Those Moments that Made my Year

For the Carthorse and friends, 2013 has been quite a year of running. This year has seen many of us in my training group significantly improve. Personally, my season was probably summed up by three outstanding races in July (Mile), August (5000m) and September (HM), each better than the last. But that hasn't been complete story of this year which has just been made up of moments of hilarity, unbelievable happenings and fun. Now seems like the opportune time to recap some of my favourite moments. In chronological order of course. 

10^th April, Villamoura, Portugal:

Villamoura was a fantastic two week 'holiday' with friends in the sun at a time when the UK was still getting snow. It was great training aboard, although some of the routes got a little repetitive.  This Wednesday, I remember Nick 'Nandos' Howard showing me the beach cliff trail route for the first time. The weather was amazing, there were fantastic views of the ocean, and the steep trails were a real breathe of fresh air.  I ran that same route later that day too.

18^th May, Yate:

Summer had arrived in force and it was the first of four Track & Field League fixtures. We were pushing for promotion this season, but unfortunately we had a depleted team, meaning we were all doubling, or tripling up in the events. By the time it got to the 4x400 relay, the last event, we had only a disparate crew of exhausted distance runners left able to run.

I volunteered to go first leg as I had prior experience of holding a baton. The start line was hilarious; amongst five serious teams in blocks, I took a standing-start position and had only managed a single step by the time my competitors had sprung away and managed three….I was 50 metres behind by 100m. Dan, with a 1500m and a 5000m in his legs, finished the third leg just ahead of the leaders completing the event. This ensured we didn’t get lapped, meaning Ed, the anchor, was so jubilant that he performed a double Mobot as he eventually crossed the line.

25^th May, Leicestershire & Warwickshire joint County Champs finish line, Leicester. 

Having narrowly missed it in Yate the week before, it was widely known that I was attempting to run my maiden sub-16 minute 5000m. After one of the most physically painful races I can remember, I crossed the line, collapsing almost immediately to all fours, unable to move or do anything but hope the lactate would clear.

'What did you do?' would have been a polite way for a recovered-Ed to have enquired as to my result. But probably not convinced I would’ve been able to respond, he instead simply grabbed my watch arm from where it lay limp on the floor and pulled to his eye level. I subsequently found out I’d come second in the county, but recalling Ed's violation of my watch/arm is what I smile about when I remember that day. 

June 23^rd, My bed. 

In June, Dan was the athlete in form. The previous day had been the Midland 5000m champs which has been a disaster. The conditions were miserable, and even though Dan and Ed had PB-ed, no one was over the moon about it. 

In uncustomary fashion we hit the town to drown our sorrows, and after stumbling in at 4am, I managed to drag myself around an ‘easy’ 90 mins with Ed, in a massive struggle of hangover and sore legs. 

Dan, in contrast it turned out, had used his hangover to positive effect. I got a phone call as I lay in bed post-run trying to recover. He had somehow gone out and done a 9 mile race, finishing third in an unbelievably quick time. I do not know how, only that I could not have done that. 

July 20^th, Iffley Road track, 15 metres from the line.

The opportunity to run at the famous Roger Bannister track in Oxford was too much to pass on, even though I didn't consider myself to be in good shape to race a Mile. Dan and Mark were in the heat before mine and both ran 4:40. Not a chance I thought.

Somehow I found myself still in it coming down the final 100m, and with my friends ecstatic with jubilation on the sidelines, my legs beginning to burn, bend and wobble, I was starting intently at the finish clock which was slowly ticking up, and not getting any closer.

The winner crossed the line two seconds ahead of me, stopping the clock, but fifteen metres away I was so out of it I didn’t really absorb this. I just remember thinking I has managed to stop time, and that I'd now exist forever in a sea of painful purgatory at 4:32.

This mile was probably my breakthrough race this season, and my 1500m split probably a good 6 or 7 seconds faster than a race over the same distance just four days earlier. 

24^th August, Coventry University track finish line:

Coventry BMC 5000m was the ultimate of races. Paced by super-metronomic Ed Banks, it featured four of my other friends and training partners. I crossed the line just three seconds behind Dan, and I'll never forget the scenes that subsequently unfolded....

