Harder, Better, Faster, Longer

To set the mood, grab every torch in your house, shine them from above your head & pretend you're Kanye West at Glastonbury.....

A week that saw me run harder than I have for a long time. A race experience that couldn't have gone better, or faster. Then I finished the week by running even longer than previously. Whether stronger can also be shoehorned into this awful intro I'm not sure, although it probably applies to both my mental & physical state at the moment.

Yateley 10k

The Yateley 10k had been on my radar for June. Working down in Hampshire for a day or two a week was starting to hurt my training & I was looking for races or organised runs to give me something to do with my evenings. I’d missed the cut off for the June race & joined my colleague Kendra at her track night with Bracknell Forest Runners instead. We’d agreed to run the next one & it was part of a whole list of events I’d been given to consider.

After registering I persuaded Sean that a trip out of South London for an evening 10k was a good idea, to which he agreed & signed up as well. He wasn’t really sure what his plan for the race was, so when I mentioned targeting 50 & he could pace me if he fancied, he did indeed fancy an easy (ish) run for him.

Sean is responsible for my introduction to parkrun back in 2010 & as a result surely accountable for everything else that has followed! We’ve rarely run together though. He’s considerably faster than me so the only times I can recall were for his & Emily’s parkrun celebration last year & some sprints in Battersea Park many years ago. There was also an occasion at Gunpowder parkrun where we ran together for a moment, only for me to overtake him & claim my only finish ahead of him (he was having a bad day, we both got beasted by brother John with all of his youthful exuberance anyway).

Evening running is something I struggle to get on with. Being on the road at 6am & I’m fine. Trying to run after a day of work is something I have to adapt to. My performance is usually hampered by what I’ve consumed during the day, so if I know I’m running I have to make a mental note to lay off the fizzy drinks, eat with a bit more thought in general. I’m certainly eating better, avoiding stodge at lunch (& in general) has left me feeling less sluggish. Not opting for a Coke during the day is more difficult as it’s my only source of caffeine, I might have to develop a taste for coffee instead. Not a problem for Sean who sticks too fingers up to WADA & downs a double Espresso before a run, no wonder he was so chatty!

I picked Sean up from Fleet station & made the simple drive to Yateley, forgetting to make a note of where the hire car of the week had been parked! I can tell how I feel about a race by what my nerves are like. At the Stort 10 three days previously I’d almost forgotten to make a toilet visit beforehand. On this occasion I was queuing repeatedly, checking kit constantly, feeling phantom stones in my shoes, finding non existent injuries, high pitched hellos, chatting away at speed. I’d managed to avoid the warm up by queuing for one of the bouncy castlesque porta loos so Sean & I had a brief run around the school field. 

The nerves made sense, this race & my performance mattered to me, it was a key indicator to how my pace was looking for a PB attempt at Pride in August.

I was also trying something new. I’d been paced previously & found that having my own Garmin meant that I’d still be double checking. On this occasion I wanted to place all my trust in Sean, handing over my Garmin to him. I was running naked (no tech, not no clothes, no one needs that) & my instruction was to not tell me splits, just whether we were over or under target. This made Sean a little bit uncomfortable, but I didn’t need the numbers in my head, the over thinker in me would only consume energy.  Not only did he have my watch, he’d banned me from running with a bottle, telling me it was time to ditch the comfort blanket. I’ve run a few times recently without it, but not at pace or for this distance.

He already had my tech, now Sean wanted to throw my bottle into the tennis courts

The target was 50:00, a simple 5:00/km pace. I felt this would be a push as my best parkrun performance this year is a 24:58. My HBO time was a pleasing mid 52, but I didn’t know how realistic the target was. I’d also told Sean that my PB was 48:20 (4:50/km) & that this could be a secondary aim if my pace was surprisingly good.

My mind was clear, all I had to do was run fast. Observing a narrow first couple of hundred metres I tried to take an outside line & knew that Sean would catch up with me if he couldn't weave through.

The race itself was painful. I’d rested up on Monday & Tuesday. Combined with some physio work on the Tuesday evening to loosen up my calves I found myself in pain from about 1500m into the race! The uphill start was a killer for both Achilles. I should perhaps have asked Sean for his perspective of pacing me, I get the impression I was like the whiny kid that doesn't want to eat his greens!

The pain only abated once we’d got the nice downhill after 3km done. Sean telling me to enjoy the downhill didn't really help as it hurt! Once both Achilles calmed down it was time to get some numb feet for a few km. This can be a regular occurrence for me & normally flexing the toes for a bit will clear it up. Conscious that we were under target I started to think this might be a bigger issue & that the numbness was a sure sign I was just about to faceplant, the pace must be overcooking me.

Sean was performing his role perfectly, letting me know if we were over or under, telling me to focus on his heels if I flagged behind slightly. At one point I asked him what target we were under, he told me the first one but not the margin. I was told off for thanking marshals, he’d be doing that on my behalf to conserve my energy!!

At 8km the course started to climb again, not significantly but enough for me to tighten up a bit. By now I was convinced that I was turning a shade of purple, the silver lining being that the finish was in a school field so an air ambulance would be able to come & get me easily! It wasn’t until we got past the final climb in the tenth kilometre that Sean revealed a sub 49 was on the cards. Hopefully this was the espresso going to his head as I swear in my slightly weary mind I swear I heard him say sub 49……..

My usual sprint finish was not really going to happen, everything hurt, that finish line could not come soon enough. Sean carried on talking to me right to the end, urging me to be strong, drive my arms, preferably not collapse etc. That race clock definitely looked wrong as I passed it, how unfortunate that it would fail, or be counting slowly or something.

Little did I know that until I tightened up at 8km when the course started to ramp up again that he’d told a little white lie. We were on target to challenge my PB for the majority of the run. As I came to a very abrupt halt upon crossing the line Sean was there to prop me up, kind of handy as my legs were all kinds of funky for a moment. A quick check of the Garmin gave some unexpected news:

Watch time: 48:53, chip time: 48:52

One of us was feeling it a bit more than the other.....

Medal & water claimed & we wandered back towards the final turn to wait for Kendra & Callum to finish. I think shock might be an appropriate word. I couldn't quite comprehend the result & even after a high five to Callum & catching them at the end of the finish funnel a few minutes later Kendra commented that I had a beaming smile. I have no idea if this was the case, it might have just been that I had no real control over my face following the exertions of the run!

Needing some support to stand

We grabbed our kit, said hellos, & goodbyes to folks, took photos & started wandering in the direction of where we thought the soccer mom mobile I’d been given for the week was parked. It was later than expected & Sean wanted to head back into London rather than eat so I dropped him at the station & headed into Fleet to search for food. A chippy came into view & before my weary mind could work out whether that was a wise idea I’d parked up & was wandering in. A detour on the way home for some ice (2kg of sweetcorn!) & I was soon back at the hotel. The food was tepid, a bit grim, but in many ways exactly what I needed!

Yateley performance

Club

Over the course of Thursday & Friday the inevitable happened. I've joked about becoming a Bishop's Stortford Running Club member by osmosis over the past few months. Nearly half of the parkrun core team are members, Paul has be working on me since the day he joined as a Run Director, though as club vice chair he kind of has to! Hatfield Forest sees a huge level of participation at the parkrun from BSRC & the friendships I've already formed were reeling me in. 
After the Stortford 10 I'd been approached for some feedback given my work with parkrun & casually mentioned I'd happily assist with future events in any capacity. It seemed logical that given I enjoy the time I spend with Stortford, my intention to return regularly after my move to MK & my offer of help that the next step would be to fill in the forms & hand over some cash. 
The decision is also a selfish one. Given my current form & with Berlin 11 weeks away I want to cash in, make sure the best possible Chris is on the start line on Sept 27th. I'm really happy with my training, but feel some incremental gains can be made. I've always believed that surrounding yourself with better people leads you to improvement, that's why I'm keen to ask advice. I might not always take it on board, but knowing what and why others have done something helps me. So be it intervals, tempo runs, company on long runs, I know that joining BSRC will only make me better, I'm already better for the time I've spent with the guys so far.

