Eclectic Views

    
Okay, bored of waiting for the results to appear, so here's my time -
0:47:48 on the big clock at the finish, which may be a couple of seconds out
compared to the timekeepers' stopwatches. Started quite a long way back in
the crowd as I wasn't sure how fast people would take off and had to spend
the first kilometre and a bit negotiating the crowds to get some space to
run in. After that, the splits settled down to about 4:45/km, with the last
km covered in 4:12 partially as a result of someone deciding they wanted to
overtake me in the last 100 metres or so and my not letting them. 

My limbs have been aching a little more than usual after the faster-than-usual
run (end-to-end average 7:40 miles, for those who speak imperial), and this
evening's run was something of a trial. Going to try and ease off the pace a
little for the next couple of weeks.

Aside from the boring technical detail and the numbers, I have to say it
was a fun experience (partially because I started so far back I spent most
of the race overtaking people, but..) and exceptionally satisfying to 
have finished at all, let alone in a personal best time. I felt I ran
fairly well throughout, though there were a few moments of soul-searching
during the long uphill sections of the course. At one point about half
way round a whole crowd of supporters had gathered to cheer us on, which
was nice of them and very encouraging, but the best moment was still 
staggering off the end of the last uphill section at about the 8km 
marker and the marshall on the street corner cheerfully telling us that
"it's all downhill from here!". And it was - there's a reason I did the
ninth kilometre only 13 seconds slower than the last one. Wheeee!

At about 9.5km I started feeling really, really lousy - probably because
the fast pace at that point was not something I could sustain - but was
perked up for a last push by the "400m to go" board and the turn back into
the park up to the finish area crowded with spectators (most of whom were
just looking on blankly as they were waiting for their mates in the fun run
so they could cheer them), the last sprint against the would-be overtaker
as an almighty battle for what's probably something like 180th place, then 
across the line, stopping dead as I nearly ran into the back of the line of
finishing runners in the chute, the number callers calling "four two zero!" 
and the recorder reading it back to them, then a woman (who turned out to
be the Mayor of Croydon, I believe) handed me my finisher's medal and 
someone else handed me a very welcome bottle of water and a chewy bar thing.

Then I did some stretches, picked up my bag from the storage tent and
went home, ruthlessly devouring a banana on the tram back towards Wimbledon
while passers-by looked on aghast at my Lycra running shorts.

It sounds sick, but I can't wait to do this again. 10k isn't a marathon -
not quite a quarter marathon - but it's still a pretty long way to run at what
is for me a fairly brisk pace. Hell, 5k's far enough!
  

    
Reading this is so much fun.  And I feel more fit already!  Good job,
Mike!
  

    
Hmm, vicarious fitness.

Congrats, Mike!
  

    
Great description, I can almost hear the crowd hollering.
  

    
Even in the short time I've been running I've got used to occasionally being
heckled by passers-by. It's pretty easy to cope with as (a) people who
randomly heckle runners are dicks, and (b) if you think of a witty retort in
time, you can be fairly confident that you'll be able to run away if they
take offence.

It was today that I feel I finally became a real runner, when some burk
yelled what in the last few years has become the least original thing
possible to yell at passing runners:

"Run, Forrest!"
  

    
The official results are out from last Sunday - I came 280th out of 874
finishers in an official time of 47:53. Apologies to those who've seen it
already, but there's a just-before-the-finish photo at:

http://www.croydon10k.com/IMAGES/PICTURES/Oct04Part2/pages/IW8E0231_jpg.htm

just to prove it. Warning: may frighten young children.
  

    
scared my cat, too!


You're lookin' good, Mike. Nice definition in your quads, and you look much
more toned than you did at The WELL's b-day party last April. Carry on!
  

    
Is it the shoes? The shirt? Lookin' good, Mike!
  

    
Man, that link is broken now, a mere six days later.  (Damnable
evanescence of internet life!)
  

    
Damn this ephemeral Internet. If you really, really still want to be
scared, there's a copy at:
http://www.well.com/~mpk/mpk-banana.jpg
(the reason for the odd filename is that originally, that file was a picture
of me with a giant inflatable banana.)
  

    
Stud!
  

    
In case there was any remaining doubt, I have now been an eyewitness to
Mike's getting up early in the morning in dark grey freezing cold weather,
going to the middle of nowhere in Surrey, and running an eight-mile race,
because it's his idea of fun.

I might even have photographic evidence.
  

    
It's true. I'm afraid it's true.
  

    
we need evidence. Bring on the evidence!
  

    
The fact that my legs still hurt (at least until dosed with ibuprofen) is
fairly evidential.

The race was just over eight miles (13.07km by my GPS) - the Hog's Back Road
Race, an annual do (this was the 45th running, I think) held just outside
Guildford and starting at 9:30 in the morning. This meant getting up in the
morning gloom and taking the train to meet my brother, who was also running
and was giving us a lift to the race. We parked in a business park just
opposite the start and warmed up fairly vigorously in the cold. Temperatures
were just a few degrees above freezing and I was wearing only a running vest
and a pair of shorts so waiting at the start was pretty bracing, but the
wait wasn't too long as the race went off at 9:30 on the dot. I started a
bit far back so found myself overtaking people more less throughout the
race, although due to pushing it a little too hard on some of the downhill
which came right after the climb (100m over 1.8 miles) I was sort of running
out of energy by the last mile and ran that about a minute slower than the
ones before it. Final time, after a last mile up a long, winding country
road which was bad for morale as the finish wasn't properly visible until
about 100m out, was 58:17, 168th of 600+ finishers. 

