Legacy

What a crazy time we are living in. The Country has emerged bleary-eyed and hung-over from an event so cataclysmic we’ll be talking about it for years to come. I am, of course, talking about the 30^th Olympiad in London. After years of endless build up and hype, it has been and gone. Wow, what a ride!

I’ve never really involved myself with the Olympics much. Of course I’ve watched bits of every games for as long as I can remember (Seoul was the first one I remember watching). But it was something that other (very fit) people did. These Athletes seemed disconnected from reality and had nothing really to do me me/us and daily life. Thinking about it, I was just starting on my own sporting journey at the time of the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Indeed. My first race was the Liverpool 10K in October of that year. Of course, in the last four years, I’ve been on my own sporting journey and the names of the athletes have entered my consciousness and frames of reference.

It’s fair to say that in the build up to these games, I’d taken a somewhat passing interest. It was hard not to, but I still didn’t really feel part of it. When Steve bid for, and was successful in getting, tickets it was a nice surprise. But no more so than the Glee tickets he got me for Christmas a couple of years back. The first inkling I got that something was different came last Christmas. We were in Dorset at a family wedding, and when it came up in conversation that we had tickets, a woman across the table almost launched herself at me “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU’VE GOT TICKETS. I’VE WAITING MY ENTIRE LIFE FOR THIS AND HAVEN’T GOT ANY”. Ooops, I thought to myself, they’re nice to have but until that point I hadn’t realised how lucky we were. If anything I was more pissed off that we hadn’t got any Rowing tickets which we had also applied for.

We missed the majority of the Opening Ceremony due to being at Thunder Run. We caught the very end on the big screen, just as the UNITED NATIONS CHAMPION OF THE EARTH was being announced. This caused much hilarity, we watched the Flame being light which was very cool and went to bed. We had ‘more important’ things to worry about like running 50K.

And then it happened, over the following days (after Thunder Run) the Games drew you in like a Welcoming Friend. The first sign I was getting interested was that I was fist-pumping in the air when I found that GB had got their first Gold medal, in Work during a Teleconference. My boss just tutted. The Olympic glow was spreading along with the medal count.

We headed down to London for our event. Saturday night Athletics. I was looking forward to seeing Mo in the 10000m along with Jess Ennis but nothing could have prepared me for that day - Quite simply the most magical day of my entire life. The win for the Coxless Four in the morning had set the tone and I was pretty happy heading into London. The Olympic Park was Stunning, the Crowds were buzzing, happy and the World was watching. Our tickets were pretty amazing – this was the view…

It's Mo!

The actual athletics of Super Saturday spoke for itself. Brilliant to watch and the TV didn’t come close to conveying the raw emotion in the Stadium. The crowd were cheering everyone one, they were here to cheer Sport in general (of course saving extra cheers for the TeamGB athletes). All nations were applauded and encouraged. It was singing along with 80000 others to the National Anthem at Jess Ennis’s Medal Ceremony at the end of the session that I realised how special the day was.

This was never going to happen again and we were here experiencing it. Not for the first time that night I could feel the tears welling up inside….

The performances were outstanding, Greg in the Long Jump (as well as being a fitty) surprised and delighted everyone).  The jovial nature of the Beer Queue, the gathering with the Crowds at the BBC set afterwards, the coming together of everyone - Just special. One of best legacies of that night…I had no voice for about 5 days afterwards.

Over the following days, I became an Olympic Obsessive. Sports I’d barely heard of became avid viewing. Not only that, but I really wanted to try most of them as well. The BBC made it so easy to watch and the commentary was mostly excellent. But soon the Closing Ceremony was on its way and it was time to pack away the Jubilympic bunting.

It felt like I was in mourning last week, it was honestly like bereavement. We’d had amazing sport all around us for over two weeks and it was difficult to make the transition back to ordinary life. When it becomes the norm to head home after work to hear about the latest couple of GB gold meals, you know something has changed!

And then, last Saturday, me and Steve sat down and watched the repeat of the Opening Ceremony on the telly. It was interesting note the slight sneer of cynicism in Huw Edwards’ voice at the start. Of course, no-one knew how the games were going to go down. Looking at it from ‘the other side’ was weird. And then…OH. MY. GOD. I have not cried so much since I left rowing.

The Pandemonium sequence culminating in the forged Rings. The most perfect sequence ever. It was like Danny Boyle had laid our national story for the world to see and acknowledge, but (pretentious as this is) it’s also like he laid out our hearts bare.

THEN BOND! THE QUEEN! THE NHS! I realise this is all old news but I hadn’t seen it before last weekend. How did he do it?!  I think because the references are so embedded in our national psyche, they all hit home.

I hope the Olympics has changed us all for the better, I know it’s changed me. I’ve got the Olympic ideal pounding inside me. Wanting to go higher, faster, harder and give it my all.

Hell, see you in Rio!

Moving Targets

One of the benefits of Thunder Run was that 50Km gives you a lot of time to think and ponder. I’d noticed recently that I don’t get the same mental relief from running, but that’s generally because I’ve become more focused on the task at hand. So the chance for a few hours’ worth of ‘relaxed’ running was a good chance to mentally process some things that have been on my mind recently.

