British Masters 5k Champs 2013

On Sunday I was in Horwich for the British Masters 5k championships. It was a race that up until a few weeks ago I had no intention of entering, I’d said to myself I wasn’t going to enter a proper race until I could run a sub 18 minute parkrun, without any pain in the ankle area. And then I got the call from Salford’s masters section organiser, Dave Lockett, we had two M45s entered and could I consider it as it takes three to tango in this game. Naturally I was wary, at that point I’d run one parkrun, a 19:25 in Edinburgh, in some pain, plus I could hardly move for the following two days. But rather than say an outright no I said I’d let him know after the next parkrun, which was scheduled for Delamere the next day. An 18:39 there wasn’t any great shakes but it was a big improvement on Edinburgh and I was in slightly less pain on the run, more significantly I was able to run the next day. So I got in touch with Dave, I told him I wouldn’t be in any shape to make much of a difference but if I was needed I was available.

A week went by and training was going well, I even managed some reps with Ray, which culminated in another progression at the Delamere parkrun, this time18:12, less pain on the run and, again, I was able to resume training the next day. With a week to go before the BMAF race I decided to try some shock tactics in my training, to try to get the ankle to move more freely, I was still limping away at the start of my runs and had been told by a client that my running looked a bit suspect, when he saw me running towards Tatton Park. So last week I began my shock tactics, this being, to do reps as fast as I could, fewer than I would normally do but doing some each day. I started on Monday with 12 minutes of quality, repeated that on Tuesday but decided to step it up to 18 minutes on Wednesday. Perhaps that Wednesday one was too much as my ankle was stiff on Thursday, so back to easy running and then running with a client on Friday. The ankle hadn’t eased up by Saturday so I took the day off running and did something I would never do the day before a race, under normal circumstances, painted the ceiling. I’m no Michelangelo, but I’m quite proud of my work, it shows my ‘White’ period perfectly.

Come the day of my race I was up early, once again heading to a race with Rob Tudor and Graham MacNeil. We arrived nice and early, which meant I could pick up my number without having to queue for an hour. At this point I was informed, unlike every other year, there were no club prizes. WHAT! Rob and I were both on the recovery trail from serious injuries and wouldn’t have bothered entering this race if it wasn’t because we wanted to help Salford achieve the best result they could, now we’d committed ourselves for nothing. Both of us have good reputations at the event, last year I was 3^rd M45, the year before that Rob won the M45 title, the year before that I was 2^nd M45 and back in 2006 I was part of the Herne Hill team which won the M40 title, only to have that taken away from us, a week later, on a recount. So it was understandable that we both wanted to be in better shape before we tackled the cream of Britain’s master athletes.

I had been confident I would break just break 18 minutes, but less confident it would help Salford to medals. Now it didn’t matter and I found it hard to motivate myself before the start. It was odd, I’m the sort of person who thrives on championship events and have a record that shows I’m capable of bringing out the best of me for them, even when the chips are down, but now this race felt like any ordinary event. Knowing that I wasn’t capable of pushing myself beyond my level of fitness, due to the achilles problems I couldn’t see anything positive in doing the race. But I was there so at least I’d try, and if I could sneak under 18 minutes at least it was a further improvement.   

Arriving at the start line I found out the walkers were due to set off 3 minutes before the runners. This happened last year and, without any disrespect to either the runners or the walkers, it created a first lap bottleneck. It wasn’t enough time for the walkers to thin out and the runners were all still bunched when they caught up with the walkers, with the difference in speed it was a pile up waiting to happen. Last year I was being elbowed towards a walking crowd and had to check my stride to avoid an accident. I did mention this to a NVAC representative and suggested the walkers set off 3 minutes after the runners but nothing’s changed. This year my start was more subdued and I found myself hemmed in by a crowd of much faster starting ladies, once I’d extricated myself from that I settled down to a pace that I found fairly pain free but also hard enough to feel like I was actually doing some work.

Over the three laps I passed a number of runners, and had a good last lap battle with Dave Jackson of Horwich RMI, but I was most surprised to see Rob Tudor and Graham MacNeil, not that far ahead. This made me think I was either going faster than I had anticipated or Rob and Graham were having bad races. A solid run from me, I think there’s more to give but not sure how much at the moment, saw me finish in 17:21, about a minute slower than the previous year, which placed me in 10^th position for M45s. Rob was 7^th in 17:00 with Graham getting the better of his younger car mates with 16:54 and 4^th place in the M50 age group. I was pretty pleased with the result, it was at least 30 seconds quicker than I’d anticipated and closer to a number of other Salford Harriers than I could have expected. Now it’s time to settle down into my training. I was also able to catch up with my old Belgrave mate, Paul Freary, another great athlete who’s suffered his fair share of injuries lately. It was good to catch up with him and good to see him claim the silver medal, now he’s joined me in the M45s.

