leyton.org

Last week I took part in the Co-operative Jog Scotland 5k challenge on Glasgow Green. This was two weeks after my club ran it’s annual “Presidents Cup” handicap, over the Bella 5k course. So lots of 5k races to report on.

The Presidents Cup is a handicap, and this was my first experience of such an event. Runners are set off in reverse order of speed with a ‘handicap’ related to a recent 10k time. So we were all entirely consistent to that, all the entrants would finish together. I managed a time of 21:25, which I was really rather pleased with, considering my previous PB was 23:18 at Richmond Park Time Trial in November (write-up here). So in 7-8 months, I’d managed to take almost two minutes off my time (allowing for the fact that the RPTT isn’t as flat as the Bella 5k course).

The hardest part of the race was, as frequently is the case with running, the mindset. As well as all the usual battles that go on in your mind as you’re running, the additional complication was battling the desire I have to fall in with another runners pace. I’ve done it before in races, and benefited from a faster runner, almost as much as I’ve lost out to falling in with a slower runner. With the handicap, the people in front are (theoretically) slower, and so you’re aiming to catch up with them over the distance. Not fall in with them.

All said, it was a great race, and a lot of fun, and I was delighted to get a PB in the process. I find most sessions where the entire club is involved a lot of fun: It’s great to see how good the other runners are, and helps inspire us slower runners. Best of all though club regular Colin (aka Captain Caveman) won the men’s event, and he’s a fellow group B runner, giving us all hope! He quipped to me afterwards that he wouldn’t have come that night if he’d realised we’d be racing, and he went on to win! Marvellous stuff.

Anyway, last Wednesday saw the Co-operative Jog Scotland 5k on Glasgow green. This was a much bigger event - The results page shows close to 1,000 runners took part - and I had a hope I’d push my PB a bit more, even though the course was unfamiliar to me.

After a huge amount of walking about Edinburgh (for work) and all over Glasgow (to dump my laptop bag with my helpful brother in law, Paul!), I arrived thinking I’d done enough of a warmup already! After a quick few re-adjustments (In my hurry to get to the race I’d managed to get my running vest on the wrong way round, after pinning my number on! Doh!) and a short warmup, we lined up close to the People’s palace. Gun starts always give me a fright, but I managed to set off at a decent pace. Consistency was my goal, but pushing as hard as I could manage with that in mind.

I got into a good battle over the course with fellow Bella, John. I’d passed him around the 1k mark, but in a storming example of “digging deep”, John barrelled past me on the finish straight like something possessed. He’d been keeping pace with me all along, and did a stunning job to pull out a finish like that. That’s still “advanced running” for me: I feel great to just get to the finish line in a reasonable time!

In the end my watch time was 20:59, and my chip time 21:00, so I’m suspecting a rounding error is involved! A new PB either way, so I’m still absolutely delighted, and it’s given me some real hope I might just about to be able to think about mounting a challenge on the 20 minute barrier next year. Best of all, reasonably consistent splits (by my measure at least): 04:01, 04:13, 04:18, 04:26 and 04:01. As ever the 3k-4k split proves hard, not helped by a slight incline along the path.

The event itself had a reasonable turnout of fellow Bellas. 13 in total, with a stunning 16:12 and 16:18 by two of our leading club runners. It was won by the Glasgow racing scene regulars from Eritrea (a bit more about their story here, but ignore the bigotry in the comments!) in a truly stunning 14:07.

With a good goodie bag (I’ve got the chocolate stashed in my laptop bag ready to much!), and some great performances, it was a fun evening. Rounded off with a (I think) deserved beer and healthy(ish) noodles at Wagamama, it all made for a great evening.

This was a significant race for me in a number of ways. Most importantly last year it was the first race I ran after I took up running (here’s my 2007 write-up), but more recently it was a race I’d taken on to beat my PB in, as part of the XT Wings Challenge. It’s also my most local 10k race - running through Pollok park, which is right besides my house, and where I spend most of my time training.

The race is certainly going from strength to strength, and over 2,500 runners took part. Still a way to go before it reaches the 12,000 in the Ladies 10k that I helped out with last month.

My late write-up of the race perhaps belies that I didn’t finish the race in quite the way I’d hoped. I certainly didn’t beat my PB of 45:01 from this years Jack Crawford 10k. In the end I managed a time of 46:23, which was some way off.