As I crossed the line, Dan had had just enough time to release the enormity of what he'd done, and turn around, with a shocked look on his face. I simply ran straight into an embrace, and turned around to see my friend Sarah cross the line inside her PB too. Lying around on the floor and self-congratulations initially got in the way of knowing what anyone else had done, but I then spotted Mark 10 metres away. He was frozen still, a massive smile on his face, arms stretched out wide and his body language said 'just ask me' all over it. He’d taken over 20 seconds off a 20 year old PB, breaking the 16-minute barrier which he’d given up on long ago. What a hero. It's rare that everyone you go to a race with has a screamer. On that day myself, Dan, Mark, Sarah and Chris all smashed it. And Ed's contribution was a massive part of that. Those scenes may never be repeated again.

A Pentalogy of Proven Folktales II

A year ago I wrote a blog about the five biggest things that I'd learnt or felt hadmade a difference to my running in 2012. 2013 has been something of a breakthrough year for me, and bares many similarities to the winter of 2009/10, where I experienced similar improvements. 

Bud Baldaro:

To suggest that I have changed coaches would be an overstatement: I don't consider myself to have a coach. But on Tuesday nights at the university track, our BRAT group now joins Mister Johnny Cullen, and we put the fate of our sessions in the hands of a world-renowned coach and extremely great motivator, Bud Baldaro. 

Running tough sessions as a group has made these both fun and manageable. The sessions involve mixed paces, terrain and rep lengths, and they would be very difficult solo. A large training group at my pace is something I've not had since early 2010 when I was still at university. 

Racing better than I train:

This has been my biggest shift. I'm not running any faster in training now than I have been in the last three years. In truth probably a little slower for the most part. But we run as a group, and practice running relaxed and comfortable at the paces, rather than slogging them out. Times don't matter to us now in training - we can judge training performances against each other not the clock. The sessions are not the race. 

Relaxed training approach:

I've probably done less miles to this point of the year than in 2012. My training has been far more unstructured, I don't even plan it anymore, just identify each week what I need to be doing outside of Bud's sessions. I'm highly flexible.  I've also not been too bothered when I've had a bad race (the good ones have helped keep this in perspective), and not let it cast doubts about my ability as a runner. 

Recovery means recovery:

I listen to my body now, far more than even before. If I'm tired I do less. I run slower on easy runs, like I did back in late 2009. Recovery runs are for recovery, not to get a good pace average, and if I stay relaxed with good cadence / form, then they're beneficial in multiple ways.

I rest before important races, sometimes they go well, occasionally not. It means my training looks a bit inconstant....I have massive mileage weeks followed by low mileage weeks. But it's worked. 

Long tempos:

I've improved my half marathon time from 75:49 (PB) in October '12 to 71:53 in September '13. That's a big increase. I think that long tempo runs have been key to this. I've been building up to 8 miles (45 ish mins) at almost HM pace. Sometimes I start slow and increase it, sometime I break it down, (say 4x2miles off a minute jog). But I get to the point the week before the race where I can do 8 miles continuously and reasonably comfortably at a similar pace.  If you know you can do the pace for that long, than you can hang on in the race for another 5 miles for sure. 

Glute activation:

I visited a physio last December who told me I still had a problem with my hip flexors. Too tight, he said. I obsessively stretched them for three months and saw a sports masseur, but to no avail. Until I realised that this could actually be caused by compensation for weak glutes. I found an article that massively supported this, and since April have instead been obsessively doing glute activation exercises every time before I run. I think it's worked. 

Form:

Finally, I've never had the best form, but improved glute function (above) has helped, as has introducing more strides and leg cycle drills. I now do 5-6x strides at least once a week on none session days, often after a long run, and the day before a race. Just on the road outside my house, but they've really helped my body develop a better range of motion and run far more relaxed at my faster paces. 

Ok, so that's seven (a heptathlon if you will), but all of these things I've been doing regularly since February / March. Clearly I can't say exactly which have worked to a greater extent than others, but if the ideas here help anyone reading this as much as they've helped me, then this has been useful.