Race Report - Lake Vyrnwy HM

Wednesday – I was starting at a dark cloud on the screen. The cloud had three raindrops on it, I don’t think I’d ever seen three raindrops on a cloud before. The weather forecast for Sunday was abysmal. Bookended by two relatively decent days, the weather predicted for Sunday the 15^th of September was almost biblical. “I knew I should have done Bristol” I said to myself. The 1pm start time of Lake Vyrnwy put it right in the middle of the worst of the weather.

I sent Nick an email to see if there were any changes to the plan. “If it’s a bad as they say, run marathon pace, otherwise go for it, you’re in PB shape” was his reply, and of course he was right. When I’d set my HM PB at Bath in the spring, and gone sub-90 for the first time, it was on the back of a persistent bit of foot pain and a dodgy 10K result. This time, I was clearly the fittest I’d ever been and was *touch wood* injury free. So no excuses really, and it seemed a shame to miss out because of a bit of inclement weather.

The day arrived and I trooped down to Lake Vyrnwy, on my own as Steve had flatly refused to stand about in the hissing rain for hours on end. You can’t really argue with that, but it felt strange not having him there. After the rigmarole of Bath and Bristol, having such a low-key approach to a HM PB attempt seemed strange. 

On arrival I was met with some pretty persistent rain and wind. The runners all huddled in the village sports centre, like refugees. An announcement that “there was 20mins to go and would the runners make their way to the start” was met with indifference by all present. The Vyrnwy Half has a great community feel about it, the sort of race that feels like it is put on by runners, for runners. The big city events can be great (see Bath) but I think I prefer these smaller races, especially if you get a good field at the front. Soon it was time to make our way to the start.

I’d brought a VLM space-blanket to wear at the start, felt a bit of a tit, but it kept me warm (as well as enabling me to do Superman impressions). The start was actually on a downhill slope, and as I made my way up the hill I noticed there were finish time markers by the side of the road. Standing where I usually stand in races, I noticed I was by the 70min marker. Oops! I trotted further up the hill, coming to a stop by the 80-90min marker. Looking back towards the start I couldn’t help but notice “there are a hell of a lot of sub 80min HM-ers  here?” At that point a couple of gents directly behind me started talking about finishing times, as soon as I heard “ break 2hrs” I nudged forward a bit, but still found myself quite far back from the front. All of a sudden we started moving forward, I don’t think I heard a gun but it looked like we’d started so I whipped off the space-blanket and got ready to start the Garmin on the line.

The first mile of the course is uphill to the reservoir, I didn’t want to use up too much energy at the start so kept it steady, I was overtaking a lot of people who had started too far forward (grrr) but it looked like I wasn’t the only one, as a couple of very quick runners came powering through, I was tempted to go with them, but I was here to run my own race. My plan was to do a “Bath”, I know what pace I wanted and would stick to that, no dramas. The first mile marker came into view and I lapped my watch “6:52”. Not bad considering the weaving I’d had to do. Let’s do this. The couple of ham rolls I’d scoffed an hour earlier were causing a bit of cramp, but there was sod all I could do about it so I did my best to ignore it.

Not before long, we were starting to make our way round the reservoir, Mile 2 marker came and I clocked the mile split, well I tried to but the rain was obscuring the screen. I thought it had said 6:40something so I let it be. The next few miles were pretty uneventful. At the first water station I was relieved that they were giving out proper bottles, not plastic cups (with the lids already removed, another example of how well run the event was). 

At about Mile 3, a felt someone on my right shoulder, quite a tall lean guy passed me and do you know he was the spitting image of Andrew Lemoncello! Of course it wasn’t, but regular readers of this blog will know how my brain loves a flight of fancy occasionally. He settled about 75m in front of me, but then I had someone to work off, so what did I do? For the next 3 miles I reeled in Andrew Lemoncello! When I overtook him, he came with me, along with a young lad who was by us at the time. After about 400m they seemed to decide it wasn’t worth it and dropped back. BOOM!

 

On reflection, this was the first time I properly realised the race was going well, by about Mile 6 the only thing I could hear was the slightly heavy breathing of the guys next to me and  I felt fine. I’d been warned about the incline at that point, but to be honest after Kenyan Hills sessions it felt relatively flat. In fact, I was doing a lot of my overtaking on the slightly ‘up’ bits as people seemed a bit cautious. 

