I know I should be focusing on staying injury free and that I shouldn't really be racing in short distance races. I know that pushing myself really hard so early on in the year could jeopardise my bigger plans for the year ahead. To run 5k at a tempo pace is one thing, but to race it is a whole different kettle of fish. I know all those things. However, this morning I found myself in an unexpected strong position in the Cambridge Park Run, a weekly 5k race in Milton Country Park, and in the heat of the moment and under the influence of adrenalin I found myself challenging some young whipper-snapper for the first spot. To my great astonishment I crossed the line in first place and in a time of 18' 18".
My intention had been to take the race fairly easy, just like the previous week, and use it as a tempo training run. But as the race set off I found myself with the first eight runners, running at a relatively comfortable pace. Then as the race progressed I just seemed to slowly make my way through the field until I was in third place. I was sure that I was just keeping a steady pace and that everyone else around me was slowing down. At about the 2km mark the second place runner was maybe 20m ahead of me and the first placed runner at that time was a further 20m off. I was aware that I was slowly gaining on the second runner. As I pulled up to him I thought to myself 'just stay on his heels, you don't need to overtake him, you're not here to race'. But as I caught up with him it seemed impossible for me to slow down my legs, and I just continued to sail on by. I was then aware of the fact that the gap between me and the first runner was narrowing. He seemed to anxiously look over his shoulders from time to time. With just less than 2km to go I also caught him. This time I was thinking to myself 'don't be stupid, Alan. Just stay with him to the finish'. But once again, I couldn't get my legs to slow down. So, against my better judgement, I found myself in first place. Initially I was thinking to myself 'what are you doing? Slow down. You're not here to have a race' I was fully expecting to be overtaken on the run to the finish.
By this stage I was on the second lap of the Country Park and over taking the back markers. As I passed slower runners I'd hear the occasionally shout of "Well done. Keep going". I then started to think 'maybe I can win this today'. I could feel the adrenalin creeping through me and a little demon then appeared on my shoulder and kept saying "come on, you can do this, today is your day, dig deep and you will win this." I knew that I was only in first position because the field itself wasn't as strong as the previous week. But I wasn't going to let that affect me. You can only race against the field that shows up on the day, and today was going to be my day. Turning the last bend I could see the second place runner about 30m behind me. I had about 150m to go and I wanted to make sure he had no chance of catching me, so I put on my best sprint to the finish, almost losing my breakfast in the process. Of course, this was just a small local race. I wasn't racing for prize money or a trophy. But it still felt good being handed my Park Run finishing token with the number 001 on it. I cherished that token and showed it to all my friends as they finished. I dare say this will be the only time in my life that I will ever win a race. The young runner I beat to second place is usually a 5k specialist with a PB of about 17 minutes. I'm sure he won't let me beat him again.
As for the rest of the week, it's been a pretty busy time work wise. I've been trying to remind myself that I'm into my taper for the first marathon of the year and to try not to do too much this week. I, therefore, rested on Monday after my 20 mile run last Sunday. On Tuesday I settled for a 4.5 mile run with a client. On Wednesday I ran a total of 10 miles, including about 4 miles as part of a short, sharp interval session coaching the Sweaty Betty running club. Then I ran with another client on Thursday.
Also on Wednesday I had a very intense kettlebell training session. I'd just put together a new training programme for a client. Afterwards, I looked at the programme and I thought that it looked pretty full on. I decided I'd better give it a go myself before unleashing it on my client and calling him a pussy for not being able to do it. I did a warm-up that included about 2 minutes of kettlebell swings, and doing about 10 Military Presses per arm. The programme included a fitness challenge, which is as follows:
50 press-ups,
50 bent over rows per arm with a 16kg kettlebell - swapping from one arm to the other as often as you like,
50 squat thrusts,
50 one arm swings per arm - again swapping from one arm to the other as often as you like,
50 squats, and
50 kettlebell snatches per arm.
The idea is to complete all six exercises in as short a time as possible, so you have minimum rest between exercises. I did the whole programme with a 16kg kettlebell and I was absolutely wasted by the end of it. I decided I'd scale it down a little for my client. So I made him just do 30 reps of everything, where I'd done 50. I'm going to build him up to 50 reps over the next 2 weeks. I also allowed him to do it with a 14kg kettlebell, even though he's probably stronger than me now. At the end of the programme he was lying on the floor saying "I hate you, I hate you." Good job I have thick skin. What he doesn't know was that I also decided to unleash the programme on one of my female clients. I dropped the weights to 12kg for the bent over row and 10kg for everything else. I have to say, she rose to the challenge amazingly well, and I think she's looking forward to stepping up to 40 reps next week and then 50 the following week.
I should also add that after completing the fitness challenge both clients still had about 30 minutes of workout time to go. So, if you're tempted to try it yourself, bear that in mind.
On Friday I had my regular one hour one-to-one pilates session with Holly Mackay. As usual the hour flew by, and I felt that I'd had a good stretch by the end. If she knew that I didn't stretch after the Park Run today, she'd probably give me a good telling off.
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