I certainly started off quite well. The first couple of km were in my target pace range (around 4:25) - 04:20 then 04:25, and a bit slower at the 3k mark (04:33). But still reasonable. It’s very easy to set off too fast (something I’m particularly prone to do), so was keen to keep it under control. Unfortunately, the 4k mark (04:44) marked the start of the long slow incline into Pollok Park, and that drained me. I couldn’t make up much time down “Sarah’s hill” (as the club call it), I was just enjoying the easier downhill rather than pushing, so my times went to 04:51 at 5k. It pretty much says all. There wasn’t much hope for me to beat my PB at this point, and I found it difficult to get close to my target pace at all. 6k at 04:40, and 7k, the exit from the park at 04:47.

But disaster struck when I had my first shoelace incident during a race. I’m normally very careful to tie my laces. Not too tight as the tops of my feet hurt if they are, due to their slightly odd shape. So that took a chunk of time, so 8k at 04:45 was probably actually quite close to my target. 9k at a pace 04:45, and the final 1k felt a lot longer - there’s a difficult incline at the start of the park entrance, and it’s a lot further than you think to the finish line. Last 1k was at 04:37 average pace. So my average pace was 04:39 throughout. 9s off the magic 04:30 I needed to stand a chance of beating my 45:01 PB.

Reasons? Well, most likely I didn’t do enough consistent longer train runs in the build up. Plenty of short, faster runs/speed session work, but I perhaps didn’t get out for longer runs enough in April and May. But I have a good excuse for at least most of April :-). But not much of one for May It’s also a tougher course than I’d given it credit for. Perhaps complacency too given I do most of my training on the roads and paths that the course uses, but it’s a different kettle of fish when you string them together and try to run them at pace. I also was a bit foolish by going for what turned into quite a tough training run on the Friday just before. I hadn’t planned to, but whilst I was very pleased with the results, it really would have been better to have taken it easier so close to a race.

One of the problems I do have is maintaining exertion for longer periods at a higher heart rate, and building endurance is something I really need to focus on. I’m a bit of a whimp, and find it hard not to think negative thoughts when I really need to be “digging deep”. The winter training helped with this, and probably played a big part in my previous 10k PB.

But I still very much intend to get my PB down if at all possible this year. I just need to find a flatter course and ensure that my mileage is up. Oh, and that my shoelaces don’t get untied!

But to put it all into perspective just one year ago I completed the race in 53:56. This year’s time of 46:23 is 07m33s faster. My average pace was 05:23 compared to 04:39 for similar effort. With a focus on building endurance (I’ve entered the ballot for London 2009, so hope to see something along those lines!), who knows what next year might bring. As ever, it’s not all about individual results (although those are nice!) but the journey that counts, and even when you don’t hit your targets, you still learn a lot, and that’s all good

I’m pleased to be able to say that this Sunday Frances will be running her very first 5k race, in order to support her friend Maggie, who is currently battling cancer. Maggie has had a tough time of it, but is being incredibly inspirational, as well as brave, by fighting back and helping raise awareness all that she can. Indeed, this will be the second year she’s taken part in her local Race For Life event, and will be supported by Frances and a good number of her other friends.

You can read more about Maggie, and why she’s running, at her Race For Life sponsorship page. It’s a difficult read, but still very inspirational stuff. As with all the other Race For Life events, it’s for the excellent Cancer Research charity. So if you can spare some money to make a donation - of any size - it’d make a big difference, and really help Maggie, Frances and her friends on their run this Sunday.

Sadly though I’m not going to be there to cheer Frances and her friends on as I’m running in a different race that day, in the the MHFS 10K in Glasgow. This event is doing a great job in itself of raising awareness of men’s health issues. I’m sure she’ll do very well: She’s been putting in some decent training, but I’ve been told in no uncertain terms she’s not about to take up running, but I’m still quietly enjoying seeing her running shoes by the door

It’s not often you get to write about running and books at the same time. The few running books I have are quite technical books, dealing more with the actual process of running and providing a reference point for my questions. They’re not so much in them about what it is to actually be a runner. Consequently, they’re more functional, reference material, and there’s not much to be said for writing about them, much as I don’t really feel the need to write about dictionaries!