It was actually the fastest average speed I've ever managed in a run
according to my log, which is kind of gratifying. It also gives me a bit
more confidence in building my training back up a bit now that I'm just 
about over the irritating injury which more or less killed running entirely 
for November.

And now I think (aurum) should stop being enigmatic and show us the photos,
as I'd be amused to see exactly how knackered I looked at the finish.
  

    
Oh, and just a *brief* moment of showing off - it feels really good to be
approaching the line and suddenly hear the PA guy announcing "And next is
number 247 - Mike Knell of the Serpentine Running Club". Fame! Fame at last!

I think I really quite like this racing lark. It's a lot of fun.
  

    

That's very cool, Mike. Love "The Serptentine Running Club" name, too.
  

    
OK, you asked for it.
<http://www.eccentricity.org/~tla/hogsback/hogsback.html>
  

    
Hey, nice set of photos of the countryside outside Guildford. Shame about
all the sweaty runners.
  

    
And from the other side of the 50-minute mark, my bro's account is at:
http://homepage.mac.com/rknell/JourKnell/

(posted on 15/12)
  

    
Nice.  Very nice!  

You have a good running name, Mr. Knell, although I have to admit the
name "Allison Outram" is as good a running name as I've seen.
  

    
Well, it's been about a month since the last update, and what a mediocre
running month it's been. It's been up and down and round and round and,
well, totally inconsistent from one week to the next. This is kind of
annoying.

The high point was the one race I've done since the Hogs Back, the
Serpentine RC New Year's Day 10k in Hyde Park. Yes, on New Year's Day. In
the morning. It was a cold and dreary morning but it was still good to be
running, and despite a little apprehension on my part due to the
inconsistent quality of my training runs I still managed to get in just
under the 45-minute mark - 44:43, 143rd finisher of 439 and a clear 3
minutes off my previous 10km best.

The low point was realising a few days ago that there was no way I'd be able
to run my first 10-miler - the Dartford 10, which I'd entered a couple of
months ago. The race was last Sunday. For starters there were engineering
works going on which would have made getting to the start by 0930 difficult,
but those could have been overcome if I'd been determined enough. Nope, it
was the pain in my knees and various other bits of me that made it perfectly
clear that although I might be able to crawl around 10 miles in pain, I
certainly wouldn't enjoy it and definitely wouldn't run well. The other part
was the fact that the pain in my feet which I thought was more or less
vanquished after getting some different and more cushiony shoes in the US
(a pair each of Asics 2090 and 2100 to replace my 1090s) returned with a
vengeance when I went for a short run last Saturday to the extent that for
the first time ever I had to give up and walk home from Kingston. This is,
as you can imagine, something of a blow to my morale. I've been icing and
taking ibuprofen and experimenting with the tension in my laces which I 
think might be part of the problem (I do my laces up very tight as my feet
are narrow, and it's quite likely that they swell a bit during a run which 
causes the pain) and right now all I can do is take a week off to give the
various aches and pains a chance to recover.

After that, I'm going to have to fix the habits which I think led me to
this state -- taking too many days off, running too far on the days I do run
in order to get the kilometres in the log, and not doing enough short runs.
As can be seen from my log, last week I had four days off, ran 9 miles, then
took a day off before Saturday's disastrous run. Given that my condition has
slipped a bit, the aches and pains which the long runs cause put me off
running for a couple of days, so there's a break, and then I feel I have to 
do another long one to make up for the break, and.. well, you can see how the
cycle works. It's going to have to be steady and short - for me, very short -
yet frequent runs for a couple of weeks to start getting myself back into
shape. 

I can still run, dammit. I enjoy running and don't want to give up just
because of some stupid self-inflicted injury. But I'm going to have to
show a little determination and self-discipline to bring myself back to
the form I was developing before all the disruptions of injury and the 
holiday season.

For your entertainment, my running log:
http://uffish.net/static/runlog.html
  

    
Oh yes, forgot to mention - to give myself a little incentive to get back in
shape, I've entered the Shakespeare Half-Marathon (which starts and finishes
in Stratford-on-Avon, a few miles from where I grew up) in late April. A few
other people I know (my sister-in-law and a couple of old friends of my
brother, and one of my brothers, come to think of it) are entered too, so it
should be fun. It's most likely to be a fairly quiet race as it's only a
week or so after the London Marathon, so if anyone's in the area without
anything to do and fancies running 13 miles.. (or 26, as there's a full
marathon on the day as well)
  

    
bravo!
  

    

> I enjoy running and don't want to give up just
>  because of some stupid self-inflicted injury. But I'm going to have to
>  show a little determination and self-discipline ...

That's the hard part, for sure, that determination and self-discipline. It's
so easy to find reasons NOT to go out and get that exercise, and every day
you fool yourself into not doing it, it's even easier the next day and the
day after that.

Good luck getting back on track, Mike.