Author: MarathonMannUK

In May, a group of runners sponsored by Nike, are going to attempt to run a marathon in under two hours.  This will not only be a world record but be a significant milestone in human running achievement, something akin to the 4 minute mile but over a rather longer distance.  To put this into perspective, to do 26.2 miles in 2 hours means an average pace of 4 minutes 38 seconds per mile.  Now if you understand running pace you will realise that’s absolutely flying!  In my running club we do a “timed mile” several times a year and in the last two years we haven’t recorded a single sub 6 minute mile.  I think some of our members are capable of breaking through the 6 minute mile barrier but to keep up a much faster pace for two hours is simply astonishing.

To perform this record attempt the day and hour will be selected by the team for optimal conditions, a luxury not afforded to us amateur runners who have to accept whatever conditions prevail on race day.  You have to think this arrangement is a bit of a fix but it doesn’t take away from the impressiveness of these athletes’ ability.

For most of us, the thing we might be able to do in under two hours is half that distance and sub-two hours for a half marathon is a great goal for the amateur runner.   Some experienced  and able athletes might scoff at this but set your fitness back a peg or two and you realise that running that distance in under two hours is some challenge.  A week ago I was considering “not running” the Ackworth Half because I was concerned my legs wouldn’t last the distance at any speed.  However I made myself do it because firstly I had paid for it and secondly, I told myself I could treat it as a training run and run-walk if necessary (yeah, right).

I had driven round the route a few days before and convinced myself that it was going to be some approximation to hell on earth (due to the hilliness).  On the day, I felt like I was looking forward to it in a way but also a bit worried I might come a cropper with both knee and foot concerns.   It felt a little chilly in my running t-shirt at the start and there was very little wind, making it pretty much “Goldilocks” running weather so that was a good start and made me feel a little better.  When we set off I didn’t exactly do the run-walk thing but did try and pace myself knowing that I had not tested myself beyond 6 miles since the Snake Lane 10 about two months ago.

Result? Well, better than I could ever have hoped since not only did I get round without injury to either my knee or foot but broke that 2 hour barrier with a time of 1:56:48.  My wife put this into perspective for me by reminding me that I effectively hadn’t trained for the race.  This therefore,  is a much needed boost to my running confidence and makes me hopeful of a good performance at the Leeds Half in May.  For the record, the Ackworth half is a great race, it is well organised and the route isn’t so bad after all; I shall certainly do it again.

What made the day even better was that the two fellow members of my running club also did pretty well too.  Jo-Anne, who was also in an “I’ll jest get round” mood also did under two hours and John pipped me at the post even though I caught him walking on the last hill.

“I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.” Philippians 1:20

When wanting to do a parkrun, but not “flat out” I sometimes volunteer to be a pacer.  if you want to do this, you firstly need to choose a time that you can run comfortably and second, have the means to judge it so that you finish in either exactly, or slightly better than, that time.  This is by no means easy and requires concentration and unless you have an uncanny ability, a GPS running watch.  There is also the matter of GPS inaccuracy; my watch always measures the 5K Temple Newsam route at fractionally over (3.15 miles) so I need to make an adjustment to my pace.

The next matter is how you vary the pace.  Now, I imagine you might think that “even splits” is the way to go and maybe it is on a flat course but this isn’t so easy on an “undulating” course like Temple Newsam.  I like to run at a pace so that someone to whom that time is the fastest they have ever run, can keep up with me all the way round.  So it’s no good me going steady down the hill and then maintaining the same pace up, because to the runners following, it will feel like i’m powering up the hill.  I therefore need to get ahead on the downhill and lose that time on the ups, just like I would do if I were running to my PB.  The art is to choose how much to get ahead, because if you lose someone on the downhill you might lose them completely because there is nothing more demotivating than lagging behind your pacer, it’s possible you may give up!

Finally, I encourage everyone to try their hand at pacing; it’s very rewarding when someone comes up to you and thanks you because you helped them get a PB, but one word of advice.  Please don’t finish the time slower than the target,  no one wants to beat the pacer and then find they were too slow.

“but test everything; hold fast what is good.”

‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:21‬ ‭ESV‬‬

http://bible.com/59/1th.5.21.esv

Just over a week ago I was feeling pretty miserable yet didn’t want to Blog about it because I always try and limit what I publish when I am prevented from running for whatever reason to avoid it reading like a big winge.

Late in December I went down with flu which really knocked me for six.  Then I seemed to be on the road to recovery but soon managed to catch a cold.  This didn’t last long but then a week after my last big race, Snake Lane, I started having this annoying pain in my foot.  A visit to the physio revealed that I had severe corns in my foot and I was referred to a chiropodist.  Trying o get a chiropodist to even answer the phone, let alone get an appointment with one is like trying to boil water by breathing on it but eventually I found someone who would see me.  Helen thought that there might be some reason why this guy could fit me in at such short notice and I had visions of the scene in Minority Report where Tom Cruise gets a back street eye transplant. However, I didn’t end up with Dr Death but rather a very nice chap who was quite sympathetic.  After looking at my foot and me explaining I ran a lot, he said he understood runners and I was not to worry as he wouldn’t be saying I should stop running.  (This probably meant that I ought to stop running but he knew there was no point him saying so).  He explained all the things wrong with my foot which made me even consider just having it cut off and replacing it with a blade!

However, after removing the corns he suggested that I ought to consider special insoles to compensate for my hideously mis-shaped foot.

About 7 days later however the healing process was going far too slowly and my foot was still painful.  To cap it all, I started developing yet another cold again and I felt like turning heavenward in the manner of Job (Biblical character who had a lot of bad things happen to him) and crying out “You cannot be serious!” (In the words of John McEnroe, not Job).  I could see all my hard work training being wasted and all my goals for 2017 slipping away!

So I went on a cycle ride with Helen and had a really nice time tackling the hills of Temple Newsam park and finding a route opened up by a new bridge (see previous post). 

When I got home, it occurred to me that my foot only hurt when the pressure of my body weight came down on one tiny point.  I cut a hole in the insole of a recently retired pair of running shoes and found to my delight that this completely relieved the pressure and pain.  I went out for a steady two miles, resolving to stop immediately if there was a problem.  I got home in one piece and also noticed that my foot, including the sore spot felt a lot better; quite the opposite to what I was expecting.

This meant a possibility I couldn’t of imagined the day before was now a reality again, that I could be fit enough for the Wakefield 10K; a bit of careful training during the week and maybe, just maybe I could get round.

Today, about a week later I am chuffed!  Not only did I “get round” but I managed a sub 50 minutes time.  I was chasing the 50 minute pace man but he left me behind after around 5K.  He must have been flying because I still finished in 49:28!  Running with me today was my wife Helen and her sister Jill.  I am really proud of them both but today, particularly Jill who at 57 years old, ran the 10K in 54:09, a WAVA of a staggering 69.03%!

So I’m back running again, yay, but I have made an appointment with a professional to get to the root cause of my problem and get some proper orthotics to keep me injury free longer term.  My home modified insole might let me keep running but it’s not comfortable and I am sure if I continued with it I would be storing up more problems.

In the Book of Job, God chastised Job for his questioning of His purposes but He put all things right for him even so.  I find myself in a similar position, being thoroughly hacked off with my lot, only to find things aren’t so bad after all.

“After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so Job died, an old man and full of years.”

‭‭Job‬ ‭42:16-17‬ ‭NIVUK‬‬

http://bible.com/113/job.42.16-17.nivuk