Reflections

As seems to be traditional at this time of year and on the back of SPOTY I thought I would do a review of my year. I must admit, I was a bit disappointed not to make the shortlist. Oh well, there is always next year. I think Bradley Wiggins was a deserved winner. Great sporting achievements and he has actually got a personality unlike some former winners.

So to my own review of 2012

This year of running all stemmed from me watching my mates Fat Pants & CJ running the London Marathon in 2011 and deciding there and then I wanted to run the London Marathon in 2012. Then I was lucky enough to be selected for the Men's Running magazine Project 26.2 which helped officially turn me into a 'Runner'.

Time for a Stat Attack. Official events that I have taken part in this year are;

Marathon x 2
20 Miler x 1
16 Miler x 2
Half Marathon x 8
10 Miler x 3
10k x 3
Parkrun (5k) x 28

I wear my Garmin for 99% of my runs and according to my GarminConnect account I have logged the following miles this year

The other thing that is recorded is PB's over certain distances and I have to say I am loving the following picture :-)

My next Marathon, I will make sure I take the racing line, to try and save myself a bit of distance!

For 2013 I want to be chipping some time of the Marathon & 5k. Not sure I will be getting close to the 10k & Half Marathon? I will have to wait and see.

So as well as the events, miles and PB's. I now don't just run, but I do interval sessions, hill sessions, threshold runs, I have started running a Cross Country event or two and I now actually stretch regularly!  Having joined Petts Wood Runners, I have been part of a race committee and help organise an event which made me appreciate the effort that is put in by running clubs when hosting an event.

 

I also raised over 5k for the Multiple Sclerosis Trust.

This year has not just been about me though. Mich my wife and been an absolute star either looking after Max (our boy) whilst I have been out on my long Sunday runs or coming to events and waiting for me (with Max obviously) at the finish.

What for me is a bonus is that Mich (begrudgingly at first) has taken up running. She has completed half a dozen Parkruns and is now a member of PWR also. Mich already knows that I am earmarking a 10k for her to do next year. Max also completed his first official race and he was beaming from ear to ear (as was I) when he had a number on his t-shirt (just like Daddy) and then he got his own medal as well.

 

I am very proud of both of them!

 

Max & Mich have also turned into Parkrun tourists.  Mich has now ran 5 different Parkruns and Max has now completed Parkruns at 6 different venues in the running buggy.

 

Me & Max at Dulwich Parkrun last Saturday

 

Running now seems to be a big part of all of our lives which can only be a good thing!

 

As was highlighted in the SPOTY, it has been a fantastic year for British Sport and Mich, Max & I were privileged to see 3 Golds being won by the Paralympic team at the Olympic Stadium as well as seeing the Young Sport Personality of the year Josef Craig earlier in the day win his heat in a world record time (before winning Gold and breaking his new world record again)  Even now, Max still talks about the 'Caralympics'

 

Here is to a cracking 2013.

 

Merry Christmas

 

TJH

Mad Dogs & Englishmen

Oh and English Women as well.

Running seems to be at a premium at the moment, but there has been some increased focus on hydration.

Tuesday night I didn't go out running with PWR as the wife is back running so she went instead.  I was planning on a Wednesday lunchtime run.  Took all my gear into work and went to get changed and then realised I didn't have any innersoles in my trainers!  I wear Sorbothane insoles and had forgot that I had switched them the previous week.  Wednesday night was my work Xmas bash.  Thursday was officially one of the longest days of my life!

After a six week absence I was back at Bromley Parkrun to record my 40th Parkrun, now only 10 away from the first t-shirt!  Managed a 23:35.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/250594357

Sunday morning was the Ditton Turkey Run, hosted by Maidstone Harriers.  With a relatively late start of 11am and only a 45 min drive from home, most people would assume, oh a bit of a lie in.  Not in my household as I have an alarm clock that at the moment a) I can't turn off and b) I can't change the alarm from going off at 6am!

So my pre-run prep included porridge, a game of monster bingo and doing some puzzles on the floor with my alarm clock Max.

