickly and by the time we were there at 8:35 even the Premier Inn facility across the road was almost full. There was an excellent crowd and everyone hushed to listen to the first ever pre race briefing.

The Run

Yet again I lined up too far towards the back of the field. I realised this error even before we started and there is a great sequence of photos on the event's Facebook page showing me changing direction straight away. The problems with being too far back are multiple. Firstly you start slowly, I generally find a fast start helps for rhythm. You also find the start harder to hear, so everyone walks, stumbles, saunters forward without momentum, eating up valuable seconds. So within ten seconds I was off the path and onto the grass making progress.
The course was fairly simple, nearly three complete laps of the park. The first half of the lap was flat, around a fishing pond and then along a trail. You were then met by a double hill climb. As you exit the trail you ascend the steeper of the two climbs. We're not talking Wimpole hill of doom here, but enough of a bite!
Of course what goes up, must come down but the descend didn't seem to be as kind as the climb was harsh!
I tried to settle into a rhythm, making progress through the field during the first lap. Something didn't feel right though. Where as last week I felt fast, fast forward a week and I felt useless. Just slow. After getting up the hill a second time I just felt myself going backwards. My pace wasn't horrendous, but it didn't feel that way to me. By the third climb I was more concerned with just getting to the line. I had nothing left and no idea why. Perhaps a stressful evening of work had disturbed my sleep, eating late, lack of runs in the week. Genuinely not sure what happened.
I lethargically made it across the line, barely mustering a sprint finish, got scanned, picked up a sweet and headed straight for the car. Bizarrely we were going through Chelmsford before their event had even finished!

The Conclusion

You'd think from my description of the run that it was a complete horror show, yet my official time was 24:56. I guess it is a sign of progress that I can run a sub 25 despite feeling appalling.
It was also a wake up call. The last couple of weeks have gone very well, pace returning, a good return at Brentwood, but a performance like this is good for you, it keeps the feet firmly on the ground. It serves as a reminder to me that with five weeks to go until Helsinki, more hard work is required.
If you get a chance, Basildon parkrun is well worth a visit. The course is more challenging than you'd expect and although they broke 200 in the first week, an average attendance without the tourists such as myself will make the start a bit easier.

A Roy Castle weekend

What have Roy Castle, Oak Hill parkrun & myself have in common? Apart from tap dancing, we're all record breakers!

Enough of the silliness, let's talk running. Oak Hill is the local event for our friend Fergie & they sent out a Facebook update last week saying that they wanted to break the event attendance record & go into triple figures for the first time. I cajoled Paula into running & also persuaded Sean to make the trip from south of the river to join us. Joelene also made an appearance, fresh from vowing to never run a half again (and consequently signing up to the Richmond Half).
Just from the car park alone you could tell that the event had a lot more people present than usual, we managed to grab the last space.

The Run

Another event I went into without a plan, aiming for a sub 25 based on my decent return at Chelmsford the week before & the knowledge that Oak Hill is a fast course.
I decided to line up alongside Sean, wanting to make a fast start if possible. Once underway I had a strange sensation, I actually felt fast. The past few parkruns I've scraped a time, or been unaware of my pace. This week, I felt like I had pace, everything felt easy. These are the kind of days you look forward to. My pace was excellent throughout the first three kilometres, all sub 5 minute so I was assured of dipping under 25. I then experienced what I'm starting to call the fourth kilometre fade.
This keeps happening and it's something I'm struggling to work out. My fourth km is usually the slowest. The final kilometre never causes an issue as the finish line is in sight, I just seem to slip into a lull. This week the 4th km took 5:04, enough to throw a sub 24 out of the window. The modest hill that you take on three times tends to bite harder on every lap and though my friends rave about the downhill finish to the lap, I find the start of it at a funny gradient that throws my rhythm out.
I finished strongly though and crossed the line in 24:24, a course PB. Sean beat the sub 22 hoodoo he'd experienced outside of Bushy. Paula ran a tactically astute race, keeping Joel ahead of her for two laps and then pipping him to the line as Joel PB'd with 29:05. Fergie's recovery from knee issues continued with a mid 33. Oak Hill also PB'd, 148 runners! I guess the next target will be 200 & maybe a group tap dance......

The Eat

We took in a post parkrun drink at the adjacent cafe where cake was in plentiful supply for those who wanted it. I tucked into an ice cream, a PB brings rewards after all!
On the way home we picked up some Marshmallow cookies from the excellent Adnams shop in Saffron Walden, resisting the temptation to stock up on their award winning gins!

The Conclusion

A really satisfactory run. As I said earlier, the first time I've felt genuinely fast in a long time. Six weeks out from Helsinki and I feel I'm in a good place. My plan has become quite basic now. Parkrun every Saturday for speed, long run every Sunday / Monday to keep topping up the endurance. Easy runs at the start of the week and an interval / tempo / hill run midweek. I'm feeling good, the Brentwood Half & the two parkruns that have sandwiched it have given me a lot of confidence.
This Saturday were due to visit the inaugural Basildon parkrun, here's hoping it's a fast one.

Brentwood Half Race Report

With seven weeks to go before the Helsinki City Run, the Brentwood Half presented me with an opportunity for a competitive training run. Even the week before the run I still hadn't put together a plan, so I took on the idea of competitive training, race simulation if you will.
I could chase a PB, or I could try to run at Helsinki target pace for as long as possible and then try to keep it together with the fall out.
What I decided on was to relax, take on fuel when I needed to and aim to be under 2 hours. I wanted to try and maintain a pace without pressuring myself into making that pace a PB one.

The Run

A parkrun the day before. That was a bit of a failure. A combination of the parkrun, squash on Friday and a lack of hot water to provide a hot bath came back to bite me on Sunday morning. I got out of bed to notice a very painful glute. My left side is always dodgy, but this wasn't good at all. I tried to put this to the back of my mind and carried on with my usual preparations.
We made it to Brentwood with plenty of time to spare. Time for the obligatory multiple toilet stops and lots of stretching. The glute started to ease off a bit as I stretched and warmed up. Despite the plan being to take it easy, I was considering not even starting. From experience I've found my quads take more load on a long run, the glutes used for the faster runs. With this (probably misguided) thought in my mind I lined up for the start. They'd been some rain in the lead up to the start so I reluctantly handed my jacket to Paula, no need for sunglasses. 

And we're off.....

The field was a 3500 sell out, though the spacing between times was a bit basic. Three categories, elite, sub 1:45 and over 2:00. I was well behind the 2:00 sign, this would at least afford me a slow start to ease the glute in.
We were taken to the start line by an excellent marching band and soon on our way. I started slowly, letting the early enthusiasm and support take over. The first three or four kilometres were downhill and after one click I caught up with a friendly twitter friend, Karen aka @anyaruns. Karen is a fellow Mind runner and often appears to be the first person on my timeline to lace up, often at 5am. It was good to finally meet and we chatted for a couple of kilometres. The chat also took my thoughts away from the glute and after fifteen minutes I bade my farewell and started to increase the pace.
After negotiating the A12 the course took us in a long loop round the villages towards the north of Brentwood.
I was soon into a much steadier pace, around the 5:30 mark, comfortable in the surroundings. Country lanes with minimal traffic (most cars heeded warnings and stayed away) between villages. Every time we arrived in a village the support was superb, this might have been Brentwood's race, but every community we passed through embraced it, I've never seen so many bowls of jelly babies on offer!
My pace from 3 - 10km was good, though I had a fade just after the hour mark. I didn't feel slower, just appeared to not be making as good progress. Luckily I was able to shake this after 14km and got back to a 5:30/km pace as we made our return to Brentwood. I got chatting to Dennis, a runner that splits his time between East London runners & Springfield. We spoke for a good few kilometres in the first hour & sadly I've been unable to find him in the classified results. Dennis, if you're out there, I'll see you at Beckton parkrun soon no doubt, get in contact on Daily Mile.
I could feel we were getting closer, every turn we made was now back towards Brentwood and at the ten mile mark I reminded myself that only a parkrun distance remained. At this point you start running the equations through your head, how slowly can you run and still get a target time. How little effort is required, how quickly can I get these damn trainers off!

Turning for the finish line

My outlook continued to be positive as we joined the main road leading into town. Playing with the traffic was a bit haphazard at times, but the majority of drivers were well behaved and courteous. The final mile felt uphill all the way, suddenly I was aware I should have banked the easy downhill miles at a faster pace earlier on. The support was unrelenting though and that helped drive me home. One hesitant driver nearly killed my momentum, but after literally brushing them past I was into the final climb.
Just as we approached the crest of the hill in Brentwood town centre we turned left, into a side road for the final 400m. The road was like a funnel of support, great noise and encouragement. A final left turn and a great realisation that the last 200m were downhill. Time to kick into whatever gears I had left and sprint down the hill. I spotted the photographers and attempted the Daniel Bryan YES as I made it towards the line. A fun way to finish a race.

Giving the YES to finish the race

The Eat

Sadly there was no Mars bar in the race bag (a win for St Lukes there), but thankfully on the way back to the car we stumbled upon an ice cream cafe. I opted for an ice cream milkshake rather than a chocolate bar shake. Three scoops of Rum & Raisin, some milk & a blend later & I was having an excellent recovery shake!

The Conclusion

Within an hour of finishing I'd received my official time by text, 1:58:53. Sub two hours on what was essentially a training run. Part of me wandered if I should have taken on my PB. Only the early kilometres and the fade between 11 & 14 prevented it.
I couldn't be happier though. A year previously I'd hit rock bottom with a 2:06 in Milton Keynes and resolved to start from scratch. I've never been more relaxed about a race, having no expectations made the race more enjoyable (or at least as enjoyable as running 21 kilometres can be).

Brentwood Half was also the most sociable event I've taken part in. Maybe it was the lack of headphones, the excellent marshalling or the support through every hamlet, village or town. I'd recommend this event to anyone looking for a half marathon in the area. Not overly hilly, but enough undulation to keep you tested throughout. My only gripe was the starting pens needing more spacing, more splits between times to allow everyone to line up where they should be.