A comment I’ve been asked many times, whether it is hot, cold, wet or windy. Well the truth is there is rarely a time I have let the weather dictate to me. If you refuse to train in inclement weather how are you going to get on when you turn up for a race and the weather is awful. The only conditions that have stopped me from training outside are ice and thunderstorms, but then again we don’t get extreme weather conditions like those experienced elsewhere in the world.
Ice – I have actually trained on ice, and it’s not pleasant. My first negative experience of ice was at a New Year’s Day 10k in Hyde Park in 1995. I was in good form and fancied a win, despite entries from Ethiopian Kassa Tadesse and Kenyan Koikai. It was a nice dry sunny day, but it was crisp and I hadn’t noticed the odd small puddle that had iced over. The field was full of American teenagers, clearly obeying the no alcohol before 21 rule that applies in their home country. They were a lively bunch and clearly didn’t appreciate how far a 10k was as they all sprinted off at the start. I was fighting my way through them as I went for the first corner and put my foot on one of the puddles. My legs shot from under me and I was down, landing on my left elbow and hip and right knuckle. I didn’t think about the pain but was a little annoyed that my opposition were getting away from me so got back on my feet and went after them. At the 1st mile marker I was in the lead but having run a 5 minute mile into a heavy head wind, and taken a fall, the adrenaline ran out. I was forced to concede and spent the next 5+ miles trying not to get overtaken by too many people. It was at this point I noticed the hole in my elbow and the state of my knuckles, as blood leaked out of both. Oh well, I thought, if I’m going to be in pain I might as well finish the race first. Ethiopia won with Kenya in 2nd and Britain 3rd, unfortunately not me as experienced Ealing runner Bill Gristwood took that spot away from me, leaving me trailing in a dejected 4th in 32:43, managing to hold off club colleague Owain Lewis. There were no first aid facilities so I had to get home with blood running into my coat. The physical scars have faded over the years but I’m much more wary of icy conditions. It hasn’t stopped me completely though, in Edinburgh I used to live close to the canal and some mornings I was surprised to encounter ice just as you dipped down to the canal. I also experienced really bad ice a couple of times on nightshift when taking my ‘wee small hours’ runs, on those occasions I gave in after about 3 miles and went back to the office, not wanting to take a fall when nobody was around to help me out. Now I’m in Cheshire it’s not often we get ice but I did take a tumble a couple of years ago, again I stepped on a frozen puddle just as I turned a corner, luckily it was right at the end of a stride otherwise the consequences could have been worse than the bruised hip. These days, if I can see it’s icy, I’ll only venture out if I can get to an area of grass close by, as grass doesn’t freeze as easily as road surfaces.
Hail – being hit by lumps of ice, as you run, is not pleasant. Mind you I expect it’s not pleasant if you’re not running. Hail storms tend, in my experience, not to last that long so if you just hold off you should be able to run, hail free, in a short while. But that doesn’t help if you’re caught while you’re already out. My worst experience of a hailstorm came during my time spent working in Germany. I used my lunch break to do alternate repetitions or 8 mile runs. On one particular day I went to the changing room in glorious sunshine but emerged to see a huge black cloud approaching. I wasn’t going to re-enter the changing room to put more clothes on so headed off towards the forest. I was about 100 metres away from the entrance to the forest when it threw everything at me, freezing cold wind and big hailstones. It didn’t last long but at the end of it I was cold, sore and wet. I kept running but my hands were so cold it took me 10 minutes before I could uncurl my fingers. It has to be one of my least pleasant runs.
Heat/Sun – I love running in the sun and in warm weather, but you do have to be careful. If I’m running for less than 45 minutes I’ll not bother with sun cream, any longer and it’s factor 15 (despite my extremely fair skin I find factor 15 is as high as I need to go, mind you I do spend a lot of my time shade bathing). I also wear a hat, because I do have a small bald patch that I’m not at all self conscious about. Luckily, or rather by good design, the kit I get from Ronhill and Hilly often contains fabric up to UPF40 so I feel well protected from the sun. I also wear shades. The other thing to be conscious of in the heat is to make sure you’re well hydrated. My body is well adapted, I don’t have to carry water on my runs, but I do watch my pre and post run hydration and I have been known to take water in a race, even over 10k. Last year I was in good form and entered the European Masters Track and Field Championships. They were being held in Hungary and I knew it would be hot. I therefore purposefully took a holiday in Turkey, a few weeks prior to the championships. Normally on holiday I ease back a little on training, but this time I wanted a medal so I was training hard in very hot temperatures. It was hard but it paid dividends as I came away from Hungary with a bronze medal, having said that I thought Turkey was hot but it wasn’t as hot as Hungary. I’ve also raced a half marathon in Lisbon and, although it took place in October, the temperature was touching the 30 degrees Celsius. What was worse, on this occasion, because I was representing Belgrave at the European Clubs Champions Cup, was that we had to be at the start a full hour before the race start, and the start was scheduled for 14:00 hours, to take part in a procession. The start area was jet black tarmac, you could feel the heat bouncing back off it. Luckily we had old timer, and European marathon representative, Knud Hegvold in the team and he guided us to a shady place where we tried to rest before the start. I didn’t run too badly, finishing in 36th position, though it was a tough race.
