Home Run

After several weeks seconded to the Hatfield Forest parkrun I thought I was long overdue a return to my home parkrun of Great Notley. It also happened to coincide with the monthly parkrun outing of Michelle's Running Group who I train with a couple of times a month. Each month usually has a theme and it had been decided that we'd wear something yellow for spring. I pulled back the curtains Saturday morning to be greeted by overcast sky, it wasn't looking promising, hardly the image of spring I had in mind! Yellow isn't exactly my colour but it just so happened that I had a race t-shirt from the 2014 Hatfield Broad Oak 10k, I may have finally found a use for the countless race t-shirts I seem to have accumulated over the years! I was running solo as Paul had been struck down by flu and despite being desperate to get out and run, his hopes were purely aspirational.

An excellent turnout of runners from the Michelle's Running Group

I decided to run to parkrun to add on some extra mileage. At just over 2 km it makes for a good warm-up and is far easier than taking the car and forking out the £3.50 parking. It's also a good indicator of how I am feeling, after almost a week off of running my legs were feeling pretty fresh for the rest. However, I didn't feel capable of pushing for a parkrun PB (set back in September 2014) as my recent times would suggest I am way off.

I met up with the group who had congregated by the cafe sheltering from the wind and rain, they were not difficult to spot dressed in yellow, we certainly brightened up the park! It was a fantastic turnout for the group with 24 runners in attendance, some of which were making their parkrun debut! After a catch up and chat we headed out for a warm-up, this is one benefit of running with a group as I am totally hopeless at having the discipline to give myself a proper warm-up and stretch despite being more than aware of the benefits!

By the time 9 am came around the rain was lashing down, luckily I had opted for trail shoes which made the recently soaked park a bit easier to navigate. I set off at a comfortable pace and found myself going along with the crowd dodging a few runners on the narrower sections of the start. Great Notley is a 2 lap course with the second lap sending you up the infamous 'hill of doom'. I find it sometimes difficult to get the pacing right for this course as you have to take into account the hill and that it's going to add time to your pace at kilometre 3. Looking at my pace it was more or less consistent which is an improvement as I often have a habit of going too fast on the first lap only to find myself unable to keep up the pace on the second.

Descending the 'Hill of Doom' on lap 2

Kilometre 3 and 4 usually involves a lot of looking at the watch trying to work out if a PB is on or not, this time I couldn't tell so decided it was best to keep pushing on as hard as I could. I passed Michelle who was coaching her daughter Angelina around the course, they were looking really strong and they egged me on to catch Rob, Michelle's Husband who I had in my sights but catching him was unlikely. I then passed a young girl who must have been no older than 10 and she complimented me on my running! Taken back a little by her comment I responded by telling her to keep up with me which she did for a short while! With half a kilometre to go I knew I had roughly 2 minutes to finish if I was to be in with a chance of getting a PB. Despite my spirited sprint finish I crossed the line at 26:02, 27 seconds off of a PB time. I was a bit disappointed as I had wanted to ring the old fashioned style school bell to indicate I'd got a PB (I think this must be a new feature of the Great Notley parkrun, it's pretty cool), but to take a positive away it was the fastest I'd gone around the course this year so perhaps some progression is on the cards. I keep telling myself that I'll go around the course faster once it's dried out but I know there are several other factors slowing me down at the moment.

Sprint finish - another dreadful running face photo to add to the collection!

Paul unable to help himself had dragged himself out of bed to come along and support. We stood at the finish together cheering in as many people in yellow as we could. Unfortunately having been soaked through and not having anything dry to put on meant I got cold very quickly and opted for a lift home with Paul rather than running home. It was fantastic to see so many of the group taking part in parkrun and enjoying themselves, another great effort from everyone with quite a few setting new PB's!

Conscious I am supposed to be running a marathon in a matter of weeks, Sunday was an opportunity to stretch my legs a little and register a long run. Training for this marathon has been far from ideal. When I signed up in January I had ample time to put in the training, however it seems that the past 5 months have been nothing but a struggle with injury. Up until Sunday I had never run further than 13.1 miles, a half marathon. I knew this was going to be a problem if I was going to go ahead with the plan.

