Masters of the Cross Country Relay

I’d been looking forward to the Masters Cross Country Relays for months. I’ve been training hard and was desperate to make the Salford M45 A team, as I thought I was finally going to re-find some decent form.

October has been a busy time for me. Not only have I tried to continue the greater emphasis on my training load, but I was also due to attend two weddings and a stag weekend. Not quite good enough for a film title but three excellent consecutive weekends of partying for me. First there was my partly British, partly German and now partly American cousin Franny, who got married in Rushton Hall. It was a fantastic wedding, beautiful setting and it was great to meet up with members of the family I hadn’t seen in years. Then it was my old Belgrave Harrier mate, Al Stewart, who had his stag weekend at Burnham and Berrow golf club, followed a week later with his wedding in Pennsylvania Castle, another great wedding, beautiful setting and another chance to catch up with new and old friends, in particular the Belgrave bunch (Al, Paul Coughlan, Bruce Barton and Paul Freary – would make a decent Masters team if they could stay injury free for long enough).

Rushton Hall, venue for wedding no. 1

Pennsylvania Castle, venue for wedding no. 2

I managed to keep training hard throughout the party period, but, inevitably, burning a candle at both ends is going to take it’s toll somewhere along the way. I like my food and this month there’s been lots of it to like. I know it’s far from the most appropriate thing to do as a Personal Trainer, but all health food and no excess makes Rog a dull boy. Though lots of excess and not much health doesn’t make Rog an attractive boy either.

Still everything was going to plan, the morning we left Penn Castle, to head back home, I had a great training run, into the wind blowing past Portland Bill I was flying. That was to be my last hard session before easing down for the Masters cross country relays.

Unfortunately on Wednesday I started feeling like I was coming down with a cold, Thursday I was feeling a lot worse, Friday I was feeling a bit better but still far from well. With the race on the following afternoon I was debating if I should just withdraw, but I held off, improvement from Thursday to Friday night had been significant, and it was only a two mile race….

Saturday, race day, I woke up feeling much better but still not 100%, had the race been three miles I would definitely have pulled out but at two miles I figured, even if I held back a bit, I could still get around without costing the team too much, at least that was what I hoped.

I’ve done this fixture with Salford Harriers for the last two years and each time we’d finished behind a very strong Leicester outfit, in the M45 category. Not by much but enough to make it painful. This year we had our strongest team of the three years and I was confident we would finally defeat the mighty Leicester, or would my cold come into play.

As usual I travelled down with my number one fan, Carole, and club mate Rob Tudor, but joining us this time was Phil Leybourne, another club mate who had never done this fixture before.

I tend not to get nervous before races, unless I’m coming back from an injury and worried I might have come back too soon, but I was nervous here. My resting heart rate was normal but the cold was still affecting me. My mind kept going back to 1996, where I raced the Surrey Cross Country Champs with a cold and I ended up with a heart strain, but I’ve subsequently run with sniffles with no ill effect.

Rob was on first leg and he set out his stall pretty early, getting in amongst the leading bunch. Salford M35 John Lloyd had obviously got up even earlier with his stall as he shot off from the gun and was already gaping the field within the first 100m. Come the start of the 2^nd of the almost 1 mile loops Rob was just behind Leicester’s top M45 runner Gordon Lee. At this point I sensed we could pull it off, I was confident that Rob would stick to Gordon and push past towards the finish.

Rob Tudor on his way to fastest M45

It wasn’t to be, Gordon’s a tough man to beat and although Rob was within two seconds of him, he couldn’t quite get his devastating kick going. Off went Phil on second leg and immediately went past Rob Sheen of Leicester. Within half a lap Phil had a big lead on Leicester and things were looking good. At this point I bumped into Rob and he informed me that the Leicester M45s didn’t have a team, the M45s that had made it here were running in the M35 team and we had a big lead already on the 2^nd M45 team.