It was great to reach the turning point at the top of the Lake. The feared-for wind didn’t really materialise and I carried on knocking of the miles back on target. Mentally, I was telling myself “don’t go silly, keep it in a box” I was reeling runners in all the time which felt amazing, I was trying not to be ‘isolated’ for too long, so if there was a group ahead I would push on slightly to get amongst them. This became harder as the race went on as the runners were spread out, so I resorted to catching individuals “the vest in front” as ‘someone’ might say.  The wind and rain was actually helping here, by acting as a cooling agent as my body temperature started to rise.

At about the 8-9 Mile mark I spotted the black and white vest of a Penny Lane Strider ahead. This was a critical moment for me, I knew it was Steve McNicholas and he is a very good runner. Now, I could either let him beat me by beating myself up, or I could crack on. I wasn’t sure if he’d stay on my shoulder or not, and mentally I would have found that tough. I reeled him in over the course of a mile or so, breathing a bit heavier by this point. 

“Push on Mitch, get that PB” he said as I passed. My brain started to meltdown slightly at the thought it was all going well but I locked it down within a second. I really appreciated that call from Steve and was able to mentally block him out of my head from that point. This was my race and I wanted to be first Strider home (I hope this doesn’t sound too mercenary). I’ve got tired of mediocre performances over the years, and of late I’m learning how to make sure I don’t have another. 

The last water station seemed to take an age to arrive, even though the Mile Marker was saying 10 or 11 miles, my brain was trying to tell me it was much further than that. Of course, I ignored it. It helped that I knew the last mile was pretty much all downhill to the village. This mean I could tell myself “you just need to get to Mile 12 and then let Gravity do all the work”. Before long, the water tower of the reservoir came into view and I knew it was nearly time to head back down the hill. At this point a runner came steaming through, and I was half tempted to go with him but I’d got to that point by being sensible and didn’t was to mess it up now, so I carried on as per plan. I’m quite proud that, whilst going round the reservoir, I think I can count the number of runners who passed me, but I didn’t subsequently re-pass, on one hand.

We descended the hill back to the finish line, there was a little kick of a hill about 400m from the finish which I swore myself up, and before I knew it, it was all over.

My watch said 1:27:54 – Frist Penny Lane Strider home and an 84 second PB. I’ll take that any day. The marshal at the finish line has said I was the first runner she’s seen smiling over the finish, but how could I not, it had pretty much been a perfect race and the fact that about three quarters of it had felt like an easy Sunday run made it even better. At times, I am accused of being too cautious in racing, but that seems to work for me, and to be honest, to more I race in this way, the more confidence it is giving to got a bit crazy at a future race. Maybe next year, it will be at Lake Vyrnwy. I’ll be tearing up those roads.

Slightly Damp

PS) True to the Hawkins Family Curse, I didn’t appear in the final results, I have contacted the timing people and it's now sorted - confirmed as 1:27:54 as they found me on the race video

 

PPS) Steve got his own back, I had 45 minutes easy to do afterwards and he sent me off down this road which turned into a hill. A very big 2-mile long hill. Ouch.

Summer Madness

I’ve done you a disservice, dear Reader.  Whilst we can all rush to the blogosphere to detail various calamities and failures, the successes are not shouted about nearly as much. In my own case, it’s felt like if I talk about them too much they might vanish! But no, that’s silly. I’ve had two PBs in the last few weeks; indeed they were within 3 days of each other. Late Summer Madness one might say.

Many thnaks to Martin for the great race shot

I love summer training, this time last year I wrote about how the training I’d been doing  had given me an engine. Well, this summer the engine has been well and truly stoked. Both in training and racing, the ability to push myself that little bit more has reaped many benefits and made it a very pleasant few weeks that I’ll try and summarise. 

Core Work – Do it. Don’t make excuses, it will help. You’ll feel so much better in races and won’t believe. Good posture and form makes running so much more enjoyable. You can even mimic the “RunningWithUs” style, yes, I think there is one – look at the photos, hehe. It may seem silly, but next time you are on a run, think about a faster runner you really respect and how they run and emulate their form. Chances are it’s better than yours and might help make a few neural connections.

Group Training – I’ve been very fortunate in the last few weeks to have had company at various points of my runs, each person bringing their own experience and skill to a particular session. Special shout-outs to Cristina’s metronomic 8mm pacing on Sunday runs and Neil Kelly for the weekend of awesome culminating in a run the length of Queens Drive, something I’ve always wanted to do. Wonderful sessions in the sun, of efforts and progressions. I’ve been a very lucky man. My last post spoke of a training group, well unofficially it’s kind of happened lately and it’s worked.

