2013 Challenge Series: Winslow 10k

Becky, me, Ruth before the start

Sunday was the first race in my 2013 Challenge Series: The Winslow 10k! This was a rural run on roads around the outskirts of Winslow in Buckinghamshire, and I was joined in the race by Ruth and Becky, who work and volunteer for NYAS and who were also raising money for the charity (and doing a much better job than me!): neither of them are regular runners, but both did brilliantly well. We also had the support of a couple of colleagues and their families, who braved the weather, which was above and beyond the call of duty! I think they ended up colder than we did, as they had to stand around waiting for us to finish. The event itself was really well organised and friendly, with about 290 runners, so there was room for more! The course was "undulating"..... Well I've often wandered what this means; it seems to mean a flat course with a couple of (not steep) hills in it.... totaling about 230ft climb. We were warned about the slope at the end, but apart from the fact that it was in the last km, it wasn't too bad. 

Warming up at the end!

However, the real killer was the weather: it was freezing! It was very cold and a little windy, with a little fall of snow... so I was well togged up.... I don't think I'll ever reach the stage where I wear just shorts and t-shirt like some at the race, although I did warm up a little once under way! The race itself was great: a few people to cheer us round the course and a good competitive run. I was trying to push it, as I wanted to see how fast I could do 10k in: I'd set myself  target of 55 minutes which was about 10 minutes quicker than my only other 10k run last year. In this I was helped by a woman runner over the latter stages of the course, as we kept on overtaking each other. It really spurred me on to run quicker I'm sure, and I was pleased to hear that it had helped her get up the final slope at the end! I ended with a time of 51m 26s: I was pleasantly surprised with this, as it was a whole lot quicker than I thought I'd do, and I think a testament to the running I've been doing with people from my running club, who have pushed me in training over the past few weeks. Becky and Ruth also had great runs, and it was really good to see them finish in decent times as well!

One of the fantastic things about this "Challenge Series" is that as I travel round, I'll meet some of the amazing people who volunteer and work for NYAS day in and day out. It was good to meet Becky, one of these volunteers, and to find out a little about what she does as a NYAS Independent Visitor (a volunteer who befriends a young person who is "in Care", over a number of years). Her particular young person was having a difficult time due to a court case involving her step-father, but Becky had recently taken her to see a play (something she thought she would hate) and she had enjoyed it so much that she had asked to join a local youth theatre. Sometimes that is what IVs do, bring a little bit of inspiration and normality into the lives of children in Care, when they are surrounded by so much rubbish. It makes me feel proud to work for NYAS: it's why I'm doing this Challenge Series, to raise money to support the great work it does!

So the next stop is Cambridge and the Boundary Run next week......... a different challenge and a half marathon! Just hope it warms up over the next few days!

2013 Challenge Series: 50 Bus Route and Winslow Lions 10k

I have finally started my 2013 Challenge Series! Having postponed the run along the 50 bus route on my birthday due to the snow, I decided to give it a whirl this weekend. Just to say, the ONLY reason for running this route is because of the significance of the number 50 in relation to my birthday. There is absolutely nothing else remotely enticing about the route: it starts at not a particularly picturesque part of Brum, goes through suburban lands, and ends up just outside the Bull Ring. It's about 7 miles (14 miles return!) of not very pretty urban landscape: let's just say there are much nicer places to run in Brum. My wife thought I was nuts doing this. All I can say is that it seemed like a good idea at the time, but I'm not going to be running it again in a hurry! It's also hilly/undulating. I've yet to work out an official definition of when something is "hilly" or simply "undulating", but this was certainly not flat. 

50 terminus, Druids Heath

So, I started off running in freezing temperatures, after it had just started snowing. The first half of the run was not a lot of fun: very cold, ugly running and snow blowing into my face. I started approximately half way along the route (near home), and decided to run out of Birmingham to start with: I thought by the time I'd run the 10 or so miles into town and then out again, I  might give in and not do the rest. This way, I had to run back home, so would complete the full 14+ miles.

I also decided to take it slightly easier than when I'd run recently over shorter distances, as I wasn't sure how well I'd hold up over this distance. In the end it was fine, and I probably could have looked at starting off at a quicker pace.

