13 miles of trails

I had a great 2-hour run last week, pace was nothing exceptional but the distance was 13 miles/20k and the scenery and trails on the way were well worth the effort.

I've mentioned before the desire to reach the furthest available hill, my usual routes have a "beacon" hill on the horizon that has been calling me, "siren-like" for as long as I can remember and today I decided to reach it, one way or the other.

I got lost twice, ended up running through private property and seeing a deer. I asked a bus driver and a dog-walker for directions and used google maps (thanks iphone) to locate a public footpath, but eventually I made it.

A five minute stop and a 9-bar (nutrition, not cannabis) later I ran a whole different way home.

Using the new Nike+ app is a change having moved from adidas micoach. I find the Nike app much better, it allows gps recording when iphone is worn on the arm, has better music management and some other very cool elements.

What I liked most about this run was that I did it myself, without a need to get somewhere, no other competitors  or target pace, I gave it 100% on the hills and reached half marathon distance along the way.

 I think every run teaches you something.

Sometimes the lessons are learned afterwards when you get back and realised you could have gone further.

Other times you realise as you lace up your running shoes that you have dedication where others do not.

This run taught me that anything is possible if you can imagine it. And I know how stupid that sounds, but I have come a long way in under two years.  I've run to the horizon and made it back alive. I've entered competieions that I wiould never have though possible and in six months alone I've lost two stone of fat which has haunted me (ghost-fat?) for years and have got others interested in running along the way.

The question then isn't what can I achieve, but "what can't I?"

What an amazing day!!!

When Jake and I signed up for a run at the zoo nearby I was a little bit worried.

For starters taking three kids anywhere is like planning a military operation, especially when one is four  months old.

Secondly, this would be my first "proper" run of the year, with other people and a big scary clock.

Thirdly I had all of the concerns about Jake running his first ever race and I know how he heaps pressure upon himself.

I can't imagine where he gets it from

Now all my previous blogs will attest to the changes I have made in my life in an attempt to improve myself and my running. And the more bizarre ones suggest those two things are somehow entwined.

But after losing over 20 lbs, getting the right kit, reading all sorts of training techniques and training my arse off on trails I was hoping for a good performance.

My previous PB for a 10k was 49.08, which was on the trails,but I'm equally slow/fast on road/trails so any improvement on this would have been good.

I concentrated on form today.

I checked my pace regularly, I kept my back straight and head up, I was light on my feet and smiling as I went.
I used the first of three laps to identify features and ascents/descents for the following laps and relaxed on the way down. On the way up the hills I took smaller steps and sped up my pace.

I constanttly concentrated on maintaining form and an amazing thing happened.....

I smashed every record and PB I have had, finishing the race in 43.03, better than my planned time and faster than I would have hoped for.
I also set a new PB for 5k, fastest mile and fastest kilometre.

Next up was Jake's 2k race. He was nervous on the start line, but set a really steady pace. After a few people went past him as they set off too fast, he slowly started to carve his way through the field.

He overtook people older than him and was one of the youngest there.

He kept a good pace all the way round and when he saw the finish line, he sprinted the last 300 metres.

He finished in about 13 minutes and made us all very very very proud.

A great day all round.

Strangest part of the day was me not being able to finish a McDonald's for the first time in my life. I'll say it before you do....

I've changed.

Fwd: Why run?

Why run?

I've lost count of the number of people who have asked me this or the number of times I've asked it of myself. The truth is I have no idea.

It all started one day when my brother asked me to go for a run, as he was training for a charity event and wanted some company.

My first thoughts were, in no particular order;

Why the hell is my brother running if he's not being chased?

Why the sudden fascination with running when his car seems to be working?

If he's doing it could I?

After a few tentative runs of slowly increasing distance I discovered lots of benefits to running. I was losing weight, I was looking better and feeling well. I discovered whole parts of the local area I never knew existed and a whole community of runners across the world, more than willing to share tips and secrets. More over I found a sport which was open to all, wasn't expensive and didn't have pre-conceived ideas of what a typical runner should be.

All of these benefits were apparent but none of them ever answered the question "Why Running?"

Why not another sport, why not join a gym or take up football?

The question rings loud in my ears with every footfall of a long run and it's met with nothing but the echo of my footsteps in response.

I've struggled with weight and personal image for as long as I can remember. And it's strange because looking at photographs of my past I was never as big as I thought. I guess (or I hope) that everyone has those voices in the back of their mind telling them what they can not achieve, or how useless/stupid/fat/ugly they are. The problem is I'd listened to them so long I could only identify myself by their descriptions and despite the good stuff going on in my life, I still felt like the loser they described.

In running I found a sport which allowed me to test my own self perceptions and my own limitations. I wasn't being compared to team mates or peers, it was just me and the road. And I could push myself as hard as I wanted. Over time a strange thing happened.

I got better.

I began pushing myself to the limit in order to find what I was capable of and the response wasn't a voice telling me that I don't look like a runner, or another telling me I'm too fat to run and chasing me down.

The response was my footfall on the pavement, the rhythmic beat that showed I wasn't slowing. I was moving forward. Literally taking a step and doing something positive.

It was me doing something more than most.

While others sat in and vegetated I was on the road or in the gym and I was running and accomplishing something.

So where am I now?

I'm 20+lbs lighter than I was six months ago and feel ten years younger I'm faster than I've ever been and have taken part in some amazing events and met some great people through running. I have a more positive self image. The voices are still there but now when I run, it's not to get away from them, it's to shut them up and show them what I can do.

And on the long runs, either by street light or in the sun, the beat still goes on. I keep moving one foot in front of the other and I keep running.

Why run?

I've no idea, but the answer is just over the horizon and if I keep running faster I might just catch it.

www.therunningman-ayearinrunning.blogspot.com