All about parkrun

For a long time now, I've been meaning to write a blog specifically about parkun. So, here it is. I tend to mention parkrun in most of my posts, since I'm there most weeks - and so I would ask regular readers to please accept my apologies if some of the material in this post duplicates that found in previous ones. I doubt that many of you actually pay much attention to what I'm writing anyway, so I should get away with it. I often make reference my "regular readers" with a sense of irony, or maybe self-deprecation, because I'm not so sure I have many of them. But then, if you're a regular reader, you'll know that already, so I'll move on.

What is parkrun?

parkrun, then. Spelt with a small "p" - even when you're starting a sentence with it. I think. The distance is only 5km, or 3.1miles if you prefer. Founded by Paul Sinton-Hewitt back in 2004, in Bushy Park, it has now spread across the UK, with nearly 500 events taking place every Saturday morning at 9am, at a park near you. There's a map on the parkrun website, reproduced below, showing all the various event locations - plenty to chose from! And it's popular - very popular, with the organisation recently celebrating its millionth participant. I say "the organisation" but I very nearly wrote "our organisation." Because that's how it feels - once you get involved, you feel a part of something very special, and everyone plays a part in its continued success.

And, it's free. All you need to do is register on the website - go to www,parkrun.com and click on your country's page - you'll be given a unique barcode to print out and take with you, and that's all you need to do. You never need to tell anyone in advance that you're going - one of the biggest benefits for me personally, since you can make a last minute decision as to whether or not you go - or indeed, as to where you're going to go. More on parkun "tourism" in a bit....

I should point out the stats I've mentioned relate to the UK, but parkrun is now global - visit parkrun.com for a list of countries. I know I have readers in the US, Australia, Poland, Russia - you've all got parkrun in your country too. I should
also point out, the map is interactive - and you can zoom out. Which is kind of necessary!

How does it work?

A lot of parkruns have a laminater for you to use.
So that this doesn't happen

So, you've registered online, and printed off your barcode. Chose which parkrun you want to attend - you can use the interactive map to find your nearest. Each event has its own website, where you can discover a bit more about it, including instructions on how to get there, and what facilities are at that particular venue. For example, is there car parking - and if so, is there a cost attached? Are there toilets? (nearly always there will be, which is a relief for runners. Literally.)  And, most important of all - is there a Cafe?!



On arrival, you don't need to do anything in particular, although a warm up is never a bad idea, and a visit to the loo is usually a good idea. If it's your first parkrun, or your first at that particular venue, then one of the volunteers will give you a newcomers briefing, so you have an idea of what's going on. All runs are well-marshalled, so there's very little danger of going the wrong way, and if you were to get into any kind of trouble, you'll never be far from someone who will look after you.

There will then be a pre-race briefing for everyone, given by that week's Run Director, when they'll mention any issues out on the course, remind people of the etiquette (eg, that we should be respectful of other park users, etc.) and to make sure you stick to the course properly in order to get an accurate 5km time. Otherwise, you're only cheating yourself. Which is something my headteacher used to say all the time.

Usually, there will be some recognition of people who have reached various milestones. Runners of all ages qualify for a free T-shirt each time they reach a particular milestone -  completion of 50, 100, 250 and 500 runs. Our junior runners have a special 10 T-shirt too.

This is also an opportunity for everyone to thank that week's volunteers - and there's a T-shirt for racking up 25 volunteer appearances too - more on volunteering later....

Then, just run. Or walk. Get round the course however you want. Within reason. As you come into the finish funnel at the end, you'll be given a numbered token. This represents your finishing position. Then, after you've got your breath back, simply take this token and your barcode to the nice people with the scanners - and they'll do the rest. You give back your finish token - that bit's really important, it's needed for subsequent weeks! - and you keep your barcode, for next time. By the wonders of modern technology, by about lunchtime the same day, the Core Team at your particular event will have finalised and released the results - you'll get an email or text, if you've signed up for that, and the full results will appear on the website. It's really that simple.

However, DON'T FORGET YOUR BARCODE, otherwise you'll end up in the results as "Unknown Runner" and your run won't count towards anything. And you don't want that.

Course Description

I was confident I could beat the hotdog, but wary that
the bottle of mustard might have a bit of a kick...