Run Commute

The tube was out of action for the day as I headed into town on the train. I’d ditched the hire car as originally I had London meetings scheduled. My best option was to run back from Westminster to Liverpool St & in my mind the most logical route along South Bank seemed like a good idea.

Within 10 minutes as I was realising the folly of my decision making. Progress was near impossible, sunshine, tourists & added to the usual mix, commuters were making even the wide passes of South Bank impossible. I took a right through a food court & found myself running in parallel, only to be thwarted by road works.

The entire run was a farce, all I succeeded in doing was claiming some commuters not paying attention & taking my blood pressure to levels that probably weren't wise. These were junk miles. I didn't want to be running, the strike had forced my hand when what I really needed was rest.

The Downside

Friday wasn't a particularly fun day. Having ridden the high of my Yateley performance all the way through Thursday I hadn't quite considered the trough that would follow the peak. Perhaps it was because the peak was particularly high. Kendra had mentioned my smile was beaming when we wandered to the finish area to congratulate Callum. I'd put this down to being so knackered that I had no control over my face! Apparently not though as Thursday was a breeze, I felt good throughout the day (excluding the run commute). The confidence from the performance left me feeling exceedingly positive. 
Quite what had happened by Friday morning I'm not sure. Maybe I slept badly, I certainly woke up cranky! My mood wasn't improved by heading into work without breakfast. Perhaps it was an impending deadline at work. Whatever it was I needed to try and lift myself, throwing John Grant's GMF as I walked to the station. I've found myself drawn to the wit and humour he brings to music & Greatest Mother F seemingly lists all of my traits. The song is meant to celebrate these supposed weaknesses and one rather cathartic, introspective instagram post later and I was feeling a bit better. By the time I'd made it into the office my friends had lifted my spirits. My Yateley finishing photo providing the inspiration for a comparison to a leek & some Rambo Photoshop work from Len! If I smiled when running I'd provide no humour for my friends!!!
The thing I took away from Friday, once I'd got my work done and had a chance to relax is that I need to find a way to keep the over thinking to environments where it helps me, such as work, parkrun planning etc. Of course if I could switch it off that easily I'd have done so by now! Those Mindfulness books (yes I even overthought that enough to buy two) need to stop gathering dust!

parkrun

It appears that our event at Hatfield Forest is going through the terrible teens phase. I've seen other local events struggle for volunteers as they progress out of the initial honeymoon period. It doesn't help that as a single lap event in a forest we are quite heavy on our roster. I'm quite envious right now of events such as Black Park, when I visited the briefing was simple, no marshals, follow the signs! 

Saturday’s roster saw over half of our roles covered by the core team. Originally I was due to run & target a course PB. Once I realised that the 20 miler the day after was the true priority I dropped the run & added myself to the roster, covering off 6 different roles: Setup, Volunteer Co-Ordinator (mentoring a new core team member), Marshal, Photographer, Barcode Scanning & Close Down. Our team had papered over the cracks in our roster.

I had the monthly Sweatshop announcement to do & then I was on the bike to my marshal point. Yes, back on the bike, wisely or not it made sense & I took it easy, I couldn't afford another fall. 

Ready to marshal & encourage

Taking photos from my early in the course marshal point I was soon able to ride back, collecting signs & at the finish line with plenty of time to test out the scanners.

First timer’s briefing is still my favourite volunteering role, I really enjoy welcoming people to parkrun for the first time, as well as saying hello to tourists. I’m also enjoying barcode scanning role. I like to add the personal touch, reading names off of the barcodes as the runners come in & congratulate runners on their performances. It gives me a chance to chat to our participants that some roles don’t always allow for, a chance to get to get to know more people.

Refreshingly we had a whole army of volunteers for close down & were packed away for 10:15, a new record for us for around 45 minutes. I’ve updated our technical maps in the past fortnight & to see the operation be so slick was very pleasing. If only results were so easy! Our usual pub location was closed, Karl left the stopwatches & scanners in the forest & we had to head into Stortford for another pub with wi-fi. Processing seemed to be easy, not too much correction was required, a nice easy demo to Simon from our core team. The moment we went to confirm we hit IT issues & a quick check with my fellow EDs told me there was a central IT issue.

We parked the results & I headed across to Chelmsford, this time to successfully meet up with Monty for his birthday (I’d made a trip on Friday night, neglecting to check the location was the same, it wasn’t they were in London!). The beer festival was a great choice in the sunshine & Monty was on good form. I was able to sample a couple of halves & a selection box of food from the Japanese stand (predictable). After a few hours of being fried in the sunshine I needed to get some shade & rehydrate.

Beer fest sunshine

I’d tuned back into the Ashes for the drive home & the limp Australians didn’t even have the courtesy to wait until I’d parked & turned on the TV before crumbling to defeat. As I have day 5 tickets for Lords I’d appreciate some rain at some point as it appears neither team are keen on applying themselves! The evening was stupidly warm & I didn’t fancy eating, 20 miles in the morning meant that I had to, throwing together some pasta, veg, halloumi & pancetta.

All that was left for the day was a bath to convince my body it was time to sleep, sorting out my running kit & to set the alarm for 0430.

Long Run

As expected, I wasn’t overly amenable to the half four in the morning alarm call. My plan was simple. Get out the front door for 0500, run 20 miles to get me back home for around half eight, half an hour to an hour to sort myself out, then onto London for Hyper Japan.

The whole premise behind an autumn marathon was that the summer would afford me more time to train, an opportunity for longer days & sunrise runs. If the sun did rise on Sunday it certainly wasn’t in Essex as I peeked through the curtains to a wall of grey. This didn’t help to persuade me out the door, the boot sequence seemed to be stuck in procrastination mode. Not really having a route planned wasn’t helping. Opening up Like the Wind #5 & finding an article called Sabotage by Mirka Markkula probably didn’t help in terms of getting me out the door either. Reading it might have brought tears (LTW has a worryingly high ratio of tear jerking stories), but it also brought focus. A lot has changed for me in the past year & there is always a tendency to regress to my old self, be it self-defence or fear of failure. This quote at the end sums up precisely the attitude needed & any self-doubt of whether I could run 20 miles was parked.

Simon had mentioned running through to Stortford, Spellbrook & then some country lanes whilst at parkrun on Saturday. Without a recce beforehand I checked his Strava for the route, it was agreeable with my distance goal, as long as I didn’t get lost.

It was half five before I got out the front door & headed south. I fancied a different route into Stortford so took on the long climb into Birchanger that would bring me out at the eastern side of town.

As I made my way out of Birchanger I noticed a Bridleway sign. Perhaps this was the route to Hatfield Forest I’d been trying to find. One way to find out I guessed so turned away from my almost planned route. Crossing over the M11 & then under the A120 appeared to confirm this was indeed what I was looking for. To my surprise there was a cycle track running parallel to the old A120, something I’d been blissfully unaware in all of my journeys along the road.

Soon I was in the forest & lost for the first time during the run. It would be a myth that I know the forest well. I know a few 5km runs around the forest very well & the routes needed to get to parts of these routes. The rest of the 1,000 or so acres is all guess work. I was trying to feel my way through the forest in order to get to the start area for parkrun, deciding that a freedom run of 5km would be a nice addition to my route.

I felt I was heading south but that was more instinct than any kind of applied knowledge, it turns out that a lot of the forest appears the same when you’re scrambling around trying to find something. At one point I thought I’d found the ride between 1.5 – 2km on our summer route, only to find a gate at the end. I was getting frustrated, lost & now I might be at a dead end. I went through the gate, turned to my left & noticed something, the bridge from our summer course. 

No longer lost I made my way along the estate road & to the start / finish area. After my first gel I was beginning the summer course. This was the first time I was trying the forest in road shoes & I was pleasantly surprised at the traction I had, even with the rainfall over the morning. We advise runners that trail shoes are the best, but I had no problems on this occasion, albeit at a far slower pace than I’d normally try to navigate around the course.