Saturday’s Guardian has an extract in the magazine from Haruki Murakami’s forthcoming book “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running” therefore jumped out at me. It’s an excellent piece - well worth a read by any other runners - and as a result I’ve got the book in my shopping basket already. There are some superb extracts about the joys of running: the thoughts you have, observations you find yourself making, routines and mantras you go through, and the challenges you face. One section jumped out at me, particularly in light of my comments yesterday about running being every bit a mental challenge as a physical one:

One runner told of a mantra his older brother, also a runner, had taught him which he’s pondered ever since. Here it is: “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.” Say you’re running and you start to think, Man this hurts, I can’t take it any more. The hurt part is an unavoidable reality, but whether or not you can stand any more is up to the runner himself. This pretty much sums up the most important aspect of marathon running.

Click here for the full article.

Frances is coincidentally currently reading Norweigian Wood, by the same author, which I gave her for Christmas. I’ve heard great things about that book, and hoping to read it when she’s finished. I just hope she doesn’t finish it just before this book comes out!

Next week is the MHFS 10k, which is my target race for the XT Wings Challenge. You can see my mug-shot on Salomon’s challenge website.

I’ve been a bit slow(!) with weblog posts over the last few weeks, so I figured an update was somewhat overdue. Mainly because I’ve been very busy, and simply not had the time or motivation to actually sit down and write very much.

I’ve been doing most of my training with my running club, which has had a focus on the 10k distance over the last month or two because of the Polaroid 10k series, the Women’s 10k and next weeks Men’s 10k. So in that sense, I’ve been getting on with it and doing the right things.

I’m starting to get a bit anxious that I’ve not done enough endurance work recently, and sustaining my target pace of at least 04:30s over the 10 kilometres might be a bit tricky. I’m not very good at pacing myself either - I frequently set off too quickly, and keep going at that pace for too long and then suffering, and dropping below my target pace, in the long-run.

Runners know what I’m saying when I say that this sport we do is at least as much a mental challenge as it is a physical challenge. Knowing you can sustain a particular pace, and then actually sustaining it requires mental effort to battle the demons. It’s often not - at the time - a whole lot of fun operating at high heart rates, so you need a lot of determination to push through the thoughts and doubts that it’d be really much easier to stop, walk or just slow down for a bit. The solution is endurance work, which is what a lot of winter training involves. Simply running for longer distances at a slower pace. Mixed in with plenty of pace work, involving exertion over shorter distances.

The reward in running for me, and I imagine most other runners, comes from pushing through the personal doubts and challenges, and going on to achieve goals and targets. Even simply completing a particularly hard training session can be just as rewarding as pushing a PB by a few seconds. Just the other week we were doing 8 x 800m sessions at 10k pace. It was a lot of hard work, and a few of us taking part weren’t sure we could manage it - largely because we’d made the mistake of trying to keep pace with faster runners in the first few repeats. So finishing it felt very good indeed (as well as a timely reminder about pacing!). The 3k run home afterwards wasn’t so much fun though - I didn’t have much left in me! But that particular session was, in hindsight, probably one of the most useful I’ve had in a while.

My doubts with the MHFS 10k are that the course isn’t particularly level in the Pollok Park (PDF course map here - Pollok park is the 3.5k - 7k section). It’s certainly not hilly, but it’s not flat, and my PB does come from a flat course (doh!). There’s only one nasty hill in Pollok park, and the race course takes us down it, not up it! But as the course through the park is then very gradually back uphill, it’ll be important to push hard in the main downhill section to compensate for the loss of time later on, and not let the change in pace through the park throw me off. The “average pace” indicator on my Garmin should help here.

So whilst I’m getting a bit worried it is probably more pre-race nerves and worrying about pacing. I probably have done enough training to put on a reasonable challenge on my PB next Sunday. I’ve been running to and from my running club (ok, our training is frequently in Pollok park, so not far to return from), so I’m averaging well over 10k in the weekday club sessions, and getting decent runs in over the weekend (a nice 10 miler at 8am this morning was especially enjoyable). I managed to get my current PB by being careful about pacing, so I’m intending to do similar this time and ensure I focus on being consistent. I know how I feel when I’m at the right pace (runner, know thyself!), so if I can find that “sweet spot”, I just need to hang on in there.