On the event page, you'll also find a description of the route - particularly relevant if you like to run with a buggy and small person, for example (or I suppose, a buggy without small person, although that would be a bit strange.) There are some surprisingly quick mums and dads out there - I once got overtaken by a guy pushing his young daughter round the course, who came in under 20mins. To make matters worse, the next week was halloween, and he went past me again, but this time dressed up in a skeleton costume. I assumed this would probably haunt me forever (no pun intended) but I think it was trumped a year or so later when I got passed in the London Marathon by a large bottle of tomato ketchup.

Some courses allow you to take your dog with you too - although make sure you check the website first to be sure. The route description is also relevant if you prefer certain types of running, because you'll be able to discover if it's flat or hilly, on paths or on grass - and if, like me, you like to chase PBs, it's a good way of finding out the likelihood of achieving your personal best on any particular course. More on this in a bit too.....

Home run?

You can set which park will be your "home" but it really doesn't matter where you go each week - you're not tied to your home event at any point. It used to be more relevant when the milestone T-shirts were presented to you - because they would automatically go to your home event - but these days, you order your T-shirt online and it's delivered to your address, so it's not so important. If you chose to volunteer at an event that's not your home, it's worth letting them know, so that they can find you on the database - particularly if you have a more common name - but in terms of running, your barcode is unique to you, so it doesn't matter where you are, you'll be readily identified.

Great Cornard - definitely a course with PB potential.

PB hunter?

One of the great things about parkun is that you get given a PB for each different event, so you can look to improve your times at specific locations - because let's face it, there are certain courses that you'll never get an overall 5km PB on, perhaps because they're particularly hilly or have tough terrain. This means that, whichever course you chose to visit, you can always aim for a PB - should you wish. For example, when I visit Bury St Edmunds, which is all on grass and mud, and has a couple of inclines, I know I won't get the same kind of times as I can manage at Great Cornard, which is also grass, but completely flat and a much quicker course. But it doesn't matter, because I have different PBs for each course which I can try to beat.

Not interested in PBs?

parkrun is not a race. This is central to the whole ethos of parkrun, and is no doubt one of the reasons why so many people have embraced it. Of course, you can treat it like one should you so wish - and personally I tend to, because I like competition and am always aiming for specific times - and it's fine to race it if you want. Providing you don't use elbows or anything. But of course, not everyone is competitive, and so many people just enjoy the experience of running without aiming for certain times or positions. parkrun is all inclusive. Most events have participants who walk as well as those that run, which should immediately reassure anyone reading this who is worried about being too slow. Besides, there is always a "last runner" so you'll never be left at the back on your own.

Age limits?

There are none - although children under 11 must be accompanied by a responsible adult, for obvious safety reasons. Most parkruns have a whole host of enthusiastic youngsters running regularly, meaning it can be a nice family activity. Many locations are now introducing Junior parkruns, usually on Sundays, using a shorter (2km) route - so if you have children looking to get involved, this could be the ideal place to start - and I believe they can run without an adult at these, in most instances, which may well be preferable for all involved.

There's no upper age limit either, and it's inspiring to see runners well into their 70s and beyond clocking up a 5km every weekend - although slightly depressing if they overtake you.

parkrun Tourists

If you spot a tourist, make sure
they feel welcome

We're all different - some of us are creatures of habit, some like to add in a bit of variety to their
parkunning. I've moved about a bit over the last few years, and so my local parkrun has changed regularly. I started off running at Milton Park, Cambridge, before moving to Colchester for a while - and this is where I really got the parkrun bug, and became a bit more involved in helping out. Subsequent moves have seen me becoming more regular at Bury St Edmunds, at Thetford, and more recently at Great Cornard, near Sudbury, which is now my home. However I do still travel occasionally to Colchester, and to Great Notley (where I have a number of friends on both Core Teams) and I have the choice of a fair few within reasonable driving distance, so I enjoy mixing it up a bit from time to time.

