The Loneliness Of The Lockdown Runner

Pre-scriptum: thanks Rich Stewart for planting the idea for this a few weeks ago, as you prompted me to get writing again…

Right then – remember me? I used to blog a fair bit… and run a little bit… whereas these days I can’t claim to blog at all, given my last entry dates from May 2, 2019… but it’s probably fair to say I run a fair bit, given that in those 396 days I’ve logged 5,458 miles…

One reason for my failure to post is not dissimilar to the reason many of my Christmas cards have only landed the following year: I struggle to write short blog entries. Just like I struggle to run short runs. If a job’s worth doing… Anyroad: I’m giving myself a deadline today. And it’s less than an hour away. It’s currently 09:38, and I want to be done before today’s “Teatime Theme Time” feature on Radcliffe & Maconie’s most awesome BBC Radio 6Music breakfast show. So best get cracking. Just like I run differently in Ultra mode compared to parkrun mode, this may require adjusting my style. Which spells good news for you: shorter sentences, a shorter overall rambling… if I ever get to the two points I want to make… both of which revolve around what running has been like over the past 68 days, namely since the UK formally went into lockdown mode courtesy of COVID-19.

. . .

RESPECTING THE RULES AND NOT BEING A COVIDIOT.

I’ll try not to labour this point, as it has the potential to lead to hurtful disagreements which are in nobody’s interest. In the ten weeks since March 23, I’ve covered 1,230 miles, representing a daily average of 17.57. Especially in the early days of Lockdown, with the “one type of exercise a day” rule in England, not everybody thought this was right. But there had been no clear guidance over distance or time, the nearest to that being Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove’s comment that “for most people, a walk of up to an hour, or a run of 30 minutes, or a cycle ride between that, depending on their level of fitness, is appropriate”. Not being “most people”, I focused on the latter part of that sentence, and kept running my usual distance. OK, a little more: but I also brought my alarm forward and changed my route to minimise the number of people I’d cross on my runs, which I’d typically complete around 7 o’clock. Over the past 68 runs I’ve tried to keep count of the walkers, dogwalkers, runners, runners with dog, horse riders and cyclists I’ve passed: more often than not, it’s been in single figures. It’s getting harder to keep count, especially as I enter the final mile of my run, where I typically encounter more people than on the previous 12-19. Because by that point I’m back in a built-up area; because by then it’s just about a civilised time so more people are out (with the exception of hardy dogwalkers, most of whom I see around 5 o’clock): but still I know I’m crossing fewer people over twenty miles at that time than I would if I were heading out for three miles at noon. That to me was, and remains, the measure of my respect of the rules: that and my choice of a route that ensures I can always give people a two-metre berth, even if it does entail giving up on seeing some of my favourite local sights. 

So, for anyone questioning my respect for the spirit and letter of England’s Lockdown rules, there’s my answer. Feel free to disagree.

. . .

RACING: A LOST APPETITE. OR SIMPLY MISPLACED?

I’ve managed to complete two races in 2020, though on neither occasion over the advertised distance… On January 19 I was one of eight Gloucester Marathon runners sent for an extra 1.6mi loop, so that ended up being a 27.8mi marathon, that extra loop and the notion borne out of the inconsistency between my watch and the mile markers that something had gone wrong (during the race I suspected the fault lay with me rather than the marshals) exacerbating the damage done by my stupid early pace. Things went better on March 7, when somehow I finished 9^th in the Winter Green Man Ultra around the Community Forest Path surrounding Bristol, making new friends in the process (hi Bruce!) as a group of us found ourselves running together for most of the race, not least for the section where we had to improvise having been denied access to a public right of way by an angry farmer. It meant 45 miles turned into 46.6, but when you’re in Ultra mode that’s not as big a deal as an extra hundred metres over a marathon… let alone an extra three thousand metres or so…

…nonetheless, I am looking forward to running at least one race over the correct course before the year’s out. As much as I’m looking forward to anything racing-related, that is…

