Just Like Starting Over

When I first started running I had no concept of how fast I could go, so I always started too fast. Luckily my original focus was the 800m, so when I started to struggle that horrible feeling of pain didn’t last too long, though I do have recollections of my first 800m race and that pounding in my head that just wouldn’t stop. When I started running longer distances I’d learnt my lesson and so I would start the races more cautiously. As I had no ambitions to win these longer races I never felt like I was missing out by not being involved in the tussles at the front, but the benefit I received was that as the race progressed so did I, passing numerous people as they started to suffer. It was a great feeling and very encouraging too, for me not those I passed.

As I became a better runner I could no longer afford to take the cautious approach, if I wanted to win I had to get in the mix from the off, even so I’ve been continuously surprised by a number of people who’s ambitions far exceeded their ability, particularly the man in full tracksuit who led the Derby 10k for 200m and then finished about 20 minutes behind me, perhaps the photographers stationed at 180m had something to do with that.

Getting older has meant I’m no longer in that position where I’m fighting for out and out race wins, even if I sometimes surprise myself, so my starts have been a bit more sedate, often I’m well back in the field before over exuberance takes effect and I leave a trail of youngsters in my wake as the race progresses. But, having just started back with two parkruns since my achilles injury, I find myself back where I was 24 years ago. Starting slowly and coming through the field.

It’s not that my heart and lungs can’t go any quicker, nor any lack of ambition on my behalf, it’s just that the ankle area is particularly stiff at the start of a race, perhaps a rolling start behind a safety car or bike might help. It takes me a few minutes before the joint eases up and I start to run normally, rather than limping along, and by the time I’ve got into my stride the head of the field is well away.

This situation won’t last forever, every day I’m able to run faster for longer, the pain in my ankle area gets less and less and my fitness levels increase. But while I’m in this situation I’m enjoying passing people in races, perhaps if I was running 10ks rather than 5ks I might pass more people. One day I hope to be back challenging at the front of the field, particularly against my age group peers, but until that day watch out for a barely out of breath Rog coming past you, just when you thought you’d banished him to the archives.

Last weekend it was the Hollins Green 5k, one of my favourite races, where I’ve always featured highly in the results, since I first ran it in 2010. It was too soon in my racing recovery to put myself on the start line for that, but I notice the Green brothers, from Warrington, had good runs, particularly Andy who finished 1^st M50 in a sub 16 clocking. Instead I chose to try out the Delamere parkrun, where I finished 5^th in 18:39. Still a long way off my best but a 46 second advance on the much easier Edinburgh parkrun I ran the previous week, admittedly I wasn’t encumbered with any kind of costume or carrying a wand this time. The better news was that my ankle survived an uneven course and I was able to train at sub 7 minute mile pace the following day.

Speaking of costumes, my old New Zealand pal, Paul Coughlan, ran a half marathon last week, dressed as a giraffe. I always thought it possible Paul had issues with his height, perhaps that’s why he’s so loud, but this might be taking things a bit far.

Recently I’ve been advising other runners by phone, email, text and by providing training schedules. I have allowed myself to run with some of my slower clients and jogged with Lee on his recoveries, but tonight I’m ready to throw my hat into the ring and venture out on my first training session, for months, with Ray. At last I feel I will be able to keep up with him and justify my place alongside him. Shortly I’ll be running my first proper race, don’t expect any miracles but I’m looking forward to wearing the Salford red & white with pride.    

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

Not the Edinburgh Marathon Festival

I love Edinburgh, it’s a great place to visit and a brilliant place to live. Unfortunately, since I left Edinburgh at the end of 2009 I haven’t had many opportunities to return. Earlier this year I was invited to attend a friend’s 40^th birthday party, but the event clashed with a race I was keen to do, so I didn’t attend. In hindsight it might have been a better option as I may not have ended up injured at the rodeo whereas I’m still not running properly after injuring myself racing. Still if we lived by hindsight our lives would no doubt be a bit dull. So I was delighted when I received an invite to the wedding of one of the Edinburgh AC athletes I used to assist the training of, back in the days when I was taking my first steps into coaching. A perfect excuse to pop back to Edinburgh, and being an athletics wedding, both Richard and Gail being established runners – though I think Gail may debate that fact slightly, it would be a great opportunity to catch up with many of the guys and gals I trained and raced with, many years ago.

So this weekend we were in Edinburgh. Of course, not planning to race, I was oblivious to the fact that the weekend also heralded the Edinburgh Marathon Festival, with races all weekend, but I should have known, Richard being such a keen runner couldn’t have organised his own wedding at a better time, with the place being full of runners. I was a little surprised that Richard wasn’t taking part in any of the races, in fact I’d have thought he would have done all four. As it turned out Richard did at least do the decent thing, taking part in a race on the morning of his wedding, the Edinburgh parkrun.

With it being almost three months since my last race I was hoping my achilles would be strong enough for me to also take part, yes I’d be slow and finish well down the field, but I don’t care who beats me (or so I thought) as long as I can run. After my failed attempt two weeks ago I was back up to running for 40 minutes, convinced I was running 10 minute mile pace surely I could do a 5k! I didn’t make any promises, my achilles is on a daily knife edge, other than, if I did run, I would join Richard and his friends in wearing a fairy outfit during the run – well if I was going to be photographed in a compromising situation, i.e. well down a field and shuffling like an old man, I might as well go the whole hog and dress up.

We travelled up on the Friday, driving through the hills on the way to Bonnyrigg, and the weather was great. Seeing the blue sky and the green hills made me long for an opportunity to return to Edinburgh on a more permanent, or at least more regular basis. The next morning was equally sunny and warm, I’d taken all nature of kit with me, knowing how cold and wet it can be, but the only precaution I needed against the weather conditions was my upf Hilly hat.

I’ve never done the Edinburgh parkrun before but know the area, though this was the first time I’d seen the Firth of Forth look so beautiful from that location. I met up with Richard and his family, friends and my friends, but there was no sign of any fairy outfits. With 5 minutes until the start there was still no sign of any fairies, I was beginning to think I’d get away with it, and then Dan showed up. It was a quick clothing change, skirt, wings and wand and off we set. Paddy Jumelle, of Corstorphine shot into an early lead, that he was never to surrender, closely followed by three fairies, Richard, Colin and Dan. I was some way back swallowed up by a mass of runners.

