Personal Best
Yesterday (Sunday) I competed in my second race of the year, a 10k at Bourton-on-the-Water, a picturesque village in the Cotswolds.
I did well to get a place - this is a popular event. The main reason for this is that it is a very flat, fast course, so a lot of athletes take part in order to get a personal best at that distance.
For this reason I had mixed emotions about the race. I was looking forward to it, but at the same time felt under some pressure to get a PB, and ideally get under 55 minutes for the first time. I had a pretty good build up to it - I had a good session with Anthony on the Thursday (speed and hills, but for the first time he was making me jog between sets instead of getting full recovery). On the Friday he cancelled our session - his reason being he felt there was no point me risking an injury in the cold, and I'd be better off running on the treadmill in the warm. Or maybe he just couldn't face another 45 minutes of listening to my bad jokes..Anyway I just did 8k at a nice steady pace. Easy peasy.
Sometimes the Saturday before a race is quite tedious. I can't train because I have to rest and conserve energy. Alcohol is obviously a no-no (really I should abstain for about a week beforehand but I find if I drink plenty of water the day before I don't suffer from dehydration). Usually it's a case of pottering round the house, doing a bit of shopping and maybe a trip to the cinema.
This Saturday was actually a pretty good day. I finally bought myself an MP3 player (Nike 260 PSA run) and it arrived with the post. I need to go through the manual to learn all the functions but I managed to load a few CDs on to it so I could use it in the race. Sugababes, Girls Aloud, Joss Stone and Hilary Duff were the ones I chose. Noticing a trend here??
I also had a Willy Wonka moment - I received my tickets for the cricket at Lords. I got the tickets I wanted - a one-day international in June and a day at the test match in July. Not as thrilled as I was when I got my tickets for the Ashes, but still pretty chuffed.
In the early evening I finally got round to seeing Walk The Line with Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon. What a treat that was! I don't really know much about Johnny Cash (contrary to popular belief I'm not old enough to remember him) and was only interested in seeing it because the reviews I had read were so good. I loved it - it was essentially a love story, a tale of how a good woman saved a man from destroying himself with drugs and alcohol and wasting his talent.
It was interesting to read in the credits that Johnny Cash passed away 4 months after his wife's death. It could have been for other reasons, but I'm a great believer that some people really do die of a broken heart.
And so home to a big pasta meal, washed down with a sports drink (not a patch on a nice glass of Wolf Blass!) and an early night.
When I woke up I asked myself why I keep putting myself through such hell on a Sunday morning but anyone who knows me understands how much I am getting out of this running malarkey.
It was a nice drive up to Bourton - I hadn't been up the Fosse Way for some time and had forgotten how lovely the scenery is up there. I found the race no problem - bit annoyed at having to pay £2 to park in a pay and display mind you! I soon found some friendly faces from the running club, which was nice - I've been to a few races where I know no one, and don't speak to anyone, and it's never the same.
As we lined up we certainly weren't enjoying the most propitious of weather - it was actually snowing!! I switched on my MP3, tuned into Girls Aloud and told myself to just enjoy the run. At the end of the day you can only do your best, no point beating yourself up about the time.
I did, however, push myself hard. I knew I had trained hard and it was time to make it count. Fortunately the weather improved quickly - after about 20 minutes it stopped snowing and the sun actually came out. I made a conscious effort not to look at my watch, as I didn't want to worry about my time, instead I just focussed on pushing myself round. For the first time I never stopped at any point. I was careful not to drink too much water before the race so I wouldn't need the toilet. Also there was no water station half way. Funnily enough I didn't actually notice.
The race did seem to go quickly and to be honest the end couldn't come soon enough. Normally I try to pick up the pace for the last 2-3km but I was too exhausted. I only just managed to sprint over the finish line. When I did look at my watch I was elated to see I had finished in less than 55 minutes for the first time. Girls Aloud must have had the right effect! I saw a few of the ladies from running club cross the line and one, Amy, timed herself at 54:58 and I reckoned I had finished a good minute or two before her. I could well have got round in 53 or even 52 mins, a big improvement on my previous best of 56.
I duly headed home, stopped at Sainsburys for my paper and something for lunch, plus nibbles and more beer for the afternoon. This was a good result for me and I was going to celebrate. Luckily there was cricket on the telly when I got in so I probably celebrated a bit too much..but hey, it's not every day you knock a few minutes off your personal best.
On a different note entirely I had another good experience today (Monday). My friend Susie Emery, who had last year gone to start a new life in Spain, is back in Swindon and today started her new job with her old employer (and my current one!). I met up with her in the canteen and we had lunch and a brief catch up. You don't make many friends like Susie and whilst I'm very sorry things didn't work out as planned for her in Spain it is lovely to have her back.
