Race 97 Hexham 10K 2018

Sunday 28 October 2018

Only three races to go in my 100 Race Challenge and I am feeling good!

In just a few short weeks it will be two years since I had a stroke and whilst I will never be as fit, or as fast as I was in December 2016, I am starting to enjoy my running again. So much so, that I was able to push it all the way to the line on Hexham's Tyne Green last Sunday.

I realised that I was getting there when, at the start of  the Hexham 10K,  I was frustrated by the pace. My own fault of course, for I had started too far back in the field of 440 runners. Yes, in the 85 races completed  by that fateful date,  everyone of them was flat out. I thought those ' eye balls out ' days were over, but on Sunday I did the zig - zagging well known to all of us who have taken part in Great North Runs and got out of the crowd, then  ran at My Pace.

Ok, my pace at the start of the challenge was probably seven minute miling and I am not going to get back to that, but in the last few months I have surprised myself with the improvement in race pace.

In 2017 I did not have the confidence to do more than a couple of races and was happy at nine minute miling. This year it has been nearer to eight and a half minute pace and on Sunday, eight minute 20. Only a ten second improvement per mile, but significant to me.

Heading into Corbridge and the turning point for the return to Hexham, Jules Pearson , a fellow Tynedale Harrier, greeted me as she passed, offering a few words of encouragement.
 " I'll pick up the pace at the five mile mark" said I, without realising I had already done so. As I in turn, passed Jules, I said
 "You'll soon catch me", but it was only on the finish line that I saw Jules again, she having closed me down right at the end, finishing just five seconds behind, in 51.38.

Whilst chatting to Jules at the finish we were joined by another Tynedale Harrier, Ben Heathcote. Ben had finished in 5th place for 35.26 minutes. Both time and position were excellent considering that he had done the latest Harrier League Cross Country the day before. Before we set off in the race I had set Ben the target of finishing in the top three, but amended this to fourth place when he told me of his previous day's efforts. Being a really good guy he remarked that he had let me down on that one place!

So, it is down to my last three races to complete this one hundred race challenge, can I bring my 10K  time down to 50 minutes? 50.59 will do!

Statistics:
Finishing postion 192
440 Ran
Time  51.33

Pushing at the finish

Race No. 96  N.E. Harrier League Cross Country Wrekenton

29 September 2018

Race No. 96 in my 100 race challenge should have taken place a couple of months ago, but a nasty virus caught from my 2 year old grandson, Alfie ( God Bless the little smasher), meant five weeks out of action. So it was back to training again, before I could even think of  racing. So the first N.E. Harrier League cross country of the season, at Wrekenton, became the much delayed race number 96.

Under a lovely blue sky it just didn't seem like crosss country season, but whose complaining? I certainly wasn't complaining about the weather, nor the fact that I had only to complete two of the three laps, for, as a V65 Vet., I could now run with the Ladies.

It would be wonderful if I could claim any part in Tynedale Ladies actually winning the event, but as a non-counter I cannot do so - pity! Tynedale's Lisa Tang was the winner of this race in 25.51, backed up by Rachel Vincent (6th), Jeannie Brady (15th), Kim Bluck (48th), Elizabeth Earle (90th)and Kirstie Anderson (115th). They were ably supported by Steph Bingham (140th), Charlie Pinkney(161st) just ahead of me, in 179th position. Carol Marshall and Louise Griffin were ninth and 10th Tynedale Ladies. 450 ladies ran today.

So for my comeback in cross country, I would declare myself well pleased. My next challenge is back on the roads, for the Hexham 10K next Sunday 28 October 2018. I am looking to see if I can start chipping the minutes off  my current 10K time , the future target being 50 minutes, here's hoping. 

Tynedale Mens' Team

Tynedale Lades Team plus Me

Race No. 95 Prudhoe Riverside Parkrun 21 July 2018

I love racing. Yes, after my stroke in December 2016 I thought that my racing days were over, but after having to slow down in 2017, in 2018 I am lifting the pace, a little.

In every race of the 84 that I completed, before calling a (temporary) halt in my challenge, I simply ran at my best pace from the start and tried to hold on to the finish line. I would like to say that my race pace was about seven minutes 30 per mile, but it varied according to the terrain, sometimes faster, but normally 45 minutes/46 minutes for a 10k race.

During those races,  I regularly checked my watch (Garmin Forerunner) for my pace. Now I check my watch even more regularly, but for my heart rate. For the main consequence of my stroke was that my heart has to work harder when I exert myself. It has taken 18 months for me to find what I can achieve in running without (hopefully) putting too much stress on my body. This involves a slow warm up, a relatively, gentle pace for the first mile, then a gradual increase to my steady 8.30 minute race pace. I am not going to achieve any more age category wins at this pace, but I am running again and vitally, enjoying it!

At Prudhoe Riverside last Saturday part of my warm up was cycling through the Country Park to the start. This was followed by a slow warm up and a gentle start, perhaps half way down the field of runners. Keeping my pace (and heart rate) down in the first lap meant that I was able to gradually able to allow both to increase for the second and final lap.

I was being so good, keeping my usual competitive instincts under control, when who did I spot just ahead of me with half a mile to go? Yes, fellow Tynedale Harrier, Keith Robson. This is a guy who   didn't just dream of living the dream, he did it, moving to the French Alps some years ago to lead an outdoor sporting life. He is now back in this country and was testing out his recovery from a knee. problem. At first I wasn't gaining on him, but with just a few hundred yards to go I realised that if I caught him as the course descended to the finish, well who knows? The image (below) shows the outcome.

So with just five races remaining in my 100 race challenge, how do I feel? Pretty good is the answer, having recorded 25.31  min. for this 5K Parkrun. Following on from a decent race at Durham (10K) just a couple of days before, I am ready for number 96 whichwill probably be the Morpeth 10K in a couple of weeks.

My thanks go to the Parkrun volunteers at Prudhoe Riverside and to my fellow Tynedale Harrriers at Prudhoe:
Adam Pratt, Lisa Tang, Willow Lloyd, Martin Bluck, Charlie Pinkney, Keith Robson,Kim Firstbrook, Liz Foster and Liz Sanderson.


Going for it at the finish - Keith Robson is in the cap


A slow start


A steady first lap