It took a while for me to settle down, constantly waiting for the achilles to give me the warning sign that I needed to stop or slow down. It took a while but as I passed the 1k marker, in 3:50, the niggle started to appear. I decided I’d be ok to carry on but needed to slow down. I hadn’t really thought I could get under 20 minutes but now I was slowing down I was disappointed that it was highly likely I wouldn’t get under it. A 4:10 second k confirmed this, but the pain had gone. We were at the point where you turned around to head back and I suddenly noticed another fairy, not that far ahead of me. Now I’m not the most competitive of people but there was no way I was going to finish behind that fairy. Without putting too much effort in I relaxed into a pace that drew the fairy within my grasp. As I passed him I got a sudden tinge of compassion and gave him some words of encouragement, to help him through his bad patch, and then promptly accelerated. It was a strong, relatively painless return journey, all the way passing those who had stronger achilles than me, but weaker hearts and lungs, the only downside being I didn’t dare release a finishing kick to put paid to the last few I had a chance to catch. I surprised myself, finishing in 26^th, well down on my previous worst parkrun finishing position, but a lot higher than I had anticipated and, further to my earlier predictions I managed a respectable 19:25 timing. But I paid for it later, my Achilles has been sore for days, though I have managed to keep on running.

The rest of the day was full of fantastic sunshine, Richard and Gail couldn’t have asked for a better day.

Now back in England it’s back to work on a number of things, thankfully still running. Next week there’s a bloke from Runners World coming to take my picture as part of an article for which I was one of the runners being interviewed. It’s about running as an older athlete. Last time I was interviewed for an article I was misquoted, hopefully that won’t happen again, though I can’t remember what I did say and, since the interview was some time back, I’ve matured into an even older runner since then.



Let's hope I look a little better in Runners World



Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

         

British Masters Road Relays 2013

If there can be a worst time in the year to be injured, this is it for me – road relay time. Ok so the relay season is twofold, one in spring and one in autumn, but it’s the spring ones that have a special place in my heart. I’ve already had to miss the Northern and National 12 stages but hoped that I might be back in time for the Masters National event. Three weeks ago I didn’t think I would but then the physio gave me the all clear to start running again and this gave me the push I needed to try to get fit for this event. Tall order I know, but, with a bit of luck, it could be done. I had some luck, unfortunately it was bad luck. I knew I couldn’t just talk my way into a strong Salford squad, I had to prove I was up to the job, so, after an encouraging two weeks of training, I started the Congleton Parkrun last Saturday. Unfortunately I didn’t finish it, within 3 minutes I was getting pains around my Achilles and even though I slowed down I could tell it wasn’t right. I was ok to jog back to the start, I did my stretching exercises and jogged another lap. Maybe it wasn’t that bad! The next day I could hardly run, I managed 5 minutes but it was pain all the way. I took Monday off but was back running on Tuesday. Wednesday I’d set up a time trial to force my way into the Salford team, it was a 1k loop and I figured if I could run 5 in about 17 minutes it might be enough, but as soon as I started running I could tell there was no point even trying, so I didn’t and told the team I was out. Sad moment for me, but at least it got rid of the uncertainty and the team was able to focus their own efforts.  

I’m not a great one for watching, I don’t mind watching if I’ve already done my race or if mine is still to come, but I’d rather be doing than watching. However on this occasion I wanted to give my support to the Salford lads and lasses, as well as catch up with my team mates, whom I got to know well over the winter. Plus being a big event there would be lots of people I’ve come across, in my years of running, that I don’t see that often, and, as I like a good chat, it was too good an opportunity to miss. My mate Rob Tudor was making his debut for Salford so I went down with him, joining us in the car was Wilmslow’s M50 star Graham MacNeil. With two such talkative guys in the car it was difficult to get a word in edgeways but I did at least manage to pass on my course knowledge.

Arriving in plenty of time I was surprised to see the majority of the Salford guys already there. I’ll admit it felt awkward hobbling up to greet them, knowing I wouldn’t be helping them out to win a title, but I soon got over that and we chatted easily, as if the last 13 weeks had never existed.

Unfortunately for Salford I wasn’t the only one to drop out. Both Mike Deegan and Eric Williams had been late withdrawals from the M55 team and the ladies team lost so many they couldn’t get a team down, only Denise Wakefield, supporting her husband, was able to make the start line, but we still had men’s teams in all four categories, some feat, not only that but we expected them all to be challenging for medals. It wasn’t just Salford who suffered withdrawals, I was disappointed that my old club and twice winners, Herne Hill, couldn’t get a men’s squad, neither could four times winners, Bristol and West, or last year’s winners runners up, Ronhill Cambuslang. All teams which could have challenged for the championships, if they had turned out their best athletes, and who contained a number of my running friends.

The first race off was the ladies, all age groups, and the M65+ men. Arena were straight to the front in the W35, followed in by Coventry Godiva’s W45, Heanor, Charnwood and Bristol and West’s W45 teams. Bingley were the leading W55 team and Elswick the leading M65 team. There appears to have only been one W65 team, Barnet, who were guaranteed a win in their category. Lying in 10^th M65 position was Salford’s Vin Murphy. Not that far behind was Denise Wakefield, but with nobody to hand onto that was the end of our ladies challenge. After two legs it was Heanor at the front, ahead of Royal Sutton Coldfield and Wilmslow, Bristol were now leading the W45, just ahead of Winchester, with Coventry slipping to third. Bingley were still clear leaders of the W55 but Oxford now led the M65. Roland Bowness had managed to move Salford up to 9^th but with only one leg to go it was looking unlikely our M65’s would get into the medals. The 3^rd leg saw Winchester W45 take the overall lead and thus win the W45 competition from Bristol and Coventry, The W35 still had one leg to go, Serpentine were now leading that competition, ahead of Arena, by 2 seconds, and Wilmslow. Bingley finished where they started at the front of the W55, with Barnett securing the gold in the W65. In the M65 race Oxford were clear winners from Elswick and Trentham. Sidney Sacks, Salford’s photographer brought us home in 8^th position, and whilst he prepared to run and did his leg, I took over photographic responsibilities, those’ll be the blurred ones on the Salford website. The W35 ended in victory for Serpentine, who stretched clear of Arena, with Telford snatching the bronze medals.