Bigger than the challenge though is that this race is the first anniversary of my very first race (the 2007 MHFS 10k, so the same course) since taking up running. I ran that in around 54 minutes, so to be even considering a 10 minute improvement from a year ago still feels like a huge achievement, and I’m looking forward to comparing my performance from the two race to see how my general fitness has changed. Fingers crossed for good running weather too!

I had quite an early start this morning, as I’d volunteered to help my running club with the start marshalling at the 2008 Glasgow Women’s 10k.

I’d not marshalled before, so was quite looking forward to it. The Women’s 10k is a big event (over 12,000 participants), and while there are professional stewards and event organisers, the club has been invited to help with the start marshalling for a few years now: I was to help out with the ‘pulse’ signs (to phase the runners so the faster runners were at the front), and ensure runners weren’t moving too far forward. With a complimentary pink t-shirt (Not sure it suits me), and an impressive sounding ‘Race Official’ tag, it was all very enjoyable helping out. Nobody seemed to want any of my safety pins though

After the start, and our responsibilities finished, we were free to go and watch the race and lend our support to the runners, so I barrelled over to Pollok Park to catch the lead runners pass by at the top of the biggest hill on the course (named “Sarah’s hill”). There was an impressive Elite field boosted by a number of Eritrean runners who were, I understand, seeking asylum in Glasgow, and had been invited to take part. I don’t (yet) know the winning time, but it was fast. And fellow club member Ian deserves a prize for his vocal support to all the club runners that passed by our various support pitches.

I took a number of pictures (click here) with my old compact camera (I need a new one!) during my travels.

All in all a fun day, and hopefully some great times will result for the Bella Girls. I’d hoped to get out for a run myself after getting home, but gave it a miss as I’ve not been feeling too great. Hoping it’s temporary, as I need to make some serious inroads over the next couple of weeks if I’m to get below the 45 minute time I’ve got in mind for next months Men’s 10k.

Update

• The Evening Times has a video piece on the race, and today’s results supplement is available online here too.
• The front page of the supplement is dominated by fellow Bella runners!
• And I even feature (bottom left, looking chirpy) on page 2 of the supplement.

Chlorophyll is wonderful stuff. Here in Glasgow, the first flush of spring flowers has gone, but the blossom is in full swing, and the trees are that particularly fresh green, flush with chlorophyll.

It’s a delight to see and experience, and really makes being outside special, especially with the lovely weather we’re having. I’m really hoping I’m up to running the Troon Tortoises 10k this evening. I’ve got a bit of congestion and a cough that comes and goes. Didn’t stop me having a great training session on Monday, mind, but I think thoughts of a sub-45 PB may be best put on hold just now.

On a vaguely related note Charlie Brooker is in fine form.

I decided last year that running a marathon wasn’t going to feature in my running plans for 2008. I’d been aware of just how much training was required for a half marathon, so doing a full marathon along with running my own business, and having a life and time with Frances just wasn’t practical. Oh, yes, and given London was the marathon I wanted to do, that we were getting married the day before sort of put pay to any small notions I still had.

As my fellow running club members built up to London 2008, my appreciation of the time and effort required increased further. It’s a lot more than “just twice the distance” of the (easier) half marathon, and really tests mind and body to the limit. 20 mile training runs take a long time, and that means a large part of rare free time is eaten up for a good few weeks, and if the weather is inclement, it’s hardly a lot of fun getting out to get the miles done. The support of a running club geared up for the race would seem essential.

However, part of me still wanted to give it a go at some point. I get the impression it’s something every runner needs to have a go at at some point. Even just once. I’d also thought it’d be good to see about beating my charity total from Glasgow 2007. So I resolved a month or two back that I’d enter the ballot for London in 2009 when it opened.

Earlier this week I heard the application process had opened, just a week after the 2008 marathon finished. So to cut a long story short, and with a year and a day to go, I entered the ballot for London 2009 yesterday lunchtime.

If I don’t get through (which is likely given the huge volume of applicants for the limited number of places), I may look at a charity place, although the fund-raising required for such is a bit of a concern. Failing that, my running club usually gets a few places allocate as it sees fit (by ‘lucky dip’ last year after the Christmas 5k charity run). There’s always a big turnout at London from the club - it’s one of the clubs biggest races given the high number of ‘good for age’ runners - quite something for a club 400 miles away. But I’ve got my fingers crossed I’ll be lining up on Blackheath in a years time.