Another gel taken on & I was finding my way out of the forest, using a route much more familiar to the eastern edge of the forest. From there I was turning west onto the Flitch Way & hoping to find my way into Bishop’s Stortford. This would be easier said than done as I had no clue where the Flitch ended or the alternative routes. With 10 miles clocked I felt fantastic & decided it was time to turn on the iPod.

The Flitch was perfect foil for me, flat & straight, I was able to open the legs up a little bit after the cross country around the forest. I just had to be wary around dogs, one seemed very keen to run with me so I waited for the owner to get them to obey before running once more. As I passed over a road leading to Hallingbury the route seemed to get a great deal narrower & then to an abrupt halt. There was a bridge but it lead to nowhere & appeared not safe for human consumption. For some reason I tried to ease myself down the drop off to my left, which on damp ground & in road shoes was silly, although I made it through unscathed. I followed the field & found myself at the M11 / A120 roundabout, not really an ideal running route, even at 7am! I looped back on myself, heading down the Hallingbury Road, realising the Flitch was a dead end & in search of an alternative.

A footpath soon appeared & as it was pointing to the west I decided to wing it & see where it would take me. A kilometre or so of farm fields was entertaining, though I got the impression I was lost once more. I still had the option to turn back & head through to Birchanger, but part of me wanted to find the right route. As I climbed the left hand side of a large field I could see the M11 running parallel to my right. There appeared to be no bridges, I knew there must be a route across but how far south would I have to run?

Out of the corner of my eye I spotted what might be a tunnel. Aware that having broken my glasses at Yateley my eyes might be deceiving me, I decided to take the conveniently positioned right turn through the field to get closer. Was this the nirvana I sought or a mirage resulting from an overdose on High 5 energy gels?

As it came further into view it certainly appeared to be a portal back to the promised land west of the M11. I had to work to get there though, running through an unkempt area of foliage. I’m not going to lie, there was a bit of excitement once I was sure this tunnel was indeed real! I paused for a photo & then made my way further west, where someone had kindly actually bothered to sign post the route! Farm fields changed to a golf course, but as I didn’t have a Pringle sweater to hand I carried on, finding tarmac for the first time in a while.

There really was light at the end of this

I had no idea where in Stortford I was, but a suspicion that I was close to the BSRC clubhouse. I was now into the final 10k, knowing that I’d want to be crossing the A120 back towards Stansted with around 4km left to go. Returning to pavement & tarmac certainly helped my rhythm, despite being out beyond my usual half marathon comfort zone I found my pace getting better.

After enjoying a downhill of Beldams Lane I decided to head towards the town centre, running through it & onto Rye Street for a nice loop to take me towards home. My fuelling had been decent, the first two High 5 gels had been added to with Nakd Cola Raisins at 19km, one further gel at 23km (ish) & a packet of the Honey Stinger pink lemonade chews in the 27^th kilometre. These were more agreeable earlier on in previous runs, something I should take into account for future long runs. I had plenty more options available should I find myself in trouble as I crossed the A120 & into the 30^th kilometre of a run for the first time.

Distance wise it looked like I would be slightly over, by virtue of my getting lost adventures, so I’d be taking the main road all the way home, without deviation. One thing that has made my running infinitely better was the move to Stansted back in 2011. Sitting on top of a hill, there is no way I can avoid them. This has its advantages, but on this occasion it meant that I had three moderate climbs separating me from home. The first took me past the Birchanger turning & as it flattened I reminded myself of what lay ahead.

After the second there was at least a nice downhill & my legs felt decent enough to stretch out a bit. I had just over a kilometre to go & attacked the final hill. All that lay ahead of me now was a flat, arrow straight pavement before the final approach to home. I let the legs go, they’d done their job now, what, if anything was left. With the last corner navigated my watched did its usual attention seeking routine at the end of a kilometre, 5:37 pace. I afforded myself a smile & some anglo saxon words, easing off as the house came into view.

32.11km, 3:19:34 @ 6:13/km pace.

Breakdown of the run

First 10k – 1:03:33 @ 6:21/km

Second 10k – 1:01:45 @ 6:10/km

Third 10k – 1:01:11 @ 6:07/km

Could I have run further? Probably, but I had run to a goal & that had been achieved. I had fuel left in the tank, something that was very reassuring. Upon finishing I was acutely aware that the increase in mileage had added some aches & pains that were not normally present. Both hamstrings were tight, something I’ve only ever experienced during lap 5 at Endure, so I’m pretty certain this is fatigue related.

Taking the running shoes off was hard work, supported by the kitchen units as I famed lack of flexibility plummeted to new depths! I was quick to source water & a glass of milk, poor planning on my part meant none of the chocolate variety was available! I took a photo. It’s not the prettiest photo, I'm dripping with sweat, but I'm happy, elated in fact. Just because I believed in myself beforehand didn't mean the performance itself wasn't a surprise.

This is a smile, honest.

After some time on the foam roller it was time to try & get myself into London for Hyper Japan. We’d already put back our meeting time by half an hour based on the length of my run & in the end it was a rush to even make it out the door, without breakfast, that would surely be a sensible idea…..

Quotes of the Run

“The Bridge, f*** yes!” – Realising I was no longer lost within Hatfield Forest

Bit of a fist pump – Finding my way into the tunnel underneath the M11

“Just two hills left” – Approaching Stansted, 31^st km

“You sick f***” – A 32^nd km clocked at 5:37 as I ran down my road towards home (not at my most articulate)

Hyper Japan

I’d always somehow missed previous incarnations of Hyper Japan. This time it was “bigger & better” than ever having moved to the o2. With a trip to Japan less than six months away Burak & I were keen to visit. After my 3 hour plus run I was looking to consume every bit of sushi on offer!

In an attempt to be sensible I decided to drive down to Redbridge & take the tube in, feeling that spending a day drinking when already in a massive calorie deficit might not be a good idea. The half hour drive was already causing runger, an emergency Orange Lucozade & White Chocolate KitKat purchase was required before I hopped (well limped like the giant cockroach in Men in Black) onto a train. Only after inhaling the chocolate in record time did I realise I had a Nakd bar in my pocked, for this specific purpose!!!

Once at the o2 the underwhelming nature of Hyper Japan began. Despite having tickets we had to queue to swap these to wristbands & the operation was not entirely slick. The exhibition itself was spread out over a few areas & didn’t feel that special. There were plenty of stalls, but apart from the gaming section nothing appeared to have a theme. The food court was a let-down, half a dozen stalls at best & a sushi van elsewhere offering Maki rolls.

Only a bit of sushi

After a few expensive sweet purchases, a trek to a retro gaming lounge (that really wasn’t worth it), a Kirin & a wander around the Nintendo exhibit we’d had enough, opting for Five Guys for some fuel. Maybe my expectations were too high, it just felt like a slightly disparate jumble sale at times though. The only thing it did do was confirm we’ll be spending a lot of Yen on KitKats! Rum & Raisin was particularly good!

Expecting to bring about this much back from the Japan trip

Mario touched us inappropriately!

The Conclusion

I don’t think I could have asked for a better week in terms of performance. The pace shown at eley still perplexes me slightly given the dearth of speed work I've done of late. I'm already signed up to return in August & the aim is to target 48:00 alongside Kendra & potentially Cindy from BFR. Sean is meant to be pacing us, though at the time of writing he hasn't got an entry. Now that I know the route I'm confident I can squeeze a bit more performance out, looking at my stats, I didn't cash in enough on the downhill 4th km. 

I've also dared to dream ahead of the Pride 10k in August. On a far flatter course than Yateley I'm going to target a 47:00. I believe I can better my PB. I'm going to try & stretch what is possible even further. Last year's Pride performance saw a 1:50 improvement, so I'm going to test myself with an ambitious target for this specific race. Even if I fall short, it has potentially to be a big PB. Yateley has shown me to trust how you are running.

As for the long run, I really enjoyed it. Enjoyment isn't usually a term associated with running for over three hours, but I came home smiling. I ran smiling as well. I got lost, I smiled, I got lost again, I smiled. I found some tarmac, I smiled some more. Even after a very good 18 mile run a fortnight previously I'd prepared myself for coming unstuck, potentially hitting the wall. Instead I found myself running stronger & faster as the run went on.