There have been periods in my running years when I’ve focused on achieving a specific time. The months leading up to Nice-Cannes 2016 (13/11/16), Rotterdam 2017 (09/04/17), Barcelona 2018 (08/03/18) and Seville 2019 (17/02/19) spring to mind: four PB attempts, with three successes and a planned DNF 10k into the Catalonian event. I was probably in the form of my life in the lead up to Barcelona 2018, until a fortnight out when my body packed in. I managed to keep my runstreak alive, but only flew out because the tickets were all booked and the lure of a weekend with friends was too strong, especially as Mike was running his fiftieth marathon. That and I just love Barcelona… Anyway: take those four races away, as well as Manchester Marathon 2016 and Bristol HM 2017, and I’ve never planned my running around hitting a specific time. It’s all been planned around enjoying my running, or, ahead of the longer Ultras, around ensuring I could cover the distance. Some peers reckon I could achieve better times by structuring my training more and doing away with the runstreak, and I couldn’t agree more: truth is, I want to enjoy my running and my runstreak is my running achievement which means the most to me, with today being day 2,789. I view PBs as a product of my running, not as the focus. Which, given what PB-hunting has been known to do to my brain, engendering a few epileptic seizures along the way, is probably no bad thing…

. . .

 

On the whole, Lockdown for me personally hasn’t required much adjusting. I’ve been working from home for six years, over the course of which my daily routine has typically consisted of a run, a shower, breakfast and a day spent hopping between home office and home. That hasn’t changed over the past ten weeks: what has been different is that Saturdays haven’t featured parkrun, and Newport Marathon has been postponed to October Half Term (when, hopefully, we’ll be in Italy), and the sunny jaunts from Richmond to Oxford and from Winchester to Eastbourne, a.k.a. Thames Path 100 and South Downs Way 100, will now be autumnal trudges, rescheduled from May 4^th to September 5^th and from June 8^th to November 7^th respectively. As a result, I’ve had to join in some virtual challenges and add a little to them to find a focus. On April 10^th I became aware of an online challenge called COCKBAIN-19, arranged by a race organiser with too brutal a reputation for me to contemplate any of his events. It entailed running 19mi/day for the subsequent 19 days. Trouble is, I’d already been out for 20 that morning, as I had the previous… so I tweaked the challenge slightly and turned 19in19 into 20in20. Which I went on to complete at an average pace of 7’34”/mi, my slowest run taking me 2:39’12” and coming early on into the challenge, on April 11. I had allowed for the final runs to take three hours, but my legs were surprisingly up for it…

…so, in spite of having already made 100-mile weeks a habit, if only to maximise my one daily outing, a few weeks later I signed up for the Centurion Running One Community Challenge, over the 100 mile distance. Simple concept: run a hundred miles between Monday, May 25 and Sunday, May 31. Because the distance itself was within my comfort zone, I set out to cover the distance in five runs totaling 12:30’. Since things were going better than anticipated, I revised my target to sub-12 hours, ultimately managing to complete the distance in 11:59’32”. By that point I’d also entered the Virtual Hell On The Humber 12-hour event, which gave me the extra push to him 100 miles, not least as, replicating the original event’s nature with its laps of the Humber Bridge, the total distance covered had to be a multiple of four miles… and I didn’t want to end at 99 and have three miles go to waste…

Those who in the past have heard me rant against virtual events will be surprised by this newfound enthusiasm for them. I’ve typically been baffled by how accomplished runners have got excited about hitting targets well within their comfort zone just because it meant they got a medal for it, whereas I’ve fully understood the jubilation of runners who’ve broken beyond it and hit new heights. Where do I stand with my three online challenges? The events themselves were within my comfort zone, but I looked to ensure I didn’t sacrifice too much pace… I couldn’t even tell you if I get a medal for them or not, as that’s never a consideration for me, other than for COCKBAIN-19 the medal was optional and I ordered one for a tenner because a) half of that went to an NHS charity and b) it is a thing of beauty which will serve as a somber reminder of these unfathomable times… and yes, parting with cash isn’t something I do lightly, but I was happy to support two of my favourite race organisers and communities, namely Centurion Running and Hell On The Humber… or is that just a (futile) exercise in self-justification?