One of my biggest annoyances with my running has been the size and fragility of my Ego at times. I’ve found that I can have the skin of an Elephant one minute and the delicacy of bone china the next. Trudging through the mud, I think I’ve came to the answer of where it’s all come from.

For those of us who were never sporty as youngsters, the fact that we’ve taken it up later in life can often mean we approach our chosen sport (or indeed any passion) with a verve or eagerness that is slightly OTT at times. With this drive, improvements often come thick and fast – maybe the first time one does a Sub-7 Erg or a sub-45 10K run. With this increase in performance, I think there is a co-incidental sense that you are in a sense punching above your weight.
For the vast majority of my life I’ve been fat, sometimes obese and it’s only relatively recently that I’ve stopped thinking about myself as a ‘fat bloke’. In some ways I’m still a fat bloke trapped in a runner’s body- just see the look of lust on my face near a buffet...

This sense of punching above your weight can lead to frustration and anger, two qualities that aren’t known to aid athletic performance. What I realised at Thunder Run is that performance is the running buffet of life, running off further into the distance.

It’s a good thing to never be satisfied (although the odd feeling of job well done doesn’t hurt). You are not punching above your weight, you are performing at a level appropriate to the amount of training and fitness level you are currently at and there’s no point getting frustrated. Yes, compared to a few years ago you are doing things you only dreamed of, even a few months ago the idea for a sub-3 marathon was a drunken pie-in-the-sky idea.

So keep the faith, people are not going to applaud every time you put a pair of trainers on. Just get out there, put the work in and do it for your own satisfaction, not the approval of others.

Start Your Engines

So much has happened in the last few weeks I’m not sure I know where to begin. It’s a strange feeling when you don’t appear to be doing anything differently, but then you realise everything has changed. Results I’ve previously dreamed about have come relatively easily and it’s all coming together nicely.

We were down at Thunder Run, a 24 hour off-road relay event in Derbyshire. I cannot begin to describe how much I loved this event. There was a moment on my fourth 10Km lap when I had a moment of sheer unbridled euphoria that this was exactly the thing I should be doing right, there right then. Maybe it was slight delirium brought about by sleep deprivation, I’d just climbed the fifth hill of the course and looked out over the countryside and my body felt like it could run forever. Of course, our good friend Mr Lactate soon tapped me on the shoulder and I was shuffling along with the best of them.

 

Team events are great, everyone gets to add their little bit to the mix. At the start of my first (double) lap, our team was a good 10 mins down on the leaders, and a I set out I made sure I kept it strong and controlled (aka Sunday Pace). I realised I was running well by the number of people I was passing, the hills were tough but manageable and the mud almost non-existent at this point. The cheering around the course was great, especially from fellow Striders – I really appreciated it guys, even though I didn’t really acknowledge it at the time – I’m trying to teach myself to keep focused whenever I’m racing. The second lap saw me catch up with the other Striders, taking us into the lead.

I loved passing the baton on, knowing that the next teammate was relying on me and I was relying on them – a big boost at 2:30am I can tell you! Because I enjoyed it so much, the course wasn’t a chore and the miles seemed to fly by.

At Thunder Run

It was during Thunder Run that I think I admitted to myself how far I’ve come in the last 18 weeks. The way I approach running – racing and training, has altered dramatically. The gains that I’ve made haven’t magically appeared as I often worried would be the case. It’s been down to consistent effort and putting the work in -You get out what you put in. I don’t mean to sound boastful on this, that’s not my intention.

I know I’ve got a reputation for being ‘slightly’ competitive. To be honest, it’s another trait that comes from my Rowing days. Whatever happens, I need to be able to hold my head up and know that I did everything in my power to help my team. I’m not going to be the one to let the side down, Ever.

How often do we say to ourselves “Oh I don’t feel like it” or “I can go out later”. If you don’t give yourself that option, make sure the day’s training is THE most important thing in your day, there’s nothing that can stop you from getting it done - and the next session, and the one after that.  At the beginning, a lot of these sessions may appear to you to be ‘slow’ or not at an intensity that will carry you forward, but they all feed off each other and build and build  to produce what the ‘magic’ really is - Training Effect.

The best way I can describe Training Effect is that it’s given me an Engine. I used to run in a style that could be described as “hard as you can before the wheels fall off”. Now, with experience of the different sorts of sessions, when I go out running (whatever the speed) I just feel so full of energy it’s unreal. It’s like there’s a Tiger or something growling away, ready to spring into action. That inner fire is a comfort, a confidence that helps in all situations- knowing that you’ve got energy to overtake that competitor in front, to nail that interval, to enjoy the bliss that is a 45 minute recovery run. With strength training/hills sessions, that fire only grows stronger and the training effect continues.

Training for the Autumn Half Marathon Season starts this week, just as I’m passing the 1000 mile mark.

Ladies & Gentlemen, Start your Engines....