It seemed like an age for Spring to arrive but finally it did. It had felt like a long and enduring Winter for myself. I was glad to see the back of it. I sure had done a lot of comfort eating and put on a few Kgs as well as a cut back of my weekly running mileage. Only natural for me over the Winter months. Something I have come accustomed to over the last 14 years of running. My aim for now, is to take more control and focus on getting fitter and faster again.
First off would be Winchester parkrun with Clare though. We jogged around at her pace and she did really well and surprised me as she has been out of action for a while with two cataract operations over the last couple of months. Things have been really hard for her, so I was really happy to see her parkrunning again.
The next day I ran in the Salisbury 10 mile race. I had done this race many times and had more than once, come away with a PB and an injury. The thing was that I used to panic that I wasn’t fast enough or I hadn’t done enough training. So, I would run a hard 10 miler say on the Thursday before the race and then race on the Sunday and then wonder why I had shin splints or a calf strain afterwards. It took me a few years to figure this out though.
Anyway, I went into this race well rested and knew that I was on for a PB at least. 65.21 was my current PB from Bideford 10 in North Devon.
I was confident that I could run sub 65 for the first time, but how much by? The answer is 63.46. I had run a good race! A big thanks to my girlfriend CC and Malcolm Price out on the course for cheering me on and supporting. Also made a new friend named Dan from Hardley Runners who I was chatting with on the way round for a bit. It was lovely to meet up with some of the other Lordshillers later for food too and chat about running for ages..lol. Especially lovely to see Di Mattingly and Mark Glanville, both former Lordshillers.
A week later was legendary runner and Vegan running club Chair person’s 600th parkrun, Mike Harper. Fareham was the destination and cakes had been made, thanks to John and Jess Pelligrini. It was a bit early for cake for me, so I opted for the Vegan sausage rolls instead.
I ran pretty well and snuck in my second sub 19 of the year and a P2 with a time of 18.56. P1 was nowhere to be seen though but it was a lovely sunny day as we sat, chatted and basked in the rare sunshine. CC ticked off another parkrun too despite not being able to see without her contact lenses in due to an upcoming cataract op.
Easter weekend came around and it pretty much rained all day on Good Friday. CC and I decided to skip a rainy parkrun on the Saturday morning and decided to do a 10k walk of the Testway from Mottisfont to Romsey, via Kimbridge and Awbridge. It was a lovely sunny afternoon in contrast to the morning and we managed to keep our feet clean and dry. The only bit I didn’t like were the cows in Squabb wood. Luckily CC chatted away to the cows as I tried to sneak through stealthily.
Easter Sunday saw me catch a bus to Romsey and then a train to Salisbury and then another train to Yeovil Junction. I was off to do the Easter Bunny 10k in Yeovilton organised by my mate Kevin Doherty’s running club.. Yeovil Town Road running club.
Kev picked me up from the station and drove me into town where I ran a lovely 5 miler around a beautiful country park with quite a few hills.
I stayed at Kev’s who had made me a lovely Vegan roast dinner and it was so delicious.
The next day we were off to pick up other runners/supporters and get to start which didn’t start until 11am. Kev drove me around the whole course to show me some hills..lol. It didn’t start until about 11.15 in the end, so that the adults from the kids race could make it to the main event. We spoke to many runners that Kev knows, including a speedy V70 who only needed a sub 50 for his masters qualifier. His words, not mine ;) He ran a 44 minute 10k!
In my head, I had a time in mind. I wanted to run a sub 38 at least but it didn’t happen. Not surprising really as I’m still carrying a few extra kgs and have not really done the speedwork. At least the healthy eating had improved a lot though and the weight was starting to come off.
I ran a 38.21. It was a great event and the marshals were fantastic all the way around. I would definitely do this one again. Despite my time, it is a fast course. I was later shocked to discover that I was the 1st V50 which was surprising looking at previous year’s results as the course record is 32 mins and a few seconds for the V50!
Kev wanted to leave early so I didn’t get to bask in my glory but it turns out that I had won a bottle of wine anyway… not good for a recovering alcoholic..lol. It was a wonderful day and great to see where my fitness is. Not far off my best to be fair…
The last parkrun of the month and I thought I’d head to Southampton for the 115th time. I know Southampton is a fast course but I hate the congested start for the fear of being tripped. 1100+ runners on the start line. I always start at the front and go out fast, trying to keep my stride shorter than normal and looking around for space. It scares the hell out of me. Anyway, every now and then I will go there to try and run a fast time. In my head I wanted an 18.30 as I had only just scraped two sub 19’s this year so far. How would I get on?
A lifetime PB of 18.00! Bang on 18.00 minutes. A bittersweet PB really. 1 second from sub 18 but a PB by 8 seconds. How can I not be happy with this! Over the moon I am and I feel like I could run a Sub 18 now although it’s gonna be painful, so I might just try and get fitter first.
All good training for Netley 10k and CrewKerne 10k in May and June.
Stay rad people, thanks for reading. Get strong and smash your goals. xx
