19 – 25 Oct 2020 “Ready Runner One.”

Kind of in a “meh” mood for the run, I opened the door to be greeted by torrential rain. Doing what any sane person would have done, I shut the door… grabbed a cap and set out anyway!

That was just one of a few wet runs this week, growing in frequency but not hampering my mileage. One particular rainy run was a club session, intervals of about a mile with 500m jog recovery, four reps. Well, I say “rainy”; the drizzle was on and off throughout the training, providing relief right when it was needed. The session went well, with me in the leading pack, consistently third.

Talking of competition, I finally got around to watching the movie Ready Player One this week. Imagine my surprise when I recognised familiar Birmingham sights such as Snow Hill and Digbeth! However, the moral of the movie was that the outdoors should be embraced rather than shunned. But given the weather and coronavirus, even I would be inclined to stay inside if I had a treadmill…

After two consecutive weeks of reaching milestones, I achieved new heights this week – 100,000 feet of height to be precise! Yes, for the first time I’ve accumulated that elevation within a year, with my previous PB of 74,185 ft well and truly shattered. I’m probably on track to reach 125,000 by the end of the year.

In other news, I bought the worst pair of headphones I’ve owned this week, incapable of staying on my ears. I’ve always been quietly jealous of people – particularly runners – who manage to use basic in-ear headphones without difficulty. For as long as I can remember, I’ve never been able to wear such devices, always requiring a full headset to keep them in place (how AirPods defy gravity is beyond me). So, for even over-ear headphones wrapped over my head to fall off… oy vey. Between that, new gloves, shorts, phone wrist strap and new trainers on the horizon, this is shaping up to be an expensive time.

So much for saving money by staying in… it feels like Im spending more on running than before!

12 – 18 Oct 2020 “Mixing it up.”

After last week’s milestone of 2000, it was inevitable that I’d hit the year number this week. Funny, there was a time when 2020 seemed like a good thing! You know, 20/20 vision, that the number looks nice aesthetically, it has a sense of futurism about it… now, of course, it’s a byword for everything bad that could possibly ever happen. But I digress; now my next milestone will be 2222 – my current PB achieved last year – before heading for 2500 (what would be even better would be hitting a number that would make Zager & Evans proud. Go ahead, I’ll wait while you Google them… :))

With autumn continuing its relentless pursuit against us, long sleeves are becoming regular, as well as forcing me away from routes which aren’t night-friendly. On the plus side, I experimented with a new route today to shake things up, taking me down a once-regular canal path before unfamiliar roads. I’m not sure how often I’ll frequent it, but it’s nice to try out new territory!

Despite all the uncertainty surrounding restrictions and cancellations, I’m still kind-of looking forward to my half marathon next month, mainly just for the race experience again. Ideally, I’d like to aim for about 78 minutes – my second-best time – as I doubt I’m in good enough shape for a new PB, but I’d be lucky to get sub-85. Oh, and I must give a shout-out to my nemesis for his new 5k PB of 16:11, as well as another of my club with a PB of 15:30! Crazy times, just when I was so close to going sub-17…

How do you think you’d fare in your next race? Have you been able keep your training despite restrictions?

5 – 11 October 2020 “Disco 2000.”

With the weather growing as uncertain as the possibility of races any time soon – cross country being the latest victim – long sleeves have been brought out while routinely checking forecasts. Feels like only yesterday that I’d stuffed them in my wardrobe for long-term storage…

On the plus side, I’ve been able to resume club training (just in time for cold, dark evenings). On the downside… the session was all about hills! Of a yo-yoing type, it started with a short uphill at race pace, back down, up a different hill, then back down to the start. All of that was one rep, with nine to be completed! Despite the effort, it was fun, what with chasing (and beating) fellow runners. Although I hadn’t monitored the pace, the guy I ran with confirmed each rep was consistent ± 2 secs.

Of note, I hit 2,000 miles for the year this week, some 2 months earlier than last year! With last year’s achievement being a memorable 2,222, I’m hoping to hit 2,500 this year. It’s a target I hadn’t planned on, but as I seem to be on track for it, I may as well go for it! I largely credit it to running at least 8 miles each time, whereas before I’d have been content with a 5-miler, or even a 5k. Dare I up it to 10 miles next year…?

28 Sept – 4 Oct 2020 “Doctor Where.”

With weather so challenging it bested the Kenyan Superman Kipchoge, it wasn’t a great weekend for running. However, as Kenyan Superwoman Kosgei and tens of thousands of you proved in running the virtual London Marathon, we can still make the most of it!

With adjustments to my working day since the start of the school year, I tried out an early morning run, at a time rarely seen since lockdown began – 6am! My pace wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be, and it was good to get the run out of the way… but yeah, it was still early!

My other runs at more reasonable hours, it was generally a nice week of running. Except for the zip breaking on my second-best shorts (admit it, we all have our optimum running clothes!) So with the zip also broken on my third-best and a pocket-hole in my fourth-best (and the least said about my fifth-best, the better…), I’ve had to buy some new shorts for the first time in… well, less than a year I think. But I’ve also noticed my trainers are about to reach 1,000 miles already, so while there’s nothing major I’m training for right now, I may dare to try a non-ASICS brand. Man, running is expensive…

My week was capped off by a simple half marathon, the reverse of my usual route. So of course, I got lost – three times! On the plus side, I figured my way out pretty quickly (using convenient landmarks such as hospitals and grass), so who knows; give it another year in this town and I might stop getting lost! Probably around the time I’ll need to buy more shorts…