Physically I feel pretty good a few days removed, mentally I know what I'm capable of. A repeat performance would give me 70 minutes to finish the remaining 10k in Berlin. With a potential three 20 milers left in my training plan Given how well this run & the rest of my training has gone, it is tempting to set a new target for the marathon. You might think after the bold Pride 10k idea I'd agree, but for the marathon I want to be sensible.

More importantly, I don't want to cross the line feeling disappointed. I could change my goal to a sub 4:15 or 4:10. Who knows, I might even cross the line with that kind of time. That isn't the aim though. I chose a sub 4:30 target from day one of the plan & I'm not going to deviate. This goal needs to be achievable & if I divert my attention to something faster I run the risk of failure. The ultimate achievement is to finish, by setting a realistic time target I have every opportunity to be crossing the line with a smile.

Forest Fives and Tens

A double bling week, that's a success to me. And everything appeared to be fine after the Endure weekender.

Endure Recovery

I had wisely booked Monday off of work. My body seemed to think Endure was still happening as I woke up at around 11pm, then 4am, maybe this was due to the power of the luminous wristband that sat on the bookcase in my room.
With ruthless efficiency I woke up just before 6 & realised that my body clock has no understanding of annual leave. There was little point trying to fight it so I headed downstairs to play on the Xbox for a bit, determined that the day started as unproductively as possible. As I wandered downstairs I was instantly confused. I could walk just fine, DOMS was surprisingly absent. I had no aches or pains, a nasty cold brewing but that was it.
If it wasn't for all of the running paraphernalia that surrounded me I'd swear the weekend was just a dream. How was this even possible? I'd run further & for longer than anything I'd done previously & felt great.
Perplexing as it was, my physical vibrancy wasn't going to get turned into a day of activity. I switched the Xbox over & watched Money in the Bank, tuning in where the show was decent (Kevin Owens / main event) & out (everything else) where not. I think I liked every Endure photo on IG as my procrastination took on new levels.
Eventually I resolved to empty the car & take on one of many jobs I had been putting off for a while. The garage had become a sprawling mess of left overs from the building work, parkrun equipment, cricket gear, bbq, diy & gardening stuff & anything else that would fit in for good measure. After a couple of hours I felt it didn't look much better, it appears to be the gift that keeps on giving.
I broke up the time by making a start on an epic Endure 24 blog post, splitting my time between both activities. I had designs on heading across to Braintree to catch up with friends & my Mum, but this trip also included a visit to the gym & they were apparently closed due to water mains issues. It was as if it was being prescribed that I should be lazy!
So I let the rest of the day pass & didn't achieve a great deal. As the evening approached I was about to stick a pizza in the oven. I decided that I should at least get in some time on the exercise bike to get the legs moving a bit, before returning to the pizza, feeling like maybe a slice of it was earned.

Let's get physio, physio

Tuesday was a bizarre day. I had some awesome news that I'll talk about in future weeks, finally got round to filling in some paperwork that needed doing in order to move on & finished with some inevitable, saddening news.
Sandwiched amongst all of this was my regular visit to Dan the Physio. I explained that I was holding up well after Endure, but had some concerns about my shoulder, calves / achilles as usual & wanted him to check the shin splints. After the usual work on the neck & shoulders, he eased off the calves. He felt the shins were just fine & that by rolling & stretching I can managed any issue there, tight calves being the cause is hardly a surprise. He also couldn't find anything wrong with the shoulder after carrying out some movement tests, putting the likely cause down to a bit more tension as I've upped the miles.
My intention for the next fortnight or so it to scale it back a bit to the bare minimum amount of training to maintain the base I've built up, so this fits nicely, no major issues for now.
As I tackled some still remaining washing up, Topper returning from the vets. The prognosis was not good, there was now nothing else they could do for him. His kidneys started failing back in October & he's been on medication ever since, ballooning in size as he goes. As his weight has increased his legs have weakened so his ability to jump has diminished. Personality wise he is still the same, potentially he's even more affectionate now. It is unlikely he'll make it much further, now it is a case of monitoring how much quality of life he has. I suspect he'll be spoilt rotten over the coming weeks, allowed to eat whatever (his favourites are eggs, ice cream & fish), forgiven for the early morning jabs to the face & fussed like anything.

Forest Five

On Tuesday I also realised that I was signed up to a race. After my visit to Bracknell Forest Runners track night a few week's previously my colleague Kendra had given me a list of local races to sign up to that would work with my trips to our southern office. I'd wantonly signed up without thinking to check my running calendar, you know to see if there was perhaps an endurance event merely days beforehand.
It was even an event designed to mess with my head following Endure, 5 laps, undulating, around a forest! All I needed to do was deprive myself of sleep beforehand & force someone to do a lap after me & it would be like the weekend all over again.
Fearing traffic I'd left my hotel early & arrived with a mere hour to kill before the race. I wandered to the start line (nearly a km into the Forest), wandered back, found the toilets, chucked my valuables in the car, walked back, walked some more & probably covered 3-4km in walking before the start just to keep myself busy.
I was tempted to run with Kendra & her son Callum who was taking part in his first 5 miler. Instead I opted for the well versed plan of winging it on the day. BFR appear to be another club, like Bishop's Stortford that I appear to be an associate member of by osmosis as I recognised many faces & said hi to my Endure lap 1 partner in crime Cindy.
Anyone that had run over the weekend was comparing war stories, I still couldn't correlate my performance with a seemingly zero problems. I felt like I should be suffering, a bit fraudulent for appearing to have got away from Endure without issue.

Bit of a roller coaster, closing my eyes until it was all over

I had been fooled. Fooled, lulled, seduced into believing that everything was ok. Even after a near 2km downhill beginning it was clear that like say a 2003 Alfa bought in February, though everything appeared alright, there were some gremlins to be found when on closer inspection. Potentially due to being worked on the night previously, both achilles decided to voice their displeasure at the physical nature of the activity. A hamstring that until Lap 5 on Sunday had behaved itself impeccably in 5 years of running was also having a moan. On top of this my breathing was all over the place thanks to the lingering cold brought on from camping being illness inducing.
Other than those symptoms & a general lack of moral fibre, my pace was just weird. I wanted to see if a 44:00 @ 5:30/km was possible, although I hadn't researched the course, or sustained that pace since the HBO a few weeks prior.
This soon became a grin & bear it kind of run. I made an effort to thank every marshal around the course. There was a delightful rollercoaster of a down & up just after halfway, actually by the end of the uphill I'm not sure delightful was the right term for it. I found breaking the run into 2km sections helped & once I was through 6km the back of the run had been broken & I felt more inclined to push whatever I could out of my legs.
My pace was better for the 7th kilometre & a marshal advising us that it was all downhill from that point onward raised a cheer from the runners in & around me. A lady from Reading RC cashed in on the descend a bit more than me, though my pace was increasing I find it far too easy to lose form on a downhill. As the finish came into sight the course flatten out & I decided it was time to really test the legs. Impressively I was able to manage a full sprint finish, reeling in a few that had passed me on the downhill.
I collected my goody bag & liked the unique medal, popping it round my neck whilst waiting for Callum & Kendra to finish. As they approached the finish Callum dropped Kendra with an almighty sprint finish home, recording a 48:53. A great debut performance at the distance & a sprint finish I'd be proud of! I said my goodbyes & made my way back to the car to cool down a bit. A much appreciated Mars bar was found in the goody bag & I headed back to my hotel, trying to work out what to do for dinner. I was in a bit of a state post run & really couldn't be arsed with getting changed, or sitting in a restaurant. Knowing takeaway was my only option from this point I then decided I didn't even want to wait for a curry & chucked the hire car into a McD's drive through.
Dirty tainted food, but it was fine by me.