Then it was on to my event. The M35, M45 and M55 races. I’d decided that I would jog around the course continuously whilst the race was on, this would give me an opportunity to cheer on the Salford lads at different points each lap, so I set off with club mate Graham Chesters, who was also supporting. Poor Graham had to keep slowing down so I could keep up with him, my Achilles not being able to cope with too fast a pace, thank goodness I’d pulled out of the race, our M45 team would have dropped back so dramatically I’d have had to hang my head in shame for years.

Early leaders in this race were Tipton, taking it seriously with Martin Williams at the front, but, showing why he keeps winning things, Leicester’s Gordon Lee brought their M45 team in 2^nd, just 9 seconds behind. Aldershot and Horwich filled the medal positions for M35, with Pumlani Bangani bringing Salford home in 10^th position, less than a minute behind the leaders. Dave Lockett was on 1^st leg duty for the M45s, he had been right behind Pumlani in the early stages, but having been ill all week he faded a little in the 2^nd half of his leg, but he’d done the job we needed, bringing us home in 5^th position, with a solid team to come. Redhill and Wolverhampton & Bilston currently held the medal positions behind Leicester. A little further back our Stan Owen had the lead in the M55 competition, ahead of Cobra and Les Croupiers.

Dave and Pumlani battle it out

while Stan Owen holds the lead in the M55

Coming down the age groups Mike Hagar took over for Tipton and although he was overtaken by Aldershot, he did enough to hold onto 2^nd in the M35 race. Leicester’s Rob Sheen brought them home in 3^rd place, over a minute ahead of 2^nd M45 team Oxford. Hallamshire now occupied the 3^rd M35 position with Tynebridge doing likewise in the M45s. The Salford boys had mixed fortunes, Darren Moran had dropped back to 13^th in the M35s, as other teams wielded some big guns, but Derek Crewe ran brilliantly bringing our M45 team in 4^th, just behind Tynebridge. Salford’s M55 team clung onto 1^st place as Phil Quibell ran a great leg, though both Dulwich and Blackheath were breathing heavy down his neck.

 

Darren and Derek fight for Salford supremacy

Phil Quibell still leading for Salford

Aldershot hung onto the lead after leg 3, Tad Dicker, managing to hold off a group of teams fighting for 2^nd. It was another old mate and rival, Andy Weir, who got closest to Tad, bringing Thames Hare & Hounds into contention, with Tipton still in the medals, in 3^rd. Leicester were now 5^th but still over a minute ahead of nearest M45 rivals, Sunderland, with Dulwich now in 3^rd. Billy McCartney moved our M35 team up to 11^th and Paul Birkett did a grand job for the M45s holding onto that 4^th position, and only 1 second down on Dulwich. Having lost Mike Deegan and Eric Williams the M55s still fought hard for a medal and at this point of the race, although we lost the lead to Blackheath, Mike Wakefield brought us in just 5 seconds behind, but not far behind Les Croupiers and Dulwich were looming large, neck and neck at the handover.

 

Paul and Billy still fighting it out for supremacy

Smooth looking Mike Wakefield

At halfway, for the M35s, Ben Reynolds took THH into a lead of nearly a minute. Tipton were still hanging in there with 2^nd and Aldershot still had designs on a medal, in 3^rd. Tony Taylor moved us through the field as we entered the top 10 for the first time, in 9^th. Leicester dropped down the field a little but still led the M45s by over a minute. Now it was Salford who were holding 2^nd position, as Paul Simons, former 12 stage winner, dug deep to bring us ahead of Sunderland. The M55s finished on this leg and it was Les Croupiers who took gold, Wirral came through to take the silver and Dulwich took bronze. Not too far behind was Stan Curran, originally down to run in the M65 race, he gave all he could, but was unable to hold of a couple of pairs of younger legs and finished with in 4^th position.

 

Tony Taylor



One of Salford's best known athletes, Stan Curran gets a sandwiching.



Paul Simons

Leg 5 saw THH extend their lead to nearly two minutes from Tipton. Les Croupiers were now 3^rd, but only 1 second ahead of Leicester who showed they could mix it with the M35s. Another of our former 12 stage champions, Eric Crowther, showed he still remembers what it’s like to challenge for medals, moving us up to 8^th place. With 1 leg to go in the M45s it looked like Leicester’s day, surely only a major disaster could take the victory from them, but the minor medals still needed to be decided. Salford were still in 2^nd position, Rob Tudor making his debut, much delayed by injury, showed he was a true racer. Despite this being his first race in months he pulled further away from Sunderland to give us a gap of 46 seconds. Rob was running scared, not from the opposition, but from the grief I would have given him all the way home if he hadn’t delivered.

 

Eric Crowther

Rob Tudor may have only gone away with silver but he won the Salford gurning contest

Leg 6 saw the end of the M45 competition. Leicester, missing a major disaster, fully deserved their win with consistent racing, which brought them home nearly two minutes ahead of us. It’ll take some effort to steal Leicester’s crown, but it can be done, next time! Phil Leybourne, was another of our runners not long back from injury but he ran brilliantly to move Salford up into 9^th position overall, and take the silver medals for the team. Over a minute back another old friend and rival, Stevie Cairns, ran one of the fastest legs of the day to move Tynebridge into the bronze position, moving their local rivals, Sunderland, into 4th. In the M35 competition there were still two legs to go. THH were drawing further away at the front, Tipton were hanging onto 2^nd and Les Croupiers were still 3^rd. But Salford were now in 4^th position, James Williams, another long term injured athlete, ran 2^nd fastest on the leg and our fastest time of the day to bring us into touching distance of a medal.

Fastest Salford Harrier, James Williams

Phil Leybourne secures silver as a balding Salford Harrier looks on

Everybody was expecting a strong finish from Highgate, last year’s winners, but it was Preston who came through to put themselves in with a chance of a medal. THH still led, by more than two and a half minutes, Les Croupiers, helped by another star of a much older age group, Martin Rees, were now in 2^nd, with Preston only 20 seconds behind. Tipton were the biggest loser slipping to 4^th. We were now in 5^th place, Mike Grace, an exponent of making fast running look slow, ran our 3^rd fastest leg of the day, to keep us in touch with the medals.    

