Leeds 10K Race Day

It's just a few hours after the Leeds 10K. The fact that I am writing this confirms that I did not have to make use of the excellent medical facilities provided by Leeds City Council.

The whole organisation was excellent. Car parking was clear. We did manage to forget to take the car keys with us when we left the car (busy focusing on making sure I had taken on enough fluids and had my race number on the right way up) but a very honest local handed them in.

So we walked the short distance from the car park to the holding area for runners. Andrea took my bag and waved me off as I wandered wide eyed into the square full of almost 10,000 people. Before I could get my bearings the announcement came that Richard Hill was about to come on stage to do the mass warm up. Richard was announced in a way that suggested I should have heard of him. As Richard and his supporting cast arrived on stage I realised that I had never heard of him but I was apparently about to do everything he told me to do.

What followed was nothing short of brilliant. 9999 people all waved their arms, jumped up and down, bent, stretched and danced in total unison. I however, did not. I jumped up and down, bent, stretched and danced in total unison with only myself. Fifteen minutes passed in the blink of an eye and by the end I was shattered. The thought of running 6 miles following this fifteen minutes of random flailing was exhausting.

The next announcement was to make sure we all went to the start line in the right order. Fifty minuters first, then sixty minuters etc. I filed in at the back of the joggers but ahead of the walkers. On the whole it wasn't difficult to tell where I should stand. The faster, skinny runners went first, followed by the medium sized runners and then the larger types.

As we all shuffled towards the start, I began to look around for my target. Which of the fancy dress runners did I not want to be beaten by? Initially I spotted Superman, Wonder Woman, Spider Man, even Banana Man. Only a fool would pick Superheroes to race against so I decided to let these go. The two old men in drag seemed a little too easy as did the Sumo Wrestlers. Finally, through the crowd I spotted the Cave People. Three Cave Girls and a Cave Man carrying a club. They looked like they could run, but I felt I had a chance of beating them. After all, I am about 10,000 years ahead in evolutionary terms.

The first 2 kilometres went well. I bounced along with the crowd at a steady pace. I only stopped running for a few moments as I was hit in the face by one of the balloon people. The first hill came just after 2k and I began to slow. I was keeping up with the Cave People. Occasionally they would pass me but then I would surge passed them. This continued until the big hill at 4 kilometres. This was into the wind and the wind was gusting up to 60mph. I had to walk this and the Cave People were out of sight.

The next 2 kilometres were uneventful and difficult. Now that my target was lost I scratched around for another fancy dresser to focus on. There were a couple of options, a man in a silk robe and a couple of ladies with large hats, but I couldn't get away from the fact that I had chosen the Cave People and they were now gone.

The Gatorade station just after half way was welcome. It was marked by a giant inflatable Gatorade bottle which loomed like a great orange beacon of hope over the turning point in the course.

It turns out, Gatorade is an orangy, sweet drink full of useful carbohydrates. It was served in paper cups and thousands of these were then discarded over the next 300 metres. So, as welcome as the Gatorade was, sticking to the road for the next 300 metres was not! It was here that my right knee began to feel a bit sore.

Maybe this was a warning sign?

What followed was probably the best, most uplifting thing I could have seen. The queue for the toilets. The five porta loos were obviously not sufficient to serve all 11,000 runners and so those who needed to avail themselves of the facility had to stand in line. And in this line were four Cave People.

Ahead of the Cave People again I began to focus on the final three kilometres. My right knee was beginning to feel like it was full of broken glass every time I landed on it but I was on the final stretch.

Up until this point all of the spectators had been clapping politely and shouting encouragements such as "come on, you can do it" or "not far now". I am not going to criticise these platitudes as all of these people have taken time out of their weekend to stand and cheer. What followed next was possibly the greatest piece of spectating I had ever seen. Sat on the steps of one of Leeds' various office buildings were three drunks. It was 10 o'clock on a Sunday morning and they looked like they were spending their morning the same way as they spend every morning. Each of them had a can of special brew and they were making accurate if not a little harsh observations on the events unfolding in front of them. As I passed, the older of the three shouted, "You look knackered!"

The final kilometre arrived and I began to speed up for the big finish. At this point one of the Cave People came passed. I couldn't believe it, they had caught me. Imagine my delight as I realised that she was alone. She would have to wait for the other three so victory was assured. As I crossed the line I heard the commentator say, "..and here come the Cave Men and Women..." they weren't ahead of me so they must have been behind - success!