Funky medal, sweaty face

parkrun

I was back on rota for a fortnight of Run Directing down at Hatfield Forest. As James was staying at the house he'd been added to the roster for pre & post event work, although he didn't appear to be overly inspired by us leaving at 0645.
When on duty I try to avoid anything that might induce swearing, I'm already far too fluent at dropping the F bomb without further encouragement. I'd forgotten this golden rule as Nick Helm's Hot & Heavy was already in the CD player. We'd made it halfway towards the forest before I asked James to source something else.
The course was setup in decent time (with me on a bike no less) & with Amy taking on the Volunteer Coordinator role under Karl's supervision, I had time to remember what exactly I was meant to be doing. Thankfully all of our volunteers were in place & ready to go, it was just time to greet the runners, get through a briefing that had a second page & then relax for 15 minutes whilst they ran the course.

Lots of volunteers, no runners though

That is the theory at least. With 18 minutes already passed & no finisher in sight I ran back to our storage to borrow one of the NT's bikes. I could hear some clapping & to my relief the runners had started to file in. To confuse me further, Mark who was running in my 50 shirt as he ran his 50th run was approaching me & appeared to have maimed himself on the course. Not only this, he'd finished first & was apologetic for doing so. He did at least provide the reasoning for this happening. At a cross roads in the forest some runners had carried straight on rather than right. One mortified marshal returning to HQ confirmed that they'd been a bit of an issue. Having experienced this myself on my volunteering debut I was keen to stress that these things happen. I felt it was right to follow up further to reassure & we even caught up at the Hoohaah on Sunday. In hindsight we were missing a lanyard for this position, sending a volunteer out without sufficient information or guidance. That won't happen again, we'll have spares of everything should something go missing.

So we'd lost runners once, you'd have to be really unlucky for it to happen twice? It appears the NT's herds of cattle are a mischievous bunch. Always intrigued by our signage, they'd managed to nudge our penultimate turn from a left to a straight on arrow. This is how Mark found himself leading, thankfully he sounded on to the runners that had overshot & corrected the sign for those that followed.
A reluctant first finisher & definitely the only time my 50 shirt will ever cross the line first! Thankfully all of the runners I spoke to that had missed turns were in good spirits, understanding that these things happen. Some even commented on getting even more free kilometres in!
The rest of the event passed without incident & we chose to take the bikes out once more to assess the two turns where the issues had occurred & collect the remaining signage on the course. I found myself even enjoying the ride. I was such a useless cyclist at school that I even failed cycling proficiency! I think when I rode during our event a couple of weeks back that would have been the first time in 5 years. Sure the quads ache within a kilometre, but it was nice to ride, something I might do more of at the forest.

A very long weekend

James was down for the weekend, making a return to Hatfield Forest parkrun on the Saturday & taking on the summer course for the first time. That wasn't the only reason for his visit, he'd tried to catch Katherine Ryan's latest show a couple of times in Preston & Leeds but had no joy. She was due to play at Udderbelly over the weekend & after acquiring some tickets on Stubhub a plan for a weekend was formed.
So Friday night comprised of gin, comedy & (sadly) dirty McD's food for the train home after the queue for Duck & Waffle was simply too long.

All set for comedy

I'd like to suggest that Saturday evening had some variation. In reality all that changed was we stayed out for longer. Street Feast's latest venture Dinerama had recently opened in Shoreditch & it offered the chance of lots of food varieties & plenty of drinking options. The idea to visit only came about on Thursday so most folks had plans already. Vicky & Cali joined us as they were en route to comedy in Bethnal Green & we managed to grab a table under cover, handy as the rain started to come down soon after we got there.

Pints of cocktail in the late afternoon, this could only go wrong

We started with Busan BBQ sliders, fries & some nachos from Breddos. With the first pint of the day done & dusted James felt it should be cocktails time at 5pm! I remained in charge of the food, following up the first round with some Gyoza from Rainbo.
A second round of cocktails (served by the pint, though a lot of that was ice) & this time we were back to Breedo's to try the beef tacos. Vicky & Cali opted for duck burgers, donuts & mocking me, all of which they appeared to enjoy! They were soon on their way & we decided that open air eating in the rain was fine but it was time to wander ourselves.

All kinds of food at Dinerama

A trip to Brick Lane & we found 93 Feet East. I'd never been so we wandered in. It was like a time warp, back to a student union! Daylight outside & this was the only light we could see as the entire place was decorated in black! One drink & we were on our way, originally to the Big Chill bar but James was smiling too much in hipster East London & the bouncer did not take kindly to enjoyment. Half way through the obligatory feel up I decided to interrupt James' fun & we wandered off to find a more friendly bar.
A couple of more pubs later & it was 9pm, I was pretty much done by this point. It would be rude to head home before the light went so into The George at Liverpool St we went. James insisted on doubling up our Tanqueray Tens, his eyes popping out at the £22 cost! By half ten we were onto the train north, after yet another trip to the golden arches (yes really). No nightcap for me, time to sleep.

Hoohaah Hatfield Forest 10k

This was my second attempt to run the HF 10k. I'd not made the start line for 2014's inaugural event after a delightful weekend of toilet hugging & extreme weight loss. This time around I was looking forward to it. The event last year had sewn the seed for a potential parkrun at the venue as it was the first running event I was aware of at the forest (I was wrong, just wasn't aware of others).
For James, this would be his first 10k, though with another one due next weekend he was more than ready. My ever efficient but not overly friendly body clock performed the half five wake up trick as always. I managed to barter another couple of hours of sleep, but noticed that I wasn't overly with it, potentially due to the gin consumption the night previous. Three slices of heavily buttered Soreen really didn't feel sufficient so I threw myself under the shower to try & wake myself up.
Arriving at the forest but without anything to be in charge of felt quite liberating. I met Sue, Maldon's ED for the first time & it was good to share ED stories. I'm still yet to make it to Maldon on a Saturday morning & will be a long old commute if I don't get it visited soon!
We picked up our numbers & I said hello to Alison & Hannah the Hoohaah team. I cheekily asked if they could mention the parkrun, the response was very much in the affirmative, how about you take the stage & we give you the mic during the briefing?!
We had some time to kill & I spent some time preparing my race kit before chatting to some of the parkrunners present at the event. I bumped into Rich from Great Notley & as James wanted to run to a 55, Rich joined us.
So after a brief appearance on the stage with the mic, where I not only promoted us but all of our local parkruns across Essex it was time to start. James knew his target might be ambitious, but you might as well aim high to see what is possible. A nice flat target time made it easy for me to calculate the splits, 5:30/km, Rich works in miles so I had no idea what that worked out at, probably around the 9:00/mile mark.
Our pace wasn't amazing as per the watch, but I was noticing we were measuring short based on course signage, understandable in a dense forest. This meant I think we were good, but wouldn't be sure until the end. After 3km navigating the forest we were onto the Flitch Way & enjoying the flat & shaded conditions. I'd ditched my sunglasses before the start as it looked overcast, a decision I would soon be regretting.
The weakest kilometre was the 7th & I can only think this was due to the heat & then some boggy, technical trails that had to be navigated. Having been in the shade for a while we were unaware just how hot & sunny the day had become & it really did sap the energy. This was something that I need to take into account for Berlin, it can be terrifically hot there. After my not always perfect pacing record I was keen to check in on James frequently & he appeared to be just fine, with Rich using himself to then pace me, dragging us out a bit more.
As we reached the 8km marker James was on target but told us to run on, concerned he would struggle in the final part of the race. I double checked all was ok & kicked on, Rich was now pushing the pace a bit more to stretch me as the finish line beckoned, setting targets of runners ahead for us to pass. The pace to this point had been comfortable so I was able to go through the gears a bit & get down to a 5:00/km pace. A brief aeroplane to a photographer (sadly not captured) & we were into a nasty little wooded area that preceded the finish. This was a complete momentum killer as hazards both at head height & on the ground needed to be navigated. As we emerged into the field we could hear Vicky on the PA system & Rich encouraged me (like I normally need it) to sprint to the end. Perhaps the pace wasn't quite so easy as I'd previously felt, the resulting sprint finish was a rather weak effort, if the ground were covered in treacle it wouldn't have surprised me.