The beautiful COCKBAIN-19 medal, with my Fenix 3HR alongside it for scale. 

Regardless, the past few months and the weeks ahead will no doubt leave a permanent dent in my appetite for racing old skool style. Sure, I miss the pre-race excitement, the race-day adrenaline and the post-race celebrations, irrespectively of the outcome. I particularly miss the opportunity to meet up with friends, which are my main motivators to get my backside up to Manchester and Chester on an annual basis. But I am not missing the associated faff, especially in terms of logistics. Whether your destination from Portishead is Chester, Manchester or Winchester, to which I’ve headed for races seven, six and three times respectively since April 2013, if you’re reliant on public transport and lifts it’s a darn sight more cumbersome than if you could just lob your suitcase into the boot and hit the road… and that is something I am definitely not missing.

. . .

How much of my love for racing will be rekindled when I do next stick a race bib on my vest, hopefully on August 8 for Centurion Running’s North Downs Way 100? Or when I next cross a finish line, hopefully on August 9? Ask me then. I’m sure to some extent it will be. But, even at the end of the month during which I’ve recorded my highest ever average pace (7’14”/mi over 507 miles), I believe my PB over all four traditional distances are behind me, not least because I can’t see myself ever focusing enough on beating them. 18’01” (the most annoying, but also the one I’d find the hardest to improve upon), 38’54”, 1:24’18” and 2:56’05” will do me. It’s my 100-mi PB I’d really like to tweak. Currently standing at 22:16’23”, I’d really like the first digit to become a 1. But that’s unlikely to happen this year now, not with the four Centurion Grand Slam events taking place in August, September, October and November. August may sound feasible, but NDW100 is the toughest of the lot. September and Thames Path 100… well, if it were a 100-miler maybe, but it’s actually 103… let’s see. Autumn 100 on October 10^th is probably my best shot at it, but only if the weather is kind – and it rarely is for that one. As for SDW100 on November 7^th, I’ll just be glad not to get lost in the dark by then, of which there will be plenty…

…so: how do I expect my 2021 Race Calendar slide to look when I present it to Karen around the end of August?

Quite bare, if I’m honest. Other than the four Centurion Grand Slam event, I’m only expecting to run two more events this year: the Summer Green Man Ultra (same course as March’s Winter event), on August 22^nd, and back-to-back marathons around a caravan site in Cleethorpes on November 21^st-22^nd for Maravan. Whether GMU goes ahead obviously remains to be seen, though I’m quietly optimistic about that: less so about recording a combined time over the Winter and Summer events of sub-15hr, which brings the most prestigious of the four Double buckles on offer. I’ll still be delighted with the sub-18 one, not least as it’s red… just need to avoid the sub-21 one, as it’s blue… I might have stood a chance had the Winter one not entailed a detour, resulting in a final time of 7:51’27”: the extra mile and a bit might have added about quarter of an hour, with five minutes wasted debating with Mr Angry Farmer… but for the thought of having to complete the Summer event at around a minute a mile faster than the Winter one to make up the 21’ deficit, and doing so a fortnight after what I expect to be my most grueling event of the year, I might feel like giving it a go, but somehow I doubt that’ll be the case…

…so, looking ahead to 2021 (because, let’s face it, I’m unlikely to write before then): Chester Marathon may return, for the social side; as a result of this year’s shambles I’ve a free entry to Gloucester Marathon, though I may upgrade that to the 50k event, simply because I’ve never run an official 50k; if I’m feeling capable of a sub-3 I may head to Manchester, especially if The Blades are at home the previous day (and assuming, of course, by the Spring of 2021 fans will be allowed into grounds…); other than that…

…well, let’s see. Knowing me I might end up fancy giving the same four Ultras a go next year. After all, Green Man is just a day out, one for which I can head to and fro the Race Village by public transport; and the Centurion Events are… well, special. Or I may head back to Hessle and its bridge: as it turns out I’ll still be the reigning champion in 2021, as this August’s event has had to be cancelled, and that can mess with your head, even when you don’t care for racing. All three options are incompatible, as North Downs 100, Green Man Summer and Hell On The Humber all take place in August, and both my legs and my family need a holiday of sorts at some point…

…but I’m not ruling out a raceless year, either. Just like I’m not ruling out the 2021 plan I was chewing over in 2019. Truth is, I just don’t know. After all, who knows anything these days?

