traditionalist

True to form, the long Bank Holiday weekend was wet from start to finish but that was OK because in a moment of madness I had agreed (oh, alright, partially instigated) that I should spend the time redecorating the bathroom. As always, I enter into these projects and then, after about 5 hours of preparation and sanding down, wonder what on Earth I was thinking of when I suggested it. For those of you that have never tasted the bitter, chalky tang of freshly sanded plaster filtered through a poorly fitting dust mask, you really haven’t lived. Sorry, what I actually mean is that you are likely to live a whole lot longer as this stuff really is horrific – it removes all traces of moisture from whatever it touches – tongue, teeth, skin… at the end of the first day I felt like I’d had all the liquid in me replaced with talc. Horrible.

Of course, 3 days spent cooped up in a dusty and noisy bathroom made me yearn to get out and run but I was so drained at the end of each day, it was all I could do to drag my sorry self off to bed.

In addition to the above, SonNumberOne and SonNumberTwo had begun to ask if I could take them running as they are both entered into the Wheathampstead 2k and take their training veeeery seriously. So yesterday, with all decorating duties complete and with specks of paint still dried to the backs of my hands, I decided to go for a run with them… SonNumberTwo, age 6, completed 1.03kms and returned home happy and red-cheeked. SonNumberOne, age 10, was then put through his paces and we chatted as we looped away from the house to run what was just a tad under 3kms. I did feel a bit cruel as he only needs to run 2k for the race but thought he would gain some added satisfaction from knowing that he can comfortably run further. He even managed a final push to the finish when I threatened to sprint past him on the home straight. Very impressed by both of them.

Not quite so impressive was my longer run today. I set off mid-morning and didn’t feel like I was running slowly but a glance at the Garmin told a very different story. It was a truly lack lustre performance nicely finished off by getting caught in a short but sudden hail shower which seemed to halt the second I got back inside. Still, 16.5kms in the bank and the Hertford 10k to look forwards to on Sunday.

Soundtrack to this post: Fugazi – Waiting Room

trion:z dual loop review

I’d been curious about Trion:Z products for a while. After reading testimonials from sports professionals in the press I was intrigued to know if they worked. So when I was contacted and asked if I’d like to test their Dual Loop Bracelet, I jumped at the chance.

Trion:Z Dual Loop Bracelet

“Designed to balance the body’s magnetic and electrical fields, Trion:Z combines the therapeutic properties of magnets and negative ions, bringing you the most powerful complementary health product on the market today”.

Unsure if my body’s magnetic and electrical fields were out of balance, I decided to just wear the Dual Loop Bracelet and see what happened. There are many different colour combinations available on their website, but I went for the plain black version reasoning that it would be the least obtrusive and go nicely with my black running top and black shorts.

The Trion:Z website doesn’t make any claims to improve performance and a search of the internet fails to provide any hard and fast evidence of positive effects of magnetism on the body so I was unsure exactly what to expect. I didn’t feel any different when it was on but then was I supposed to? I got a few compliments about it (“that’s a nice bracelet”) and a few curious questions from those who were familiar with Trion:Z (“ooh is that one of those magnetic ones? So… do they work?”)

So, having now worn it for almost 2 weeks, I can confirm… actually, I still don’t really know what can be attributed to the bracelet and what is just a product of circumstance/luck/training/nice weather. In the past two weeks that I have been wearing it, I have run the Hertford 10k where I got a new pb and I have also shaved another 32 seconds off my 14.7km regular route. Maybe there is an element of “placebo effect” coming into play… who knows? Certainly, the Trion:Z Dual Loop has not had any adverse effect on my performance… it’s just difficult to prove it has any positive effect. Maybe if you’re curious, you should get over to their website, order one and see for yourself.

hometown pb – hertford 10k race review

I’d been looking forward to this race for a while. I ran it for the first time last year and really enjoyed it. This year, I had persuaded Hauling My Carcass to join me (I shall, in return, be joining him for his local race, the Ashtead 10k, later in the year) and as he was bringing the family with him, it seemed the ideal opportunity for us all to get together and make a bit of an occasion out of it.

