*don’t let facts get in the way of a good story.
I’m a frustrated runner right now. I’m hating the taper towards Berlin. I understand that it’s needed, I also understand I’m expected to hate it. I feel lethargic, without the long runs it seems like all I’m doing is gaining weight and losing speed, fitness & discipline. The inertia can lead to a reaction, whether wise or not. This certainly happened on Sunday.
Track Night
Some fast laps followed by all you can eat sushi was the plan for Tuesday night. In the end it was down to just Sean & I with Emily supporting for the second Team Um Bongo track night. I was looking for a different workout and was toying with the idea of Yasso 800s. After further reading up, plus the realisation that it was a lot of work, I decided it wasn’t for me.
When Sean mentioned he fancied running the same format as last time, progressively tougher laps with each set ending with suicide pace, I was game. He was eager to get started, the draw for the evening was the sushi after all! This meant we were up and running after a lap to warm up.
I was pleased with my three fast laps. This was the third time I’d attempted this workout over the course of the summer and I was rewarded with my lowest aggregate time and also my most consistent set of results. Laps of 1:26, 1:28 & 1:28 were very satisfactory (June: 1:35, 1:44 & 1:41, July 1:25, 1:32 & 1:31).
Less satisfying was the sight of a completely full sushi restaurant after a long walk to find it! Sean was properly rungry by the time we got to Clapham Junction and settled for pizza!
Maranoia
Since the taper started, every little creak, twinge or strain has been amplified. It feels like I have become a taper hypochondriac. I mentioned this to the ukrunchat Berlin group and I was introduced to a new term, maranoia.
On Monday I was icing my groin again. Months after the groin strain had cleared up and it appeared to have resurfaced three weeks before a marathon! Of course the logical reason would be that parkrun was hard work the week before, coupled with being stuck in traffic a lot over the days since and my driving position not being perfect in a new car. By Tuesday it was behaving itself!
Roll forward to Wednesday morning and a right foot that I’m struggling to put weight on. A lot of pain in the arch so it was time to retrieve the coke bottle in the freezer usually reserved for PF flare ups. This nagged for the rest of the week, especially the morning after a run, but was fine during a run itself. More maranoia or something to genuinely concern me?
Then there’s my ankle. Bruised since my bike riding and gravity combination at the start of July. My physio has assured me it’s just bruising, just my high mileage at present means it is taking longer to heal. It doesn’t hurt, but is lumpy, which in a heightened state of anxiety makes me think there’s something wrong.
Right now I just want to get the marathon over with!
The Drinks
Drinking on a school night is neither big or clever, but it was the order of the day on Wednesday. In my penultimate week with Vodafone I’d arranged some leaving drinks as some colleagues are on leave for my last days. So eager were we to get drinking that we’d arrived before the Be At One on Lyceum St was open! A swift half (no mean feat given my history for nursing drinks) and we were good to go.
When a happy hour starts at half four, continues until seven and you then use an app to extend it an hour, you can pretty much guarantee that you’ll be rather inebriated by the time you walk out. I’ve no idea how much I drank, though a rather large receipt gives me a clue! By the time we’d been served some Chinese fayre at the Wong Kei it was time for me to get home. I was relieved that one of my colleagues shares the commute and was able to wake me on the train!
To say Thursday was a write off would be an understatement! As fun as the evening was, I’ve not had a hangover like it in years. Turns out they do get worse with age!
It was however a great way to say goodbye to the friends and colleagues I’ve spent the past five years with. They’ve helped smooth my edges, I’m still direct and get passionate about what I do, but I play a lot better with others now! I’ve really enjoyed my time at Vodafone & the customers I’ve had a chance to work with, now I get an opportunity to take on a new challenge.
parkrun
Thankfully by Saturday morning the hangover had retreated & I was on my way to the forest for the first ever pacing event. I had friends in town so Sean suggested we tried pacing to see how it would work. I remained a sceptic, the forest is a changeable course that I wasn’t sure lent itself to pacing. Willing to try, I raised the idea with the team & we agreed to see how it went.
