By a Hair

Despite Gillette’s current marketing campaign, ‘by a hair’ is a not a well known saying.  But it aptly describes the fallout of a speculative conversation on Tuesday night’s fun-down.

Training partner and replacement great rival Dan Robinson and I are so evenly matched in performance that our head-to-head looks staged. Dan arguably puts in more miles, additional static bike training and deploys aerodynamic enhancing full body grooming to compensate for his advancing years. I on the other hand prefer to rely on the gung-ho of youth, luck and the unteachable art of deploying two extra gears with the finish line in sight. 

Through this we mused what the difference between our cumulative PBs might be if totted up.  I didn’t have to wait long.  On opening my email on Wednesday morning, the result was waiting for me:

                        Tim                 Dan

800m                2:12                 2:12;

1500m              4:23                 4:23;

Mile                  4:34                 4:40;

3,000m             9:05                 9:07;

5,000m            15:37               15:30;

10,000m          32:59               32:50;

HM                   71:53               72:18;

Marathon        2:34:47            2:34:31.

Total                 4:55:30            4:55:31.           (+1)

1 second.  The difference of a dip for a line here or a widely-taken corner there.  Neither of us had expected it to be so entertainingly close.

Of course when I arrived home, quivering with excitement and unraveled the contents of that email to my girlfriend Ellie, she looked at me partly in sympathy, and mostly with the sort of distain she normally reserves for my half-hearted washing up. 

Clearly lost on her was the poetic beauty of two rivals, who after 53 miles of individual racing were separated by a finer margin than the result of the 1989 Tour de France.

Or perhaps I need some side-hobbies. 

NB: The blog was purposefully published on Saturday 27^th September 2014: If Dan improves his PB at tomorrow’s Nottingham HM, and I fail to beat him by the 25 seconds I was able to gain in the final mile of last year’s event, the pendulum will swing once again.

The 111 day struggle

On 13th April 2014 I crossed the finish line on the Mall marking one of my biggest athletic achievements: I had conquered London Marathon, elated after 154 minutes and 47 seconds of self inflicted torture.

I knew it would take some time to recovery and to be able to do another decent race, but the journey that followed was far more difficult than I imagined.

20 days later, after much rest and easy running, I ran a 5000m for the BRAT club. The result shocked me: 16:25 with absolutely nothing to give. Meanwhile my training partner Dan who had finished a mere 16 seconds ahead of me in London clocked a PB of 15:30 on that same day, almost lapping me. I was distraught. I was rubbish. But little did I know that things were actually going to get worse!

On 27 days I ran a track 10k, and albeit in torrential wind and rain could only clock 34:26. Logic says that an easy to write off, but Mark was the better part of a minute ahead, which was enough to play on my mind. On Day 41 I backed this up with an 18:04 parkrun, but on a new, tougher course in Worcester it was difficult to judge. Had I comeback too soon? Had I rushed it? I desperately want to pick up where I left off last summer, where PBs had been free flowing. I was impatient.

Come Day 63, a month later, when I was confident I was now surely returning to some fitness with training going well, I entered a fast 10k. But I followed up a 16:37 opening half with an embarrassing 18:10. That was slower than most of my 5k splits in the capital. In hindsight it was a hot day and I realised later I was still carrying a bug. But it didn't matter. I now questioned everything I was doing, which was another mistake.

I didn't race or a while. Just trained. Day 83 presented an 800 / 5000m double at another BRAT fixture. Nothing spectacular: I got the required result but the 5k was only 16:21. A paltry four second seasons best.

Then it just clicked, out of nowhere. 97 days after London I did Worcester parkrun, my second attempt. On a morning where I nearly didn't bother due to torrential rain, I don't know whether it was finishing first, or whipping 40 seconds from my time 9 weeks prior, but something had now changed. On Day 102 I entered Worcester AC Open and paced by Dan I won the 3000m in a semi-respectable 9:20. My confidence was restored.