. . .

I’ll sign off paying kudos to all the running clubs arranging virtual events or challenges for their members, too. It’s the only way I can get involved with my two clubs, given that Totley AC is in Sheffield and Caistor RC is in Lincolnshire: and I’m only a member of the former for emotional reasons and of the latter because over the years I’ve run alongside more of its members than of any other club. Totley’s primarily a fell running club, so not so much in the shape of 5k Time Trials, rather events requiring covering certain routes over the Peak District: I’d love to, but… As for Caistor, this time next week I’ll be preparing to set off on my 2.6mi leg of a Virtual Relay Marathon. Fortunately, the club’s motto is “Run For Fun!” and I’m in “Team Run For Gin”, as the responsibility with which I’ve often burdened myself as a team member in any sport I’ve ever done is one of the reasons I stuck with running. Indeed, when a member of Portishead R.C. I only ran in two team events, the second of which a local “mob match” 10k race. I’d made it clear to the Club Captain that I’d retired from 10ks following my PB and ensuing seizure earlier in the month, but was reassured I was just needed to make up the numbers and could take it at an easy pace. And still I managed to conk out after crossing the finish line… but then that’s me and 10ks for you. Or maybe, specifically, evening 10ks. Whatever. It won’t happen next Sunday. Honest.

As for this Lockdown Runner… how lonely is he?
Truth be told, no more so than usual. He has Strava (although he may have to go back to paying for it), he has you loveleh people, the kindred spirits in his WhatsApp groups, and he has his beautiful family. However hard Lockdown has been and will be (and we have experienced the limitations but no human loss close to home), it would have been so much harder at a time when you could not have stood there, phone in hand, and read my warblings… and not because my warblings are of any value…
…stay safe. Stay alert. Whatever. Just… as the man said, “stay hard, stay hungry and stay alive, if you can - and meet me in a dream of this hard land”.

(And no, I didn’t finish before TeaTimeThemeTime. Of course I didn’t. I took a break for that, and still spent the best part of an hour after the end of the show finishing this. So my elapsed writing time is probably around an hour and a half. Still most likely a PB. Other than when I wrote this… And as for challenges, we can obviously set our own, without assistance from clubs or race organisers. Not that I’m 77 days into an attempt to cover at least 13.1 miles, i.e. the Half Marathon distance, every day, with an average to date of 17.60 miles… or am I?)

2019: The Story So Far and The (Long) Road Ahead

Nah then – where were we?

2019 is four months old. Looking solely at the races I’m targeting, I’m two down with three to go – and they’re all between tomorrow and mid-August.

In my previous post, ahead of the Zurich Maratón de Sevilla, I said that it could “quite possibly [be] my last shot at sub-2:55’”. That timeeluded me; what didn’t elude me was having an awesome time with fantabulous friends and running my second most relaxed mara PB attempt after Chester, where I’d PB’d last October in 2:58’05”. A PB that lasted only 133 days, as on February 17, I crossed the finish line of Europe’s flattest marathon in 2:56’05”. Not bad for a fat lad from Sheffield, if I say so mi’sen…

With Lorraine, Ben, Mike and Sarah at the pre-race expo in Sevilla, and with Mike after the race as we sorted out some tapas and beers for the team. I could get used to this smiling before and after races malarkey...