Medals & smiles (almost)

James followed shortly after breaking the 55 minute barrier at the first time of asking with an exceptional 10k debut. We grabbed medals, chatted to Hatfield Forest parkrunners & then missed out on heckling Vicky as it was prize giving time.
I'd really enjoyed the run & the chance to explore different parts of the forest that we don't see as part of the parkrun courses. No doubt I've now got some new course ideas for the drawing board, though whether the event really needs more routes would be debatable.
James was soon on his way back to the North after a chocolate milk & a shower. His 6 hour journey home wasn't great for his spirits, though I suspect the medal stayed around his neck throughout.
I spend the rest of the day on a bit of an emotional roller-coaster, the first time Father's Day has really hit me for a while. I headed across to Braintree to see my Mum & bring some beers to Step-Dad Steve but found myself having to chuck the Counting Crows CD out as it was reminding me too much of the many things I shared with the old man. It wasn't depressing, I just felt that my driving would be enhanced if I wasn't tearing up! Mum had a load of old photos I'd not seen before, including one from Dad's Japan visit in 1987, which left me wondering if I can recreate the photo when I visit in January.

Dad in Japan. Now just need to find out where this was. And why his shirt to trouser ratio was so bad. And what is going on with the jacket.,,,,

I ploughed my energy into the parkrun run report in the evening, a silly & rather dark sense of humour is something we also shared. Given the amount of fun we'd seen at parkrun it gave me lots to work with, all we needed was some slapstick to really make it something Dad would have properly laughed at. I don't mind these kind of reflective days, it tells me I'm in a good place mentally. Back in February I'd got through most of the anniversary of his death before remembering, my mind was all over the place at the time.
The day finished with a steak, once I realised it was darn late & I could do with eating, then a bath so that I could treat the muscles to a soak after a good 10k performance.

The Conclusion

A thoroughly enjoyable week. Two races, two relatively pleasing performances given my fatigue & lack of speed work of late. My 10k time was good, it achieved the goal set at the start & I was able to get some quicker clicks in at the end. I think I'm in a good place to start reintroducing speed work alongside the mileage & the target of breaking 48 for the first time at August's Pride 10k is something that should be possible. I've got another 10k that precedes it by 5 weeks & Sean is heading down to Yateley with the aim of pacing me to 50 minutes, his reward for hauling me around close to target will be a curry! There is also the small matter of a half marathon PB to aim for & the Dublin trip, also with Sean offers this potential.
The weekend itself was also a lot of fun, spending time out with friends & just letting off some steam was exactly what I needed. It might have hampered Sunday's performance, I suspect I was sweating neat gin by the end!
Looking forward to increasing the mileage again & Friday brings a track 5k, which should be a lot of fun.

Flitch 10k

How many training plans include a 10k race at the end of week one? How many training plans are written by a colossal numpty who signs up for things on a whim? I'd hope the answer is one and that one is me. If however you're also inclined to running madness, pull up a chair, it is nice to have some company.
I'm not completely crazy, this was meant to be week two! The event had been advertised a couple of months ago and being based at the Discovery Centre in Great Notley meant we would see a high number of parkrunners accustomed to touching the bird and already familiar with the hill of doom. Paul had advised it was 10km and a bit, that bit being a climb up the hill (that GPS still doesn't record!). The route didn't really concern me though, this would be another recovery run, as the groin strain continues to heal.
This would be Challenge Running's debut 10km event, they're usually creating crazy marathons and from my perspective what look to be bat shit crazy ultra runs! Paul is still hopeful one day I'll sign up for the Stort 30 and it'll lead me down that path to more ultra shenanigans. Never say never, 5 years ago I didn't even run, one year ago I'd never volunteered at a parkrun, didn't own trail shoes. Perhaps my injuries are the cause of speed work and distance is what I'm more suited to. I'm built for biscuits rather than sprinting after all.
I didn't know what to expect from the event. Other than the basics, Flitch Way, out and back, hill of doom, cool medal, start time, information was lacking. A friend due to run their first 10k had asked about a course map and the response was, why would you want one?!? Seeing a slightly narky Facebook post the night before from the organiser didn't hold out much hope, this might be one and done for Challenge and me. There hadn't been a pre race email and the website could be clearer, or at least have a mobile friendly version. I suspected it was an adjustment to dealing with a different clientele. Ultras and marathons attract a different crowd to 10k, which is often the first race for many stepping up from beginner or 5k. As I'm finding parkrun, if folks are asking for information, that suggests the information you've published is either hard to find or insufficient. It is then that you take the feedback on board & look at what can be improved. Hopefully everything would be ok on the day & this was just a case of being tired / nervous / apprehensive ahead of a debut event. 

I arrived at the Discovery Centre nice and early, the registration was upstairs and number pick up was easy. Vicky from Harlow parkrun was part of the registration team and the whole affair had a bit of a parkrun love in feel as our new Hatfield Forest community had descended on the event & were mixing with the large number of Great Notley runners. I also spotted some Chelmsford parkrunners. I had posted on the Hatfield Forest Facebook page that one big group photo would be cool, this didn't happen but us Um Bongo folk did manage to pose for a rather awesome photo captured by Katrina. Just as we lined up Paul suggested he'd do a catalogue pose, we all joined him. The result was what I've named the Um Bongo Avengers!

The Um Bongo Avengers - rescuing people through the medium of sugary fruit juice

My pre event fears subsided when Lindley the Race Director delivered a humourous and informative pre run brief, leaving plenty of time to get everyone to the start line which was a bit of a wander. I made a dash for a last minute toilet break at the Discovery Centre so was walking through the field of runners, trying to catch Emily who had my water bottle. On the way I was approached by a parkrunner who shared her runs at the Forest in rotation with her husband. They hadn't been aware of parkrun before and were enjoying their new Saturday morning routine. This was a new experience for me, one that Len and Gerry had mentioned. Len had even theorised that being a volunteer was more enjoyable than running and that being an Event Director was the cherry on top of the cake. I'm still learning faces and names, certainly those that have volunteered I'm starting to recognise. During the run it was great to hand out encouragement to anyone I knew and also nice to receive kind words as I hauled myself around the course. I've been warned by Emily in her debut race blog that I might need to be less enthusiastic with my high fiving!

And stretch.........

Onto the race itself and I lined up with Emily and Karl, though it was unlikely I'd be running alongside them for long. My goal was that beating the hour would be nice, though not overly necessary as how my groin recovered was more important. The course itself was simple, out and back on the Flitch Way, the former railway line between Braintree & Stortford, finishing with a return to the Discovery Centre and a climb of the hill of doom in order to claim a medal. 

The Flitch is bizarre, straight for miles, yet always gives the impression of being uphill no matter which way you tackle it! My only other experience of running it was during the Takeley 10k in August. Back then I found the arrow straight nature quite crushing as I was having a progressively bad day and seeing 2km ahead of you to where I perhaps should have been was not much fun. I started off gently, easing into a 6:00/km pace, focusing on the 10km rather than the extra 300m uphill at the end. At around 3km I felt a twinge, but it didn't last and I was able to maintain pace without any further pain, sometimes the muscles just take time to settle down. 

Soon the front runners were approaching on their return and I gave encouragement to anyone I recognised. Paul was looking in excellent shape, I'm intrigued to see just how fast he could be around a flat 10k such as Pride. I think the order in which I then saw everyone else was Alec, Emily, Jim and Len before I made it to the turn myself. The aid station wasn't ideally placed, being past the natural running line, though as I wasn't there to record a time I stopped to say hello to Nicki & The Sandfords and take some jelly babies on board. 

Seeing everyone was a nice motivator and I continued to say hello and high five as I headed back to Great Notley. My legs were feeling decent so I allowed myself to start picking the pace up gradually as we went through 5km. With no alarm bells going off physically I was in a good place mentally, ticking off every landmark (the burned out car a particular highlight) and kilometre, feeling stronger as the finish neared. Having no injury concerns meant I could concentrate on the race aspect and if my legs and cardio would allow me to continue to improve the pace.