One hour twenty one minutes 35 seconds. Only one minute slower than the time I expected (not bad in 60mph winds) and I could still walk............. Back to training next week.

The Dress Rehearsal

One week to go to the Leeds 10k and today was the last big training day before the event. The last chance to build confidence, check my preparation and predict a time for the 10k.

Earlier in the week I planned the route. Four miles (6.5km) of roads with some hills and variation. I went shopping for energy bars, energy drinks, knee supports and other items that would obviously make all the difference to my performance.

Maybe it was psychological but as I left the house I felt confident, almost energetic. Although it may just have been the energy bar and drink effecting my brain. I started the stopwatch and began to run.

The first mile took 11 minutes. Not bad I thought and I wasn't feeling too bad. By the second mile, completed after 23 minutes I was still feeling OK but I was aware that it was getting harder up the hills, still, I consoled myself with the fact that it was easier on the way down.

During the third mile a cyclist came past me but then slowed a little. I thought, "maybe I can catch him back up". Using this moving object as a pace setter I took off towards him. All was going well, I had something to pace to and for the first time I was not focusing on what appears to be the endless road.

Unfortunately in focusing on my new target I forgot to take notice of what I was running on and tripped over a curbstone.....ouch!

I gave up on my moving target and looked to simply finish the distance without any further injuries, completing the four miles in 48minutes 10 seconds. With only two more training sessions before race day the focus now shifts to rest and preparation.

The Countdown

Fifteen days to go until the Leeds 10K. I haven't trained for two weeks and I'm still not over the Man Flu.

But fear of failure has driven me out of bed and for the first time onto the roads. Up to now I have trained in the gym on various treadmills but with only two weeks left, I have a lot of training to catch up on.

So, how did I do this morning?

Looking on the plus side, I was out for 30 minutes and didn't stop moving forward the whole time. Three hours after my run, I don't feel too bad. But 3 hours ago it was a very different picture. For the first time in 20 years I was reminded why I hated cross country running.

I began by warming up, stretching and then a brisk walk for a couple of minutes. I turned on my I Pod and began the motivational sounds and comments of one of those large, smiling American types. The first stage of this background noise was incantations......

"All I need is within me now", "Every day in every way I'm feeling better and better!"

The first incantation phase lasts for three minutes and at the end there is a period of 30 seconds of wheezing.

Actually, that isn't part of the program but that was all that I could hear. My heart was pounding and my windpipe had shrunk to a third of it's normal size.

Had I really become so unfit in only two weeks?

Next came the terrain. Today I was reminded that the outside has hills. These hills are much harder to run on than a treadmill. On the way up the first of these hills, I comforted myself that they are much easier to run down.

How wrong could I have been. When you weigh 19 stone running downhill becomes a battle of man against gravity, and gravity often wins. As I built up momentum and felt the wind in my hair (well, maybe not in my hair but at least I felt the wind against my nearly bald scalp) I initially thought..."this is great, I am really making progress". I could also hear the "All I need is within me now" incantation blasting from my I Pod.

Unfortunately I realised as I approached the bottom of the hill that all I needed wasn't actually within me now as, what I needed most was the ability to stop!....Ouch.

So I will take this as a wake up call and knuckle down over the next 15 days. And just in case today's experience wasn't enough to motivate me to train harder I received the race details yesterday. It appears that everyone goes home after 2 hours so, if i haven't finished within the time, I will be dodging the traffic.

The Curse of Man Flu!

Yes, it had to happen. I was hoping to get through the Summer and maybe even past the Tatton 10K in September before being struck down but last weekend whilst still basking in the glory of my recent training success I was taken in my prime. This isn't just normal Man Flu, I am suffering from a particularly debilitating form of the condition.

This is Man Flu that only effects the throat and chest and manifests itself in severe shortness of breath and a complete loss of vocal capacity. The symptoms extend to shortness of temper and a great deal of arm waving and picture drawing in a vain attempt to communicate with those around me.

For a week I have been treating this condition with multivitamins, pain killers and large quantities of chocolate biscuits, soaked in Tea as I have been unable to eat solids due to the contraction my vocal chords.

Training has had to be suspended for the last seven days. I am now beginning to get nervous about the Leeds 10k in three weeks. I am yet to run more than 5K and will need to push myself over the next 21 days. I have decided that if I cannot train for the next couple of days, I can at least loose some of the chocolate biscuit weight -it's five a day and pulses for the next week!