111 days after London I finally made the breakthrough. At BRATs final track and field fixture I broke my 3000m PB which had stood since 2012. The time of 9:11 was hardly earth shattering, but it was something that id been unable to do in 5 attempts the previous year, even at a time when I was breaking almost every other PB out there. I was back.

____________________________________________

I learnt a lot from this period. And I know there are other runners out there who've also struggled, especially post-marathon. It's important to remember that everyone seems to recover differently....While Dan and Mark who both PBed at London were breaking their own records within weeks, it took me almost four months. What did I learn from all of this?

- Be patient. Everyone recovers differently. If rested and healthy there's no reason why it won't come good again.

- Whatever you do, don't put pressure on yourself to be ready for a particular event or that you need a good performance now. Just play it by ear, and race when you feel ready.

- Don't rush increasing the mileage or intensity. Luckily I didn't do this one (I still wasn't doing more than 50 mpw 2 months later) but then also remember than if you're doing less miles than when you were going well, it's going to be difficult to reach those dizzy heights just yet.

- If possible, don't change multiple things in your life at once; I moved cities; moved in with my girlfriend; I had a longer commute to work and wasn't sleeping as much; our interval sessions moved to grass; I had a marathon in me....I just couldn't judge how anything was going. There were no 'control' elements.

- Be confident in your ability and training.

- Don't be afraid of what will go on powerof10. Nobody cares that much, it just adds pressure.

- Don't be afraid of trying another distance...something you won't be hard on yourself about and doesn't matter, but that you might draw confidence from. (My 800m at rugby lifted by spirits a lot because I realised that I wasn't too far off even if it hadn't come together yet.)

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.

The Circle of Life

World media has been surprisingly slow on the uptake of Coventry BMC 5000m which occurred two saturdays ago, at a back-to-front - albeit it blue - track hidden away at Coventry University which drew monster crowds of former Sheffield University Athletes.

However the race, in which the highest placed finisher worth mentioning finished in a position which would rank him a toasty 340 in the National Rankings for the year, has generated a disproportional amount of column inches, with two blogs and a website article amassing almost double figures of interest between them.

Dan Robinson, who was said highest finisher, was in pole position coming in to the final kilometre, having been accidentally tucked into Ed Bank’s super tight pink racing shorts and carried round the first 10 laps.  “It was just about staying with Ed for the first four kilometres and trying to remember how many laps the race was.  I knew that Carter was on my shoulder the entire time because I could hear him panting like a Horse.”

Carter, who we have been able to confirm was also in the race, offered “I wasn’t really enjoying myself.  I knew we were going for curry afterwards, and I was getting quite hungry deciding if I could manage a whole naan myself.  I spent the first three laps deciding the best way to drop out, and whether I would need to feign tripping over in order to make it look legit.”

After reaching four kilometres in a highly symmetrical 12:40, the 3 minute and 3 second race to the line was won by Robinson in 2:59, to which Carter was incensed.  “Robinson pulled away in the final two and a half laps.  I’d already planned that we would cross the line together holding hands, but when he did that all I had left was to beat the Irish International runner.  Sarah Mac afterwards stated that her favourite laps had been “2, 5, 6, 8 and 11,” and that she was “no longer talking to Tim” because of his 450m sprint for the line.  “Where I come from [of which no one is sure], friends don’t beat friends.”

Veteran38 Mark Ince overcame a severe bout of ageing which has been afflicting him for the past 10 years, and was in the race the entire way, with only a wrong turn on the 10th lap letting him down.  He came in as the 5th Significant Person, in 3:11, just behind Chris (also 3:11).  Mark was giddy after breaking a PB that has stood for 20 years, back from his student days where he claims to have run 1:39 and 3:25 for the middle distance events.  He was reportedly “very giddy” the whole way back as he snacked on Haribo Sourmix.