In addition to this, I've tried out one or two parkruns further afield, whenever the opportunity has arisen - so I've combined trips to see family and friends with one off visits to Worsley Woods (near Manchester), Newport in Wales, and Coventry - to name just 3. This parkrun "tourism" is extremely popular amongst regular parkunners, and in fact there's a club set up for those who have attended at least 20 different locations - I think I'm only on 11 so far, but it's something to aim at. That said, having just got my 25 Volunteer T-shirt, my next goal is to achieve my 100 runs T-shirt: only another 17 to go!

All your parkrun stats are recorded on their website, both course specific and overall ones too.

Volunteering

Because it's run by unpaid volunteers, most of whom are runners themselves, it's nice if everyone pitches in to help out from time to time. As an organisation, parkrun suggest people aim to volunteer at least 3 times a year - in practice, many people chose to do so more often.

Each event has its own Core Team, who take it in turns to be Run Director. Your Core Team do a fantastic job - including things a lot of people don't see, for example recruiting volunteers to ensure a safe run each week, getting there really early to set up, staying later to pack away, and spending time processing the results afterwards.

Binman comments not appreciated

In addition to these guys, every run needs a number of volunteers, and everyone can offer to help. Never be worried about any particular task - they're fully explained, and you can always request specific ones that you're more comfortable doing. My own personal favourite is barcode scanning, since you get to chat to loads of runners and congratulate them on their efforts - and they're usually in a good mood, because it's all over with for another week! Other roles include being on the stopwatch, handing out the finish tokens, managing the finish funnel, and of course, being out on course marshalling.

More recently I've been marshalling a lot, and it's been great to see the same friendly faces each week, seeing some of them making obvious progress, and getting lots of smiles and "good mornings" along the way. As regular readers will know (yes, both of them,) I've not been able to run for a few weeks following surgery, so it's been an opportunity for me to get in a decent run of volunteering, and I'm so glad I have, because through this I've got to know fellow Gt Cornard parkrunners in a way I don't think I would otherwise have done. Now I'm back able to run again, I'm intending to alternate between running one week and volunteering the next, because I can no longer decide which I prefer!

So, What's stopping you?

Unless you've been along to a parkrun or two, you really can't appreciate just how friendly and welcoming they are - far more so than other "races" - since you get to know so many regulars, and there's no real pressure on anyone to achieve anything: predominantly people are there to have fun. So, if you're reading this and you're a runner who's never tried parkrun before, or if you're reading this as a non-runner (why you'd be doing that is anyone's guess, but I suppose it's possible) - get signed up, and come and give it a go.

I know so many people whose lives have been enriched through getting involved in parkrun. Mine certainly has.

Fixed!

This blog post has been a long time coming.....but it does finally look as though I am going to be able to blog predominantly about running rather than injury from now on, following a successful operation 8 weeks ago, and the welcome news that I am allowed to start running again. The following is a summary of what I've been up whilst unable to run, and what my hopes are for the future.

The operation

I had been expecting this second hip would require far less work than the first, since between operations I'd been able to get back to a relatively decent standard of running, and with almost no discomfort whatsoever. This suggested to me that, purely by chance, my consultant had fixed the worst hip first, and perhaps this one would just need a bit of tidying up. Not for the first time when it comes to running and injury, I was completely wrong.

I didn't really have a clue what was going on after the op,
but at least there was a nice view from my hospital room

The operation itself took longer than the first, and apparently they gave me a top up of anaesthetic part way through, which goes some way towards explaining why I don't remember a great deal of the conversations afterwards, and felt pretty grotty for the rest of the day. I even left my lunch, and if that's not an indication that I wasn't right, I don't know what is.

As a result, I didn't remember much about what the consultant said to me when he did his rounds later on that day - other than him making it pretty clear that this one had actually been much worse. I did remember being pleased when my physio came round to get me set up with the crutches - pleased because it was the same physio, Emily, who had helped me with my recuperation before, and so I knew I would be in good hands.

Recuperating

Things definitely progressed a lot slower this time around - I was on crutches for a full two weeks, whereas before I was able to ditch them after a few days. I shouldn't complain about this - the official guidance (and doubtless what my consultant thinks I did) is to take 4-6 weeks off work, whereas I only stayed off for 10 days, and I didn't really have any problems returning so soon, other than a bit of soreness when I was required to walk any distance, as I have to on tutorial days in London. It probably took a full 4 weeks this time before I was walking "properly" - again, last time it was probably nearer half that - and all this no doubt reflects the fact that more work was required in surgery. But I get the impression that this is still quite a quick recovery compared to a lot of people who have undergone a hip arthroscopy, and is apparently because I'm a bit younger than most who need them, and in pretty good shape (ish!)