Smiles, Cruzcampos, tapas and ice cream with Mike, Sarah, Ben and Lorraine followed, as did a late-night burger a stone’s throw away from my airport hotel: but doing the post-race festivities justice would require a post of its own… now, I’m not saying I’m not going to write one, but… maybe another time, eh? For the time being, let’s see if I can remember what I’ve been up to since…

Well, after weeks of rigorous speedwork and monastic self-denial in palatable pleasures leading up to Sevilla, ahead of Manchester I…

…let myself go, basically. I ran for the fun of it, with no tangible structure to my outings. No hill reps, no parkruns… just a couple of runs that may look like speedwork because they’re on a mile loop, but were really just tempo runs that didn’t see me venture more than half a mile from my front door… 27 half marathon distance or longer runs in six weeks, logging over twenty miles on fourteen of the twenty-four days between 23/02 and 18/03… oh, and I put on three kilos…

…now, in my last post I’d also written:

“if I narrowly miss out [on sub-2:55’] in mid-Feb – I might give it one last go in April… whereas, if Sevilla doesn’t turn out to be a repeat of Barcelona, by early Spring I could well have switched to Ultratraining mode, and potentially even not travel to Manchester”.

So: did I head Up North (West)?

Whilst I did contemplate not bothering, I didn’t do so for long. The question as to whether or not run was resolved pretty quickly; it was answering how to set about doing so that took a little longer. Three things helped me make up my mind:

1. My heart rate stats for Seville. Granted: my HR stats are a law upon themselves. Something about me (either genetics or my anti-epilepsy medications) have always kept them lower than you’d expect for someone of my fitness. Not least when I wasn’t anywhere near as fit as I am now… That and I didn’t wear my HRM strap in Seville, so it’s only my Fenix3HR’s opinion that I spent 22’03” in my moderate 109-136bpm zone and 2:30’40” in my tempo 136-150 zone, only venturing into threshold mode for 3’06”. And wrist-based HR technology isn’t the most reliable… still, when it has been patently off its rocker it has generally spewed out unconceivably high numbers… when they’re low (and consistent) they’re typically credible…

2. Stuart McNeil’s comment on the topic, who shared my inkling that I could have pushed more. He’s most likely correct. But then, when I’m out there racing, I always have to strike the balance between pushing hard and not pushing myself over the edge, as high HR in races has been known to engender epileptic seizures…

3. A conversation with Raul Reismann, a complete stranger as we walked off the plane at Bristol Airport on the Monday morning and now a Strava connection…

His attire gave away that he’d run the marathon, as confirmed by his gait in descending the stairs off the plane. We’d already chatted a little before then, but it was only on the long walk to passport control that we delved further into the details. A walk long enough for me to share what my goal had been, as well as how the race had gone, and that I was happy with that as a lifetime PB. He thought I could go faster… and, given his credentials, as well as Stuart’s, it would have been rude to ignore them.

So, there I was: delighted with my time in Andalucía, confident I’d paced it right (I’m always aware that pushing too hard might result in a DNF), yet unable to dismiss the possibility that I might fare even better on a fast course I know. But I was equally unable, least certainly unwilling, to extend my maratraining window beyond Seville: partly because I wanted to break free of its shackles (I don’t follow strict plans, but I do ensure every week includes certain types of runs) and partly because on May 4-5 and June 8-9 I’ll be running two 100-milers, Thames Path 100 (for the first time) and South Downs Way 100 (for the third), which bring their own, different training requirements. That left me with three options:

a) cancel my Premier Inn reservation and stay home, maybe slipping in some back-to-back long’uns

b) find someone to pace

c) run for the fun of it until race day, then give it a go

A devoted Radio 6music fan, a selfie
outside their Media City Studios was a must...

Ultimately, I went with c. In effect, I experimented in aiming for a sub-3 marathon having broken most of the rules I’d followed ahead of Seville. I was prepared to blow up ten miles into Manchester and just jog it. It was a chance to experiment and I seized it. And it turned out… OK.

No PB. But, considering I was three kilos heavier, I was happy to only be 63” slower, following Seville’s 2:56’05” with a 2:57’08”. And I was delighted to clock a good time having trained hard yet without any major focus or preoccupation. The suitability of the training is questionable at best: but, with 616.6mi in seven weeks, including 476 miles over thirty days before I slipped in some semblance of a taper, I knew I was putting in the effort. 

Flying as we approached the finish line.
I would buy this, if only my head were all there...