We had a team of pacers from 20-36 minutes at even number intervals to guide our runners. Without official pacing bibs, luminous face paint was used to note target times on the arms & calves. For some reason unbeknown to me, I trusted Joel to do this for me…….
I’d chosen the 32 minute pace as the 6:24/km pace was spot on for what I was looking for in Berlin with 4:30 being the target. Viewing the run unfold from a bit further back was interesting. As we entered the ride from 1km, you could see pockets of runners assembling around the pacers. I myself was running to time, but really struggling. I had no rhythm what so ever & found the pace far too slow.
This was ringing all kinds of alarm bells with me, all summer the target has been 4:30, but suddenly I have no rhythm at that pace. In reality my long runs to date have pointed to this as well, you’d think slowing down would be simple, but it no longer feels natural. I need to give this some more thought, trying to purposefully run slow just for a target is about as stupid plan as suddenly aiming for a 4:00. A more natural target is something I’ve talked about privately in recent weeks, now is the time to start giving this proper consideration.
Out of my pacing funk and back to parkrun. I still had some runners with me through 3km and on the nice downhill to 4km. I’d realised just after 2km that I’d got my splits wrong. Wondering why I was nearly 4 minutes fast, I realised my end time was 36:00 & I’d worked back from that, numpty!!! Perhaps the fog of the mid-week drinks hadn’t quite lifted! As we passed through 4km I was done to just one runner with me. The quarry safely negotiated it was time to take on the climb before turning for home.
We were on pace so I provided encouragement, don’t give too much up the hill, take a moment to collect yourself at the top, then we kick on again for home.
Final turn and around the tree we went, me raising the pace slightly, encouraging my runner to do the same, before dropping back to ensure they crossed the line in front of me. After a thank you handshake and some smiles I checked my watch. I actually ran a 32:09, the course measuring more accurately at a slower pace. I’d brought one person home with a 30 second PB though, so mission was accomplished.
I caught up with the other pacers and our runners. Feedback was universally good. The pacers enjoyed the experience, the runners liked having a target and the encouragement. The first question being asked was when the next pacer day would be! So Sean was right after all!!!
The Eat
This week was all about the BBQ food. I was up before parkrun preparing (well, make that stabbing my finger whilst trying to chop vegetables) for what I’d called my Leaving Essex BBQ. The guys that joined me for parkrun were soon put to work, we had quite the line up of food to prepare.
My ambition was probably not matched by my own potential output so I was grateful for the assistance as we served up a whole buffet of BBQ goodness. The usual burgers & sausages were of course on offer, though joined by slowed cooked pork carnitas, fennel & cumin chicken, veggie halloumi kebabs, chicken & chorizo kebabs, prawn kebabs, BBQ ribs, asparagus in thyme & lemon, plus the usual salads & sides.
The highlight though wasn’t meat based, neither was it barbecued. Instead it was my latest attempt to find mac & cheese perfection. The addition of some truffle pesto & brioche breadcrumbs might have just made for the best mac & cheese I’ve made, it was certainly well received!!!
Later on, after an afternoon of trying to find where I’d put my drink, we attempted marshmallow shot glasses. Two failed attempts for me & one nearly written off beard later, I realised perhaps a blow torch to solidify the interior would be a good idea! The various attempts did at least provide entertainment & it turns out the extra large Costco marshmallows hold quite a lot of Bailey’s (well whatever the knock off Aldi version was).
Flitch Way 10k
James & I arrived at the Flitch 10k without a plan. I’d presumed my attendance would be under the fog of yet another hangover so my only goal was going to be to hold onto the contents of my stomach up the hill of doom. As it turned out I wasn’t feeling the effects (perhaps because I kept misplacing my drink), so had a clear head for race registration.
I’d taken part in the inaugural event in April & had provided some feedback. Here I was returning both as a volunteer & a runner to see if anything had changed. In the week beforehand there was an informative & witty reminder email, the website had been made more mobile friendly since the first event as well. I liked that the course was acknowledged to be long & included the hill of doom, it was done with humour.