So since the operation, I've been back to see Emily three times, and sandwiched in between these appointments I saw Mr Khanduja, who was able to tell me exactly what he'd had to do. As well as having to shave off some bone, as he did with the right hip back in August, it seems there was a lot more work required on the labrum - the area of cartilage that lines the hip socket. In addition to the expected tear, he told me that a "flap" of cartilage had come right away from the bone, and I believe he had to anchor this back into place. Other than telling me to take things easy though, he seemed pretty pleased with the way things had gone, and the fact I don't have to see him again for another 12 weeks suggests he's confident that recovery will be problem-free.

Every two weeks, I've been attending physio - not so much treatment, but a discussion about how things are going, and a new set of exercises to add in to my daily routine. I enjoy these visits - Emily is a runner herself so understands my desire to get back out there, and she has been tailoring the exercises I do with that in mind.

I hit upon the idea of taking my revision notes with me
to the gym, and reading through them whilst spending
an hour a day on the bike. Which probably looked a bit
weird, but it helped me pass my most recent set of exams,
and took my mind of how bored I was. Or rather, helped 
to shift the focus of my boredom onto something equally dull. 

In addition, this time around, I've been much better at maintaining my overall fitness by attending the gym. This includes an hour a day on the exercise bike, which is dull as anything  - to start with I was restricted to level 1 and it just felt too easy, although the main point of this is to regain full movement of the hip, not to build fitness. I use the heart-rate facility on the machines - which I know isn't 100% accurate but does give an idea - and no matter how fast I pedalled on the lower levels, I couldn't get above about 120bpm. At least it's becoming a little more interesting as I am allowed to increase resistance - I can now get up to around 140bpm, and I'm gradually upping the levels each week.

I've now also moved on to use the cross-trainer too, and this is much more like it - hard work, and I can already see and feel the difference in my leg muscles and glutes, not to mention my heart rate. I've also learnt how to safely lift free weights, in addition to using the usual static weight machines, and whilst I'm only using low weights at the moment, whilst concentrating on getting the technique right, I'm enjoying the variety it brings to my workout, and finding that I've been able to increase weight on the machines as a result too. At the moment, this is all restricted to upper body, but I can already notice a difference here too. Unsurprisingly, the belly is back again - I feel this is going to be an ongoing struggle the deeper I go into middle                                                                                        age! - but this should be easy enough to shift once I'm back doing proper mileage again.

I wasn't anticipating being allowed to actually run until at least 8 weeks was up - last time it was 9 weeks - but I pleaded with Emily at my 6 week visit a couple of weeks back, and she must have felt sorry for me because she checked me out on the treadmill (not like that) and gave me the go ahead to start again, with the proviso that I don't try to do too much initially. With this sound advice still ringing in my ears, I obviously went for a run as soon as I got home - but only for a kilometre or so, electing only to run to and from the gym either side of my daily sessions there for a week or so, and to judge how it felt before attempting to increase distance. I did also find myself on the treadmill at one point - no idea how that happened - and managed to knock out a 4 min kilometre, but I resisted the temptation to do any more, and ensured I rested the day after. No point getting this far and then suffering a setback by trying to do too much too soon.

Since then, I've gradually increased mileage, and am now up to 5 miles, although I've been restricted to running only once every three days. I'm in email contact with Emily now, so I can bother her in between sessions, and she agreed today that I can now step things up to every other day - although I have to keep the pace steady, and only increase mileage very steadily. This works fine with me, and fits with the advice I was given by my future coach (more in a bit on this) in that I should keep the running steady whilst I build back up, and use the gym to get my heart-rate up in between times.

What difference will the operations have made?