I was back up Up North (on’t right side o’Pennines) the following weekend for the Sheffield Half Marathon, twirling, jumping, smiling and hi-fiving my way around a lovely course and pacing Luke to a 7’30” PB in the process. We were aiming for 1:48’, but somehow finished in under 1:41’… I can’t claim any credit for dragging him along because he never needed it, the only credit I will claim is for holding back from holding him back when he pushed!

Sheffield was just awesome. The course, the crowd… hi-fivin’ one of my sons on the way up a hill, the other on the way down… drawing (allegedly) a bemused look from Sheffield United’s skipper Billy Sharp as I hi-fived some kids near him (I didn’t spot him – whereas he spotted… the tutu!)… and this the day after presenting United manager Chris Wilder with a RunnerBlades shirt at Bramall Lane before supping a beer with fellow members and witnessing United…

…no. Not win. Draw 1-1. Against Millwall. Not our finest hour. But that’s OK: we’ve made up for it since… and…

Meeting Wilder was an honour. During my days at University I used to work at Bramall Lane on matchdays, and had an Access All Areas pass I’ve walked into the Away dressing room after a Cup match to ask Alex Ferguson -as he was then- if Mark Hughes could come with me. I’ve supped post-match beers next to Joe Elliott and Sean Bean. I’ve even played on that pitch. But April 13, 2019 was special. 

About five years ago, I began a hashtag for Blades that ran. I imaginatively came up with #runnerblades. Some may reverse the combo, but a) it flowed better with #twitterblades and b) I never was a huge Pistorius fan. The hashtag became a Strava club, which now unites over 150 Unitedites. And a couple of years later it became a running shirt, for which Luke designed the logo and of whose ordering Ian took care. To meet Wilder pitchside with Ian and Alan to present him with a RunnerBlades shirt was truly special.

Although he did seem a little baffled when Al told him I’d spent 36 hours running up and down The Humber Bridge, asking me, quite simply: “Why?” To which I replied, as I’ve done many a time since last August, “Why not?”

With Ian (third from left) and Alan (far right) and our latest RunnerBlade recruit,
Sheffield United Manager (and 2018-2019 Championship Manager Of The Season) Chris Wilder.
I've been on that pitch countless times, even played on it... but this topped all those moments!

Before, during and after Sheffield HM with fellow RunnerBlades. In the after-shot, from left to right, Andy, Mick, some idiot and Luke, who let the team down by wearing his other club's vest... but made up for it by smashing his PB!

So – what next?

. . .

My next three races will be my remaining target events for the year, if only because their distance demand respects: Thames Path 100 (04-05/05), South Downs Way 100

(08-09/06) and Hell On The Humber (36hr) (16-18/08). Of those, at the start of the year the one I planned on targeting was South Downs Way, as I’ve never run Thames Path before and you can’t really target HOTH – least, I can’t… it’s both too tough a physical challenge and too much of a fun event to predict or target… I’ll just get plenty of training miles in beforehand, turn up in Hessle and see how it goes.

Now, as for Thames Path…

…let’s say I’m treating it as a bit of an experiment.

Which isn’t to say I’m treating it lightly. It means I know I’m in decent shape. I’ve slowed down my runs of late and been able to record some pleasing heart rate stats. However, whilst I’ll have run almost 1,500 miles in 2019 by the time I line up in Richmond on Saturday, I’ve only twice gone beyond 26.2 miles: and both of those two instances were two weekends ago, when I ran to Burnham parkrun on the Saturday and then on the Sunday ran the first fifteen and a half miles of the same route before turning round and heading home. This is not unusual training for many ultrarunners, including many far better than me: but, if only to reassure myself, in the build-up to an Ultra I’d usually look to run back-to-back long ones for at least four weekends, say 20+20, 26+26, 31+31 and 40+40. A single 31+31 weekend represents a marked change from that. But then so did my training for Manchester, and that went alreyt. So: what if I could train for both marathons and ultras with 20-milers, varying the intensity and the overall mileage around them in a way that still allowed me to record good times but without overcomplicating things?