As I got ready to head off on my leg I pondered what Rob had said. It meant I could afford to hold something back and we’d still, more than likely, have the lead, and with two strong runners after me we couldn’t lose. But I didn’t want people to say that we only won because Leicester didn’t turn up, I wanted to show that we were deserving of our victory, so I decided I’d go as hard as I felt comfortable.

Phil ran a great leg, bringing us home 2^nd in the whole race, behind Coventry and a step in front of Mansfield. I set off 2^nd and was immediately relegated to 3^rd as fastest M35 runner, Mark Johnson shot past me. I didn’t make any effort to keep with Mark, all too aware of my frailty, but still pushed as I didn’t want to lose any more places, in particular to the Salford M35 team, who we had a side bet, weren’t that far behind.

Phil Leybourne moving Salford through the field

It was a tough leg, I could feel my chest was in some discomfort but I was sure I could continue at the pace I was going. It was a typically lonely relay leg run, I was passed by Mark in the first 100m and I eventually caught the Coventry runner with 200m to go, giving us an overall net even, went out 2^nd came in 2^nd. But more importantly I hadn’t lost any ground to any of our M45 rivals, finishing 1 second quicker than the next fastest M45 on that leg, though I had given away 2 seconds to Dave Hudson and the charging Salford M35s.

Happy to finish my leg, make that ecstatic, it began to dawn on me what a stupid thing I’d just done. Without wanting to sound melodramatic I’d just got away with something that could have finished a whole lot worse, I didn’t need to be in the team for us to win today but I’d been selfish to prove I was getting back to form, sometimes ambition just takes over from good sense.

Me getting the better of M55 fastest leg and Salford colleague Stan Owen

Derek Crewe was next out, along with myself and Dave Lockett one of the three members who have featured in each of the Salford M45 medal taking teams over the last three years. Derek’s solid as an oak and usually runs a time similar to me, he didn’t disappoint and with one leg to go we surely had the championship in the bag.

The only bald man in the Salford M45 team, Derek Crewe keeps us in contention with the leaders of the overall race

So often our fastest M45 man Dave took on that last leg with ambition, not saving anything despite the lead we had over the 2^nd place M45 team, mind you we were lying in the top three overall at this point. Dave eventually lost a place to 2^nd fastest M35 of the day, Leicester’s Mark Powell, but set the 2^nd fastest M45 time of the day, just a few seconds behind Rob’s fastest. We finished 4^th overall, 1^st M45, and 1 place ahead of Salford M35, who were just one place away from getting their own set of medals. As well as Rob and Dave, Phil took 3^rd fastest M45 time and, surprisingly, I was 4^th fastest. 

Dave Lockett sealing the deal

Appropriate celebrations were duly carried out and off we went with our medals.

The winning M45s

Another successful day for Salford Harriers, though in fairness our least successful of the three years over the age groups.

But the stats still make pretty good reading:

M35 – 4^th

M45 – 1^st

Fastest Leg – Rob Tudor

M55 – 6^th   

Fastest Leg – Stan Owen

M65 – 3^rd

A further plus for me was that 2^nd M45 team was taken by the club I left to join Salford, Herne Hill Harriers, with Vic Maughn and Mike Boyle, team mates from when we won the M40 championship back in 2005, in the team.

The downside was that this event still doesn’t seem to be supported by as many clubs as it should, it’s a great event, a great venue and always a close race. Having it on the same day as the Scottish cross country relay champs probably didn’t help but we could still do with some more support from the other British clubs. It was mentioned, at the presentation, that they would consider taking out B teams next year, but that would be ludicrous, Salford have so many athletes that want to take part that it would not be in the best interest of the event, this year we had nine teams taking part.

This week, I’m still struggling to shift the cold. It has affected my running, I’m holding back a little and I’ve dropped certain sessions. At the moment I’m also without a race plan. Think I’ll wait until I’m training properly again and then I can start to think about my performance.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

Race day pictures courtesy of Sid Sacks

Obsessions of a Runner?

It’s a debate I’ve had many times, with Carole, she thinks I’m obsessive about running and I think I’m just pretty good at it and feel the need to give it my best shot. I’ll admit there are things about me that aren’t attractive but I don’t think I’m an obsessive. I think that people who do things differently are seen as obsessive, and sometimes I’m the one thinking others are obsessive.