On being given the list of runners for registration I was taken aback by the sparsity of the field. Just 43 runners were signed up beforehand. To say the weekend was race heavy would be an understatement, both locally and events such as the Great North Run taking place there were plenty of options for runners. The small field of runners allowed a bout of silliness to creep into my head. My performances of late usually find me in the top 25%, could a top ten finish be possible?
A reminder here, I’m meant to be tapering! But after the frustrating parkrun I fancied some speed driven lunacy. I couldn’t help but weigh up each runner as they registered, was I quicker than them. It was shamelessly competitive, I hated myself for it and enjoyed it at the same time! Alec would be a wild card. He’d run a 50 minute time at Takeley so was starting to approach some form.
In the end the race went ahead dead on 10am (a massive plus point, regular readers will know I’m a stickler for events starting on time) with 36 competitors.
I knew the route, it was simple and the transition from the Flitch even better signed than before (I’d still be tempted to add a marshal). My rhythm was pretty good, though as we approached the Flitch I spotted Alec from the corner of my eye. Not today Alec I thought as I put my foot down to establish some distance, I’d had a year of losses to atone for!!! I should state that we’re not competitive at all, at completely different places with our training and that I’m just cashing in before the form deserts me! Still, any cheap psychological trick I can use to motivate myself during a run will do!!!
Next ahead were forest regulars Claire & Alex. I knew Alex was on pacing duties for his mum until halfway & would no doubt blitz past me on the return. I got past them just after the first kilometre & kept my pace under the 5:00/km mark. I was making progress, though the runners ahead of me appeared to be developing a bit of distance by 3km. My 4th kilometre was the slowest & as I approached the turn around the runners were starting to come back towards me. I was counting them, passing one guy just before the U turn & realising that I was in 7th place.
The familiar faces of Paul & Emily were there at the turnaround point & after a quick detour for water I was heading back. Alec looked to be just outside the top ten, James a couple of minutes further behind. The first 5km had taken 24:15 & I decided to push on, firstly as Alex had passed me to drop me to 8th & secondly because I felt good enough to push my heart rate up a bit.
I was slowly reeling the 7th place lady in & got passed at around 7km. Normally the lack of other competitors would be a demotivating factor, but I was chasing a target now & was fully focused. Everything was working nicely, my pace remained consistent as the end of the Flitch was in sight, 6th place ahead of me was run walking at times, so I felt there was a definite opportunity to pick up another place. I wasn’t going to let it just fall into my lap though, with a 4:39 9th kilometre being the fastest split of the run. The push continued in the last kilometre & it was as we crossed over the bypass into the country park that I made it into 6th place. I offered encouragement to my fellow runner, then used the downhill of the bridge to kick on a bit more.
It was only as the hill of doom came into view that I remembered I could do with a little bit in the tank! I was through 10km in 47:57, so a negative split by a fair distance with a 23:42 second half of the race. Just a minor bump to scale now! 5th place was going to allude me, but I was strong in the climb & touched the bird to finish the race.
49:23, nearly ten minutes faster than my effort at the start of this marathon cycle. 6th place, 4th male. Alec climbed the hill to secure 10th place & James finished with a very respectable 58:02. We grabbed some refreshments & headed down the hill & towards home. I thanked Lindley for the race & for the email out beforehand, we exchanged beard admirations & I was on my way.
The Music
Here’s the playlist from the BBQ, a good mixture of funky songs & funky videos!
The Conclusion
Although chuffed at a first top ten finish, I feel the event deserved a far better attendance. With further races planned for 2016, hopefully they’ll establish a series that compels runners to participate. Lindley & Maxine have listened to the feedback from the inaugural event & tweaked things accordingly. The medal was good, identical to April’s (I knew this going in), perhaps a different ribbon for each in a series is an option for the future. The additional give away of a buff was cool, I spent a lazy afternoon & evening pretending to be a pirate as a result!
As for the taper? I hate it! Berlin can’t come soon enough!
Run for the Eat 