The event itself was organisationally very similar to last year, the Race HQ at the local school with real toilets (not portaloos) and very little queueing, and a hassle free bag check (name, race number, hand over your bag, thank you very much), there is lots of parking space and a friendly, relaxed atmosphere. I was also happy that one of my (tiny) criticisms from last year had been addressed, namely that the race was just under 10k. This year, it had had an extra little piece added on bringing it to (according to my Garmin) 10.11km. Perfect.

The start is a short walk from the school and there was very little hanging around… we were led to the start and minutes later we were off. The race follows the first part of the Cole Green Way before looping off and through some of the many small villages on the outskirts of the town…. Hertingfordbury, Staines Green and then rejoins the Cole Green Way further up and returns back to Hertford. It is a quiet, varied and rural route with none of those long stretches of road that head off into the distance that make you feel like you are not actually getting anywhere. The first 6-7km are mostly gently uphill and which turn into gentle downhills as you again join the Cole Green Way for the return stretch. Marshalling is frequent, good humoured (one marshall good naturedly admiring my tattoos as I ran past) and efficient.

The sting in the tail is the last 500 metres, a good portion of which is an uphill stretch toward the finish line which saps the energy. Fortunately, this is where the majority of the spectators gather and you can hear their shouts of encouragement from about half way up the steep hill. This alone is enough to make you grit your teeth, go for the finish line and banish those thoughts of walking. And it is an impressive finish on the doorstep of County Hall with its imposing facade and sculptures of Harts either side of the doors.
I wanted a personal best… It’s my local race and had felt that I had been getting quicker over my training runs so felt that a sub 55min finish was acheivable. I hardly looked at my watch for the last half of the race so was delighted when I crossed the line in 54:58… it might only be 2 seconds under 55mins but it was 37 seconds faster than my previous 10k pb so was very happy. I have the BUPA 10k in May (the scene of my previous 10k pb) and think that without the killer hill at the finish, there is at least another 30-45 seconds to be shaved off of that time come 30th May.

So all that remained was to collect the goodie bag (water, t-shirt, shot glass) grab a banana and then cycle home. Then to the serious business of eating, chatting and removing a seized seatpost from a frame for a bike build project for Mrs Hauling My Carcass.

It is a good race, organisation this year was spot on – everything just seemed to happen as and when it should, and it’s nice to have a race you can be proud of on your own doorstep.

Soundtrack to this post: Maceo & All The Kings Men – Thank You For Letting Me Be Myself

peril

This week has been non-stop. So much so that my Sunday run was to be the only run accomplished. With the Hertford 10k next Sunday, which I am very much looking forward to, I had a little dilemma before I set off this morning. Should I go for a quick 10k to see how my time looked in preparation for next week, or should I go for the now customary new “Sunday Favourite” of 14.7kms?
I had kind of made a rod for my own back with my last post and knew that the 14.7kms ideally needed to be at least 45 seconds quicker than the last time I ran it – or the synchronicity would be lost and this would put the whole of life as we know it in potential danger, probably.
In the end, I decided on a compromise… I would run the 14.7kms route but aim for a reasonable 10k time within that – after all, I had run it a number of times now and knew, to within about 100ms, where the 10k point was. I started off with out with the audiobook of Michael Palin’s Around the World In Eighty Days (still a favourite for my Sunday runs) but I realised very quickly when he arrived at Shaghai Station for the second time, that someting very odd was happening and the mp3 player seemed to be playing each track twice. A quick on-the-fly fumble got rid of the repeating Mr Palin but left me with a lot of noisy, upbeat tracks that were a little bit of a shock after MP’s measured enunciations.
But not to worry, the sun was shining and the air was cool and crisp and a week of no runs had allowed my body to recover a little bit and also given me an incentive to put in a good run today so I bounded onwards. I was feeling pleased as I passed the 10k point at 54:48 – 55mins is a psychological barrier for me and to go under on a run of more than 10k gave me a bit of a boost. I decided I’d push on and see how I fared over the whole 14.7.
Around about the 12.5k mark, I again glanced at my watch and was pleasantly surprised, I hadn’t lost any of the time from the first 10k and the rest of my route was the easiest part – either flat or slightly downhill so decided just to press on as quickly as I could. The end of my run drew ever nearer and I hit the “finish line” – the bus stop opposite the train station – in 1:22:04.
I was delighted with this time, firstly as it was 1:01 faster than last week (and 2:41 faster than the same route 3 weeks ago) and secondly, as I came in over 45 seconds faster than my previous run, the universe and existence as we know it was once again safe. Phew!