PBs – Very proud of my PBs this summer, 40:17 for 10K – was a ‘valiant’ attempt at a sub-40, and I know what I need to do now. Even pacing and non-hilly courses are the way forward! A sneaky attempt will be due at Abbey Dash in November. However, the main celebration has been the sub-19 (18:57) at Capenhurst 5K. Even typing it gives me goosebumps. When I first came back to running, I wrote down on a piece of paper a time for 5K that I’d be very happy with, and I’m about 10 seconds away from that now. The race was brilliant, I felt strong for most of it, and best of all, fellow Striders who normally shoot off into the distance at races, were still within sight at 3K.

It finally feels like I’ve announced something with my training. To whom I’m announcing this I’m not quite sure, possibly myself - a reassurance that it is all worth it, and I’m on the right path. I’ve found the non-squad training hard this summer, due in part to that fact I was having a pretty shitty time earlier on in the summer. When you’re feeling down, the company of others can be invaluable.

Less than two years ago I was running 21:33 for 5K. Runners who I respect in massive amounts were saying “Wow, I’d love to go under 19”. But before my head inflates too much, I know it is only 1 second (I made it 3, but I’ll not go there)  but it’s a win in my book and the way that I’m learning to ‘race’ within the race is really exciting.  Running against other Striders no longer phases me and the skills of holding back, surging, staying on a shoulder, taking a chance and pushing on and seeing who comes with you - It’s all new to me, and it’s great :D

This summer I’ve learnt that it is not just hard training that is important, it is consistent training that works. Success doesn’t happen overnight, but eventually you will get to where you want to be. That having a bad race isn’t the end of the world, we ALL have them. It often gives you the necessary zing to do well next time. On the flip side, good races can provide a shot of confidence that is priceless.

Frankfurt isn’t far away now, things are getting spicy.

...even Spicer with the Yellow Calf Guards. They can't go unmentioned. I LOVE them.

The Selfish Gene

This post is rather rambly and kind of fizzles out. I decided not to write about the original subject so apologies if you find it doesn't really go anywhere. Good to write something though, it's been a while. 

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We’re a selfish bunch, us runners. We scarper off into the sunset at every available opportunity, engaging in an activity we love doing and feeling smug about it afterwards. Whilst out we have no need to think of others, only that we need to plant the next foot effectively and move forward.

Sadly, there is a distinct lack of three-legged races on the UK Athletics race calendar. A lot of training, and certainly racing, is done solo - the running Lone Wolf stalking a new PB. But does this approach lead to a certain mind-set in the average runner?  Dogged, Single Minded and focused.

If we look at the opposite end of the spectrum, my own experiences have taught me that the solo-minded Rower is doomed to failure. Without the successful input of the others in the boat, your average oarsman is up shit creek without a blade.  “You’re only as strong as your weakest link” reverberated round my head on many an occasion. It’s in everyone’s interest to mutually support each other to improve, increasing the skills in the boat and the chances of success come regatta season. As is the case with Passengers, there’s no room for Superstars in a crew boat.

So when these two worlds collide it can cause fireworks. As runners, we don’t get many chances to operate as a team. Even in the XC season, individual effort is prized almost as most as your team’s counting position. 

I raise this for a couple of reasons. It’s noticeable amongst local clubs that there are some that train and run races as a squad and indeed will run as a pack. Now, I grant they are lucky to have a reasonably large number of people of similar ability, but could other clubs learn something from that?

I offer that a group that decides to train and race as a squad will see improvements all round. Yes, the quickest runners may not be working at 100%, but they will be pushing the slower ones to perhaps push the envelope and exceed their potential. It would be a risky strategy and would likely take a few months of frustration but I think overall the whole club would benefit.

I’m certainly not claiming that this is the only route to improvement, just a collection of thoughts I’ve brought together over a few months. Throwing it out for debate. I know I’m on shaky ground with this as for the last 18months I’ve been training solo. It’s a decision I have no regrets about, but undeniable that when others join me for a session, I think everyone achieves a great level of performance that they otherwise would have done. I love that feeling and seeing others achieve great things; it inspires me to try even harder. Overtake me on an Interval? You can be damn sure I will be trying everything I can to stay with you till the end.