By 9km we were leaving the Flitch behind and I could see Jim a couple of hundred metres ahead of me. The athlete / competitor / idiot in me wondered if I could reel him in as my pace continued to increase. I passed a parkrunner who gave me encouragement and soon we were in the field where the race started. At the final bypass bridge crossing I was level with Jim, though he was now walking & I encouraged him to run with me to the end, Hatfield Forest comrades and all. He told me to carry on, he was done so I returned my focus to the trail that would be leading to the Hill of Doom.
Just ahead of me, starting his climb was my parkrun mentor, Len. This time I was the one giving some encouragement, shouting Len's way.
For some reason unknown I decided to push myself up the hill, all notion of this being a recovery run was thrown out the window with the finish line in sight. Despite this being home ground for Len he was struggling up the Hill of Doom so I implored him to speed up or I'd slap his arse on the way past. Perhaps I have no future as a motivator as he didn't speed up, either before or after the slap on his arse! Instead I carried on up the hill, forcing myself to eek out every bit of energy I still had in my legs. I'm well aware that some of my expressions are at times a bit scary or hilarious when running. Katrina captured this perfectly with what could easily be called my Crimewatch face.

It would be appropriate to photoshop an axe into one hand here!

The finish line was actually just before the bird, but we'd been implored to touch the bird to claim the medal so runners and supporters were treated to me saying "I've got to touch the bird!!!" before I joined the queue for a medal.
And what a medal it was, a custom medal designed like an old school style train ticket. A nice touch that added something to the event that a generic medal wouldn't do. I caught up with Alec, Emily & Paul, remembering it might be worth stopping my Garmin. Karl had also finished just beyond me & all were happy with the medals. As I made my way down the hill I stopped to cheer on any Hatfield Forest parkrunners I recognised, another new habit for this race, but knowing how much support can help me in a race, one that is well worth doing.

Post race smiles

The Eat

Great Notley parkrun is the place that knows me as Mr Sausage Roll. There is an expectation that every time I visit I should bring a box of sausage rolls, ready for runners & volunteers to consume. The only downside to this is that it excludes Emily & Paul, who despite hearing how good the sausage rolls are, won't abandon being vegetarians to try them. On this occasion I decided to try something different, My creation, non sausage rolls included roasted peppers, mushrooms, onions & asparagus. The vegetables were combined with goats cheese & chilli jam for a pastry snack equal to the normal sausage rolls. They were well received by all, even if it at first took some persuasion that a vegetarian pastry was worthwhile to our carnivorous friends.

The Conclusion

As an event, on the whole very positive. Save for the slightly stressed post the night before the event & the need for a bit more information beforehand, everything else ran nicely. The distance would have ideally been 10k, being an out and back might make it possible to adjust in the future. The medal was an excellent addition to the event, good run bling is always appreciated and something that is really not hard to achieve now. A repeat event has been announced for September, 2 weeks ahead of Berlin. I'm tempted to sign up as it would be a nice book end, the same route at the start and end of my marathon training.

Awesome run bling! Straight onto the medal moose.

In terms of my running form, I was very pleased with my performance. The fact it was a negative split was largely irrelevant as I purposefully started slowly in order to ease my various ailments into the race. Being able to progressively increase my pace as the run continued was good & lets me know that my cardio isn't as far away as it has felt in recent times. The groin strain settled down quickly & didn't give any further issues as both the pace & distance increased. A 5:17 last kilometre is far faster than I was intending to run, going to show what being an idiot & race conditions can do for you!
Even my hill of doom climb did not go to plan. I appeared to adopt the quicker you get up there the quicker it all ends strategy. The ascend was my fastest ever, 40 seconds, though my heart rate did go up to 180bpm.

The intentional negative split

An enjoyable event & performance, a nice end to week one of the marathon training. It isn't a performance I'll remember in years to come, but it will form the foundation for what will be a busy few months.

A good weekend

The difficulty with being told to rest up a bit whilst on a course of medication is that things are already in the diary & committed to. I am genuinely trying to rest & have dropped the number of kilometres significantly since the Richmond Half to at least allow for some rest. The trouble is, when it comes to a parkrun or a race event I am my own worst enemy!

The Non Run

During the week I found myself over in Belfast for work & staying just across the road from the beautiful Stormont Estate. It is a nice venue to run around, offering a nice mix of trails and scenary. With that in mind I packed my running gear & decided I'd treat myself to a gentle morning run.
Unfortunately my research was poor. Sunrise is late in Northern Ireland and it took me until 0720 to get out of the hotel and across to Stormont for a run. Yet there was an issue, all the gates were locked! Without any signage to advise of the opening times & meetings lined up through the day, I abandoned the run plan & headed back to the hotel rather disappointed. I was even more annoyed (mainly with myself) when I checked & found the gates would have been opened at 0730. If only I'd checked this beforehand, I could have taken in an easy kilometre along the main road & then ventured in & still had sufficient time before check out.
I learnt a valuable lesson, research beforehand to avoid disappointment! I clocked 200m back to the hotel, out of frustration more than anything!

The Run #1 -  Panshanger Inaugural parkrun

I'd committed to Panshanger's first parkrun before hearing of the desire to tone down inaugural events & lessen the strain on new event teams. The plans were with good intentions, meeting a friend to make is first introduction to parkrun. Sadly for him he'd got registered but then waylayed with other plans, probably gives me an excuse to visit MK or Bedford parkrun events in the future then!
I managed to tailgate Alec all the way to the A10 & then got parked up close to the start. The event team had provided signage off of the A414 to Hertfordbury Road, where you'd find a decent amount of parking for regular weeks. Joel & Fergie were also in attendance & technically this was now Joel's home run based on distance.

Run Briefing

The team behind the Panshanger event had put together a great video to introduce the course (an idea I'll look to steal for the Forest parkrun). This meant we had a good idea of what to expect. Trail shoes were a must!
The downside to an inaugural is the huge numbers brought to an event. Not only can this put strain on an inexperienced team, but also unexpected demands on the course. This was the case on Saturday as 250+ people converged on a narrow uphill start to the course. On a normal week they'd probably be half that number and you'd have more space, a luxury not possible for the inaugural. This meant a slow start, not something I was overly concerned about having been low on training recently.
The Panshanger course really is worth a visit, beautiful scenery. After about half a kilometre uphill, the entirety of the course was essentially downhill until the end. Once out of the woods we were lapping the perimeter of a couple of fields, underfoot was the usual tractor path. From about 2km my left achilles started to scream, the uneven footing was causing me issues. Being a one lap course there really weren't many options other than to try and carry on. A downhill third kilometre eased the strain slightly, it was time to grit my teeth and just get through. 

Fergie rocking the Orange

After 3km we passed a lake on the left and then the underfoot conditions got even more interesting. Perhaps due to the recent rain, some areas of the course appeared to have been filled in to make them passable. I nearly lost my feet completely though as we went from grass to very fine shingle to bark over a couple of metres! The final kilometre was soon upon us and I was coaching myself through, including chucking water over my unhappy achilles. There were a couple of wooden bridges to negotiate and then the finish was in sight.
Oh boy. The finish. Having been on a downhill course for the majority of the run, logic told me that we'd have to climb at some point. With half a kilometre left the finish came into view. A short sharp ascend, probably all of 200m maximum, but it was a biter! You then turn ninety degrees and get a nice short downhill to ease to the finish. 

Panshanger Hill of Doom

The course really has a bit of everything (except tarmac) and will be one of the tougher courses in the local area, especially over the winter. I crossed the line in 26:02, my worst time since early spring. I wasn't overly concerned with the time though, I didn't feel like I was pushing overly and the dodgy achilles definitely hampered me. I'm going to add Panshanger to the Hill of Doom series, by virtue of position, that nice little bite in the tail at the end of the course that could scupper many PB attempts!

The Eat #1

Burger Saturday returned with some mini slider burgers in brioche buns. Despite a plethora of bread products offered at our local Tesco I had to settle for some mini buns, no decent sized brioche buns for burgers. Think I'll have to research if any other supermarkets stock them.

