Nina is my Editor in Chief, and, when I sat her down to read the first draft of Wrexham Revenant, the conversation went something like this;
Well, what do you think?
Honestly? It’s boring.
I’ve just got to tell you, using my words to process my emotions, right now, I hate you.
I wrote my second draft.
Well?
It’s…good?
I hate you.
I tried one more time. After reading it, Nina didn’t even need to say anything. I gave up writing forever.
After finishing another bottle of cider (it was her birthday tomorrow, after all), she pushed me aside, tore the whole thing apart and stitched it back up, much better, and much quicker.
I don’t feel altogether happy about this situation. Nina having to write my stories for me. I feel rather dire about it. I certainly read enough to be an excellent writer, but I don’t write anywhere near enough.
Two years ago, I made a conscious decision to direct my efforts more toward my Instagram account. Blogging is dying, people’s concentration spans are shortening. Yes my Insta has grown, but you have very little space to say what you want. And people mostly look at the photo then scroll right past the text anyway. Perhaps you have heard, books are becoming cool again. Something to do with BookTok? Maybe blogs could make a resurgence too.
Use it or lose it. I will be writing more.
My favourite thing to do, in the whole world, the thing that makes me happiest, is; every day, after school, I take my kids to the football field and watch them run around it. Depending on the weather, how they are feeling, and how I’m feeling, they might run for 5 minutes, or 20, or whatever.
And when they set off, I watch. I love watching them run. The ease, confidence and joy they exhibit.
El and Jim, ages 6 and 8, both have perfect form and flexibility. I mean perfect. They can squat right down, sit, stand and walk with a ballerina’s poise.
And the way they run, man, it’s a kind of running I could only dream of. Imagine never having had an injury, never waking up with stiff, sore muscles. Their feet have not spent decades shoved into shoes, their spines have not spent decades crouched and slumped.
They feel no fear when their feet hit the ground, their little bodies spring up and away, effortlessly. I can make a suggestion here or there; try keeping your head still, bend your arms, and they adjust immediately. Their neural patterns have not been wired with layers and layers of bad habits.
It is really helpful for me, as a coach, to observe, and try and get my adult athletes back to that level of confident and fluid movement.
For the past few months, for no apparent reason, Jim has just been jogging. Much slower than he is capable of. El has been running rings around him.
We started this during lockdown, so it’s been over 2 years now. there was no school playtime, so we did this instead. When school started back the kids asked me if they were going to the field after school, so I took them. This is the first time I’ve seen anything but linear improvement. They’ve been growing – getting faster – growing – getting faster. And now this jogging business.
For months and months.
It has challenged my intentions. I coach at my local kids athletics club. I have seen good parenting, not so good parenting, terrible parenting. What kind of parent did I want to be?
I knew I couldn’t say anything. I’ve seen how that goes down. But I couldn’t deny the urge was there, which led to some internal questions. Am I a pushy parent? Am I sexist? Am I doing this for me, or for them?
As Jim finished yet another shuffle run, I would say only; I love watching you run.
As the weeks went by, I managed, slowly, to work through some stuff. The average UK person spends 90% of their life stationary and indoors. Every second Jim is outside and moving is a huge victory. He was jogging, but he was moving, and he seemed quite happy doing it, in his own little world.
While I was learning Swahili in Kenya, I would take the opportunity to practise speaking with school kids that ran alongside me. They would be on their way to or from school, barefoot mostly. They had no idea that they were doing this mythical, legendary thing that the whole running world talks about. They were just a bit tired and wanted to get home for dinner. Sometimes they would run, sometimes they would walk. They were not training for the next Olympics, there was no plan, it was just a part of their daily life. Most of them would not grow up to be involved in running, or any other sport. But, being fit and strong enough, most could, if they had the opportunity.
That is what I want for my kids. For them to be in a position to have as many choices and opportunities as possible. Being fit and strong helps. Running a bit, every day, is the best single way of achieving that.