 

Mike Grace, it takes a lot of practice to make running fast look this slow

The day finished with THH being crowned champions, Preston moved through into 2^nd and Les Croupiers held onto the bronze medal position. For Salford it was a second 4^th place of the day as Dave Hudson couldn’t quite make up the gap to the medals but moved us past Tipton.

 

Last Salford Harrier running, Dave Hudson

What a great day out, what a great race and, despite only picking up the one medal, I think Salford did pretty well with four teams finishing 4^th, 2^nd, 4^th and 8^th. We know we can do better, I’m looking forward to next year where I’m hoping to fight my way back into the squad and be surrounded by injury free runners so we can show what Salford has to offer. Not only in the four men’s categories but also in the women’s.

 

Three happy Salford Harriers and Rob Tudor collect their medals.

Clearly I’m not ready to race just yet, because of the relays I tried to accelerate my recovery and it nearly worked. It was a risk that didn’t come off, but with no other races lined up I can now get down to the business of a risk free recovery. I saw the physio today and she seems happy with the progress I’m making but told me I still have about 6 weeks to go before I should consider running fast again. That’s not music to my ears but at least it gives me hope I will one day run fast enough to make the Salford team. The good news is I can now run with clients again, not the really fast ones, but the ones who are nearly fast. And that really is good news as I’ve recently being working with a number of runners who want me to help them improve. I normally restrict the number of runners I run with, only so many miles in the legs and I need to do my own training too, but as I can’t train myself properly now’s the time to help as many other runners as I can.

Since I started blogging in 2011 I’ve covered a number of different topics, based largely on my own experiences, and, understandably, the majority have been about running. I hope, if you’ve been reading them, that you’ve enjoyed them, and picked up some useful tips. This is my 100^th blog, I hope to continue, I’d like to bring you more stories of Salford’s success, though I’m getting so busy I may not be able to write them quite so frequently. One of my friends, who blogs, has been voted into the top 10 running blogs in Australia (by RunStopShop), surely an accolade worth having, so why not have a look at www.thegirlthatruns.com

    

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

photos thanks to Sid

Rob may have all the chat in the car but it doesn't impress this lady.

Am I Nearly There Yet?

This week has been a particularly encouraging week for me, in fact I’m more than encouraged by the progress I’ve made, I’m amazed. For 10 weeks I had suffered the torment of not being able to run and then last Monday I was given the all clear to start again. I had tried to jump the gun four days previously but realised I wasn’t quite ready. Last Monday night I set out on my first, tentative, attempt to run. For 5 minutes I shuffled through the streets of Northwich, feeling like a pantomime dame with his feet tied together. It was slow, it was painful, and I was embarrassed. After that I thought it would be a long time before I found my running feet, and yet, yesterday, only 8 days on, I ran for 60 minutes over the undulations of Tatton Park. How was this possible, considering the extent of my injuries? Well here’s how I got from where I was to where I am now. It’s not a glamorous story, rather a patient torment and not giving in to the doubts.

Day 1 – Monday 29 April. Today I went to the physio, we talked, she prodded, and at the end of the session she told me to start running again, gently. I went home and later that day I set off on my first 5 minute run. I’ve already said how it went but I was running so tense, just waiting for the achilles to go again. My ungainly attempt didn’t leave me feeling any encouragement and I was left wondering if it was still too early.

Day 2 - Tuesday 30 April. This morning I was working in the gym, but before I started working with my clients I went for a 10 minute run. Surprisingly it felt a little better. I was still a little tentative, a little tense, and a little ungainly but I managed 10 minutes, a little faster than yesterday. When I was coming back from my last injury I started this way but ran twice a day with the aim of accelerating the recovery. It’s a risky method but I decided I was going to try it again, so this afternoon I went out for a further 15 minute run. Again it was faster, further and a little less ungainly. This was the moment where I started to believe I could get back, I just wasn’t sure when.

Day 3 – Wednesday 1 May. Maintaining the daily mantra of further and faster each time today I managed a 20 minute run and a 25 minute run. Still a little painful as I ran but no repercussions afterwards.

Day 4 – Thursday 2 May. Saw me working with Lee Riley. He was doing track work but there was no way I would be able to run 70 odd second laps, so I confined myself to jogging with him during his recoveries. I actually found this run really hard, perhaps it was the accumulation or maybe it was just the stopping and starting, which kept stiffening my leg muscles. I was finding out, during my running, that I was stiff for the first 5 or 6 minutes but then my ankle would loosen up and I could run properly. I decided I would call it a day with the one run today, but then I changed my mind and went out for a 37 minute run in the evening. That was a big breakthrough. During that 37 minutes I felt more like a runner than at any other run this week, things were starting to come together, I was floating along nicely, ok a little heavier footed and a lot slower than normal but I felt like I was broaching the 20 minute 5k barrier.

Day 5 – Friday 3 May. Having made it past the 30 minutes yesterday it was now time to cut back to one run a day, but make it longer, so this morning it was 45 minutes. Again a little faster but I was still experiencing a little pain. I was still so concerned about overdoing it, yet at the same time fighting to get fit for the BMAF Relays. All the tensing was making all my muscles ache and I was breathing a lot heavier than I should be for such a pace. I still felt like progress was being made so I was looking forward to tomorrow’s run.

Day 6 – Saturday 4 May. Carole and I had decide to spend the Bank Holiday weekend out of the country, for some reason we’d chosen Cardiff. Of course, when we’d decided, I wasn’t running, but now I was back into a rhythm and I didn’t want it to stop. We were going to head off early morning so I got up earlier for a run. My body was so stiff I decided if I ran now it would more than likely set me back, maybe I might do something in the afternoon. We got into Cardiff just after 12:00 and spent the afternoon discovering the town. I’ve been to Cardiff before in 1998, for the Inter-counties cross country champs, but then it was a case of bus up from London, race, bus back to London, so I never really got to see the place. I knew it had been developed a fair amount since then but I was surprised with how nice a city it was. Excellent shopping and restaurants/bars, all very close together, and Bute Park (where I had raced before) was a really pleasant park to walk around. Unfortunately all the walking made me feel a little stiff, so I decided to play the rest day card and went for a swim instead.