Lots of people have asked me how my hips are over the last year or so, and the weird thing is that, other than in the immediate aftermath of the operations, I've never had any pain there at all. The pain has always been more central, in the groin area, but this is a typical symptom of this kind of injury, and so I am very hopeful that I will no longer suffer in the same way. And of course, as I've been at pains to point out throughout my blogging, this "suffering" is all relative - nothing like the problems many others have had or still have, and it's never actually stopped me from being able to run (again, other than in the weeks immediately after the operation.)

However, what it has stopped me doing, I firmly believe, is progressing as I should have been able to. I had a reasonably promising start to my running, back in 2012, but this injury kicked in within a year, and ever since I've had the frustration of being unable to train and race as I'd have liked. There have been purple patches: periods when - for whatever reason - the discomfort has been more manageable, and as a result I've been able to train more regularly, with decent results. But equally, there have been (too many) periods when a hard race or training session has then knocked me out of action for the next few days, meaning training has been sporadic and, frankly, not particularly enjoyable. The 7 month period between operations was really encouraging, and so I can't wait to get going properly now that both sides have been done - because, in theory at least, I should finally be able to run without discomfort from now on. This was certainly the case in my most recent training run, which was as comfortable a run as I can remember for a long, long time.

My runBritain graph, showing clear peaks and troughs, rather than the steady upward progression I would have hoped for

I tend to use the word discomfort rather than pain, because the discomfort only ever really became pain if I overdid things. Short sharp training sessions or 5k races were manageable, even if I suffered a bit afterwards - but it was only really the longer runs that actually hurt as such. Consequently, looking ahead, I am particularly looking forward to being able to spend more "time on feet" - which as all runners know, is a phrase that crops up all the time when you embark on marathon training. Which leads me nicely on to my plans for the remainder of the year, and beyond

Making plans

So, having established I can now look ahead with some confidence, I've been able to start planning what races to target, and what sort of times to go for too. On the assumption that it makes sense to start off at a slower pace whilst building mileage, I'm not really expecting to see my 5km times come down that soon, so although I'll hope to attend the 5 remaining Kevin Henry club 5km fixtures, I'm not really targeting particular times for these. I'm looking forward to running some parkruns again, after a period of volunteering that I've thoroughly enjoyed, but again I don't anticipate being anywhere near the front of the field for some time, and will just continue to enjoy my Saturday mornings without any pressure, alternating between running and helping out.

Because I love racing so much, in addition I've entered a few shorter races - roughly one per month - although I'm not particularly worried about achieving a specific time in any of them. At least, not to start with.

June: Kirton 5 mile: Part of the Friday 5 series, which I enjoyed greatly last year, although I didn't race this particular one. I'm told this is a quickish course, although it will come too soon for me to grab a decent time - but I'm hoping to hook up with a good friend from Colchester to do this together, and it should be a fun evening. If I'm being honest, when I booked this I had it confused with the Girton 5, which is far more local, and only 5km, But don't tell anyone. It makes me look a bit stupid.

July: Ekiden Relay: Running the last leg (5km) in an Ekiden relay for my running club. The total of the legs adds up to marathon distance, with 6 of you in a team. I've been the last three years, and it's one of the most enjoyable events of the year. All the various teams and clubs set up tents and gazebos around the course, making for a great atmosphere, and I believe this year we have seven or eight teams there, so a big crowd of HRC runners. We're only submitting one "competitive" team, which I wouldn't get into anyway, so there's no real time pressure for me, with the emphasis on fun. Which is good, because I call this blog "Competing for Fun" and yet I'm often guilty of neglecting the fun bit!

August: Ipswich Twilight 10km: again a race I've chosen mainly because I enjoyed it so much last year. In fact, I did the 5k version rather than the 10k - but, as you may recall if you are a regular reader (why do I keep referring to regular readers, as if they may actually exist!) the 5k requires a qualifying time of sub 20mins, and whilst I could use my time from last year to get in, I'm not sure I'd be back running sub 20 by this stage, so there'd be a danger of coming last! So I'm in for the 10k, and looking forward to it. I would hope my times will have come down significantly by this stage, and will use this as a marker.

September: Langham 10km: I know nothing about this race, except that it's near my home town of Colchester, I'll know a fair few people doing it, and I'm hoping that I'll be back to my best by this stage, so it could possibly be a tilt at a PB. That said though, with the emphasis on increasing distance rather than speed, what I really want to do is, finally, nail a marathon.