So to set the record straight, and get Carole off my case here are some things others may think are obsessive and my explanation of why I don’t, and some of the things I see as a bit obsessive in other runners that I know. Of course this isn’t a be all and end all list, I’m sure there are some other runners out there battling with other obsessive/non obsessive tendencies and of course non runners who might equally fall into the category of obsessiveness.  

Before I start on the running side of things there is one area where I feel I share a common ‘obsession’ with other male friends, and that is around the loading of a dishwasher. It just makes sense to me to put items in the slots that allow maximum utilisation of the space provided with the best possibility of getting everything cleaned within one application of the dishwasher cycle, so why do the women I know think that jamming everything in but wasting space is more effective?

Right onto the running nonsense:

Mileage - Runners like to keep a log of everything they do in training. Some logs are written in a huge amount of detail, it’s almost a confessional. Me, I just write down how long I ran for, what type of session I did (fartlek, reps (how many)) and how many miles I think that was. Of course I don’t use a garmin (we’ll come to that later) so my mileage is a guess, but it’s been a guess for 25 years so what’s the problem. Oh dear I hear people say, how can you use that as a training guide if you’re not keeping accurate information, to which I reply, it’s accurate to me, I’m not obsessive about my mileage and I do use the diaries to remind myself how I was running at a particular time in my life, it helps me to remember more about the training I did. Sometimes I add in where I was and who I was with, what the weather was like and even if I had an injury or an illness. I do add up the wholly inaccurate mileage at the end of a week, month and year, because I like statistics but to me it’s not about how much mileage I’ve done it’s about how I’ve performed in races that counts, and I know that one can be directly influenced by the other, positively and negatively but….non obsessive! As well as my training log I also keep a record of every race I’ve ever run, including clippings, well who wouldn’t.

Over the years I’ve come across athletes from different countries and at one point Belgrave Hall used to be a Kiwi meeting place. Some of my Kiwi pals told me the story of how, on a night out, one of their running mates asked if they could run to the pictures so that he could get in the required mileage for that week, this being the final day of the week. Now I don’t know if the story is true, some of our fellow runners can be a little loose with the truth, especially when you get them on the beer, but it sounds like the sort of obsessive attitude one would expect from some runners.

Collections – I do collect things, I don’t think it’s obsessive, maybe at times just a bad habit. I’ve come across friends who have a back catalogue of running magazines, not me, I read them, maybe cut out a particular article that might be of use in the future, and then I chuck them out. But like many of the guys in the Facebook group ‘I was, Or Am A Runner !’, that I’m a part of, we’re now enjoying the benefit of seeing old results posted by those clever chaps who managed to hold onto their old magazines. Having said that I do have copies of my old club magazines, Belgrave and Herne Hill, but mostly for egotistical reasons, i.e. I featured in them.

I don’t collect race numbers, after the race I take them off as soon as possible and throw them in the bin or recycling box. Though by accident, i.e. somebody once presented me with the numbers I wore on my International debut (Masters disclaimer here, I’m not famous) in a presentation case so I’ve been keeping International championship numbers ever since.

I keep all my medals, most of them mean quite a lot to me, but I don’t really display them anywhere, I just keep them in a box for when I’m old and bored. I’ve got hundreds of them and if I start winning some more I’m going to have to get a bigger box, or another box. I remember being misquoted by somebody at Edinburgh AC when I once said that I didn’t enter races to win money but that I considered myself to be a championship runner who ran for medals rather than money. This came back to me as Roger only runs if there’s a medal, but then people are so easily misunderstood.

