Lloyd Park East Surrey XC – 27th October

I didn’t feel good on this day. I’d seen Annabelle, the osteopath, for the first time on Monday 22nd. I was very much out of alignment with a wonky pelvis, curved spine and neck. Not what a hypochondriac wants to hear. She also demonstrated how my right knee pointed inwards and that the muscles on the right side of my right leg had essentially locked up not allowing any freedom of movement in the ankle and forcing me to over-pronate

That was quite a lot to take in. She carried out a few manipulations and held the base of my right foot and hip, as well as getting me to lie  down and allow the coccyx to sink into her hand!

She advised not to run for 24 hours at least. I felt good enough to run the speed session the following night which went well. The Wednesday session was not so good – possibly too much overkill following the 10K, treatment and the Tuesday speedwork.  By Saturday I had a very stiff lower left leg so it was touch and go whether I’d do the XC.

Waking up with a stinking hangover following another contractor’s leaving do I thought I had to run and didn’t do too badly. I felt pretty grim afterwards though so didn’t go for a beer.

Croydon 10K – 21st October 2007

Perfect running weather greeted the 500 or so runners for this year’s October Croydon 10K. Lots of Striders lined up with yours truly in a fetching, Ambrosi go-faster cap.

As the route was deemed a little short last October the marshals were strictly enforcing the pavement rule – which got a little tiresome at times.

Despite practicing the finish in our speed session the previous Tuesday I don’t think I had much of an advantage. The good news I managed another PB of 40.36 and ‘ll just pretend not to hear that it was also possibly a fraction short this year. Congratulation to Bob & Pat winning their respective age groups. All results here.

XC Richmond Park – 13th October 2007

The first Surrey League cross country Division 2 fixture of the season took place at Richmond Park on the 13th October. Unluckily this coincided with Leeds at home to Orient which I had promised a mate I would go to. I’d also been telling all that I’d be running the XC this year so decided to be a good boy and ran the race. Good job as we should have lost the footie.
As usual I started off a little too strongly and had to dig in for the last mile or so. John came past halfway round the second lap and despite trying couldn’t stay with him and came home 12th Strider. Full results here from the Kingston & Poly website.

Striders’ 25th Anniversary Black Tie Do

On Saturday, October 6th we all scrubbed up well for our 25th birthday party. The falling crane on the Croydon Park Hotel meant fortuitously that we were able to book the Booking Hall, Airport House on the site of the old Croydon Airport.

It was the second time Nicky had met a bunch of Striders. What is the collective noun for a group of Striders by the way? Having Don on our table meant it was pretty lively and the champagne flowed. Lots of Librans’ birthdays to celebrate.

Lots of good food and drink followed and most people got up and danced the night away to the live band – whatever they were called. Evidence on the Striders’ photo site on Picasa.

It was 34 years ago today!

Today’s my birthday – hurrah! This day in 1973 I woke up to the realisation that England had not qualified for the World Cup in Germany.  It was one of the worst days of my life. England, and Norman Hunter especially, had failed. It was difficult for a 10-year-old to take.

This morning I wake to a similar story. England messed up in Moscow and we’re not likely to qualify for Euro 2008. There are two reasons to be cheerful though. Firstly Steve Mclaren might be gone soon and secondly travelling to Austria & Switzerland for the championships will be a pleasant experience.

Get your rolling pin out!

Long time no post but training has been going OK. I’ve been suffering from what hypochondriac Mick thinks is the beginning of shin splints. After a speed session Chris commented that many people who think they have shin splints are in fact suffering from calf problems – so I took his advice, dug the rolling pin out from under the sink and started massaging my problem calf.  As well as rolling the base of foot along it to counter plantar fasciitis this helps weed out any knots in the calf muscle. So far so good – but i have booked in for a precautionary visit to the Osteopath on Monday after the Croydon 10K.  

Rollerdisco-tastic

Somehow I forgot to mention that my preparation for the Switchback was just about as good as that for Nottingham. Friday night was John A’s 30th birthday and he’d planned a trip to a roller disco in Vauxhall with a load of mates. This coincided with yet more leaving drinks at the George as more contractors left the building. After a couple of pints I was persuaded to join the birthday party, partly as most people decided not to go. At a rough guess I was likely to be the oldest person there. Lots of eye candy in lycra and spandex made me feel even older but I stuck it out until gone midnight. The good news is that I only hit the deck a couple of times.