October: Chelmsford Marathon 2016

So that's the big plan - and I'm more excited about this marathon I think than I was before Edinburgh in 2013 or London in 2014 - because of what I may be able to achieve there. The main reason for this optimism is that, coupled with the anticipated run of pain-free training, I'm going to be getting some proper coaching too, for the first time. This could be so important for me, since I have struggled to get things right in my previous two marathon attempts, and I'm sure that my coach (Siobhan, who I know through my running club) will help me address all the issues that accompany marathon training. These include such important things as getting the pacing right in training runs, getting your nutrition and hydration spot on both during training and of course for the race itself - and helping with the psychological aspect too, which I think becomes more important the longer the race. It certainly it does for me.

The route for the marathon - taking in all of Chelmsford's famous landmarks.....

I'll let Shiv determine how I progress towards the marathon, and it may be that some of the races mentioned above become training runs, whereas some may be useful to act as markers to gauge progress. I'll always have my parkruns to help me do that too, and although - as I mentioned earlier - I don't want to focus too much on 5k for the next few months, my times should naturally come down as I get deeper into the training.

As for my marathon time, I should really wait and see how things go before settling on a target, and I think that's something a coach would recommend too. It's very hard to judge, because my times across all distances up to half marathon suggest I should be capable of getting under the magic 3hr15 barrier, but my best marathon performance is over 4hrs! It's hard to say how much of this has been down to the injury - which shouldn't now be an issue - how much is down to preparing incorrectly - which again, with a coach, shouldn't be an issue either - and how much is simply down to not being very good at marathons!

Most decent club runners would say the magic barrier is sub 3hrs, and this is certainly a benchmark time to aim at in the future, but 3hr15 is the "good for age" qualification standard to get into the London Marathon, for my age category, and that is my target. Whether or not I achieve this in October, or whether perhaps in a marathon next Spring, it doesn't really matter, since neither would come in time for the June deadline to enter for 2017. So, like pretty much every runner I know, I've entered the general ballot to try to get in for next year. But I'm really hoping I can hit that target by June next year, in time to qualify for London 2018.

To be looking to improve by over an hour might sound ridiculous, and indeed might well BE ridiculous, but I'm keen to set myself tough targets now I'm "fixed" - even if I don't quite achieve them, I'll surely hit some PBs along the way as I try. This extends to all distances. I don't know how much quicker I can get, but I think (and hope) that I haven't achieved my potential yet, and it's this belief that has got me so excited about the next stage in my running "career." I use the word career quite wrongly, but the only other word I could think of was "journey", and I didn't particularly want to go all X-factor on you.

The new parkrun T-shirts have been rolled out, I finally
got around to ordering my 50 shirt (for running) and am now
able to order the 25 shirt (for volunteering.) Next up, the 100
club beckons. Some way to go before I catch up with my
club mate Terry, however, who has reached the 250 milestone.
#loveparkrun

In the meantime, whilst I've been plotting my future running plans, I've kept involved with the running community through volunteering and supporting. Some injured runners find it hard to watch others run, and I understand that - particularly if you're out for a ridiculously long time, or perhaps if you have no end in sight. For me, the worst part was running with an undiagnosed injury, so I've been relatively content to see out this latest period of inaction, safe in the knowledge that everything's now been done and it's all onwards and upwards from here.

In fact, I've thoroughly enjoyed having a run of marshalling at parkrun, which has proved a really good way to get to know a few more people at Great Cornard, which is such a friendly community. I also took the opportunity to get over to Great Notley recently too, to help out alongside some friends who are part of the core team over there. As a result, I've begun to wonder whether I might volunteer on a more regular basis - my previous volunteer/run ratio has always been about 1 in 4, but I think I'd quite like to alternate between running one week and helping out the next. It's a way of feeling much more involved in the feelgood factor that symbolises parkrun for me, and it will also ensure I don't focus too much on 5k running, as I build up the mileage in preparation for Chelmsford.

So there you go - a horribly lengthy blog, for which I can only apologise, but the end of a frustrating chapter, and I can't wait to get back to what I enjoy doing most - training hard, racing hard, getting some pbs, and Competing for Fun. 