Rain – rain rarely puts me off exercising, of course it’s not nice setting off in the rain but my attitude, as already mentioned, is if you can’t train in the rain how are you going to race in it. Mind you I really don’t like loading/unloading my car with my portable gym when it’s raining, but that’s the choice I made, if I’d wanted it easy I’d have stayed at Fitness First. If I think it’s going to rain I’ll take one of my rain jackets, which one depends on how warm it is as I have different grades of warmth and different styles. If it’s really hot I won’t necessarily take a jacket as the rain can be quite refreshing. The only time I really don’t enjoy running in the rain is when it’s heavy, cold and there’s a cold wind too, those conditions have made me cut short a run before as it’s just not pleasant. But those days should be over as Ronhill are sending me a storm jacket, waterproof to a minimum 10,000mm hydrostatic head. With waterproof seams, zips and a pocket (essential, so I can carry a phone when with clients).
Cold – I hate the cold, but I don’t mind running in the cold. What I do mind is hanging around at the start of races, in the cold (or wet for that matter). In this country it’s generally not that cold that your body can’t cope with the temperature, exercising, after all, warms you up, but it’s always good to get a selection of clothing that helps you deal with the cold. My essential equipment is the hat and gloves, I have been known to wear gloves over gloves, and of course I have thermal tops and thermal lycras.
Wind – Occasionally we have strong winds that are dangerous and you actually feel like you’re moving backwards. It’s rare in our country but no point in risking your life for a run. Other than that wind can be a bit unpleasant but again what are you going to do if it’s windy on race day. You just need to develop an effective way of running through wind, and only practice can do that. Personally I like the wind as it means I can run hard without having to run fast, at my age it’s much easier to run hard than fast. Windproof jackets will help you to stay warm if the wind is cold.
And now onto other things.
Last week I ran my slowest ever parkrun, admittedly I’d only done 8 in total so plenty of time to run even slower. I was a little disappointed as only 6 weeks previously I’d run my best time around Pennington Flash, to become only the 3rd ‘official’ person under the 17 minute barrier. I’d put it down to lack of racing and the week I’d spent inactive, after spasming my back, plus the muddy and windy course just made it a tough run. I was about to throw in the towel regarding England selection, but I’m a great believer in pushing all the way to the finish line and I still have a week to prove I’m fit. Ok lets be honest, I’ve done very few road races this year and all the BMAF championships have fallen when I’ve been away, with the exception of the cross country champs which occurred at the very start of my return from a 2 month absence, so my chances remain pretty slim. I therefore decided I’d have one last throw of the dice and do something I’ve not done before, run two consecutive parkruns. Now I love the parkrun concept and, in particular, I love going to Pennington Flash, where you always get a tough run but a warm reception, but I’m not a creature of habit and like to do other races too. However this Saturday I rolled up with my regular partners in crime, Carole and Ray. It had been a bit of a strange week with having to fit my training around new clients, workmen at the house and a meeting with Ronhill/Hilly (more of that later). So I’ve not done as much running as normal but at least I’m back into the weights, core work and kettlebells. My confidence was a little low after last week’s run and I wasn’t expecting to run that well but I just thought I needed to race again. The dryer weather cheered me up, though it did start to spit with rain close to the start. This time I had the front all to myself and once I’d rounded the tight turns at the start I put my foot down. I felt back in proper race mode and kept pushing, despite my mind asking the question why, if you’re so far ahead, do you need to keep pushing. Well the answer is I wanted to keep the right side of 18 minutes. My legs did feel a little flat at times but I did really feel like I was running ok. As I’ve said Pennington Flash is a tough course and I was glad to crest the last hill to the enthusiastic support of one of the volunteers and her baby. A quick glance at the watch showed I was on good time and I pushed on to the finish. I won my 4th Pennington Flash Parkrun, I now have 4 wins and 4 2nd places out of the 8 I’ve run there, in my 2nd fastest time 17:13. A much better run and I feel that I can move on from there, come November I should be in good shape – now to see if I can get that place in the England squad, though I’m prepared for rejection this year. To cap off a fine Parkrun both Ray and Carole set new course pbs by around 30 seconds, with Ray coming close to his 5k pb on the road, just goes to show marathon training can influence your results over shorter races too, or maybe it has a little to do with the fact that I’m coaching him!
Speaking of parkruns I was chatting to Lee Riley earlier in the week, you may recall I helped Lee achieve his world records over the half and full marathon, carrying a 40lb pack, I had seen that a parkrun was starting in Hanley and I suggested he tried it. Well he did and he won (he wasn’t carrying the pack this time) so well done Lee. Lee has set himself his next challenge and I’ve been advising him on how to train for it. The challenge is to set a world record for carrying the 40lb pack over the 1 mile distance. The current record is 5:35. Lee’s attempt will be taking place on 12 November at the Cumberland Sports ground in Crewe, between 09:00 and 12:00, so if you’re around pop along to support Lee, or even take part, and help him raise more cash for the soldiers charity.
As I mentioned earlier, I had a meeting this week with Ronhill/Hilly. Ronhill and Hilly being two separate brands, related through their parent company, that produce clothing and accessories for runners. I have a good relationship with both Ronhill and Hilly and they supply me with kit, I also test their products. I’ve been pretty impressed with the products, they look good, feel good and are practical, as well as being made specific to purpose. Anyway, I’ve been associated with Ronhill and Hilly for about a year and a quarter now and both they and I would like to expand on that relationship. Much to be discussed but even if nothing extra comes out of it I’m still happy to be associated with these innovative companies and of course I’ll be continuing to test the 2012 catalogue gear and will be receiving a box of new gear soon too, as a thank you for the testing work I’ve already done. One really good thing about the last batch of shorts they sent me is that they are black with red flashes, which go great with my Herne Hill vest (Paul Coughlan take note), unfortunately I rarely get a chance to compete for Herne Hill as my lifestyle and location interfere.
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