Well, wouldn’t that be nice…

…and it would be particularly splendiferous if I could reach Oxford less than twenty hours after leaving Richmond. It’s a tough ask: only 12 of the 314 starters managed it in 2018. Which, apparently, was a particularly hot day. OK: so what about 2017? 26 out of 297. Better. And 2016, the year both the male and female course records were set, thus suggesting good conditions? 25 out of 207. Hmmm…

…whichever way you look at it, it’s a big ask. This is only my third point-to-point hundred miler, although the West Highland Way Race wasn’t far off (95, 96 – you choose…) and I’ve run 105 and 132 over 24 and 36-hour races respectively. Nevertheless, this isn’t my comfort zone, or area of specialty. Not sure if I have one, and indeed I love being able to love running any distance: but, on balance, the distance over which I most back myself to deliver a good performance has to be 26.2. Still: with my Ultra-focus on South Downs Way, I have the chance to give Thames Path a go without putting myself under pressure. And sometimes that’s when the good stuff happens. At least I’ve checked a few Strava records of Thames Paths of yore, so I know I should expect my Garmin to measure the course as 103 miles long (indeed, 103.5 now that a detour’s been announced in the week leading up to the race!), rather than reach the 100-mile mark in 19:59’ only to find out I’ve got the ‘best’ part of an hour left to go… because I might be able to run 3.1 miles in eighteen minutes something on a Saturday morning, but not with a century of miles already in the legs…

There you have my Ultra thoughts for the year. Beyond those three long’uns:

I’ve yet to sign up for The 401 Festival Of Running (Portishead), which takes place just a mile down the road on the following weekend (24-25/08): and, unless I find someone with whom to run, I probably won’t bother. I care nothing for medals, although I have to admit that the idea for those who complete all four races this August to make up the 26.2mi distance is attractive, not least since I do live here: a wooden cube into which slot the four individual medals, whose design is inspired by the local landscape. But that won’t influence my decision, although I’ll probably head down to meet with familiar faces; and, if I were really stupid, I’d sign up for the summer edition of The Green Man Ultra, a 45-mi circular route around Bristol, having run the winter edition (same route, opposite direction) in 2015 and having signed up for the winter edition of 2020. Hopefully the memory of the pain during last year’s 401 Half Marathon, a week after HOTH, will ensure I don’t…

…but I’m all signed up for Chester Marathon, my annual “season finale”. Now that will definitely not be a PB attempt this year, which is what it accidentally turned into in 2018. Least not for me… form permitting I’d love to offer my pacing services to someone who I suspect will read this at some point, but only if I’m feeling confident…

…and I’ve also signed up for T-Fast 42km, a.k.a. Turin Marathon, since it takes place on the Sunday at the end of our half-term week near Genoa. Seems rude not to try and race in Italy, even though, the last time I tried, the race (a Half Marathon in the town where I grew up) was cancelled due to stormy weather… indeed, logistically it would have made more sense to do Nice-Cannes again, as it also takes place on October 3 and Karen and The Boys will be flying out of Nice on Saturday, October 2… but… but…

…but I look up to the four SportyMaps prints in my office, with my first four sub-3s, all PBs at the time, and I see they were recorded in France, the Netherlands, the UK and Spain respectively… and I kinda like the idea of having a shot at adding another country to that list… and it makes sense for me to try and add Italy…

…it’ll be a different experience, racing in Italy. Because in Italy, just like in France and Spain, the vast majority of runners race marathons. It’s about achievement, not participation. Maybe it’s the Italian in me that is still surprised at being awarded a medal for completing a run… maybe that’s why I care little for medals and house them in a shoe box in the loft, only to get a couple out in December and try to sneak them on the Christmas tree when nobody’s looking…

…anyway: that’s 2019. That and crewing for Mike at this year’s WHWR: not before time, after the ballot stood in the way of his dream for a couple of years! Or there could be a couple more marathons in November if I can sweet-talk Karen into letting me nip over to Cleethorpes in November for a weekend. But what’s my five-year plan?

“Five-year plan? What’s he on about?”