Catching up - Part Two (Colchester HM)

As threatened, a second post to complete a round-up and bring my blog up to date. My memory being totally useless, I'm having to check back on runBritain to remind myself what I did back in February/March - but I do know that everything was geared towards my "A" race for the Spring, the Colchester Half Marathon. It had been a while since I'd selected one specific race and tailored everything else towards it - and I do feel this is the way I'd like to develop my racing in the future, rather than my usual scatter-gun approach of entering far too many races and trying to do well in all of them (and often failing miserably!)

Back running Sub 20

Having said all that, nothing is going to stop me racing 5k as often as I can - still my favourite distance, and the one I'm best at. Since I do them so often, they act as a marker to tell me how I'm progressing, and alongside my aim to beat 1hr30 in the HM, I was keen to get back under 20mins for 5km if I could, before operation number two.

I came agonisingly close in a club time trial at the end of February, clocking exactly 20mins on my watch, which was rounded up to 20m01s (or do I mean rounded down - I get confused!) As I've said many times before, the great thing about the shorter distance races is that, if it doesn't quite go to plan, you can try again almost immediately - so I had the next day off, and then had another go at parkrun on the Saturday. The plan worked, and I grabbed 19m50, my quickest time since my first operation, and further proof that the training was going well.

Having hit this particular target, it was back to getting a bit more distance into my training, and as race day approached, everything was looking good. Unfortunately, on my last long training run I got slightly lost (if you're a regular reader, you'll know this is a recurring theme) and ended up doing a little bit too much, about 14 miles to be precise, and somehow picking up a niggle in my calf along the way. The distance covered in this last long run gave me confidence that I was fit enough to get round without dropping off towards the end, as I had at Gt Bentley, but the calf was a worry, and despite resting it for the remainder of the week, it seemed to get steadily more uncomfortable, meaning that, right up to race day itself, I really wasn't sure if I'd be able to run.

If I can't figure out the machine, I have a plan B

This is not the first time that I've picked up a calf strain - and will probably not be the last time either, and I really need to look at some strengthening exercises in that area, since it's clearly a weakness I have. I did recently try the stepper at the gym, which would certainly target this muscle, amongst others (also good for glutes in particular) but I had to stop after a couple of minutes because I really wasn't sure I was doing it correctly! I'm a bit embarrassed asking someone to show me, because it really can't be that complicated, but it definitely didn't feel right!

Colchester Half Marathon - 13 March 2016

Close to my target - if only I hadn't run in jeans

Anyway, a massage the night before seemed to help a bit, and on race morning it was time to catch up with a few friends and try not to worry about it too much. The race starts and finishes at the Colchester United stadium, and it has to be said that many of my visits there have ended in disappointment (not least this season, which has culminated in relegation.) But away from the football, I'd only raced my home town HM once before, back in 2013, and I had fond memories of what was, at the time,  a PB run - and the first time I ever really felt I'd run the distance well (at the 5th time of asking!)

The aim that day had been to get under 1hr40, which I missed out on, but only by a few seconds. This time, I was hoping to go under 1hr30, and I had been confident I would be able to find the extra 30 seconds or so per mile I needed to take off my pace from Great Bentley a month before. But the calf was bothering me, and I was unsure if I'd get round without it becoming too tough to continue - an issue I'd had with a calf injury had caused me to pull out of the London Marathon in 2015, and I remember at that time I'd been able to run on it a bit, but it then would become too painful after about 4 or 5 miles. The route is almost a figure of eight, with the stadium forming the middle part, so I determined to give it a go, and see how I felt by the halfway point - knowing I would at least be close to the stadium and that if I needed to quit, I wouldn't have far to walk to get back to the car!

Not the best frame of mind with which to begin a race, and again regular readers amongst you (if I still have any of those) will know how much store I put in being in the right place mentally when at the start line - but the knowledge that this was to be my last race for a while meant that at least I wasn't worried about missing any future races as a result of running on an injury, and I had worked too hard for this one not to at least give it a proper go.

North Hill - the cause of much pre-race consternation,
 but at least you get it out of the way early on.

