Snowdon Twilight Race
On Wednesday I was planning on doing a mile time trial at the track. I have been coming to this track for 10+ years, but some guy who I’d never seen before came and told me, with great authority, that I would not be allowed to use the inner lanes, and must keep my session to lanes 7 and 8. I was thinking about having a massive row with him. It didn’t make any sense what he was saying, for lots of reasons, but I have been in this position before multiple times on UK tracks (this would never happen in Kenya). Even if I made my point with incontestable clarity, this guy wasn’t going to budge, and the session would be ruined anyway. If I managed somehow to run the mile, in spite of him, I would only be running with anger and loss of concentration.
So I accepted what he said, changed my attitude and my session. I ran 400m reps out of lane 8. The first few were in 66 seconds, when I was expecting 64. I could have easily canned the whole session, I had my excuses lined up. But I decided to see what happened if I kept going. I managed my next reps in 64, 63 and 62. I was very proud of myself. Managed to pivot, and finished the session with no drama, and a good anaerobic workout in my legs and lungs.
Snowdon Twilight is an uphill only race. Up to the top as quick as you can. It starts on a Friday night to avoid the crowds. When I arrived, more than a few people talked to me like I had already won. I wasn’t so sure. Gavin Roberts was on the start line, he has been running very well recently and is a member of the current Welsh team. I knew he would be my main competition.
I was not feeling confident in my mountain ascent. It is a tricky skill to get the hang of, where the line between fine and fucked is very thin. I let Gavin lead the way with the game plan of kicking on when we entered the final km.
And that is how the race went for me. Sometimes I felt quite comfortable behind, but resisted moving ahead and stuck to the plan. Things can quickly change on the hills, the steepest climb is the last one, and I had too much respect for Gavin to play anything other than my best hand.
We got over the steepest section with me still just behind and I picked it up a gear and got my gap. The cloud was thick and I hoped I could disappear into it.
Even though I’ve been up Yr Wyddfa 1001 times, the cloud was so thick the finish line sprung out of nowhere, a nice surprise! My first win in 4 attempts.
Likely my last dance on the mountains as I start knuckling down for London Marathon training. But is such an epic race. So simple. While myself and Gavin were making our way up there, his watch was beeping on kms and mine on miles. They seemed such arbitrary little beeps in that setting.
Why do mountain races give such an immense feeling of epicness compared to road races? I have a thought on this…
The road marathon is around 200 years old. A mile is 1609 meters. A marathon is 26.2 miles. It is a completely contrived distance, very unlikely to survive the next thousand years, certainly not the next million.
Whereas Snowdon, Yr Wydffa, has been here for 400 million years. In 10 million years it will still be here, and whatever sentient beings are roaming the earth, at some point, they will look up at Snowdon, and say; race you to the top!
Sale Sizzler 5k
Felt tired (always) Thursday morning, so, in an attempt to freshen up, I took the morning off. I had scheduled this race before the exorbitant costs of living that are biting so hard right now. On my way to Manchester, as I filled my tank for £1.99.9 a litre, a 4hr drive for a 15min race started to feel a tad indulgent. But then, in the kiosk, I found an egg mayonnaise sandwich reduced to 65p, so you’ve got to take the wins.
I warmed up in Wythenshawe park longing for the day I felt fresh for a race. I took a 3 mile warm up to find my legs. The last time we were in this park we were walking around an exhibition of life-size model dinosaurs. Something about the t-rex, it just caught the corner of my eye and my mind played a trick on me and I got the sense it was real. How terrifying a beast it would have been, and if it had got that near to me I would definitely be dead.
I thought about trying to pretend I was being chased by a t-rex in the race but, when the gun went, I instantly forgot. Lovely little course, tight bends but pancake flat. I enjoyed tracing Karl Darcy, very good runner, very tall. I felt like I definitely had the upper hand on the corners with my little legs able to get back on the tarmac quickly. It gave me a chance to take a breather. His pace drifted on the final mile but I wasn’t confident enough to go past him. The race finishes with a lap of the track and Karl’s long legs chewed up the tartan as he pulled 2 seconds out of me. Happy with 6th place and 15min20. Perfect conditions and brill atmosphere. Recommend the race highly to anyone in the area.
We drove down to Oxford for a family boat party on Friday and I did a local parkrun Saturday morning in University Parks. My idea was to run a progression, with each mile faster than the last, and it was a convenient plan cos I felt like shit the first mile anyway. I did get going though and got the thing done.
Western Runners On Kenyan Roads
The paths in University Parks are very similar to the dirt roads of Iten, Kenya. Small, gravel stones over hard packed dirt. This is ideal training terrain which brought back a lot of useful lessons from my time training and observing in Kenya.
The typical Western runner in Kenya who runs on this type of terrain, including me, makes a thud-scratch sound when they run. THUD as the foot strikes the ground, and SCRATCH as the toes claw away and slip behind. The elite Kenyan runner makes a thud sound, but no scratch.
This is an absolutely constant rule;
Westerner = THUD then SCRATCH
Kenyan = THUD
The Kenyans I ran with also noticed this phenomenon. It was clear as a bell. I have certain convictions as to why this is the case. If you run barefoot on this terrain, as 100% of successful Kenyan athletes do as children, you can’t scratch and slip. You would tear the skin off the sole of your foot. When they grow old enough to get trainers, usually in secondary school, their form is already permanently ingrained.
Kenyans are tuned into applying force vertically, like pistons. Their feet go straight down and straight up again. It is a much more efficient way to run, as we apply 5 times more force vertically than horizontally.
If you get a chance to run on terrain like this, it gives terrific feedback. You can hear, as you get faster, the scratching sound becoming louder. Think about injecting your weight straight down, like you are trying to punch a hole straight down into the ground. Imagine flattening the small stones down into the ground, rather than kicking them behind you.
This shift will mean the propulsion is more likely to come from your hips and glutes, which is good, they are built specifically for this. It shifts the emphasis away from your calf muscles, which are comparatively small, weak and easy to injure. When you move onto tarmac, try to maintain the same form. You may notice you pop off the ground more like a spring than a sack of potatoes.
If you are finding this blog as inspiring and insightful as I am, subscribe below, and get loads more geniusness direct to your inbox. Tell all your friends, blogging is back!
Or, if you are a runner, who needs a brilliant coach, well then, I know just the guy.
Me. I’m talking about me. Check out my coaching page here.
RUNNING RELATED HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK:
World Class running in the GB men’s 1500m champs this year, not that anyone was there to watch.
NON-RUNNING RELATED HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK:
Check out my sponsors; I use them constantly, putting them through hell, they are the best there is.
Interesting