BBC token pundit Denise Lewis has been quick to offer some expert insight into what might have caused this spectacle of super-human feats on this late summer evening: “The thing about the 5000m is, that it is 5000m long.”  The BBC are hopeful of not renewing her contract.

The Perfect 5000

They say that the county champs are in decline. As true as that maybe, and as sad as it is for athletics, it doesn't bother me in the slightest as with decent competition I honestly wouldn't have been standing on the second tier of the rickety podium at the Warwickshire's yesterday, second only to the ever-reliable Ed Banks in the 5000m, who now holds a head-to-head record against me of about 200-0. Mo Farah in contrast has never beaten me, which puts into perspective how much better than Mo Ed 'The Beard' Banks is. 

A pre-planned racing strategy with second-favourite training partner Dan Robinson was going to be the secret to us both breaking 16 minutes, although unfortunately the ultra-marathoner fell a little shy on the day.

As I stretched for the finish of the most painful race I'd ever done, the capacity crowd willed me forward. I flung myself at the line having given everything, and sunk to the ground gasping for air and willing the screaming in my legs to dissipate. 

The pandemonium on the track silenced as the words came over the loudspeakers: 'The time is Fifteen minutes....' The rest of the announcement was drowned out by the joyous cries of several people who had just witnessed history in the making. At last the barrier was broken.*

Breaking 16 was everything I dreamed. 'Tell me about your race?' said an important looking gentleman to me as I collected my medal, who I incorrectly assumed was from world media. I quickly tailed off my overly detailed description as I realised he was merely the guy who had timetabled the events. All he actually wanted to know was if an 11:30 start suited and would be fine next year as well? 'Great!' I said, after quickly mulling over if in my brief moment of power there was a more preferable time of day for me to be comprehensively beaten in 365 days time. '11:30 is great.'

* 'The Perfect Mile' by Neal Bascomb is available from all good bookstores. 

The Tale of a Mountain Goat

Sarah Mac (not to be confused with retired Javelin thrower Sarah Snack) became a household name on Saturday after winning the Bedford BMC Grand Prix on a windy and wet night, in which I ate her post-race dinner while she slogged it out over 12 ½ laps.

Making her August debut at her favourite distance, the student of soil who plys her trade north of the Scottish border executed the perfect race against Birmingham University’s fun-sized BUCS XC winner Hannah Walker to take not only the victory, but complete more than a 90 second PBimprovement from two years ago.

Imrpovement of a champion.

If Walker harboured any real ambitions of winning this race, then she had clearly not done her research of readily availableinformation.  With 200m to go, Mac destroyed her like a tsunami charging down a family picnic on the beach, and was first to the interview with Athletics Weekly and what was left of the organiser-provided water after spectator Simon Millhouse earlier filled up his bag when no one was looking.

Founding members of the Sarah Mac fan club.

Sarah put gender equality the right way up as she recorded a time faster than any of her former Sheffield Uni training partners ever have, renewing our desire for immediate improvements to avoid possible humiliation.  "I simply can not [sic] have her faster than me," text women’s U17 long jump and 1,350 metre specialist Millhouse.  "It’s not an option, and could prove the motivation I need."  He is already said to be considering discontinuing his range of rice-based cereals to work on this beer belly.

Indeed Mac’s fitness, stamina and disgestive abilities showcased her rapid improvement as she took and ate a pair of jam sandwichs on the following morning’s long run, as she gave 16min+ runners Millhouse and Carthorse a solid workout on her recovery jog.

The mountain-goat shaped runner, who is currently preparing for this weekend’s uphill-only race to the moon, and more importantly a November showdown with her former rival (myself), described the key elements of her training to be "receiving motivational texts from my friend Tim" (also me) and keeping her railcard photo hidden from prying eyes.

We are keenly hoping that this latest high profile victory will be enough to bagsy some free kit (all contributions should be a men’s ‘medium’ and footwear size 11), and boost sales of her upcoming paperback which will be released in all good retailers this autumn.

Mac's new bestseller, released this Autumn.