February update and a bit of March including Dewsbury 10k and theWindmill 6

February started where January left of with lots of running, well what did you expect and the start of another month or so of PB's yet again. At some point all the PB's will stop I'm sure but for now I'm just happy to keep pushing and getting better and faster.

Early February is Dewsbury 10k time and this year was my first attempt at it, with a flat out and back route it was popular for getting PB's, people compare it to the Leeds Abbey Dash. I hoped not as I was looking forward to it and to possibly getting that elusive sub 40 time, I had tried and failed at the Abbey Dash so this was my next opportunity. It was also on the Stadium Runners race calendar so I had to give it the best I could so I could pick up as many points as possible. I got a lift over there with Steve and on the drive over we discussed our tactics and Steve was happy to pace me to a sub 40 which I was happy with. If I could stick with Steve as long as possible I should be able to hit my target, so at the start line we made are way as close to the front as we dared and at 9am we were off. About 1km I passed Steve feeling great and just planned to stay in front of him as long as possible because I know Steve would hang behind and then just breeze past at the end. At the turn around I took a gel even though I felt ok still but knew I might need it in the closing minutes. By 8km Steve still hadn't passed me and I was still keeping my focus and posture to try and keep it that way. It was also at this point that the route turned a corner and we had a fairly strong head wind for the last mile. So normally when you want to push that little extra to get the best finish you can you can't because of the wind. I had to just dig deep and push even if I didn't get that little extra push at least I wasn't slowing down. As I got within 200m of the finish I put in a little extra for the sprint finish and to make sure I gave Steve a run for his money. I crossed the finish line and and turned around to congratulate Steve but he wasn't there, so I looked at my watch and to my amazement I had finished in 38.14mins. I had beaten my 10k PB by over 2 mins, I was gobsmacked but absolutely over the moon. Steve came across the line a few seconds later in 38.30 beating his PB too and he said he tried to stay with me but couldn't which made me smile as that was only the 2nd time I had beaten Steve at a race and I thought the first would be the only time that would happen. We hung around to cheer and meet up with all the other Stadium runners and it turned out to be a great day for PB's as at least 75% of us had beaten our PB's. Well done everyone....

The high of the Dewsbury 10k was still helping when It came to parkrun the following Saturday where is also took a few seconds off my 5k PB too as I crossed the line in 18.40m this running thing is highly addictive when you keep PBing. That same day I handed out some flyers for the South Hudderfield trail and road series with Jon as there was only a few weeks until  the first race, The Windmill 6 which was my race that was raising money for Shepley First School. There was a bumper crowd of nearly 600 at parkrun that day so we were hopeful of a few entries from our flyers. 

The next few weeks consisted of lots of emailing and posting on social media trying to sort out and drum up some more attention for the Windmill 6, although that didn't stop me running. I was still run streaking and was closing in on the 100 day mark at the end of February with the 100 day coming the Friday before the Windmill 6. Would I stop at 100, well anyone that knows me would quite quickly say no and they would be right. Especially as the following day is parkrun and then the Windmill 6 the day after that. Before all of that happened it was the last Sunday in February and that is Huddersfield 10k day, which for all of you with a good memory or if you've been running with the past couple of weeks you would have heard me rattle on about it. The Huddersfield 10k was my first official 10k now an amazing 3 years ago, with all the running I have done it seems longer ago than that. I had actually questioned whether or not I was going to enter it this year, but for sentimental reasons I did, and I the form I was in I was hoping for another PB albeit a course PB. There was no way I was doing it in 38 mins but I was going to aim for a 42 at least. The night before the race however I had gone out for a small school reunion and as these things do, it went on longer than I had planned and as usual I decided to run home too. I had already run nine miles that day and with the added seven running home (in none running shoes!)I had ruined my legs and made my feet quite sore. So race day my feet were in bits and my calves were very tight, but I pushed on not complaining too much as it was self-inflicted. I push as hard as my calves would let on the uphills and let myself go as fast as my feet would allow on the descents, but it took its toll and I couldn't force myself to finish strong. That being said I did cross the line in 42.37 which was a minute quicker than last year, but I knew I could have done so much better, a lot closer to 40mins based on how I felt and my performance on the day. Still it was a course PB so in the grand scale of things a great result and could have been so much worse given what I had done the day before.

February also saw me enter a competition for SJ and myself to win a trip to Australia to take part in the Kangaroo Island marathon. We had seen a Facebook friend enter and just thought why not give it a try and see what happens, so I posted a photo of me and SJ with the boys and posted it. The idea is that people vote on your photo and the photo with the most vote wins the competition, when we entered the leading 2 had about 800 and 720 votes so we felt like we had no chance. We started to share the post on Facebook and thanks to friend and family sharing it we quickly rose to about 420 votes which was amazing. Then suddenly overnight we had only 250 votes and the leading 2 had gone down to 200 which had put us in the lead, we weren't sure what was going on or whether this was for real or not. After a little investigation from SJ apparently the organisers had taken the votes off people because of people cheating and figuring out how to vote more than once, so they reset everyone votes to a certain date and then voting was open again but with a more strict voting system. So it was real we were in the lead and we had a chance of winning so we didn't let the opportunity slip away. We posted and share our link all over facebook with friends and family sharing it too, plus we added it to groups we are in and we soon were up to 600 votes and counting. There was a couple of American ladies in 2nd who were sticking with us in the votes but we had the slight advantage. It became clear that it was looking like it was going to be between us and the American ladies and after a bit of back and forth with local plugs we have started to pull away. We had our story in our local paper and they did in theirs too as well as being on their local radio station too, but we have still managed to stay ahead of them and as of today with 8 full days left in the comp we have 1281 votes to their 932. It's getting very tense yet exciting and I'm sure come next week we will be a nervous wreck. 