I previously posted that I’d been invited to take part in the XT Wings Challenge. There’s a press release about the new shoe, and the whole project. My details now seem to be on this site: the challenge widget is in the right sidebar, which you’re welcome to click on.

My challenge is as originally mentioned - to go sub-45 minutes (perhaps even 44 minutes) on the Men’s Health Forum Scotland 10k on Fathers day on the 15th June. This will be a year after my first real race (write-up here), when I came in at 53:56 minutes (I’d been aiming for the hour). The course is right through my local park, which I know very well, and is a decent, flat(ish) course.

There are 20 other bloggers involved in this project/promotion/campaign, and from a brief scan over them, there seem to be a great selection of challenges. Good too to discover a few other running weblogs too. Here’s the complete list, for some weblogger link love:

• Eric LANTZ (FRANCE)
• Bruno BOUGAULT (FRANCE)
• Emmanuel FAIVRE (FRANCE)
• Nicolas BARD (FRANCE)
• Guillaume FRAT (FRANCE)
• Gerd DIETRICH-ROSENBROCK (GERMANY)
• Jessica JUNKER (GERMANY)
• Jorg SCHNEIDER (GERMANY)
• Chritoph WITTE (GERMANY)
• Andreas MEIER (GERMANY)
• Jonathan WYATT (UNITED KINGDOM)
• Jonathan SENIOR (UNITED KINGDOM)
• Phil BREWER (UNITED KINGDOM)
• Angela WOLFF (UNITED KINGDOM)
• Richard LEYTON (UNITED KINGDOM) (yay me)
• Jeffrey SMITH (USA)
• Josh MORPHEW (USA)
• Jessica DELINE (USA)
• Olga WARLAMOVA (USA)
• Cathy WHITE (UNITED KINGDOM)

I’m yet to receive any gear, so I’ll be posting more about it as and when I get it. Rest assured I intend to be honest - I’ve not signed anything and am under no obligation to say anything in particular, other than to give it a go and see how I do.

My running club training session on Wednesday featured a 3k time trial through the park, which I managed in 12:21 (over 2.83km by my Garmin’s estimation), which gives me a pace of 04:22. Have to say, I didn’t feel too perky (I’ve not been running enough for the last few weeks), so the Fetch prediction from that time, of 47 minutes for a 10k, shows I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me.

My trusty Garmin 305 died a sudden and unexpected death earlier this month. After a great run with my running club, I sync’d up, and forgot about it. When I next went to go running, it didn’t respond, despite trying the reset buttons, and even letting it sit about for days trying to drain the battery.

No amount of button pushing, plugging in to other computers, or anything, would get my beloved little gadget working again. With our wedding rapidly approaching, I figured I’d have to deal with it when I returned from our holiday. Despite it being still in guarantee, I was really envisaging a lengthy returns process, so wasn’t looking forward to the prospect.

I’d bought the device from Wiggle.co.uk last year, so went to their returns page, printed out the appropriate forms, and posted the garmin as carefully wrapped as I could manage having misplaced the original internal packaging (but not the box). Posted it off yesterday afternoon, and resigned myself to a good few weeks without my device.

Suffice to say I was taken aback to receive a couple of e-mails from Wiggle customer service saying they’d received it (well done The Post Office for getting it there within 24 hours), and were refunding my postage costs, and - the shock of it all - posting out a brand new Garmin 305 that same day. Less than 24 hours after I’d posted it! Somewhat taken aback, I e-mailed Customer Services expressing my surprise, and they responded:

We do try and deal with returned items as quickly as possible and try and avoid where possible having to involve the suppliers. Your new Garmin should be delivered to you tomorrow.

Wow. They’ve got themselves one very happy customer as a result of that. Sure, it’s a fault with the product that’s still in guarantee, but I’m still delighted by the rapid turnaround and honest response. They could have involved manufacturers, taken a long time to process the returned item, and so on. But in choosing to be proactive, they’ve not only taken away the hassle of my dealing with the manufacturer (although I’ve heard very good things about Garmin’s repairs process), I’m left with an abundant amount of good will (so much so I’m writing this) for this company and its efforts.

I’m also in need of some new road running shoes and socks, and have lined up a basket of goodies on their website to buy in the not too distant future. So customer loyalty is ensured. Certainly, some other companies I’ve dealt with might want to take some notes…