PWR 10k(Petts Wood, Raining)

It's the Petts Wood Runners members 10k (my running club). Basically a 10k Race around the streets of Petts Wood in a route so complex, unless you ran there every Tuesday night you wouldn't have a clue. Marshalling is minimal, provided by Richard and Anne.

I'd set my heart on running this earlier in the week. My 10k PB is currently 53". This is ridiculous. On my way to the Reading Half PB (Well done Andy, still proud of you) I had run 10k in 49 minutes. It was time to set the record straight.

I wake up Sunday morning and it is raining hard, very hard. You get nowhere by quitting, so I decided to go for it. The atmosphere before the race is jovial. I tell Richard I plan to run a PB in an act of bravado. He needs a stopwatch to time the race and asks to borrow my Garmin. This is fine, but means running the race blind.

The race starts rapidly. After the first few km I am still in touch with the leaders, partly through fear of losing the route. At one point we cross a railway bridge with lots of steps. 5k in, the run up Birchwood Road almost breaks me, but given that I have braved the weather, I keep pushing. The loop round Kingsway also makes me suffer. Suddenly I can hear someone closing me down, but still to far to identify them.

At the end of the loop I see Liz standing marshalling, despite seeing her start the race. She ran the marathon last week and has obviously decided to quit. I ask her:
"Finished already?"
She ignores me and directs me in the right directiong. Gradually Emma and Sabina, who have been stalking me for some time, draw level. I know they are faster than me, but I think they are unsure of the route. We run together for a while, exchanging a little banter, but then as we near the finish they edge further clear. They are on more of training run but it has helped push me on.

Finally into the recreation ground, and I sprint the last 200m. I always sprint, as the sprint comes from different muscles and a different mental place. It shaves a few crucial seconds.

As I cross the line, I shout
"What was the time?"
Without the garmin I am blind
The time shocks me,
"Are you sure?"
And they are.

A tricky, hilly course, in heavy, heavy rain. Yesterday was spent in hard manual labour(for me) laying a new lawn.

10k 48"07 (PB)

Fixed wheel running

In another existence I ride a fixed wheel bicycle around London. This has no gears and no free wheel. If The bike is moving, you are peddaling. At first this is really tiring. It is because you resist. After a few weeks you learn to yield and go with it. Your legs become the freewheel and you flow without thinking about it.

As I cross Paternoster Square at the end of my run, I realise I am freewheeling. Moving with grace and in harmony but without effort, and yet relentless. This is where you would need to be for the marathon I note.

The rest of the run was The Charing Cross footbridge route I did the other day but backwards. Across Blackfriars Bridge, down The South side of the Embankment, Charing Cross Footbridge, North Side of The Embankment, Paternoster Square.

31 minutes probably around 5.5 km

Old Hare and Hounds, backwards

An Email from Mr. Savage proposing a lunch time run is too good an offer to miss. He is a good runner. Not in a smug or annoying way, but far better than me. This will be an easy run for him but more of a workout for me.

We do the Old Hare and Hounds route but backwards. This takes in Victoria Embankment, St. James' Park, Green Park and The Mall in a giant loop.

It is run faster than I would run on my own, yet throughout I am able to hold a conversation. It seems to be a universal fact that to run fast, others are required. I know the elite Marathoners have pacemakers. Alas stolen lunch time runs are not always condusive to companionship. Maybe I need to get the Garmin nagging me. Alas, I am not embarrassed for the Garmin to see me struggling. The power of peer pressure. Tuesday night club runs are always run at the pace of whoever feels strongest; the rest are compelled to hold on, pushing outside their comfort zone.

As we near the office I am sweating profusely and feeling thirsty. It feels as if it has got hotter as we run but this is unlikely.

Good route, good weather and good company. Running is not always just about suffering.

6.5 miles 57", lots of traffic light stops.6

Crowds and corporates

It is summer in London and the weather is turning nice. Every flat surface is littered with office workers and tourists.

Today I run out down the North side of the Embankment, across Charing Cross Footbridge, down the South Bank and back across Blackfriars bridge.

All run at a steady pace. It's warm and the sweat drips. As we get into high summer it is only going to get worse.

The JP Morgan corporate challenge registration opened today. It's one of my big races as all my work colleagues run it. It will be a warm, sunny day in July. It is an unusual 5.6km (3.5 miles)

The corprate suits and tourist gawp as I run by. Today we are all relaxed in the sun I know some more serious training beckons.

38" probably around 4.5 miles.

Bring on the rain

Today's fayre is a late long run with the black dog. It looks like rain out and to be honest I hope it really rains hard. I'm in that kind of mood.

As far down the Wapping canals I can get in 20 minutes and then back is the plan. Not sure why but I am running well. Maybe the marathon inspired me? I certainly see artifacts from yesterday littered around the Tower Bridge area.

Even after a few minutes the black dog is lagging. Soon he is dropped and I fly along. In the end I make it to the low bridge by Tobacco Dock before turning. The return journey is done in 18.5 minutes, helped by favourable traffic lights. The rain holds off.

I go for a shower in the gym and stroll back to the office, relaxed and happy. Alas, the black dog is there, waiting patiently for me to return.

40" probably around 5 miles.

Old Hare and Hounds

Despite yesterday's disapointment I feel the need for a lunch time run. I'm thinking river, I'm thinking green and then a cunning plan emerges. The old Hare and Hounds course. It is about half a mile to the start, five miles round and half mile back. So a tidy six in total.

In the lift out of the building a middle aged suit is trying to impress the female office junior:
He asks
"Doing the marathon?
She replies:
"Could never do that. My friend did it in an amazing time, 4 1/2 hours I am doing the cancer 5k. But you can walk that if you want"
He tries to impress her:
"when I was 18, me and some friends ran 6 miles but then collapsed"

As I run to the start I toy with the idea of timing the run. In the end I can't resist. Race on! and I am back dodging the traffic like in times past. I run through Green Park weaving through the picnicers With the grass growing, the blossom blooming and the sun shining it is truely beautiful.

All the way round I manage to get across the roads without stopping. In the final straight I manage a sprint. I jab the watch. 39"18. This is 2 seconds slower than my HH on the new course. I did race, but not "race". I need other people pushing me to really run. It does indicate that the new HH course is slower. Interesting.

Yesterday I was desolate. But looking at the evidence I feel heartened. It was a PB on this course by a good 30 seconds and it wasn't a real race. My fitness is still there.

My best time on this course yet still relaxing and enjoyable. Quality time, with the beautiful Nike Frees. Yesterday's blues seem a long way away.

5 miles, 39"18 (6 miles in total)

Locketts, ohh dropped me

I've had some time off, as last week I had just overdone it in everything. Today I planned a quick run with my black mood down towards Wapping.

As I leave the office I note that it is 12:25pm perfect timing for Locketts Rockets. What better than to take some anger out on some intervals.

The pace to the canal is fast but I hold on. The plan is two groups A and B, both running a tempo run for 10 minutes and then intervals back. The pace is meant to be half marathon. I am soon struggling and rapidly slide off the back. With only a week off, I feel sluggish and slow.

I drop to a jog and I lose sight of the rest of the group. After a few more minutes I turn to head back. On the run back I pickup the pace from a jog and one point I burst into a sprint to try and lift my mood.

My plan was to use Thursday lunchtimes with the Rocketts as my interval session. This far off the pace it is not a goer.

It wasn't great today, but nothing is a failure if you learn from it. Today was an education.

No time, distance or pace. Probably around 45 minutes.