Sunday morning I set out to complete 15 miles. I met up with a few people we regularly run with on a Sunday from Rayne Station, we headed out along the Flitch Way in the direction of Dunmow. I became aware within the first couple of miles that my pace was far slower than the rest of the group and insisted that they pushed on and I would run with them if I was able to catch up, I knew though that this was unlikely as my strategy was to walk/run to achieve the target of 15 miles. I decided that I would run 2.5 miles in one direction and then return to Rayne Station before running the 2.5 mile to Braintree Station and repeat until I clocked the ambitious 15, this meant I wouldn't be far from home should injury disrupt my run. Seemed like a good idea at the time but it made the run really drag on and quite mentally testing!

Flitch Way a pretty straight and lonely run!

The weather hardly helped, it was one of those mornings where I was unsure what to wear. It'd probably be cold initially but would warm up rapidly as I was running. I decided on wearing a long sleeve top and shorts which was fine until I got soaked through and the wind started blowing. I like to be organised when I run as being unprepared just stresses me out so I had thought ahead and packed my new Inov8 waterproof into my hyration vest (or bottle bra as a friend called it!). It probably seems an overkill to wear a hydration vest on a 15 mile run but I refer to my earlier point about being unprepared, at least I can carry all the stuff I think I need and get some practice using it. I decided to stop and walk for a moment during mile 4 to get my waterproof out and give me some chance of holding onto some body heat, I honestly thought I would overheat and end up stopping in around a mile to take the jacket off but as it happens it was exactly what I needed on the more open parts of the Flitch where you can get caught in a cross wind. Feeling comfortable again I pressed on.

Brief stop at 7.5 miles to refuel and catch my breath

When I got to the halfway point at Braintree Station I rewarded my efforts with a quick break and took on an energy gel. Again debatable whether I really needed one but wanted to give myself every opportunity to complete the distance and it also gives me practice using the gels. After a quick breather I turned myself around and headed back in the direction of Rayne Station. Along the way a few of the guys that I had started the run with powered past me, they were out with the aim to run for 2 hours, it was evident that they were a lot quicker than me. The rest of my run was fairly lonely, I was missing my usual running partner, Paul. From around 9 miles I seemed to throw in a walk every mile, it was around this time I could feel my hamstring pulling and all my injuries complaining. The final 3 miles was a real challenge to take me over my furthest distance, I focused on finishing and telling myself how pleased I'd be once it was done! With a bit of determination I made it back home, 15 miles in 2 hours 36 minutes, hardly world beating but it was still 2 miles further than I have run before.

A new record!

The rest of the morning was a bit of a write off which wasn't unexpected. After a shower I crashed on the sofa and managed to catch some of the London Marathon coverage on TV. Knowing how I felt after running 15 miles made me really question whether my body was strong and resilient enough to take the beating of 26.2 miles with the limited training I have had. With 3 weeks to go I am still undecided but have an inkling that I already know what my decision will be. I managed to see Paula Radcliffe complete what would be her last London Marathon as a professional athlete and was slightly taken back at just how emotional I felt as she crossed the line. What a woman and what a career she has had, a true role model and inspiration to all. It is amazing that her world record marathon time of 2:15:25 still stands to this day, 12 years after it was set and I wonder how long it'll be before it's beaten. I was unaware of the extent of the injury setbacks she has faced since her withdrawal from the Team GB squad for the London 2012 Olympics which made her marathon time of 2 hours 36 minutes (slight coincidence that this is the exact time it took me to run my 15 miles) even more incredible. It gave me some hope that if Paula could do it perhaps I could too... Then I realised I am not a professional athlete nor do I have the team of physiotherapists, coaches etc helping me along the way!

One of the best things about a long run is the feed afterwards! My Garmin informed me that I had burned 1500 calories during my run and I was going to try my best to feed my tired and aching muscles. Paul is a total sweetie, not stranger to distance running himself he sympathised with my post run slump on the sofa and served me food and drink for pretty much the rest of the afternoon. He had even been to do the food shop and foraged me some post run treats of Bounty cookies which were delightful with a cup of coffee. Lunch was a spicy corn chowder soup with some jalapeño and three cheese bread which was just what was needed to warm up from my run.

I may not have made my mind up on my forthcoming marathon but watching the London Marathon has inspired me to enter the 2016 ballot which opens on Monday for the second year running. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed with no doubt hundreds of thousands of other runners! All in all it was a good weekend of training and what was satisfying was it was all on my doorstep, no cars or travelling required. I feel privileged to have such enjoyable running routes close to home.