Mini Brioche Slider Burgers

The Run #2

Another commitment to honour, I'd signed up for the Cambridge Town & Gown 10k as the route was moving to closed roads in the city centre and looked interesting. The day was autumnal, too cold to risk the Um Bongo singlet. The weather had definitely turned cooler, perfect conditions if you could keep warm beforehand. My intention was to just see how it went, get into a pace and see how I felt as the race progressed. I knew I wasn't in PB form and a quick stretch reminded me that I really ought to have iced my achilles on Saturday. Perhaps I'd be better off with a DNS? All of my usual injury anxieties started to come into play, my outlook appears to be get through the remaining events of the year rather than approach any with enthusiasm. Was it really worth competing and returning a result way below my expectations? After a slow parkrun and the Manuden 10k my confidence wasn't where it should be. All of this is nonsensical, I'd PB'd a half marathon only three weeks prior and stormed a parkrun PB a week later. If I'm going to manage a marathon then the one thing I need to improve is my mentality. There are times when I'm not even a glass half empty, more glass smashed on the floor and shards slicing up your feet!

Onto the race itself. The event had attracted around a thousand runners, a good turn out and base from which it can grow into a bigger attraction. I made my intentions clear and said goodbye to Alec at the start line, I wouldn't be trying to keep up! I'd see how my pace was and just try to remain consistent. 

Autumn racing season = cold

I started well, pace just over the 5:00/km mark and a tour of the closed streets of Cambridge was interesting. Mainly flat, it was easy to settle into a five minute rhythm. The course was clever, covering a lot of the city without needing to close all of it to traffic. The first five kilometre loop headed west and then back through to the cobbled streets near the colleges. I know I have one dodgy achilles, wasn't overly aware that I actually have two. At the 4km mark my right achilles started to beg for mercy. I started to wonder whether dropping down to an easier pace might help, would 6:00/km take away the pain or just prolong it?

In the end I opted for stupidity and carried on regardless. The flat nature of the course and beautiful tarmac underfoot wouldn't trouble me too much. I chose to grit my teeth and get to the finish line. I went through halfway at 25:07, rhythm good and other than a nagging achilles everything else was working just fine. I'd found myself in a group all at a similar pace and we seemed to be running nicely, pushing each other along. The second half of the course took us west through a park initially and then back east alongside the river. There was decent support along the route, including a family all whooping at every runner as you entered the park at 5k. Since the town section I'd been running with a guy in a blue green shirt, as we entered the riverside part of the course we were overtaken by a lady in a peach top (the organisers wanted everyone in orange) and she became our defacto pacer. The course stayed riverside for an out and back around the 8km mark, I exchanged a high five with Alec, he was around two minutes ahead of me and looked to be enjoying himself. 

Through the streets of Cambridge City centre we go

My achilles had started to behave and we left the river with a short and gentle uphill back to the main roads. The climb was over at around 8.5km and our Lady in peach was still providing a decent pace. Throughout the second half I'd maintained pace, still wavering around five minutes per kilometre, if anything I found myself getting quicker. 

The section from 8.5km to 9km rolled downhill, providing the perfect impetus for the end of the race. I upped my pace, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel meant I was free to go through the gears. Just before 9km the finish came into view, unfortunately a lap of the park was required before we'd get there. The guy in the blue green top was now alongside me and we worked to the finish together. I told him he'd beat me easily, long legs giving him a natural advantage. He returned the compliment, said I'd dragged him round and then we mutually agreed to both being absolutely funked (or words to that effect). 

The final straight was now upon us, my running buddy then announced "Let's beat the purple lady ahead!" and opened his legs out into a sprint. This was something I couldn't muster, but we shook hands afterwards and it reminded me of the camaraderie of runners, complete strangers using each others as pacers and company through the race. The lady in peach wasn't too far behind, we'd all had an excellent race. 

The question is, just how excellent? My finishing time was a very welcome surprise. A negative split had returned me home in 49:32, meaning a second half of 24:25. This was only my second sub 50 and means the first one wasn't a complete fluke. It also tells me that my base is good, even if I'm just keeping it ticking over at the moment. Alec recorded a crazy 46:15, serious pace there and on his current rate of progression a sub 45 HBO 10k would be a decent bet. 

Post race ice cream - every race should have a van on hand!

I was pleased with being able to maintain and then improve pace. My achilles haven't been thankful in the aftermath, but they'd have still be screaming if I'd decided to drop down to an easier pace. The run bling was decent, a custom medal, though they missed a trick with a blue rather than orange ribbon. A cotton t-shirt was nothing special. Perhaps in future years it should be a tech shirt and dispatched beforehand to encourage everyone to wear it on race day. 

The Eat #2

An easy script to write here. Run a 10k, find sushi. I was tempted by a small independent place up near the Grafton. Instead we got our halves of Cambridge in the wrong order and ended up on the other side of town at lunchtime and sought a table at Yo Sushi. 

Yo Sushi - More style than substance

I'm usually a big fan of Yo, they're a great intro to sushi for a lot of people, but this experience was pretty average. A full conveyor belt is always a good sign, though it seemed a bit top heavy, plenty of expensive yellow plates. We ordered a few hot dishes off the menu as well. Two pumpkin korroke were required as we're both a fan & the pumpkins we'd tried to grow in the garden never did materialise. The popcorn shrimp was poor, mainly batter, minimal amount of sauce. Paula had some Chicken Yakitori, we think there were spring onions on the skewer, they appeared to have been burnt to a crisp though. As for the duck katsu? No idea, it never arrived. Our order got lost in the post perhaps. The raw stuff was decent, though no tuna sashimi appeared to be available, it was salmon or nothing. Overall a disappointing experience, next time we're in town we'll head to the independent sushi place and see how it compares. Perhaps Yo has become just another middling chain. 

Thankfully Cambridge still has a fudge kitchen so the culinary experience was redeemable. The temptation to get a box of four or six was there, but we settled on a single slice of toffee original. A thick slab of sugary goodness that propped me up whilst my eyes wanted to shut watching the grand prix!

The Conclusion 

A really good weekend. The parkrun result is my worst since the start of the year on paper, but given the circumstances and the course, I'm happy with it. In my experience the Panshanger course is genuinely tough and even in the height of summer will provide a challenge. It already looks like perfect training for Endure, more on that later....

As for the Cambridge Town & Gown 10k, very happy with the result. The course was more to my liking, only the Pride 10k has presented better conditions. Despite feeling injured, everything worked. I think a sub 48 at some point in 2015 is not out of the realms of possibility. 

And the last conclusion is that I need a rest. 2015 is already looking busy so I think once I've got these two remaining halves out of the way I'll be toning it down until Christmas. Sure the weight will probably increase, but I'm carrying achilles, calf, knee, quad, glute and groin aches. All kind of expected given the training I've done in 2014, but now I need to repay my body for its hard work with some rest and recuperation. I can keep running down to just parkrun and perhaps not even slog all the time (I'm pacing the 30 minute group at Chelmsford Central in December for example). It also gives me time to volunteer more as my parkrun journey starts to take a different route. Once I'm through the St Neots Half on November 16th it'll be time to untie the laces for a while. 

As for 2015, the year is already looking interesting. I managed to grab a Cambridge Half entry before they went and my early spring training will focus on chasing down a 1:50. Just a week after is the Larmer Tree half down in Dorset. A whole new challenge of hills and trails. I'll happily admit the funky medal had my attention first and the difficulty of the course wasn't really researched until after sign up!! I'm then back in Forest for another White Star event over the August bank holiday weekend. Two races in fact, a Saturday evening 10k followed by a Sunday morning half. 

Trail continues to be a theme for 2015 as we have a team entry for Endure 24. We'd been hoping initially to secure a Thunder place and I'd picked up Endure as an insurance option. As 10,000 people descended on a farcical midnight event launch we unsurprisingly missed out. Doubling up would have been interesting, but thankfully all of our original Thunder team were still available for Endure. So between 8 of us we'll run for 24 hours, a completely new challenge. 

Speaking of new challenges I'll also be entering the Berlin Marathon ballot. They'll be another post on my VLM thoughts, but the time has come to test myself over 26 miles. Fingers crossed I'll have more success with this ballot.