Getting the slowboat train from Clapham to East Croydon and a cab home was not a new experience but one I’d not done for some time. I even managed to bump into one of the guys whose leaving do it was outside the kebab shop in Clapahm – bzarro. Fantastic falafel and chips rather than dodgy kebab I’ll have you know.  Luckily the taxi driver still took me home after I’d had a go at him for not knowing where I lived. A 10K jog home at 1.15am wouldn’t have been great.

Switchback

After the club run and AGM on Wednesday 19th I still felt pretty good, well recovered from Nottingham so provided we could drum up enough marshalls I was going to do the Switchback for the first time.

Seeing Chris as I crossed Lloyd Park to help set up the course, he told me that in fact the Switchback ‘5′ was in fact more like 4.6 mile. The XC race up to the Shirley Hills viewing point and up and down the switchback of 4 sharp up and downs on shale-like terrain was pretty tough. My stamina from the half helped me and I managed to catch a Croydon Harrier in the last half mile – which was nice. I must get a new watch or even a Garmin but I did something like 33.40 – excellent training for the XC season – just need to get some suitable shoes for when the rains come.

Coffee and cakes in the clubhouse and even a prize for the first team – one of the advantages of the fewer entrants this year. Speaking to Steve Smith and hearing of his plans to do the Brighton 10K on 18th November set me thinking that that could be one to aim for – along with the Croydon 10K on October 21st. However I won’t be joining him for the full Luton marathon in early December.

Robin Hood half marathon

Sunday 16th dawned bright and sunny. A beautiful day but slightly warm for 13.1 miles. Mike, an old university friend, and I rose early and made our way to one of the car parks on the edge of Nottingham. A 20 minute stroll later and we were in amongst the burger vans and large tents of a major pre-race operation. We had an hour or more to kill so just got changed and conserved energy.

I really did try to get involved in the aerobic warm-up but co-ordinationally failed miserably., Think I’ll stick to running. Sensibly we made our way to the start in good time – around the 1.30 start marker. My biggest failing in races, bar none, is to start too quickly. I was especially careful not to today due to my beer prep. I went through the first mile in 7.17 and felt good. Miles 2 and 3 were slightly slower. I remember an incline around the first water stop around 3 miles. The next few miles I found pretty tough. I recollect going into the university grounds, another slight incline, and travelling alongside a lake and then another uphill stretch to come out of the university. A downhill half mile towards half way came as a relief. I think I got here just under 49 minutes. I wasn’t feeling too bad at this point but took a couple of energy gums for a little boost.

The next patch into Wollaton Park was very well supported – almost Tour de France like as you narrowed to a small peak in the park. Through an avenue of shaded trees and then out into the sunshine for the last 3-4 miles. This is where I felt like I was treading water. I haven’t got the miles in the tank to really press on at this point. I reached 10 miles in 73 something and despite the flat, almost downhill terrain couldn’t kick on. The last 3 miles were run at 8 min miles pace and I finished in 1:37:46. Disappointingly just 26 seconds outside Henfield. Outside 1.40 I’d have been upset so given the 3 weeks leading up to it I have to be content with that.

I hooked up with Lisa from work – injured but supporting some Serpentine team-mates in the full marathon. South African John completed his first marathon in 2.59.50 – so you can guess how happy he was with that. Less fortunately Lisa’s boyfriend dropped out at 25km. Apparently the second half of the marathon was pretty grim – into a headwind and fairly lonely. Of the 12,000 or so entrants only 1-2,000 do the full.

We limped back into the city centre and they trudged back to their hotel. I had an hour to kill before my bargain coach – £6 return to Victoria – so what better to do than have a beer. Fellows, Morton & Clayton Ltd was conveniently situated a stone’s throw from the coach station. A pint of Landlord was followed by a local brew and then a three and half hour coach trip back to London. Thankfully I hadn’t done the full like the Kiwi sitting next to me. He looked and spoke like death. A reminder NOT to do the full distance, Phil.

All in all a successful trip but have decided to limit myself to one in the spring and another in the autumn from now on.

Lead up to Nottingham

Since the beginning of September I’ve really reduced the training, fearful of remaining injured. Sharp, shooting pains in my right achilles led me to think I’ve got to get some new shoes. An hour-long consultation at Run & Become at Victoria left me with some Nike Air Span 4+ or something like that. A couple of half-hour runs with them and I decided to go for the Nottingham half on the 16th.

You could say my prep wasn’t the best. A mate’s leaving do on Friday 14th coincided with the announcement of a number of cutbacks at work affecting close friends and colleagues. As I’m pathetically weak-willed this meant lots of beer at the George and a battle to get the 8.30 coach up to Nottingham on the Saturday morning. Much energy drink and water and i was just about feeling normal.