Day 7 – Sunday 5 May. It was a beautiful morning, perfect for a run in the park, and that was our intention. Before breakfast we were going to run up to the park together, about 4 minutes away, then I was going to leave Carole and try to pick up the pace. But within a minute I was feeling awkward, trying to run at Carole’s pace was putting too much pressure on the achilles so I decided to leave her and run on at my pace, solely concentrating on my own form. Another couple of minutes and I still felt like I was running awkward and I was feeling pain around the achilles. On the verge of giving in and walking back to the hotel, I decided to keep going at least to the entrance to the park, and then suddenly the pain eased. As I entered the park I started gradually increasing the pace. I was nervy, still a little tense, and not at my most comfortable, but I felt better at a better pace than I’d done all week. Not having a garmin I can’t be absolutely sure of my pace but it felt similar to how I’d run in Germany, when I ran a 17:37 5k. I had planned to only run for 30 minutes but in the end I tagged a bit on and did 38, not a huge difference in normal terms but significant enough when you’re on the comeback trail. I felt great afterwards and, thankfully suffered no repercussions. After breakfast we decided to pop out of Cardiff, into the countryside, and visited Dyffryn Gardens. With it being such a nice sunny day it was relaxing to stroll through the grounds and sit in the sun reading the Sunday paper.

Walking was just the thing I needed to enable the leg muscles to keep working and stretching. After a while we returned to the hotel and walked down to the Cardiff Bay Area. I’d heard it had been developed and was interested to see it, but I wasn’t expecting it to be quite so crowded, all the bars and restaurants were chocka. Admittedly the warm weather and the fact that they were setting up a stage for a concert, to celebrate Cardiff City FC’s Championship victory, probably made it busier than usual but it was a nice place to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon. We walked over the barrier towards Penarth and back again, returning to the hotel, where, because it was still warm and sunny, we plonked ourselves on some seats and enjoyed a couple of beers, whilst we waited for the Cardiff City FC bus to drive past, spraying spectators with champagne, whilst one of it’s occupants belted out a karaoke rendition of champione.

Day 8 – Monday 6 May. We were due to leave Cardiff and head home but first the small matter of today’s run. Uplifted by yesterday’s run I decided the time was right to start my speed work and decided on my old favourite the 1,2,3. This time I left Carole at the hotel door and set off on my own. I felt good all the way to the park and was ready to put in some efforts. The first one felt really awkward and slow, I really wasn’t sure if I was doing the right thing but I persevered and by the time I was on my 3^rd rep I was feeling more comfortable. I still wasn’t able to go as fast as I’d like to but I was running like a proper runner again. 38 minutes later I was back at the hotel feeling pretty happy with myself. Then it was breakfast and the drive back home.

On the way home we visited Tredegar House and Country Park. This was the scene of Herne Hill Harriers BMAF Cross Country relay victory in 2005, when we surprised the mighty Bristol & West. I hadn’t been back since but the start and finish area still seemed familiar to me and I recalled Dave Robinson flashing past the house to bring us the championship ahead of Bristol & West’s Nick Rose. Oh happy days. Then it was back home and a chance to sit in the garden before the sun went down.

Nice setting for a race, especially when you win.

Day 9 – Tuesday 7 May. A busy day at work but in between client sessions I managed to find the time to do a 60 minute run. It wasn’t as fast as I’d done in Cardiff, but it was over the undulations of Tatton Park. By now the pain around my achilles was becoming minimal and I decided to try another quality run tomorrow.

Day 10 – Wednesday 8 May. I made a big decision last night, today I was going to run my fartlek course. This morning I did it, still not at 100% effort but a little faster over an intense course. Just a slight niggle around the achilles but nowhere near as bad as it’s been this last week. Now I’m really starting to feel confident and can’t wait to try it out in a proper race. Tomorrow is the Mow Cop Killer Mile, but I think it’s too soon, so I’ll leave that for Lee to smash. The big question is no longer can I get round a stage of the masters relay, it’s can I get round fast enough to justify a place in the Salford team. The body is definitely moving more freely, I’m getting faster all the time and I feel that it’s the stiffness rather than my lung capacity that’s holding my speed back. Once I’m clear of pain and stiffness I’ll be able to really turn on the taps and push my lungs to their limit.

       

While I’ve been hiding out in a pair of cycling shorts those that can have been running. One guy in particular just seems to be getting better and better the older he gets, Kerry- Liam Wilson, one of my Scottish rivals from Ronhill Cambuslang seems to be winning everything put before him and last weekend set a pb over the marathon 2:27.20, at Belfast, pretty impressive for a 42 year old, earlier in the week he’d run a 5k pb of 15:02, possibly even more impressive. Well done Kerry, hope to catch up with you soon.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

A New Beginning

With a title like that you could be mistaken for thinking I was moving home, starting up a new business or changing clubs. Nope it’s none of that and I’m not even sure if it is a new beginning, still early days. 10 weeks it’s been since I damaged my achilles. That’s 10 weeks where I’ve had to watch others take pleasure from a hobby that’s served me so well, 10 weeks of being patient and 10 weeks of having to let my Salford club mates down. But in all of those 10 weeks I’ve retained a high level of optimism, I’ve kept busy doing other things and kept thinking positively about my running future. Ok it crossed my mind that this might be a career finishing injury, or at best writing off 2013, but I always had hope that I’d be back to prove that I can still deliver. I’ve always said that if I had to give up running I’d be ok about it, it’s given me 24 years of joy and a relatively good level of success, but I still believe I have more to achieve, so I’m hoping this is the new beginning I’m looking for.

I’m not wanting to get ahead of myself, it’s very early days and it may all fall apart tomorrow but my optimism is at it’s highest level since I realised I was badly damaged goods. Three weeks ago I visited a physio, she told me to give it 3 weeks before I tried to run. I obeyed her, for almost 3 weeks of that, last Thursday my ankle felt good so I went for a shuffle. 5 minutes later I proved I could shuffle but the achilles reacted badly. When I woke up this morning my achilles was still a little sore and with a visit to the physio planned I figured it would be another 3 weeks of waiting. However the physio advised me she thought I should try again, and never to be one to disobey a physio, at least not twice in one week, I set off on a little jaunt this afternoon.

As you can imagine, 10 weeks of inactivity and pain caused a certain amount of tension in the first couple of minutes and I probably resembled an ambling drunken elephant as I shuffled along the street of Northwich, but after 5 minutes I felt good. So far no reaction to the run and if this continues it will be a gradual increase in distance and speed from now on. Normally now I’d be looking up races and planning my season, but I’m being a little careful, better to run than run too fast and sit out another 10 weeks. Of course my good friends at Salford are awaiting news to see if I’ll make their masters relay team, but to be honest, that team’s so talented they wouldn’t even miss me if I was at my peak. Still if there’s a chance, I’ll be back to Sutton Park like a shot.

Of course I’ve not been inactive for 10 weeks I’ve done various things and recently got my bike out of the garage for some long rides. I’ve been enjoying rediscovering the Cheshire countryside, but two punctures in 4 days made me a bit despondent. However, today is another day and as I’m cycling with a running client, around my fartlek course (I hope I can remember it), tonight, I had to get the bike up and running this afternoon.   

So fingers crossed my running chums, I’ll soon be back in action. I know this year won’t be my best but the build up starts now for my next big championship win.

It’s been a couple of weeks since I last blogged, I’ve just been really busy, I’ve had an influx of new clients and this has at least helped me to maintain a positive attitude. Also I couldn’t really think of anything to write about, yes there was the London marathon but I’ve done that to death. This week I’m also starting back with Lee Riley as he goes for his next challenge. Lee recently lost his marathon world record to a Japanese athlete and this was bettered again at London by a Para. But Lee still holds five world records and we’ll be working on something else for the coming weeks.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

The National 12 Stage

Last weekend it was National Road Relay day, in this event there are 12 stages for men and 6 for the women. The 6 stage legs are all the same length, same as the men’s short stage,  whereas the 12 stage alternates between long (5.38 miles) and short legs (2.99 miles), the 1^st leg being long and the last being short. As regular readers will know I love relay events and naturally I have a 12 stage history. It’s one of those events where I’d have loved to have been in the winning team, I got close, agonisingly close, alas no cigar.

Running for a club of Belgrave’s calibre and history, they were 12 stage champions in 1934, 1935, 1936, 1947, 1948, 1949 and 1951, medalists in 1930, 1932, 1933, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1960, 1964, 1968 and 1969, it was baffling to see their lack of success during my early years at the club. Clearly the club was full of fantastic athletes in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s and the 60’s didn’t look too bad either but what happened from 1970 onwards? The club I was in seemed to have numerous internationals within it and yet it seemed almost impossible to get everybody out together for the big events. On the one occasion that this occurred they won the Southern 12 Stage relay, in 1990.

Of course in those early days I didn’t really know much about these relays, it was fun to watch the Southern 12 Stage on Wimbledon Common but I wasn’t good enough for the team so I had no illusions about making the National squad. Funnily enough, due to lack of interest, I got my call into the National squad before I got called into the Southern squad, but the call came too late, I had other plans. So I made my debut at Sutton Park, the same year I made my Southern debut, the year the Southern 12 Stage moved from Wimbledon to Thurrock, 1993.

1993 was the year of my breakthrough but it’d been a ‘nothing special’ winter. Coming into the Southern 12 Stage I was handed a long stage and ran solid enough to seal a place in the National event. Come the National event we had some good runners but we weren’t going to set the world on fire so my coach told me to request an early short stage. There were two reasons behind this, eight days later I was competing in the Surrey 10000m and a three mile leg would give my legs a good workout without taking too much out of me and early in the race I would have other runners around me enabling me to race rather than time trial. The manager allowed me to run 2^nd leg and I was to take over from Steve Halliday, a 1500m specialist who had run the 4^th fastest long leg in the Southern event. I was expecting a lot from Steve and pictured myself being handed over to somewhere near the front. Steve was in the lead for a while but it appears he went off course and lost a good chunk of time. As runner after runner handed over in front of me I started getting concerned, perhaps something had caused Steve to drop out! But then Steve appeared and handed over to me in 18^th position. I ran a pretty good leg, 14:40, but only managed to pull back 3 places. Still I was happy with my run, which proved to be our fastest short stage, on the day, and remains my fastest time around the circuit. With Steve’s incident, Kassa Tadessa was our fastest long stage, 22 seconds faster than Steve. Notably our 2^nd fastest short stage was former Commonwealth Games silver medallist, John Gladwin, with 14:50. Shaftesbury Barnet were the winners on the day, with a team that included my, current, Salford team mate, Paul Simons. Belgrave finished in 35^th position.

In 1994 I managed to get a short stage at the Southern 12 Stage and blessed with my favoured 2^nd leg I brought Belgrave home in 2^nd place, managing to run the day’s 12^th fastest short stage. Things were looking good and I was keen to get another short stage at the National event, once again the manager obliged. Sadly Steve had now given up competing so it was Kassa who was our lead off man. Kassa had real talent but even I was surprised when Kassa came storming up the hill in 1^st position. Some people hate this scenario, and I can understand why as it is a pressure situation, being at the front of a race knowing faster people will be hunting you down, but I love it. Put me in the lead and I’ll do my best to maintain position, which is what I did here, for about 5/6 of the course. Morpeth’s International, Terry West, caught me with about a mile to go but, instead of going past me, he just sat on me. This was a surprise as I’m sure he was capable of pulling away, perhaps he’d given so much to get up to me or didn’t know who I was so didn’t want me to sit on him and kick past at the finish. Whatever reason, we ran hard together along the bottom section before we turned into the hill, then he went for it, leaving clear space between us. I came in 2^nd, having run 14:43, which was 10^th fastest for that stage and Belgrave’s 2^nd fastest short stage, behind Darren Mead’s 13:49 (2^nd fastest of all). Kassa had run the 9^th fastest long stage of the day but with our next fastest long stage being two and a half minutes slower we understandably drifted down the field to finish 34^th, still an improvement on last year’s position and, more importantly, I’d been given a taste of what it was like to lead the National 12 Stage and I wanted more. Swansea Harriers, after three consecutive 3^rd places were winners this time.

In 1995 we finished 31^st in the Southern 12 Stage and failed to qualify for the National event. This was the only Southern 12 Stage I missed between 1993 and when I left Belgrave, in 2005. The National event was won by Blackheath.

In 1996 I was in great form for the relays. I ran a very good long stage in the Southern event and was looking forward to the National, even tempted to try a long stage this year. Unfortunately other’s weren’t as keen as me and we failed to turn out a team. Bingley were this year’s champions.

In 1997, despite recovering from a strained heart, I ran Belgrave’s fastest long stage at the Southern event, but once again, despite qualifying, we failed to send a team to the National event. The year Salford won the championship.

1998 was the last time the Southern 12 Stage was located at Thurrock. I went out with a good short stage. But once again we qualified yet failed to send a team to the National event, won by Birchfield. I’ll admit I was getting a little frustrated, I loved running in the big events but we’d consistently failed to turn out teams for the National 12 Stage and the Southern and National 6 stage. I considered joining another club but my coach talked me out of it. Then I got injured, thought it was the end of running for me and took the rest of the year off.

Having started back running in December, I was surprised how quickly I got back to reasonable fitness in 1999. I managed to make the Southern 12 Stage team, on a short leg, at the new course in Milton Keynes. I think we surprised a few people by taking silvers. We had almost a complete new team, many of whom had arrived whilst I was injured. This brought a new atmosphere to the club, we were no longer a club that wasn’t interested in major championships, we now believed we could make a difference in them. Nevertheless, come the National event a number of the Southern team were missing and we finished 31^st. Still at least we were there and we’d improved on our position from last time we were there, but there was still work to be done before we could get into the top 10. My 15:08 short stage, once again on stage 2, showed how much fitness I’d lost through injury, but I was still good enough for Belgrave’s 3^rd fastest short stage, behind Mark Miles (13:49) and Kassa Tadessa (14:50). This was Tipton’s year.

More newcomers joined before the 2000 event and it was getting harder for me to make the team. Only a bronze medal at the Southern event but we improved dramatically at the National, finishing in 17^th. I was still on short stage duty but this time on leg 6. My 14:59 was an improvement on last year and meant I was Belgrave’s fastest short stage runner. It was Salford’s win this year.

The 2001 Southern 12 stage at Milton Keynes provided us with more medals as we once again took the bronze. I was on 1^st long stage duty and ran one of my best legs, despite having my heels constantly clipped by the WSEH B runner. I don’t know if it was deliberate, but it was a bit annoying and went on far longer than you’d expect for an accidental kick. Leading up to the National event we were all excited, all the top Belgrave runners wanted to turn out and we thought we could win. I wasn’t sure I’d make the team but I did with one place to spare. It was a difficult decision as to who our 12^th man would be and when the decision was made it was tough for the number 13 runner. Two days before the big day, Paul Evans pulled out. Frustrating but we still had a great team. Unfortunately our original reserve couldn’t make the trip so we had to put number 14 in instead, but there was so little between numbers 11-13 any two of us could have made the team.

Kassa was back in the team and took 1^st leg duty, but unbeknown to us he was not 100%. Despite being up with the leaders he had to stop repeatedly to vomit and trailed in a lowly 35^th, 2 minutes 16 seconds behind the leaders. That’s a big gap but not insurmountable. Richard Ward, Paul Freary, Rick Hayman, Justin Chaston and Kevin Nash gave their all for Belgrave and at half way we were up to 4^th place and only 49 seconds behind the leaders. Mark Miles was our next man out and he ran the fastest long stage of the day to arrive at the handover in 1^st place. I’d given up my favoured 2^nd leg for our younger runners but that meant I was in my favourite position, 1^st place. I’d never felt pressure like it, we were leading the 12 stage with only 4 stages to follow mine and I was only 10 seconds ahead of Tipton’s Seb Shepley. While we were waiting to start I heard Bud Baldaro telling Seb how to beat me, but that didn’t bother me, it just made me more determined not to let the team down. Three miles later on I handed over to Spencer Barden, the relief was enormous, I’d done my bit and hadn’t let the team down, in fact I’d increased our lead over Tipton to 21 seconds (I ran 15:06). With Spencer, Rob McHarg and Alaster Stewart we arrived at the 12 leg still in the lead, 35 seconds ahead of Tipton. This was just what Lee Hurst was waiting for, he’d been thinking about how he should cross the finish line for the traditional front page photo on Athletics Weekly and surely a runner of his calibre wasn’t going to surrender a 35 second advantage. 15 minutes later it was all over, we finished 2^nd to Tipton, by 6 seconds. How could that happen, I still don’t understand it. I can only assume that the pressure I felt increased significantly with each leg. Lee was a great athlete, far better athlete than me, and in his prime but the weight of expectation must’ve been a heavy burden for him that day. It wasn’t all down to Lee, if we could each have pulled out another second on our legs we’d have been victors by 6 seconds. It was a disappointed Belgrave team that headed down the motorway but, despite that I was happy to be in possession of a National silver, I’d been around longer than most of the other guys and unlike the other long time Belgrave runners, Justin and Kassa, this was my biggest achievement to date. Sure I was disappointed but it was better than 35^th or not turning up. Besides my personal disappointment was still to come.

The following year manager, Alan Mead, was determined not to lose again. The team was strong and the win came, a victory of nearly six and a half minutes. Unfortunately for me I was the one who was in the position of consideration for the 12^th man alongside Charles Herrington and despite bringing the team home, on last leg, to our first victory in the Southern event for 12 years, it was Charles who got the nod. I’d been reserve in previous events and it’s not nice, I’m a doer not a watcher, but this time it was particularly galling knowing that I could have run minutes slower than I was capable of and still won a National gold, not that I would have run slow. It was a long day for me but I did get to run last leg for Redhill, understandable it wasn’t the same as running in the Belgrave team and my time of 15:18 shows that. To be honest it didn’t make up for missing the biggest day in my Belgrave life and I shouldn’t really have done that but hindsight is a great thing. I don’t blame anybody else for my lack of inclusion, I should have run better at the Southern event, though I ran a pretty good leg, it’s always tough to make those decisions and there is always somebody who is going to miss out, it just so happened, on this occasion it was me. At the age of 37 it made me realise I’d had my opportunities for Belgrave and it was unlikely I’d ever make the 12 stage team again, so I made the decision that next year I was going to run the London Marathon.

2003 and we won the National 12 Stage again. Once again I was, surprisingly, in the running for a place. The marathon training had brought me into some good form and I’d had my best run in the Southern event, bringing the team in 7^th on leg 1. But with the team we had available for the National it wasn’t good enough and I was once again travelling reserve. Yes it hurt, but after last year I’d written myself off so the pain wasn’t quite as bad.