We didn’t hang around, it being father’s day, Rob was being taken out for pizza by his daughter and I had some work to get on with. Once again a good race over a great circuit, though I think the road surface could do with a little attention before next year. Hopefully someone will also decide to set the walkers off after the runners for next year.

This week I started my training regime for real, I’m still having to fit it around my growing client list so it can be pretty tiring, but I’m not complaining. Naturally nothing’s ever simple when it comes to running and I’m now having to put up with hay fever, which is very annoying, but I don’t suffer it when I’m running so maybe I should do a few marathon training runs!

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

The Times They Are A Creeping Down

My return to running is well and truly back on track. I’m still a fair way off where I was before the achilles issue but at least I’m moving in the right direction. I’ve now done three parkruns and consistently improved from the  first one, 19:25, to 18:39, my first at Delamere and finally on Saturday to 18:12 on my return to Delamere. The significance of that 18:12 is not lost on me as it is exactly the same time I ran for my first ever 5k on 12 June 1989. Back then it was almost a year before my next 5k, where I improved to 16:39. It won’t be that long before I run my next 5k and I’m hopeful that I’ll be running quicker than 16:39 a lot sooner than a year’s time. It will take a while though, small steps.

This week I managed to run a more consistent pace, which gave my heart and lungs the best workout they’ve had in about 16 weeks. But I don’t know how much quicker I can get at Delamere whilst I’m still stiff, and in pain, around the achilles. It’s the start area that is hard for me, I’m slow to get going as my ankle joint is stiff, this causes me to run awkwardly and sends pains up my legs and lower back. The surface is also at it’s most uneven here so every time I twist the ankle I get painful reminders that I’m not 100% yet. Once I arrive at the relatively flat and more even mere path I can up the pace and shoot away but it’ll probably be a while before I can get the initial charge faster.

Mind you I’ve started working on that this week. Last week I began training with my faster clients and had a good workout with Ray, up until then I’d really been running at a steady pace and some times at a very slow pace, just to build up the mileage and put some strain on the achilles area. After successfully getting through a tough hour with Ray I’m starting to add some of my own quality workouts to my training. It’s not going to be a huge amount but I’m using a short sharp shock therapy to try to bring me on quicker. We’ll see what the result is very soon.   

One of the things I’ve missed most is racing alongside my Salford colleagues but I’m hopeful that the day I wear my red and white singlet is not far away. Particularly as my mate Rob Tudor is making a name for himself in his own red and white singlet. I look forward to the day we can be racing in the same Salford team and making a difference.

The club were in action last weekend at the Welsh Castles relay, where they finished in 2^nd place, taking the King of the Mountains award, there were some great runs by the team, most notably Joe Bailey and Tom Cornthwaite setting course records over their legs. This is an event I’ve never had the opportunity to take part in, it looks like fun, maybe next year.

Another busy week for me, a number of new clients have come along lately and I’m doing a lot of work with Lee Riley. Last week’s photo opportunity took a bit longer than usual, I was expecting to have a couple of snaps taken and was a bit taken aback when the photographer started unloading his gear. Two hours later and he’d taken numerous portrait and action shots, some of which should be consigned straight to delete. The article in Runners World, for which these pictures were required, should be out in August. Now it’s coming about it’s a bit scary to think that comments will be attributed to me, but I have no control over their context. Oh well, you can always get the true story here. All this busyness (see how I can play on words) has meant I’ve had to be creative with my training, thankfully, recovering from an injury, I’m not able to be as intensive as I used to be so I’m not climbing any walls, but soon, hopefully, I will need to take a look at my training regime and make it more regimented. For now I’m having fun running further and faster.

Speaking of Lee, he ran his first 1500m on the track last week. Typical of Lee, he asked me what time I ran for my 1500m. Now I had to go back some time, my first 1500m was run in 1990, I was at an open meeting at Ealing. I didn’t really know what to expect from a 1500m so put down a time of 4:30. This seemed to cause some consternation from a local rival who had also put down that time, he accused me of stealing his time. This accusation took me a bit by surprise, I was completely taken aback, I’d never heard of stealing people’s times but had I been into that I’d have thought it was more likely I might have picked a time under 4 minutes. Long story short, I ran a 100m as a warm up, finishing 3^rd in 13.3 seconds, won my 1500m, easily, in 4:29.9 (pretty good guess in the first place, even if it was stolen) and finished off my night with 7^th in the 3000m, 9:22.3. Needless to say, this Saturday, Lee ran 4:28, but at least he didn’t steal my time!

Other news I heard this week was that Donna Hartley has died. I remember her well from my childhood, had one of those childhood crushes on her, before I moved onto Debbie Harry. Such a shame at 58, still young. 

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

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