Soundtrack to this post: Jocelyn Pook – Masked Ball

the incredible shrinking race – hertford charity run race review

Start, Stop, Reset, Start – Diminishing Distances – Nearly A Perfect 10

I shall get the whinge out of the way first. A race like this must surely take months of organising and coordination to put everything in place for the big day. So, on the day of the race, you would imagine that the organisers would walk the course to check that everything was as it should be and that the gate at the start of the course was unlocked so the runners could actually get through. Instead we were led to the start area and held there for 25 minutes before we were told that the gate was locked and the start would be delayed. Confusion ensued, people wandered off to answer the call of nature whilst the rest of us stood around trying to understand what was going on. And then we were off… running up a dusty track, the beep of Garmins audible all around as people hit “start” and then we slowed as we filed through / jumped over a narrow gate. And then we stopped. Because the start was being moved to past the offending locked gate. Once again the beep of Garmins as people sighed, hit “stop” and then “reset”. A quick wave of a flag from a local dignatory and then we were off again. But where was the start line? Who knows? Perhaps it’s just better to hit “start” on the Garmin and hope… so that is what I did.

Race HQ was a local school so there was a secure bag storage area, changing area, proper toilets (and no queues), plenty of car parking, somewhere to chain my pushbike… so far, the day was ticking all the right boxes. Added to this, the weather was lovely – clear blue sky, slight breeze – perfect.

The race is mostly run on the Cole Green Way – a bridle path which used to be part of an old railway line. It is relatively flat, mostly straight and has mature trees on either side keeping the path in shade. The route deviates from the bridle path and travels through a few picturesque villages before rejoining the Cole Green Way, looping back on itself around the 5km mark and returning back towards Race HQ. It is a very pleasant route with a few slight uphills compensated by a few slight downhills. Until the 9km mark where you leave the bridle path, pass the football club and turn sharp right before turning sharp left and up the sort of hill you wish wasn’t at the end of a race. It is steep and fairly long and caught a few people out as they turned the corner and slowed from a run to a walk as they ascended. Fortunately, I know the area very well and knew what to expect so mantained a steady pace, stared at the floor a few metres in front of me and slowly ran up it. Anyone who had put a final burst of speed at the 9km mark would have sorely regretted it turning the corner and realising that the last 400m was all uphill. Fortunately the finish line at County Hall is about 50 metres past the brow of the hill and there was a small but vocal crowd gathered that lifted the spirits in time for a quick dash at the end. A T-shirt, a shot glass, water, bananas and slices of orange were all available as we finished.

After my ill fated training run where I needed a quick lie down, I didn’t want a repeat performance. I had had another easy training run mid week and come in at just over 1 hour for a 10k distance. Today I wanted between 5.40 – 6 mins / km. I felt it was acheivable and had it been the full 10km distance, I worked out that I would have come in in 58:56 – slightly better than I had predicted. Unfortunately this wasn’t the full 10k distance. Although the race is generally referred to as the Hertford 10km, it’s proper title is the Hertford Charity Run and the websites small print says “approximately 10km”. The route posted at race HQ showed 9.6km and, because of the amended start line, my Garmin 9.35km.

The frustrating thing is that the atmosphere, the route, even the weather made this a great race. If the organisers could find another 500m to make it the full 10km, get some chip timing and ensure that access to the route was unhindered, this would come as close to the perfect 10km as I could wish for.

Soundtrack to this post: Cabaret Voltaire – James Brown