A box of medals

I have kept every team singlet I’ve ever worn and owned. After 25 years you may think that they’re a bit tatty, like those we sometimes see on some runners, but no, my policy was always to wear a club singlet in races but not in training. Of course once I’ve left a club that gives me training rights over that club’s singlet so eventually they will make the grand depart. I even still have my very first Belgrave singlet, which I think was made out of wool and probably accounts for why I finished 129^th in my first cross country race, but it sits at the bottom of a drawer awaiting a revival when, once again, wool is the singlet of choice. I have a mate who frames his singlet every time he wins a national championship, they do look good on his walls, but I’m not sure people wouldn’t think I was obsessive if I started to do that and I know Carole wouldn’t approve, plus I don’t actually have enough space.

Team Singlets, worn by me. South of England, Belgrave Harriers (the adidas years), Herne Hill Harrriers, Scottish Masters, Belgrave again (kept a sheep warm), Edinburgh AC (with the old name) England Masters, Salford Harriers

I have rather a large collection of trainers, why wouldn’t I, I need different trainers for different occasions; racers for dry days, racers for wet days, racers for roads that might have mud on them or sections of gravel paths, cross country spikes, trail shoes, track spikes, trainers for plodding, trainers for speed work, trainers for gym work and used trainers for putting out the rubbish. Naturally I have my trainers on rotation and currently a couple of pairs sitting in boxes waiting to be used. In fact I have more trainers than shoes, I’m sure Carole isn’t happy about how many pairs I’ve got littering the hallway but then I don’t have as many wardrobes full of clothes as her so it’s not an argument about to happen.  

Those cotton t-shirts you get given at races, yes I keep them all, I find them quite useful for wearing in the sun as I don’t like to ruin my nice t-shirts with suncream. I also use them to change into after a run if I’m out somewhere and need to drive to somewhere else and I use them down the gym. They do get thrown away when they get grubby but, because I have so many, I see nothing odd about wearing one from a race that occurred 15 years ago. Carole has a different opinion on that but why waste a good t-shirt just because it’s part of history.

As I’m still running and thanks to digital media, I have a growing collection of photographs of me running. It’s rare I look good in action but I still have to keep them, they’re a record of my past and I’m sure I’ll look a hell of a lot worse in the future. I’m sure every runner must keep pictures of themselves in action or holding a trophy so I can’t see this as any kind of obsession. Keeping photos of other runners maybe…..

Food and drink – As a PT I often get asked about nutrition and yes I do know about and advise upon nutrition, but I prefer the non diet method; cut back and eventually out the junk, watch portion size but don’t eat too little as well as too much, keep drinking fluid and be careful about alcohol consumption. I feel that I eat and drink in a well balanced way, with occasional blowouts, I’m only human, but I am careful what I eat and drink the day before and the day of a race, particularly an important race. In fact contrary to normal advice I drink very little water before a race, though I try to ensure I am hydrated, reason being I’ve found that water sloshing around in my stomach doesn’t suit me. I’ve experimented with food and found what works for me, sometimes it stops working so I have to change, but I also eat very little on race day. I can get away with stored energy on the runs I do. I know my body and how it ticks, you have to find your own thing. Like a lot of the runners from my era I did used to drink the night before races, though only occasionally to excess, I still enjoy a drink the night before, just depends how fit I am and how important the race is as to how much I drink, but beer is out, I can no longer handle beer before a race, though after is a different story.

Garmin/Strava/MapMyRun – As I’ve written previously, I do keep a log of my training but I don’t upload anything to the computer. Partly because I’ve never owned a garmin, have always liked using small watches, and can’t be bothered with the faff, the casio suits my purposes. I have many friends who upload everything and whilst I can see the benefit that can be derived from using technology I’m happy with what I’ve done. I know when I’m running well, I don’t need anything or anyone else to tell me. I also know (and here’s the psychology) when I’m not running well but I don’t need technology to tell me I’m running worse than I think I am, plus, whilst I’m quite open about my training, I never lay it all out for my opponents to see, uploading my runs onto the internet would give away all my training secrets… I run how I feel, if I feel good I run fast, if I don’t I don’t run fast, it’s simple really.

So having written this blog and gone through various pointers it’s clear I’m not obsessive, just a little different. It’s also made me realise that some of my friends aren’t as obsessive as I thought they were, though they’re still more obsessive than me.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk