Sorry for any disruptions to russellrunner blog you may have found. I am trying to breathe some new life into it, but it is taking longer than I thought!
It has been a harsh week of horrible weather here. Howling winds over 70mph and almost non-stop rain. Tuesday, I am out in it all day, up and down a tower. Soaked through to the bone, 2 pairs of gloves have failed, fingers and toes stinging. Get in my van at lunch and fire up the heating full blast. Just about getting warmed up when have to go back out in it. Sitting in Mcdonalds after work, squeezing my coffee, I am totally not up for track session tonight. I have changed into dry clothes and am warmed up, and the weather looks to have calmed down, but the storm is still blowing in my mind. I am feeling beaten and exhausted. I realise I have to put it behind me if I’m going to be able to train tonight.
I manage to turn it around and session goes great, but I don’t have many days like that left in me. Wednesday I am feeling flat, and Thursday I need to have off completely. I am getting better at reading the signs as I get older, a stitch in time saves nine. Although Nina gets slightly annoyed with me for literally doing nothing all day.
Saturday night I am due to race at the Podium 5k. Start is not till 7pm which leaves me kicking around all day, not sure what to do with myself. Still not feeling 100%, so don’t want to tire myself working on the house, but then don’t want to waste the day either. The drive to Barrowford, Burnley is 2hrs30 and it hammers with rain the whole way.
When I arrive, cars are circling in the dark trying to find a parking spot. One guy is spinning his wheels in the mud.
I am walking along a dark road to race venue. I’m getting rained on, cold, tired from long drive, thinking; what was the point of all this? Why didn’t I just do my local parkrun in the morning and be done with it?
I reach the race venue and my mood lifts instantly. All of a sudden I am surrounded by serious athletes, the vibe is serious, their physiques and expressions are serious. They are all here for one thing, and one thing only. Not to get fit, lose weight or meet up with friends after a leisurely jog. They are all here to race.
At parkrun, as wonderful and all inclusive as it is, it can be hard to elicit the best out of yourself. The relaxed atmosphere fails to fire me up sufficiently. Podium 5km is a very different world. Parkrun parades a spectrum of different runners; all shapes, sizes, ages and outfits.
Everyone here looks the same. Lean and mean. I see 5000m Olympian Nick McCormick warming up, aswell as an Ethiopian athlete, and world class 800m runner Jamie Webb. Lots of very strong runners everywhere I look.
The venue is brilliant for fast racing. The floodlights are reflecting off the wet smooth tarmac. There is no wind, and it is warm enough for vest and shorts, as if anyone here would even consider wearing a tshirt.
The race HQ is a tiny portacabin. The entry form has 2 sections, Name: Club:
A fiver is dropped into a tin, here’s your number and pins. No goodie bag, no race t-shirt, and no, you can’t get changed in here, piss off outside in the rain with everyone else. All the runners are hopping around, trying to keep their feet dry as they remove tracksuits. We pile our kitbags up against the cabin, take a quick whizz behind it, and line up to race.
Organiser pushes the field back to official starting line, no fancy arch or massive digital clock here, just a cone, which I’m not even convinced everyone is standing behind. Organiser gives briefing; “4 and 3/4 laps, we will call out km splits, I will say 3-2-1 GO”.
And so, after 3-2-1, we all go.
It never ceases to amaze me how, when your blood is up like this, with a pack of 20 or so guys around you, who can match you for fitness and fastness, the pace can feel effortlessly easy. We go through the 1st km in 2.55, and the first mile in 4.44. That pace would hurt like hell if I were on my own, but now I feel like I am jogging. I know I will pay for this, but it’s too much fun.
I am loving it. The easy bends, the tight formations, the fast pace. The guys infront are splashing water into my face, there’s abit of shoving to get nearer the inside line. This is racing stripped back to it’s purest form. No frills, no luxuries, just a bunch of guys who want to pit their wits against each other.
2nd km – 3.00. I have slowed, but am still feeling in control. I have run past Nick McCormick, the guy I watched on the telly in London 2012, he has recently run his first marathon. As I come past him I notice he is still the real deal, his form is neat and efficient. My training partner, Cal, has made a gap on me. I am in the 2nd group, he is in a gap between us and the leading group.
3rd km – 3.05. I have slowed again, legs are burning. I just focus on staying with this group. I know the penultimate kilometer is always the hardest.
4th km – x.xx. There is a lot of cheering, I can’t hear my split, it doesn’t matter, all I want to do is hang on and not blow out the back of this group.
Our group is starting to splinter, I am catching up with Cal, but he is catching up with another guy, they lock horns and take off at a phenomenal rate, and leave me for dust, I duel with my group, I pass one and one gets away.
I cross the line pretty spent, but very happy. Cal is on the floor, he has broken 15min for the first time, I have run 15.09, my fastest road 5km for years. I’m over the moon with that. I do lots of handshakes and jog back to the car, dump all my wet kit in the back, and drive 2 and a half hours in the rain to get back home by 11pm.
Fantastic race, there is no school like the old school. Hope it grows from strength to strength, will definitely be there again.
Non-running related highlight of the week
My little boy, Jim (4yrs), swims for the first time. About 3 meters. I know, I know, he’s amazing.
Best thing on the internet this week:
I can’t stop watching this. Dad of the year 😂👏🏻⚽️pic.twitter.com/iLvhDoiFyb
— Tom Munns (@TomMunns1) November 8, 2018
link here
Thing I’m digging this week:
We don’t own a TV and never watch any programmes anyway. But we just purchased a TV license purely for Sir David Attenborough and the mind blowing Dynasties series, worth the fee alone.
Watch on BBC iplayer here
| 26/11/2018 | AM | PM |
| Monday | REST | 7tm @ 6min miling |
| Tuesday | REST | 5 x 1km (3min rest) in 2.58. 2 x 200m (200 jog) in 28. 8 miles total |
| Horrible hard day at work. Track goes brilliant, big improvement on same session 3wks ago | ||
| Wednesday | REST | REST |
| tired | ||
| Thursday | REST | 10tm @7min miling |
| on verge of illness | ||
| Friday | REST | REST |
| tired | ||
| Saturday | REST | Podium 5k. 12th – 15.09 |
| Listless through day, brilliant race | ||
| Sunday | REST | REST |
| tired | ||
| TOTAL: | 30 miles | tm = treadmill |
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A awesome blog as ever, Russel.your description of the race takes me right there with you in the cold, wind and rain. X