Here we are already in July, midsummer’s day has been and gone, the weather is mostly rubbish and to cap it all it even rained during the Club Championships handicap race. Still congratulations to all the champs, Dave Fulford, Tony Clarke, Sharon Dixon and Kerry Knox. Well done to this year’s handicapper Penny Moreton, who worked out our times and made the event competitive. It is still a long wait at the start when it seems everyone else is miles ahead and you are setting off on your own. It is so tempting to try and make up your time difference to the next person in the first mile or so when you know you should be constantly gaining over the full distance and all finishing at the same time. Still we all had a good evening and a lot of the usual banter “I’ve got a crap handicap, So and so has run this recently and should be behind me, Joe Bloggs is faster than that, etc, etc, ” Who really cares.
A Goodbye to Mark Bradley
We all know the situation with Glaxo and unfortunately this has cost us a valuable Club member, contributor to our road race team results, Cross Country results, and a good mate. We wish Mark all the best in his return to the North East and hope he keeps in touch. Darren will no doubt miss his dinner time running partner. Good Luck Mark.
Garburn Trail Race
The Garburn Trail race is the second of the Lakeland trail series and probably the hardest. In the past it has been run from Staveley to Windermere via the Garburn pass, a distance of around 12.5 miles. This year it was an out and back route Staveley to Kentmere over Garburn pass then back to Staveley and a distance this time of 15 miles. I arrived early for registration and learnt that Bob Hope alias Tony Audensaw from Emmerdale was running dressed as Tarzan. I have read about Tony in the past and know he is a good runner so I was wondering how he would perform in this type of event.
The day was red hot so I had already decided to run with a bottle belt as I am prone to cramp, major sweating and dehydration. 11.30 And we were off, straight into a climb for about 2 miles; I ran this reservedly as the main climb of 1500 ft is not until halfway into the race. You lose a lot of the height of this first climb when you drop to the first water station; I grabbed a cup of water and carried on but was already finding the going tough, very hot, sweating and trying to pace myself. I was in a group of runners and we were swapping positions as the terrain changed playing to our various strengths.
Kentmere arrived and the start of the climb over Garburn Pass, I had drank a fair bit of Lucozade sport by this time but it seemed to make no difference, I like everyone else I adopted a run and walk mode. Plodding onward and upward I saw Tarzan for the first time, Tony was going well and I managed to get within touching distance of him but sadly this is as close as I got, he started pulling away and I started getting my first nips of cramp.
Long run down the other side of Garburn and this was a good spell for me I passed a number of runners. I soon came down to earth again when I reached the flat and undulating run back to Staveley. I was at 10 miles and did think I may finish in around 2 hours but I was in poor shape, cramp was just about kept at bay but I felt I was going backwards. Still no one was coming past so everyone must be feeling the same. The no one was coming past situation soon started to change and I had absolutely nothing left, at least 3 miles to go, and quite a few hills in front of me. Sheer willpower kept me going, I climbed over one of the many stiles towards the end and had a full on light headed stagger around on the other side, never have I ever felt like this before.
I kept going and could see the top of Reston Scarr in the distance; I knew this was the start of the downhill to Staveley. I had it in my mind that it was straight back to the showground, but no, we had to go a convoluted route round the back lane. As soon as I hit the tarmac I had massive cramps in my calve causing me to try and run flat footed, how much worse can I feel I thought. Still not as bad as a guy in front, I thought he had been run over by a car but he had passed out in the middle of the road and was the subject of a lot of concern by the marshals.
Managed the last1/4 mile and finished in 2 Hrs 08.02, having lost a shed load of time in the last 5 miles. I just lay on the floor for a long time with rigormortis setting in; I had cramp everywhere. Tarzan finished in 2.01.26, so he well and truly hammered me by nearly 7 mins in as many miles.
On reflection the day was the same for everyone but I think a marathon training schedule prior to this event may have prepared me better.
Here’s to the next Trail Race
Graham Pinder
Penny has written the following article to supplement her Thursday night training sessions.
To be successful at running you’ve got to go mental – a few thoughts.
I would like to share with you a few thoughts of how to improve you’re running without having to do my coaching sessions; only joking, these thoughts will compliment the training and most certainly your racing.
We all want to improve at our favourite activity, whether that means to complete a run without walking, to run that just out of reach personal best or to maybe achieve a major goal like the qualification for a major race. For me, it is to qualify for the Boston Marathon, more about that at the end of this article.
I want to share with you a firm belief I hold that to achieve your potential, it is important to train mentally as well as physically. Too often we set reasonable racing goals only to fall short. When we stand on the start line and the gun goes off our bodies produce a response to that stimulus, we start to perspire, our heart rate speeds up, muscles tighten, breathing becomes more shallow, our stomach churns and adrenaline rushes through our veins. That is where we are similar after that it is how we respond that makes us all very different.
I’m a firm believer that the strength of our beliefs helps us to perform better. Self image is foremost, how often do we think?
“I’m not as fast as so and so”
“I’ll never keep up with the fast boys”
I have fallen foul of these feelings and I frequently hear them muttered before we go out the door at the club.