50 terminus, City Centre

Initially, I headed out of Brum, and ended up at the 50 terminus in Druids Heath. The weather was really adding to the scenery (not in a good way), but at least by the time I had got to this point, it had stopped snowing. So I had a brief stop for a couple of photos (for proof I'd done it!) and then started the run back into town. This was fine, as apart from the first three miles or so, it was mainly down hill into the city centre. The weather had also eased, so although it was grey and drizzly, it did in fact warm up, so that by the time I returned home, my hands were beginning to thaw out a bit.

The going back home bit was harder work as it was basically uphill, and by the time I'd got into the city centre, I'd already done approximately 10 miles. So I knew I was never going to be quick, but I was pleasantly surprised that I completed it in approximately 2:20, with the half marathon time about the same as my Birmingham Half time: so, not too bad, but room for improvement! 

Anyway, moving on to my first "official" race: The Winslow Lions 10k. I certainly hope the scenery will be better, as it should be, being in the middle of Buckinghamshire. It's only a couple of weeks away, and I'm really looking forward to the challenge of trying to run it under 55 mins, which is one of my targets for the year. I'll be running it with some of the staff and volunteers from NYAS in Buckinghamshire, who are fantastic and who do an amazing job for children in Care, and it will be great to see them and to see how much much money we can raise to support NYAS' work! This is after all why I'm running these races, so please take a look at the link, and if you feel able to join me in supporting the  work of this charity, please give generously. It would be a huge encouragement! 

The 2013 Challenge Series and Pressure!

It's been a good week. I've had my first sponsorship through for my 2013 Challenge Series (see my Blog page) which is brilliant and a great encouragement, as I really do want to raise significant amounts of money for both NYAS and Geese, charities close to my heart! I'm also beginning to get others to join me in some of the races, which is great, as the thought of doing these runs without anyone else joining in in is not worth thinking about! So good! As we're now into February, I've realised the first couple of runs are looming up fast, The Winslow 10k and the Cambridge Boundary (half marathon) runs... it's been great to hear of people wanting to run for NYAS, I just need to get organised and follow them up!! Please take some time to look at the BT Donate pages for these races (Winslow 10k and Cambridge Boundary Run) or my own page and give if you can!

I also received my first information for the Cambridge run this week. A spreadsheet of all the runnners/competitors. It was great to see my name down there, but I also saw that I'd been put down as running with Kings Heath Running Club. Now I had an interesting reaction to this, one that I wasn't expecting: I felt a little bit of pressure. For the first time, people will know that I run with a club and train with them..... and I don't want to let the club down!! Now, I know in my head nobody's really going to be thinking about this, but I felt it, just a little bit of wanting to do the club proud, as well as myself. So yes, a bit of pressure.... not to mention the fact that as the run is organised by Cambridge Hare and Hounds (the student running club), most of the runners will probably be young fit things!

Which brings me to my current training.... am I going to have done enough by then (beginning of March) to enable me to complete the course without collapsing? The answer is, I hope so! Although I did realise this week that due to the snow and a (man) cold, I haven't really been doing the necessary training. I was also intending to run the 50 bus route to celebrate my birthday, but failed at this, mainly because I would have injured myself trying to run on the ice.... but it is something I will do over the next few weeks!

Cannon Hill Park

But I did get out yesterday. It was a lovely crisp, cold, but sunny morning, and I had decided to do a couple of my normal laps, covering a hilly/undulating course, going through some of Birmingham's lovely parks. I went to run with the club and was fortunate enough to find someone who was willing to do a similar distance to me. We were a good match, as she had not been out for a few weeks, and we managed to encourage each other one, running at a pretty decent pace (for me at any rate!). As someone who is used to running on my own, I was surprised at how just having someone by my side really helped me to keep going... and she was able to talk as we went along, which took my mind off the pain. I was able to gasp out a few questions in between my wheezing along, and she was more than able to carry on chatting at the pace we were going! So a really good 11+ miles at about a 9:15mm pace. Encouraged me!

I've also recently started reading "Why We Run" by Robin Harvie, which is a really well written book. Just reading this book has helped me to think about running, so its been there at the back of my mind, even when its been too snowy to get out and about. A good motivator. Although dealing mainly in ultra running (not something I think I'm ever going to get into!) he does take an interesting look at running and (obviously) why he runs... I've just skim read it at the moment, and need to read it properly. It's interesting. I'll report back another time!