At the grand old age of 39 I was surprisingly back in the team for our 2004 challenge. I wasn’t even in the running for the Southern event until I shocked everybody by winning the Wimbledon 10k in a 31:56 clocking. That gave me a short stage for the Southern event and I duly ran my fastest short stage at the event. Come the National and I was in the team, another short stage, but as I’d proven I could hold my nerve it was down at leg 10. I took over more than a minute and a half behind leaders, and eventual winners, Aldershot and 3 seconds behind, eventual bronze medallists, Salford. I made no headway, my old training partner and friend, Kevin Quinn, pulled Aldershot further ahead and Duncan Mason took Salford a further 3 seconds clear of us as my 15:15 was the best I could muster. We eventually overhauled Salford and I became a twice silver medallist.

And that was the end of my National 12 Stage career to date. The following year I switched to Herne Hill Harriers and never made it into their National 12 stage squad. Now at Salford I would have been in their squad, not really sure if I’d have made the A team, who went on to finish 3^rd in the Northern champs (run in conjunction with the National event this year, due to earlier cancellation) but I definitely would have made the B squad. And who should surprise everybody with a win this year, my old team Belgrave, much changed from the team I last ran in, to be expected after 9 years.

     

This week sees the London Marathon. This year I only have one athlete I have trained for this event, but I have a lot of friends who will be running it, so good luck to all of you, run well and enjoy this special occasion. Of course it’s not been the best preparation for a marathon, following the awful events in Boston last Sunday and ongoing as the hunt is on for the suspects.

As for my current status, with regards to running, I’m almost there, I’m at that difficult point where you keep feeling that it will be one more day and then it’s not quite right so it’s another day. This next week will probably try my patience more than the last eight, but patient I must be, even though my presence is requested at various races.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

The Football Final

Anyone who knows me well will know that I’m just not that into watching football. This wasn’t always the case, as a youngster my dad took me regularly to watch both Manchester United and Manchester City, I wasn’t a supporter of either team but enjoyed watching the games and listening to the banter. As I teenager I chose to accompany my mates to matches, rather than my dad, and no longer travelled to Manchester but supported the club from where I went to school, Crewe Alex. These were the days when Crewe were always in danger of being bottom of the 4^th division, but even then there was ambition. I was at Bruce Grobbelaar’s final match for Crewe, before he became a Liverpool legend, the one where he scored his goal, though he was lucky it bounced off the woodwork, rather than ending up in the town centre. My last Crewe match was an away trip to Exeter back in 1984.

But I didn’t just watch I also played, very badly. Despite this I managed to get together with a bunch of school mates for a local 5-a-side tournament. The first year we were beaten finalists, to a very good team. The second year we were much improved and won. My only football medal and an experience I shared with; Simon Rigby (goal), Derek Proudlove (defence), Andrew Geddes (forward and sub 4 minute miler), Nigel Shirley (forward) and Neil Hassall (sub). I was in defence and it wasn’t my fault we lost a goal, it came from Derek’s side. We won that on penalties and like all good England strikers I managed to miss mine, I’m available for pizza adverts.

Having become a runner I had no time for football, until I met Carole, a season ticket holder at Motherwell, and in the interests of love and harmony we came to an understanding; I’d take here out for a run around the KB5 course (for which I apparently still hold the M40 course record) and she’d take me to Motherwell in the afternoon. The football I could cope with but the traditional pie and bovril was a bit beyond me!

A few years down the line and despite the pies, bovril and Motherwell FC we’re still together. Carole was keen to support an English club so we’ve attended Gresty Road on a couple of occasions. When Crewe reached the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Final Carole was keen to go to Wembley, so I agreed to accompany her. Then we remembered we’d be arriving back from Spain late the night before, oh well it was a holiday. My sister, who’s a season ticket holder, organised our tickets, and an old school pal got me seats on a bus from Hartford.

It was an early start and a long day but the game was really good, the second half being more exciting than the first. The good news was that Crewe won 2-0, both good goals. But perhaps the best thing for me was re-acquainting myself with a number of old school pals that I’d lost touch with, who needs Facebook when you’re going to Wembley. On the way home the Crewe team, along with trophy, pulled up at Newport Pagnell services, just as we were about to leave, which added to the excitement for the fans who were able to have their pictures taken with the players and the cup. If you were expecting a more in-depth report and analysis of the game, don’t despair, never one to duplicate effort, here’s one my nephew prepared earlier http://www.false10.com/2013/04/match-report-johnstones-paint-trophy-final/

When we did finally get home I managed to watch the Moto GP, how great to see Rossi back on form. All in all a good day’s sport. Now back to work.

As I mentioned earlier, I spent last week in Spain. This trip was carefully planned between the two 12 stage events and was designed specifically to get me fine tuned for the Masters road relays. Unfortunately, as I’m still suffering from the achilles injury, I wasn’t able to fine tune anything. It gave me an opportunity to spend more time relaxing by the pool and on the beach and doing some reading. I’ve been going through the Mark Billingham, Tom Thorne, novels, which I find a really good read. So good I bought the series for my niece at xmas. My kindle has also pointed out to me that I might like to read Robinson Crusoe. I remember watching the black and white tv series back in 1972, so I didn’t mind if I did. It was actually a much better read than I was expecting and differed in some aspects to the tv version. I enjoyed it so much I’ve loaded up his further adventures.

Back to the UK and I was getting a bit concerned about the length of time my achilles was taking to heal. I’d been advised that it was a strain but, like my hairline fracture wasn’t spotted at first, I was wondering if something had been missed. So yesterday I went to the physio. My physio was a shy young thing and we were getting along really well, until she squeezed my achilles. But she did confirm, there was no tear, it had just taken a beating and needed more time to heal. However it is now the time to start pushing the stretches and start on strength work. Diagnosis is that I should be able to run a little in three weeks time. I’m not getting my hopes up just yet but my Salford kit is ready and waiting.

One of the nice things about coming home is that I’ve also had a load of new clients, which means I’m really busy. The weather’s picked up a bit too which means I can get off my static bike and get on my mountain bike and venture into the woodlands. Much as I like cycling, it isn’t running. Unfortunately cycling outdoors in the sun does bring it home how much I miss running.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk