The last update included some optimism, I'd got back on track with my training program & was starting to add some distance in hope of recovering form for the Cambridge Half. It also mentioned that I'd started to be struck down by the winter lurg.
Hopefully this explains where the update for Week 4 of the training plan went! After the long run on January 18th, it wasn't until Saturday morning of the 31st that I laced up once more, more in hope than expectation that I'd beaten away the winter cold. In truth I'm now midway through week 6 & still having to dose up as the lingering aftermath of the manflu keeps trying to pull me back under its shroud.
Week 4 was indeed a complete bust. I spent the rest of the day after the long Sunday run feeling sorry for myself & the entire week was filled with Lemsip & a whole line up of treatments taken before bed. My throat was bad enough on Saturday that I needed to use the megaphone whilst on Run Director duties at Great Notley parkrun. So the total mileage for week 4 was a nice big fat zero.
The start of week 5 wasn't much better. I was still opting for Lucozade / Berocca / Lemsip chasers when arriving at the office, though by the end of the week I was at least weaning off of the Sudafed inhaler & plethora of Robitussin solutions we appear to have stocked in the house. Saturday was a chance to get out & run again. In truth I had started to feel better towards the end of the week, but I didn't want a relapse to scupper my parkrun plans.
The fortnight of Run Directoring at Great Notley was a great experience. Not only did we get to spend time together as a core team, we managed to learn more about each of the roles & by getting to direct I was able to establish a greater understanding of what is needed to make an event successful. Great Notley have been superb in helping us establish & providing both assistance & advice. Though it won't be possible to ever return the favour, should future events want our help, I've been set an example in how to assist.
Hopefully this explains where the update for Week 4 of the training plan went! After the long run on January 18th, it wasn't until Saturday morning of the 31st that I laced up once more, more in hope than expectation that I'd beaten away the winter cold. In truth I'm now midway through week 6 & still having to dose up as the lingering aftermath of the manflu keeps trying to pull me back under its shroud.
Week 4 was indeed a complete bust. I spent the rest of the day after the long Sunday run feeling sorry for myself & the entire week was filled with Lemsip & a whole line up of treatments taken before bed. My throat was bad enough on Saturday that I needed to use the megaphone whilst on Run Director duties at Great Notley parkrun. So the total mileage for week 4 was a nice big fat zero.
The start of week 5 wasn't much better. I was still opting for Lucozade / Berocca / Lemsip chasers when arriving at the office, though by the end of the week I was at least weaning off of the Sudafed inhaler & plethora of Robitussin solutions we appear to have stocked in the house. Saturday was a chance to get out & run again. In truth I had started to feel better towards the end of the week, but I didn't want a relapse to scupper my parkrun plans.
The fortnight of Run Directoring at Great Notley was a great experience. Not only did we get to spend time together as a core team, we managed to learn more about each of the roles & by getting to direct I was able to establish a greater understanding of what is needed to make an event successful. Great Notley have been superb in helping us establish & providing both assistance & advice. Though it won't be possible to ever return the favour, should future events want our help, I've been set an example in how to assist.
Run #1 - Harlow parkrun
After three straight weeks of race & run directing I'd earmarked the next few weeks for a bit of parkrun tourism, interlaced with a bit of volunteering at Great Notley. Suggest tourist destinations of Harlow, Wanstead, Brentwood & Pendle to your average person & they'd presume you're a bit crazy. Thankfully rather than being crazy, I'm merely a parkrun tourist!
It had been over three months since I'd ventured out for some parkrun tourism, an unheard of break between new courses. During that time two further local events had started. I'd already volunteered at Harlow parkrun as a photographer in their second week, but had scheduled myself a visit in January or February. Brentwood had also appeared on the parkrun map after a long journey to initialisation & I'd been liaising with their ED, Leigh in order to make a visit & catch up with them to understand what their experience had been like. With that visit pencilled in for later in February, I decided to make the short drive to Harlow.
The event is nearly three months old & already a local community is starting to establish itself. Event Director Vicky was actually up at the Cambridge 5th birthday celebrations & this was the first week where she wouldn't be present. I could sense a nervousness like a mother dropping their child at school for the first day from Vicky when we'd chatted during the week. In truth she had nothing to fear, all of the team at Harlow know precisely what they're doing, you'd not be able to tell the event is still in it's infancy.
I'd visited previously for Event #2, Harlow being the first event that I'd volunteered at before running the course. On my previous visit I was aware that the funky configuration of two full laps and then a mini lap led to some confusion at the bridge, as long as I was still coherent enough to count to three I felt safe in the knowledge that I should be ok. Seeing the course map it was hard to visualise, I only knew of the grassy hill towards the end of the lap as that's where I'd been on photographer duty. Explaining the course as a multi lap out and back with a switchback and a smaller third lap on multi terrain almost feels like the rules to Go Johnny Go Go Go Go from the League of Gentlemen! In truth it was far simpler, especially from the middle of the pack.
Onto the run itself and it would be fair to say I had no illusions of grandeur. Taking time off at the end of 2014, combined with two weeks of illness had reduced my expectations to merely finishing, sub 30 would be nice. Of course pride plays a part in proceedings and I was determined to at least push myself, despite the lack of training this wouldn't be an easy paced plod. The multi lap configuration gave the option to thank the marshals on multiple occasions, also for high five opportunities as Robin one of the core team had donned foam fingers to direct traffic.
 |
| Such a happy face :) |
The course was intriguing. Enough tarmac to give the impression of being fast, but looks can be deceptive. Harlow have managed to provide a challenging course, three 180 turns, a nice downhill stretch in both big laps, but an uphill uncompacted grassy climb. Every lap starts with a short uphill as well. The hill wasn't too bad, but the surface meant that you'd want at least trail shoes, though the rest of the course wouldn't suit mudclaws unless you ran alongside the paths. The truly enjoyable downhill comes as you cross the bridge a third time & get to turn right for a short burst to the finish. Despite my fellow core team member Paul urging me to sprint finish, there were no such shenanigans on this occasion. I just wanted to stop, get my token & try to get away from people before I started coughing my lungs up.
The Eat
The reward for the run was to call into Tezzos, get a nice small loaf of tiger bread & make myself some Welsh Rarebit. My last effort wasn't great, this time the consistency was a lot better & the taste was close to spot on. A nice belly of pork was shared in the evening, proper winter food!
 |
| Hmmmm, Welsh Rarebit |
The Conclusion
On paper, a 27:11 is frankly awful. But my current form & lack of miles leave me with a time that I'll take, with every intention of smashing it to pieces on my next visit to Harlow.
The Run #2
Sunday morning gave an opportunity to get out for a nice long run. Ten miles would be the order of the day. The temperature had finally risen slightly, so I headed out towards Farnham with the intention of dropping back into Stortford before heading northbound home. This would mean plenty of hills & negotiating the ford en route to Farnham. Part of the course was included in the Stansted 10k, but the last time I ran through the ford was in 2013, when I ended up calling the wife to get picked up from the side of the road, this would be a chance to take that monkey off of my back.
In retrospect, the choice of route wasn't the wisest. The thaw had meant a lack of ice on the paths, but also resulted in runoff all the way down into the Ford, it was impassable on foot. I found myself trying to walk alongside it & then had to u-turn & run around the adjacent field instead. The uphill climb from the ford was therefore on heavy legs from the muddy field & it took a while for them to recover.
Thanfully there were no further pitfalls on the road into Stortford & I added further kilometres around the town centre and up onto the Stansted Road. Crossing the A120 I realised that I should have added further distance whilst in Stortford, I wasn't going to pick up the required mileage by running back directly. Instead I diverted towards Birchanger & up Tot Hill to punish the legs some more, then lapped Forest Hall Park to top up the totaliser.
I was soon home & onto the foam roller, happy to have got out for a long run. The pace was pretty horrendous, 1:40 for 10 miles, but I've already realised that Cambridge will not be a PB for me.
The Run #2
Sunday morning gave an opportunity to get out for a nice long run. Ten miles would be the order of the day. The temperature had finally risen slightly, so I headed out towards Farnham with the intention of dropping back into Stortford before heading northbound home. This would mean plenty of hills & negotiating the ford en route to Farnham. Part of the course was included in the Stansted 10k, but the last time I ran through the ford was in 2013, when I ended up calling the wife to get picked up from the side of the road, this would be a chance to take that monkey off of my back.
In retrospect, the choice of route wasn't the wisest. The thaw had meant a lack of ice on the paths, but also resulted in runoff all the way down into the Ford, it was impassable on foot. I found myself trying to walk alongside it & then had to u-turn & run around the adjacent field instead. The uphill climb from the ford was therefore on heavy legs from the muddy field & it took a while for them to recover.
Thanfully there were no further pitfalls on the road into Stortford & I added further kilometres around the town centre and up onto the Stansted Road. Crossing the A120 I realised that I should have added further distance whilst in Stortford, I wasn't going to pick up the required mileage by running back directly. Instead I diverted towards Birchanger & up Tot Hill to punish the legs some more, then lapped Forest Hall Park to top up the totaliser.
I was soon home & onto the foam roller, happy to have got out for a long run. The pace was pretty horrendous, 1:40 for 10 miles, but I've already realised that Cambridge will not be a PB for me.
 |
| Have a happy relationship with my foam roller |
No comments:
Post a Comment