Quite. I’m glad that was your reaction. Because, when I was asked what mine was last Saturday, I drew a blank. If I were in my 20s and capable of a 2:40’ marathon, I’d have a plan. But I’m 43 and happy if I never beat my marathon PB again, much as I’d like to break 2:55’ and notch a few more sub-3s. So my plan is to…

Carry on having fun. Carry on towards my stated ambition of running a marathon in my 70s. Carry on keeping mentally and physically fit in the process. Carry on… regardless.

As things stand, if I cross the finish line in Turin and in the other races I’ve entered, 2019 will have featured four marathons and three Ultras. Maravan would make it six marathons; Green Man would make it four Ultras. Long-term, it would be nice to make my way into the “100 Marathon Club”. By the end of the year, without entering any additional races, I should be at 36. Still a long way off being entitled to raise my bat… but…

…it’s a (hundred) marathon(s), not a sprint…

Sure: it would be nice to say I’ve run a hundred marathons or ultras. But I want that goal to be a byproduct of my running, not a focus. It’s the same with my PBs: some races earn more focus than others, but I’ve never followed a strict training plan. I’m sure I could beat all my PBs by targeting events and following structured training schedules, even maybe take the occasional day off. But PBs are byproduct of my enjoyment, and runstreaking makes me happy. If I can keep fit enough to smile my way across another sixty-nine marathons (or longer), awesome. But when the fun stops… stop.

And that’s something I need to ensure I remember. With the rest of the family away, I will be home alone on May 26, when the Liverpool Rock & Roll Marathon takes place. I’ve run it for the past two years, in 2017 as part of Mike’s Stag Weekend and in 2018 pacing the Pickard Brothers (one at a time). So I did have a couple of days of wondering whether to travel up and notch up another marathon, maybe trying to pace someone to sub-3. Then I regained control of my senses:

1. May 26 means three weeks after one 100-miler and two weeks before another. In the words of one of Liverpool’s finest comic creations, “sub-3 my @r$€”.

2. It’s a long journey from Portishead. Why not do what I did last year while the family was away, and go for a long point-to-point run, eat cake there and bus it back?

Which is probably what I’ll do. One thing’s for sure: I won’t be going to Wembley on the Bank Holiday Monday (27/05). No need. Because, I don’t know if you’ve heard, but…

…THE BLADES ARE GOING UP!!!

 And we’ve earnt promotion by boxing above our weight through hard work and dedication. We’ve got plenty of decent players, but it was the heart they put into the campaign, masterminded by our fantastic manager, Chris Wilder, that sees us going into Sunday’s final round of fixtures guaranteed of Premiership football come August and still wish an outside chance of winning the League. Indeed, the latter part of last week could hardly have gone better: on the Friday a new Springsteen song dropped, ahead of his first new album in June; on the Saturday we beat Ipswich Town to all but guarantee promotion, courtesy of a goal difference that’s thirteen goals superior to Leeds’; on the Sunday Leeds’ draw against Villa made it official…

…ask anyone who knows me and they’ll tell you that, beyond family and friends, my three biggest passions are running, Springsteen and United. A new Springsteen song on the Friday; promotion for the Blades on the Saturday…

…maybe I should have used my GFA for London Marathon after all: the way things are going I might have won it!

But that would hardly have made for ideal tapering ahead of Saturday. And I’m genuinely getting better at this tapering malarkey. Here’s hoping I can take some of that Wilder passion and nouse onto the Thames Path this coming weekend. As Springsteen sings on his new song, ‘Hello Sunshine’:

“You know I always liked that empty road

No place to be and miles to go

But miles to go is miles away

Hello sunshine, won't you stay?”

So come on over sunshine, on Saturday, along the Thames… just… not too much, eh? I’ll see you after the darkness on the edge of town. Because “I’ll be on that hill, ’cause I can’t stop... I’ll be on that hill with everything I’ve got…”
…well, actually the Thames Path is flat - but you get my gist.

Coverage of the RunnerBlades in the matchday program for what turned out to be a 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest. We may not have brought good luck for the previous fixture, but we’ve won every match since.. three of them! Or maybe four, depending on when you read this and how the season finale at Stoke went. But hey, who cares? We are Premier League…