Feeling worthwhile as an athlete does not come easily. Constantly, reinforce your self image. THINK YOURSELF AS AN ATHLETE. Yes you and you! Whether you run a 5 minute mile, or over 10 minutes for a mile. Feel proud of yourself as a runner. When I was teaching I had a promising young athlete on the fringe of the school XC team, but she was always telling me she felt she wasn’t good enough. I had seen her times improve and knew she was determined but felt she didn’t improve because she didn’t believe she could. I gave her a challenging time goal but a realistic racing pace – which I asked her to mentally practice as she trained. She still challenged me, so I told her that it wasn’t a case of thinking she wouldn’t do it, but a case of knowing she could do it. She kept practising and qualified for the team and subsequently held her own at the All England Schools XC Champs. How? Because she was talented, trained hard, but also because she had the belief.
If you have the confidence to do something and you keep reinforcing that belief the body will respond. Achieving goals – long training runs, consistent mileages, and faster times at speed sessions – all builds confidence. Build on these successes as you go to race and during the race to keep your confidence strong.
I needed to remember all these things when at the London Marathon, I had trained the hardest I had since the 2006 race, setting two ambitious targets, sub 3.55 to qualify for London 2009, and 4.05 to qualify for Boston my ultimate dream. It certainly caused varying degrees of stress prior and during the race. For weeks as I worked physically towards my goals with p.b’s in the bag I constantly reminded myself I could hold 8.55’s for the first target and sub 9.20’s for the second goal. All went well till the 22nd mile when rain and cramp set in. Finish time 4.06.55. Having reflected on the near misses since, both races were not bad considering I’d ‘gone mental’ in striving to achieve my dreams, sure they were both daunting but without that inner conviction they would have been a lot harder.
Remember most of your runs are 80% mental and 20% physical, so think you can and you will but think you can’t and you won’t – GOOD LUCK!
Penny Moreton
This article is from Rob Cameron, and explains the reason why he has not been at the club since December.
Walk or Run?
What a strange question to ask a running club. In the past I would definitely say running especially after last years Windermere Marathon. I was fairly comfortable up to 20 miles but then had to have a short walk; unfortunately more short walks followed. I hated walking; we all do in a race, but all changed just before Christmas. Running back from a sociable club run, on a crisp Monday night, I was half way along Duck Lane when my foot slipped on some ice and I fell off the kerb and found myself on the ground. There was not a mark on me but my left ankle was starting to hurt more and more. I managed to hobble home, my private nurse took one look and said “casualty”. Luckily we waited less than an hour to be seen but by now I was thinking this is serious which was confirmed when the doctor said, “Very Impressive”, I knew I would not be down at the club for a couple of weeks!
The verdict was severely torn ligaments. Four weeks of physiotherapy at least got me able to walk again without crutches. The saying goes ‘walk before you can run’ and I have been doing a lot of walking recently. I have discovered that I can go to the same places I used to run, it only it takes a bit longer. I have been several times to the windmills and enjoyed the view. I have also walked the coast road and routes we used for Marathon training.
Walk or Run? Yes I miss running but I have discovered that walking is not that bad an exercise and I am thoroughly enjoying it.
Many of us suffer injuries, at times it seems there are more injured than fit at the club so if you have an enforced lay off give walking a try its not as bad as you would think.
I am able to run a few miles now before the pain kicks in and slowly getting there. A huge thanks to Ibrahim, Doreen, Fran, Mike Lavery and Mike Johnson for their encouragement on the Sunday morning runs.
(P.S. Ibrahim is adamant that walking is not exercise!)
Rob Cameron
Croftlands Infant and Junior Schools Fun Run
Friday 6th June saw the annual running of this event. It was a dry and warm evening for the four (3.8) mile route, which includes Oxley’s hill. Over 120 took part, mainly children, along with adults supporting or at times carrying them.
A few run fast, first junior school child in a time of 28.30 with the first secondary in 23.54. The main aim is a fun run or walk and for many it is their first introduction to our sport. Unfortunately the start is all downhill (Oakwood Drive) so an enthusiastic crowd rush off at the start. Hoad Hill Harriers kindly support this event by providing marshals and without this help the event would not be able to be run. We all know the difference good marshalling makes to a race but when the majority running is primary school age then good marshals are of paramount importance. On behalf of the CPA and all the children at the two schools A HUGE THANK YOU to all of you who helped on the night and ensured the continued success of this event.
Rob Cameron
Flan Fell Race
Just a quick report on the shortest and possibly most painful race organised by Damian, we had a reasonably good number of runners turn up for the race. The Afternoon showers had made the hill wet and the Gill banks tarmac treacherous, the dilemma for everyone was what shoes to wear, that is if you have more than one pair. The juniors were off first, the field included Abigail Howie, one of our junior members following in her Dad, Chris’ footsteps. The race was won by Lorna Nunwick (Helm Hill); Ned Branwell Carter was 2nd and Dun Miller 3rd.
The senior race was as usual fast and furious and was eventually won by Tom Doyle, Tom’s brother Chris actually made the trophy so it has effectively gone home. 2nd home was Chris Howie who lost it in the final yards, 3rd home was Jeff Chadwick. The ladies was won by Melanie Hyder from Helm Hill, Sharon Dixon from Hoad Hill was 2nd lady. The race is only 1.7 miles long with a climb of 300 ft and is usually over within 10- 12 mins for the front runners, it can definitely be classed as short and sharp.