The Windmill 6 was an amazing success with over 90 people entering it and 73 running it on the day, we did have a slight panic as it snowed the couple of days before it and lightly the morning of the race, but luckily on the day the roads were clear and the sun came out making it, to quote a runner "the most picturesque race" he'd been in. Everyone had a great time and I got some great feedback from everyone. The only issue we did have was the windmill nursery and cafe got very grumpy about the runners wanting to use the toilets before the race. Complaining they weren't paying customers, even though I had asked permission beforehand and warned them they were coming and most of them will stop after for a coffee and or bacon butty. So there was a few annoyed runners but luckily not at me, and because the cafe were being silly a lot of the runners decided not to stick around because the cafe owners were very rude to them. It's a small cafe in the middle of nowhere so you would think they would take all the customers they could but because they were quite so rude they lost out on what could have been a really profitable morning for them. Oh well we had a successful run and we raised a good amount of money for the school. It was a great start to the series too and a few people have signed up to the series since and because of the Windmill 6. So on to the next one which is the School Run from Holme school and a trail run up and over the Digley reservoir, it should be a great race, you can find info on the series here.

That's it for now but I'm sure I'll do an update for the close of the comp.

Keep running everyone

The Marcothon challenge is upon us again, how will this years challenge go?

My blog posts these days are very sporadic and when I do post it seems to be just race write ups, and when I do have something other than races to write about I don't seem to find time to blog. The other reason I don't blog as much as I used to is a little 2 year old called Flynn!  Yeah he's 2 now and very bossy too. He has discovered words and a few sentences so I get told to get him things a lot or take him places he can't quite reach yet, like cupboards, shelves and mainly the fridge because he wants everything now and won't wait till Lunch or Tea. The main reason I don't blog as much is my best ideas come when I'm out running and by the time I'm home it's gone, memory like a sieve some times!

A Flynn selfie

So what have I been up to recently? Well since the marathon I've taken it a little easier dropping the distances on my runs to no more than about 10 miles and I've been happy to now and again say to myself, I don't have to run today so I won't. That's not because I've lost the love of running or the inspiration to get out there and pound the streets, no. The thing with marathon or longer training is the amount of time you're away from family, and it's especially unfair on SJ as my runs we're mainly when she gets home from work. So she would come home we would have a little time together then I would be out running for a couple of hours, come home jump in the shower and then she would be out doing her things (Judo, Pub Quiz and Beavers). So it's been nice to be able to sit down with her and just do nothing, watch a bit of TV and just enjoy being in the same house together.

A photo of SJ and I at the recent Stadium Runners 10th anniversery awards night and a rare night out for us, it was a great night.

I have done a couple of races since the marathon, the Guy Fawkes 10 over at Ripley castle which was a tough hilly 10 miler, but I finished in a very pleasing time and comfortably too. Then there was the Leeds Abbey Dash which I entered for one reason only, to go for a sub 40 time as I had been so close to it at the York 10k a few months back. Things didn't go to plan and I finished it in 41.04 which is my second fastest 10k time and a nearly 5 minute course PB, which I had to remind myself about as I was a little annoyed that I couldn't break the 40 minute mark. I know it will come but I had set my sights on it and was feeling great leading up to it, plus it's probably the first race that I've done where I haven't hit my target or surprised myself at how well I had done. I've stopped being so hard on myself and just got on with my usual weekly runs but as always my thoughts have moved on to the next challenge or figuring out what the next challenge is.

As it is nearly December it would be a shame not to do Marcothon again as it had such an impact on my running last year. For those of you who aren't familiar with Marcothon it's a challenge that someone started a few years ago that has increased in popularity over the last couple of years. Basically you have to run everyday throughout December for a minimum of 5k or 25 mins that includes Christmas Day as well. Last year I started it with a 21.28 5k PB and a 45.33 10k PB and ended the challenge with a 20.52m 5k PB and a 43.14min 10k PB. I did go on to smash those PB a month later but it was the Marcothon challenge that started the transformation in my running. 

This year however I am going to try to run each weekday with Flynn in the buggy unless the weather is bad as it would be just too cruel to take him out in it. That at least will be a little tougher than usual and could just be what I need through December to give me a good start to the new year and hopefully kick start my next set of races in 2016. 

When I started running, now 3 and a half years ago, I just wanted to be able to drop the boys off at school without breaking into a sweat (check, done, unless we run up because we are late) but as I got fitter and could run further I wanted to keep going to see how far I could run. At the time I was thinking 10k, 10 miles, half marathon possibly, but I didn't think about marathons until I had been running about a year, that was just silly to think I could run that far. That seems to be the case with a lot of people who are new to running they build and build and test themselves and push boundaries and limits, but most people will get to a point and then discover their favourite distance. Even if they have run further before they find a distance which challenges them enough without it turning into pain and that feeling of why on earth am I doing this. 

Now I have done a marathon I can say with almost 100% certainty that I still have further to go, the fact I went 26.2 miles for the first official time and only got a tiny bit of cramp at the finish line has made me question just how far could I go again. I am really looking forward to finding out too but like I said earlier it does take up a lot of time away from the family, so this is going to have to be planned very carefully as I love my family to bits and I don't want my hobby (if I can call it that), to take over their lives too much, it's just not fair. Now don't get me wrong it's not like they hate running they quite enjoy it taking part at parkrun each Saturday and junior parkrun on a Sunday too, there are more things in our lives other than running. SJ, Dexter and Clark have taken up Judo and really enjoy it, so much so that all of their faces light up when they talk about it, just like I'm sure mine does when I talk about running. 

So 2016 is going to be the year of Judo Mons, Judo belts and running miles (or Km if you're like me) let's just hope we can all progress together 

Keep running everyone

My first Leeds 10k Abbey Dash 2013

This Sunday it was my first ever Leeds 10k Abbey Dash and also the biggest event I've been to so far.

My running friend Steve and I both signed up for it a couple of weeks ago and both of us hadn't really done any training for it other than a couple of 5k runs on a Thursday night and a steady parkrun on Saturday. But both of us still wanted to beat our PBs and smash them at that.

We arrived in Leeds nice and early and made our way across the city centre to the gathering area and start pens. Some how even though Steve is faster than me, I ended up in the Sub 45 group and Steve in the Sub 55 group. We got to the start area and there was already a couple of thousand people there warming up, using the toilets or dancing to the music that was blasting out across the empty site of the old international swimming pool knocked down a while a go. 

At the far corner were the start pens with enormous flags attached with the different group colours and category on them. 

After the official warm up we all gathered in our assigned pens, even if some people just ignored the different groups and went where they wanted to go. Which I didn't mind if your trying to improve your time and you think your fast enough but some people were from the 60+min group and as we started running were instantly passed, and got in the way a bit. Soon enough though we were on our way and spreading out and running at our usual pace. 

The route for the Abbey Dash isn't the most interesting route by all means but it's the whole event that gets the adrenaline going and the crowds along the road that keeps your mind focused. As the run unfolded I found myself hitting mental walls at various stages that co inside with what my body is used to. At the turn and 5k point I hit my parkrun wall where my body thought I would stop, but once I was passed that my body surrendered and seemed to just say, ok we're still going, alright. So I still kept my pace going at a similar time to the first 5k. Up until 8k I was ok but here is where I've always seemed have to a mental wall. From 7.5k to 8k I think I slowed a touch but once again as I passed that wall I found it a bit easier again. That didn't last long at all though, as I hit 9k the lack of practice runs took its toll and my cardio was shot. My legs felt ok but my lungs where just burning and my head was pounding from dehydration. It was here where I realised I might not break my PB and the last few hundred metres were slow and as others still pushed on and passed me on the finish straight it was hard. Then I realised that Steve who was in the wave behind me still hadn't passed me this cheered me up as even though he will have a faster time I will beat him to the line. Then with 200 metres to go Simon from Huddersfield parkrun passed me on a mission to beat his PB of 45.55 and I knew if he kept going he would smash it, so I have him a big "go on Simon" as he passed and then I tried to push on myself. I crossed the finish line and forgot to stop my running app until I was further up the finish funnel, so I had no idea what time I got.

 I caught up with Simon and congratulated him, he showed me his watch showing a time of 44 mins something so he had beaten his PB and smashed it too. Unluckily later on though he found out his timing chip had failed so ended with a DNF instead of a new PB which is a shame, but just means he'll have to beat it next year instead.

After collecting my T-Shirt and drink I went to wait at the pre-arranged meeting point that Steve and I said we would be at, after we finished. To my surprise Steve was already waiting for me, so I asked him when he passed me as I hadn't noticed him passing me. He said that when they were moving the pens to the start line he jumped on ahead of me, so he was always ahead of me. Oh well the thought of being ahead of Steve kept me going that last bit of the run. 

As we got back to the car to go home we were discussing times and as I wasn't sure what time I had got I had come to the conclusion that if I beat my PB 46.21 then I'm happy but if I do manage to get under 46 mins I'll be ecstatic. About 10 seconds later no lie I got my result text in and my Gun time was 47.23 but my chip time was 45.58!!!! Yay!!! I did it, great! 

That did it, that perked me right up and topped off a great weekend of running and family time. So a big thanks to Steve for driving and for inadvertently spuring me on the last few hundred metres. Big thanks to Simon and Huddersfield parkrun for the only bit training I really did. Plus a big thanks to my family for joining in with the running these past few months you've made it just that extra bit more special.

Keep running everyone