I have decided to keep writing this blog as I do enjoy it and it can often have cathartic properties which make it more worthwhile. It has been a few weeks since my failed London Marathon attempt and I have managed to get back out running. Ironically, I have enjoyed a purple patch of success since then despite my form being not where it was pre-April. After a few gentle jaunts midweek after London, I was desperate to get back into the thick of things. Desperate. I was still quite snotty and my chest not good. I tried a steady jog whilst dog walking and progressed to a more meaningful 7 mile trail run round Bentley Woods. On the one hand, I was dying to race to see where I was at fitness wise yet deep down I knew I’d be disappointed in whatever time I would achieve. We had the joys of looking after my two lovely little nieces on the Saturday which prevented me parkrunning but I looked at a couple of races on the Sunday and opted for the Uttoxeter 10K. My nieces were great fun and we all enjoyed ourselves.
I had said to the Uttoxeter organiser some months ago that I might give it a go if I recovered from London well enough. The winning times last year were tidy enough but there wasn’t many of them so I fancied picking up a V40 prize if my luck was in. The race ran alongside the BDSL half marathon race which drew many more competitors – the downside was that with front-only numbers, it was impossible to tell who was in what race. Half way round, I was lying in 6th, in touch with 5th. The course split and a new lead bicycle took the 10K runners off to the left. I was surprised but nonetheless delighted to realise that I was leading my race. There was a long drawn out uphill stretch which I negotiated before allowing myself the rare luxury of having a look over my shoulder to see how far my nearest rival was. I turned and looked and had to do a double take – there was nobody in sight and I could see at least a minute down the road. I had to stop briefly for a vintage car at a crossroads but even so, the win was on. I could even afford to drop my pace down by 30 seconds a mile and with some nice downhill coasts back to the racecourse, I was finally going to win a licenced race (other than parkrun) that would appear on the Power of 10 website! The lead bike dropped me off at the racecourse gates and you had to weave your way back to the line. I heard my name called over the loudspeaker, followed by a hurriedly spoken “THROUGH THE GATE – YOU’RE GOING THE WRONG WAY SIR!”. Yet again, I had gone astray at the end of a race so I turned round and made the correct approach to the line and won by over four minutes it materialised.
One of my fellow finishers crossed the line in a bad way, vomiting all over the show. I gave him some water along with some comforting instruction before the St John Ambulance team took charge. I was chuffed to bits, the course was tough and my time of 38:53 very modest but a win is a win and I felt as though I deserved a bit of good luck as well as the £25 winner’s cheque! There was a lot of hanging around waiting for the half to finish before the presentation but I wanted to treasure the moment because its not often you get to win a race and at 42 years old, I suspect my chances are further reduced. It was interesting to see the standard of the Burton and District league compared to the Leicestershire one I run in. There were some very good runners out on show but Leicestershire I would say has more and better ones too.
I trained more consistently the following week, despite feeling strange. I was far from fully fit and felt a bit flat as I needed a new goal to aspire to. I surprised myself on the Friday evening after work when the weather was set fair for a charge up the steep and iconic Merevale Lane. In just under eight minutes I ran from bottom to top, a real effort to do it and with a helping tailwind but I was feeling confident ahead of my first parkrun in three months the next morning. Conkers was the venue, I went for it but could not live with Chris Baxter who has improved a lot recently and he powered home in first. I hung on for second and the time (17:20) was mildly disappointing but in hindsight probably as good as I could have hoped for all things considered. We ran the league race, the West End 8 the following day which confirmed my status – I ran as well as I could and set a new PB but was soundly beaten by both peers and rival club runners who I was beating six weeks prior. The PB was not one to celebrate particularly as I’ve never done myself justice at the distance but I did achieve a platinum standard club time and had the honour of picking up a trophy for the third place veteran in the Winter League series while team-mate Ryan Bennett went one better by taking a truly impressive second in the overall standings.
There is a plethora of races locally this time of year and there is a danger of over-racing if you’re not careful. Tuesday was the return of the Kingsbury Classic. Relatively low-key, it is a 10K trail race twice round Kingsbury Water Park. I always make the top ten yet have never won anything in the four times I have raced it. This year, we had a Badgers front row, Danny Warren earned back to back wins with Chris pushing him close. Ryan was out of form and hung on well for third, I closed up on him towards the end without ever looking likely to catch him to take fourth and with it a club 1-2-3-4. I picked up a trophy for first vet, breaking my long-standing duck, the team obviously won and I maintained my record of having improved my time every year since I started.
The Bosworth Half marathon is one of my favourite races in the calendar. Local, well organised, it covers a lot of roads I use in training and it was the venue for my first ever sub 90 half. I wasn’t sure how to run it. I wasn’t likely to get a PB – I wanted to finish strongly and break 90 minutes. I knew once I got going that my competitive instinct would take over and I would start shifting. I ran the first few miles with Glyn and Jason before moving slowly through the field. It was great to see so many club members out in support, too many to mention individually but Matt and Julie Tonks, Danny, Clare Hutton, Ted Franklin and John Hanson just when I needed a shout. I struggled slightly towards the end as the heat took effect but unbeknown to me at the time, I was 11th and managed to put my foot down on the final mile, making it my quickest of the race, to stave off the threat of getting caught. My time was 82:55, the second fastest of my life which was very pleasing especially given the heat and hills. I also picked up some prize money for finishing second veteran male in the race continuing my streak of winning stuff!
It was an important race for a number of reasons. It would be my first longish run since the Manchester marathon and I was keen to find out how my body would cope. With the after effects of the virus now almost out of my system, the response was overwhelmingly positive. The legs felt really good, the engine just needed some fine tuning. The opportunity to drop onto a marathon in the coming weeks would in some way hinge on this race as well as the weather forecast. That said, the thought of running a marathon right now does not appeal to me and I may just stick to my programme of races throughout the summer and enjoy / try and do well in them without distraction while building for Berlin at the end of September.
I revisited some of the Bosworth course midweek for a strong training run ahead of the first instalment of the Leicester Summer Series. We were often beaten as a team by Hermitage Harriers in the winter but they had a dearth of runners meaning we once again triumphed. The race was over in 400 metres. Two elite types bombing off, the race was now for third. I tried shielding Danny for a bit but he couldn’t get away and young Alex Percy ground him down with me following fifteen seconds later. I collected the vets prize again though, opting for a potted begonia to take home this time for my wife in order to earn a few valuable brownie points and looked forward to the upcoming league race at Gaddesby on the Sunday. This would be important for me as I have marked it down as one of my two key races between now and September, the other being the Notts 10 in June.
Chris Hortons Marathon Journey 