Copyright Jonathan Weedon, February 2006
I did well to get a place - this is a popular event. The main reason for this is that it is a very flat, fast course, so a lot of athletes take part in order to get a personal best at that distance.
For this reason I had mixed emotions about the race. I was looking forward to it, but at the same time felt under some pressure to get a PB, and ideally get under 55 minutes for the first time. I had a pretty good build up to it - I had a good session with Anthony on the Thursday (speed and hills, but for the first time he was making me jog between sets instead of getting full recovery). On the Friday he cancelled our session - his reason being he felt there was no point me risking an injury in the cold, and I'd be better off running on the treadmill in the warm. Or maybe he just couldn't face another 45 minutes of listening to my bad jokes..Anyway I just did 8k at a nice steady pace. Easy peasy.
Sometimes the Saturday before a race is quite tedious. I can't train because I have to rest and conserve energy. Alcohol is obviously a no-no (really I should abstain for about a week beforehand but I find if I drink plenty of water the day before I don't suffer from dehydration). Usually it's a case of pottering round the house, doing a bit of shopping and maybe a trip to the cinema.
This Saturday was actually a pretty good day. I finally bought myself an MP3 player (Nike 260 PSA run) and it arrived with the post. I need to go through the manual to learn all the functions but I managed to load a few CDs on to it so I could use it in the race. Sugababes, Girls Aloud, Joss Stone and Hilary Duff were the ones I chose. Noticing a trend here??
I also had a Willy Wonka moment - I received my tickets for the cricket at Lords. I got the tickets I wanted - a one-day international in June and a day at the test match in July. Not as thrilled as I was when I got my tickets for the Ashes, but still pretty chuffed.
In the early evening I finally got round to seeing Walk The Line with Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon. What a treat that was! I don't really know much about Johnny Cash (contrary to popular belief I'm not old enough to remember him) and was only interested in seeing it because the reviews I had read were so good. I loved it - it was essentially a love story, a tale of how a good woman saved a man from destroying himself with drugs and alcohol and wasting his talent.
It was interesting to read in the credits that Johnny Cash passed away 4 months after his wife's death. It could have been for other reasons, but I'm a great believer that some people really do die of a broken heart.
And so home to a big pasta meal, washed down with a sports drink (not a patch on a nice glass of Wolf Blass!) and an early night.
When I woke up I asked myself why I keep putting myself through such hell on a Sunday morning but anyone who knows me understands how much I am getting out of this running malarkey.
It was a nice drive up to Bourton - I hadn't been up the Fosse Way for some time and had forgotten how lovely the scenery is up there. I found the race no problem - bit annoyed at having to pay £2 to park in a pay and display mind you! I soon found some friendly faces from the running club, which was nice - I've been to a few races where I know no one, and don't speak to anyone, and it's never the same.
As we lined up we certainly weren't enjoying the most propitious of weather - it was actually snowing!! I switched on my MP3, tuned into Girls Aloud and told myself to just enjoy the run. At the end of the day you can only do your best, no point beating yourself up about the time.
I did, however, push myself hard. I knew I had trained hard and it was time to make it count. Fortunately the weather improved quickly - after about 20 minutes it stopped snowing and the sun actually came out. I made a conscious effort not to look at my watch, as I didn't want to worry about my time, instead I just focussed on pushing myself round. For the first time I never stopped at any point. I was careful not to drink too much water before the race so I wouldn't need the toilet. Also there was no water station half way. Funnily enough I didn't actually notice.
The race did seem to go quickly and to be honest the end couldn't come soon enough. Normally I try to pick up the pace for the last 2-3km but I was too exhausted. I only just managed to sprint over the finish line. When I did look at my watch I was elated to see I had finished in less than 55 minutes for the first time. Girls Aloud must have had the right effect! I saw a few of the ladies from running club cross the line and one, Amy, timed herself at 54:58 and I reckoned I had finished a good minute or two before her. I could well have got round in 53 or even 52 mins, a big improvement on my previous best of 56.
I duly headed home, stopped at Sainsburys for my paper and something for lunch, plus nibbles and more beer for the afternoon. This was a good result for me and I was going to celebrate. Luckily there was cricket on the telly when I got in so I probably celebrated a bit too much..but hey, it's not every day you knock a few minutes off your personal best.
On a different note entirely I had another good experience today (Monday). My friend Susie Emery, who had last year gone to start a new life in Spain, is back in Swindon and today started her new job with her old employer (and my current one!). I met up with her in the canteen and we had lunch and a brief catch up. You don't make many friends like Susie and whilst I'm very sorry things didn't work out as planned for her in Spain it is lovely to have her back.
Copyright Jonathan Weedon, February 2006
posted by Jon | 9:10 pm
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