At 9am, I let the wife know that I was off and she had to get up (she had been practising hydrating Saturday Night)

I picked up a Matt a fellow PWR and arrived in Ditton at 10am.  We collected our numbers and met up with a group of fellow PWRs.  There were 25 PWRs there in total.  One was missing due to over hydration on the Saturday night!

This was one of the PWRs Grand Prix events, an internal club competition where you are racing against runners of similar ability to yourselves.  This makes for healthy competition and means as well as having our racing snakes competing, it also means that runners from our Tuesday night Group One also can and do take part.

Now this is the reason for the title.  It was cold, not as bad as it had been, but cold enough due to the cold wind.  Some people thought they would keep warm by wearing 'Onesey' Reindeer outfits and along with them, there were Elves, Santas, a Christmas Tree, a Christmas Cracker, a full size Turkey, a sexy Nurse to name but a few and the icing on the cake was a man in a Mankini, yes you read that right, a man in a Mankini!

To prove that there were mad Englishwomen as well and mad Englishmen, one lady wore a sexy Christmas outfit complete with hold up stockings and then finished the race in high heels (I am pretty sure I saw her during the race though wearing trail shoes)

I went crazy and wore a Santa hat!

The course was challenging and very muddy in places, although I am told it was worse last year!  I did see a couple of people take full blown stumbles, not nice in the conditions.  The marshalls from Maidstone Harriers were great, I particularly liked the comment from one at about the 1m mark shouting "Well done you are doing well, you are nearly there, actually that last bit is a lie, never mind keep going"

I finished the 6.4 mile course in 117th place with a chip time of 53:37. 



This race event has to be one of the best value events that you can enter!  For an entry fee of £14 you get the following;

• A well organised and fun event
• A well marshalled nice course in Kent (muddy, narrow in places probably not a PB race)
• Chip timing
• A nice medal
• A long sleeved t-shirt
• A mini Christmas Pudding
• Mince pies and hot drinks afterwards
• Free entry into a raffle

I would highly recommend this event and will be back next year.

Until next time
TJH

Back running and focussing on hydration

Last week, after having 8 days rest I went out for a run Tuesday evening with PWR.  I joined group 4 and offered to be sweeper, that gave me the perfect excuse to be at the back :-)  We did 6.25 miles at a 09:40m/mile pace and despite feeling a bit leggy in the first couple of miles, I had a good chin wag with a couple of the others so the run went quite quickly.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/249068562

Saturday morning I was back running a Parkrun, in fact looking at my Parkrun stats page, I didn't manage to run a single Parkrun in November.  This Saturday, I had my maiden run at Hilly Fields which is in Ladywell/Lewisham.  The race is only just over 3 months old and was set up by a PWR member

The name of the park gives a bit of a clue to the terrain and as I tweeted on Saturday morning, it should have been called (C)hilly fields as when I left home at 08:30am the temperature gauge was showing -2.  Conditions underfoot were a mixture of frosty grass and tarmac and in some places quite muddy due to the recent rain.  I managed a respectable time of 24:11.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/249068571

It was then time to due an intensive aerobic workout, chasing Max around soft-play for an hour before going to watch football and then back home to get ready for the Petts Wood Runners Christmas Bash.

A very good evening was had by all and I made the following observations...

- There was plenty of carbo-loading at the buffet.
- Everybody was very well hydrated and I am sure if a company made a Merlot or Guinness flavour gel, it would be a top seller!
- Some people didn't pace themselves and didn't last the duration
- Running ability does not translate to dancing ability
- There was no warming up from anybody before going into full-flow dance routines
- Apparently, one person obviously used to getting goody bags at events, made her own and woke on Sunday morning to find 2 large pieces of cheese in her handbag! (I am told it was Red Leicester & Cheddar)

I mainly concentrated on hydration (as did my wife) for the evening, but had to organise a synchronised dance routine when I saw that people were actually doing the Macarena to Whigfield's 'Saturday Night'

Questions have been asked of me how and why I actually know the dance routine!  Questions that I can't really answer.

Sunday mornings normally mean either a long run or a long sleep.  A long run was out of the question due to me over hydrating the night before and the long sleep was out of the question when Max thought 6am was a good time to wake Daddy to play 'Monster Bingo' (a game he recently received for his birthday)!

TJH