So it doesn’t matter if Jim jogs for the next ten years. If he is happy to be outside and moving, I am happy.
Today, for an equally un apparent reason, on a windy, cloudy day, Jim decided to run. Really run. Way faster than his previous incarnation, before he fell into his half hibernation.
When he finished his lap, he looked thrilled and full of life. El was still half way round the field, so I said, Do you want to go around again? He was off before the question landed. It was magnificent to watch, I’d never seen his stride length look so complete. He ran 2 laps in the time it took El to do 1.
“Did you feel that Jim? You took a massive step today. It looked incredible. Did you feel that?”
He seemed totally oblivious, as did El. I knew I shouldn’t have said it. The run was over now and he had more important stuff to think about;
Daddy, can you help me pick some flowers for Mummy?
Tomorrow, he may well go back to jogging again.
If you have kids, if you coach kids, when they are finished doing their thing, try saying, “I love watching you play” and that’s it.
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As for my training, this was a Transition Week (pretty sure I made that up, no need to Google it). After a fortnight rest period post Wrexham Marathon, I am now resetting and rebuilding. Very important not to place any expectations on anything. No stressing, rushing, or comparing. It is a good idea to hold back deliberately on reps, so there is space to grow into next time, which builds momentum. It might take 2-3 weeks to get back up to full training.
This week was the perfect example of a typical Transition Week™. I felt rough at Track Tuesday, brilliant at parkrun Saturday, then rough as hell on Sunday. I could waste hours wondering what the physiological and psychological reasons were for this rollercoaster, or I could keep running.
9/05/2021 AM PM Monday 10tm @8min miling REST - Tuesday 10tm @8min miling 5 x mile (3min rest) in 5.08. 8 total Very windy. Feels heavy and messy Wednesday 10tm @8min miling REST. Coaching Menai T&F Run feels hard Thursday REST REST Feel tired so take the day off. Transition week. No probs Friday 10tm @8min miling REST - Saturday parkrun - 16.39 (full rest) 4 x mile (1min rest) in 5.29. 12 total REST Perfect weather, enjoyed it Sunday 10 easy. No watch REST Feel awful on run, don't analyse, just move on Total miles: 70 tm = treadmill
RUNNING RELATED HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK:
Good friend and Kent AC teammate, Chris Ever Greenwood, won his weight in beer after winning his 10,000m race at Night Of The 10,000m PBs, which is the best single day of athletics anywhere in the UK, perhaps the universe.
THING I’M DIGGING THIS WEEK:
Finished The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway. Kindly lent to me by GB trail runner, George Foster. Excellent story, powerfully written, about the Lost Generation, between the wars, travelling around, doing nothing. The book seems similar, but superior, to On The Road – Jack Kerouac. Where the Beat Generation travel around, also doing nothing, but are not war vets with horrific injuries, so have no excuse.
Definitely recommend, didn’t want it to end. Made me want to sit outside a cafe, drinking coffee from a bowl, under the hot Spanish sun.
Check out my sponsors; I use them constantly, putting them through hell, they are the best there is.
Glad you are back again.
Thank you.
Great to have you back, much better to an an Insta post 😀.
Da iawn Russell, this sort of thing is a thousand times better than the banal nonsense that gets shovelled out on Instagram.
Glad the blog’s back, the best race reports from the sharp end out there.
Soooooo pleased you are back to writing your blog. I don’t do Instagram, I prefer to read a piece of decent writing. I know what you mean about attention span, mine has definitely shortened after about 15 years of internet use. Browsing, grazing at speed through information. Watching something on YouTube on my iPad and scrolling on my phone at the same time. Oh boy, how did I even get here?! How hard must it be for youngsters to even build a decent attention span now. Anyway, please keep writing about running, your kids, life in Wales. It’s all good 🙂
Superb Russell from start to finish. (I did like the ‘I “hate” you’ stuff as well – as if. )
Keep on blogging. Lovely stuff.