The race route is a mixture of town and country - roughly half and half, with the town part first. It doesn't take long to get to the high street, but first you have to tackle North Hill - hard enough just to walk up, never mind trying to race it. However, it isn't really that long, and is over before you've lost too much time and energy. Much harder, in my opinion, is Ipswich Road - a long uphill drag that never gets particularly steep but seems to go on for ever. If you've set off too fast (and let's face it, I usually do) then this can really seem tough, and I was definitely feeling my calf at this point, and dropping off my target pace a little. To go sub 90mins, you need to be running sub 7min pace, and at this stage, I wasn't!



However, having got this part out of the way, I didn't feel too bad - and certainly nowhere near bad enough to consider stopping. And having passed the halfway point, I stopped worrying about the calf, and started worrying about my time - which was in danger of becoming far slower than I hoped. I had left myself too much to do in the second half to get back under 90mins, and in fact it took everything I had to dig in and maintain pace, but by this stage I was aiming for my secondary target, which was to average 7min mile pace, and I was close enough to this to make it worth going for.

Despite finishing strongly, I ended up just outside this new target, with a time of 1hr32. So not the sub 90mins I had been aiming for, but I was pretty happy with this, all things considered, and it was still my 2nd best ever HM time, albeit some 6mins outside my PB from Gt Bentley in 2015. 142nd wasn't a great finishing position- I'd been hoping top 100 at least - but it was out of a field of 2400, so still top 10%. All in all, a nice way to go out before the second operation - if not quite what I'd been going for.

The race itself grows year on year, and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. When I ran it before, the support on route had been a little sparse, but not so this year - it really felt as though the town had embraced the event and came out in force to cheer on - not just at the stadium, but throughout the route. I have always preferred quiet country races, ideally flat ones, but I really enjoyed the mixture of town and country, and the hills do at least keep things interesting -- I'm obviously biased having spent the first 18 years of my life in the town, but this is definitely top of my to-do list for next year.

Love this picture of us coming down the High Street, with Colchester's iconic "Jumbo" water tower in the background.
Seem to have quite a stream of runners trailing in my wake, although I think most of them came back past me going up Ipswich Rd! 

Gt Cornard parkrun - 19th March - The last race

Well, hopefully

That sounds a bit more dramatic than it should - although I suppose if the operation had gone horribly wrong, it might have become that. But strangely enough, given that I'm a natural worrier, I haven't been all that worried about any of the three operations/procedures I've had on my troublesome hips - you have to trust in your surgeon, and I've been very fortunate to end up with one of the very best. But this was going to be my last chance to race for a while, and I was hoping to get another sub 20 - which I managed despite running far too quickly in the first mile (a 5m45, what on earth was I thinking?!)

In fact, this ended up being my best race in the period between the two operations, and so was a really positive way to sign off for a bit. It was only my 11th time running at Gt Cornard, but I was getting to know a few of the regulars and I was looking forward to putting in a run of weeks volunteering whilst incapacitated - I wanted to remain involved in the running community during that time, even if I knew I'd get a bit of run envy from time to time!

And so that completes my round-up of racing over the winter and early Spring, and takes me up to the long-awaited second operation - which I'm pleased to say appears to have been successful. A good place then to end this blog post - and I can bore you with details of my recovery in my next effort, together with my plans to tackle a marathon again in the Autumn.



Although I will cover the London Marathon and the first Kevin Henry club 5k fixture in my next post, it would be remiss of me not to mention two runners for whom I have the utmost respect, both of whom have come back from far far worse than me recently, and who continue to impress all who know them. Richard, who I've got to know a bit through parkrun, completed the London Marathon in a superb time of 3hrs 12 mins, the culmination of a really impressive set of recent results, following a remarkable recovery from very serious illness. Paul, a fellow HRC member, suffered a stroke only a year ago, and I often bump into him at the gym, where he is clearly working very hard on his recovery, so it was fantastic to see him completing the Impington 5k a few days ago. 

I am always impressed by quick times, but what I like most about observing other runners is seeing how much effort, hard work and dedication so many put in - meaning that, irrespective of times on stopwatches, I enjoy watching all my running friends as they seek to achieve their own targets. The determination both these runners have shown is nothing short of inspirational.