Category: Races

Yikes, what’s this, another early Sunday morning?  Must be getting old or something but I’m off to the London Heathside 5 today to go and run 3 and a half times round Finsbury Park.  I’ve checked the tubes are running to Finsbury Park this morning and according to the Transport for London Real-Time Map which bizarrely shows the working stations as the greyed out ones, the Victoria Line is running to Finsbury Park today.  Which means I don’t have to get on the peasant wagon.  Hurrah.

Hopefully there’ll be more people to run with this morning, as last week at the IC Marrow Fun Run in Hyde Park, I might as well have just gone out for a run on my own as there was no one near me for the entire 5 miles except for a couple of other runners in the distance who I was trying not to lose as they were helping me to not go the wrong way.

I will update later.

I’m back. Yesterday I did check that the tubes were running today and I could have sworn it said that the Victoria Line wasn’t running between Finsbury Park and King’s Cross but that didn’t matter to me because I was changing tubes at Finsbury Park but they must have been fibbing because today everyone got off the train at Seven Sisters and I was sitting there thinking why has everyone except me got off the train and so I got off the train and asked a man why has everyone got off the train? But he didn’t know and went and asked a station staff man and he said we had to get the replacement bus to either Manor House or Finsbury Park. Eek. Me and Bernard had to get the replacement bus to Manor House from Seven Sisters last year when we went to the free festival in Finsbury Park and that bus ride was the WORST EVER bus ride in my life. But today it was ok. Hurrah. Maybe because it was a Sunday morning and not a Saturday afternoon but the bus was empty and free of annoyingly noisy kids and other annoying people and the road was free of traffic and the replacement bus got me quickly and safely down the road to Manor House tube where I got on the Piccadilly Line to Hyde Park Corner.

When I got to the park, I went to the bandstand and I went to the van that had lots of goody bags in and said to the girl there are you Charlene? She said no. I said oh, Charlene said I could put my bag in the van, is she about? The girl said she’s around somewhere, she’s wearing a black sleeveless puffa jacket. I went up to a girl wearing a black sleeveless puffa jacket and said are you Charlene? She said no. I resisted saying, why are you pretending to be her then by wearing a black sleeveless puffa jacket and just said oh, she said I could put my bag in the van but if people are leaving them here then that’s fine, and I left my bag on the ground with all the other bags.

I’m going to have to stop getting to races early because a) I get v. bored standing around and b) I was BLOODY FREEZING. I wanted to get there early because a) I wanted to find Charlene and her van; b) I thought there might be a huge toilet queue; and c) I’m always early for everything.

Eventually everyone moved off to the start line. The 8k runners with numbers up to 350 went first, then the rest of the 8k runners, then the 3k runners went. I was in the second lot of 8k runners. Everyone sprinted off leaving me for dust.

I eventually got some feeling back in my left hand at about 2 miles (should have worn my free gloves that the nice people at Start Fitness gave me) and the wind stopped at 3 miles and at 3.5 miles I thought I vaguely recognised a feeling of enjoyment but I think I might have been mistaken as I didn’t enjoy hardly a footstep of the whole run. Although there was a comedy moment when I nearly fell over a pigeon and a marshall saw me and started laughing. I thought the pigeon would get out of the way but it just stood there and I could envisage a pigeon-based football incident happening, but I managed to get out of its way. I saw a squirrel too. Didn’t see any cows though.

I eventually saw the finish line and thought to myself thank fuck that’s over.

Over until next week anyway, when I’ve got another 5 mile race 🙂

Today’s race was supposed to have a superheroes theme and some people did make the effort and dress up. Here are the Musketeers. They won the prize for the best dressed.

There were some incredible hulks too and they looked v. cool but I’d put my camera away by the time they turned up. Shame. It wasn’t a huge turn out as you can see from this pic. People must have been put off by the cold and the rain. Lightweights.

In fact, there seemed to be more ambulance crew than runners.

The ambulance crew were also strategically placed around the route. Also strategically placed around the route were lots of marshalls. I would like to thank the marshalls for the brilliant job they did today. Not only did they stop me from getting lost, but each and every one of them had a huge smile on their face and cheered everyone on. Thank you 🙂

Here’s the route.

Stats:
Miles: 5.29
Total time: 54:43
Average pace: 10:20 minute/mile
Total calories: 461
Weather: bloody freezing
Music:
Rolling Stones – You Can’t Always Get What You Want
Peeping Tom – Don’t Even Trip
My Bloody Valentine – Feed Me With Your Kiss
Mansun & 808 State – Skin Up Pin Up
Manic Street Preachers – Damn Dog
Sex Pistols – Who Killed Bambi
Ian Brown – Lions
Toyah – Masai Boy
Stereo Total – L’amour a 3
Goody bag:
Bottle of Tropicana
Bag of Haribo Starmix
Completion certificate
Flyer for a 10k in Hyde Park in March
Two Anthony Nolan Trust leaflets

It’s the morning of the 10k and just as well I checked the underground situation. I already knew that the overground wasn’t running (grr) so I checked the Victoria Line and what do you know? Yep, planned f*****g engineering works, so now I’ve got to get the peasant wagon to the Central Line. Ho hum. Anyway, just thought I’d have a little rant before I go on my way. Hopefully I’ll get there on time and not get lost.

Speaking of getting lost, once again I dreamt that I got lost and ended up in a car park. That’s the second time in a row before a race I’ve dreamt that. It was a different car park though. Any dream analysers out there? I can understand the getting lost bit but why do I end up in a car park? I can’t even drive.

Will update later after my pizza which apparently I’m having for lunch. I’ve been told I am so I’d better do as I’m told. Shame.

Stats:
Local overground trains running: 0
Local tube lines running: 0
Dreams about getting lost and ending up in a car park: 1

What I forgot to mention was that last week, I dreamt I was running the race last Saturday when I got to a bit where there were no signs or marshalls and I didn’t know which way to go, ooh, spooky!

Although in my dream, I had ended up at the top of a car park, so at least in real life I hadn’t quite so dramatically gone wrong.

My dreams don’t come true very often. Which is probably just as well.

And that’s the last time I moan about Saturday. Honest.

Today’s training schedule called for 50 minutes cross-training. So, did I diligently trot off to the gym for 50 minutes cross-training? Na, I decided to go out running for 5 miles instead.

Took my usual route round the marshes, then decided to head off in what I thought was the direction of the marina, only it wasn’t. It was in the direction of some crusties in a park in Hackney who were sitting on a bench drinking at 9:30 in the morning. Luckily they were too bemused by the sight of a bedraggled jogger looking less like a finely tuned athlete and more like a badly tuned piano to notice the iPod strapped to my arm and left me to jog off past them, leaving them to continue enjoying their apple based breakfast, i.e. rocket-fuel-strength cider.

I took my camera out with me this morning as I thought today’s run should be a more leisurely affair after yesterday’s disaster. OK, I thought today’s run should be a more leisurely affair after drinking for 12 hours yesterday and shoving three bars of chocolate, three burgers and two hot dogs down my throat.

But before I bore everyone with today’s pics, here’s an aerial photo of the scene of the aforementioned disaster. The purple bit is, obviously, where I was supposed to go. The blue bit that tails off on its own is, obviously, where I wasn’t supposed to go. That signals the bit where I turned my Garmin off in disgust, ripped my number off my shirt, threw it in the bin and stomped off to the toilet to cry. Waaaaaaaa, right at the f*****g end. No, I haven’t got over it yet.

And today’s pics:

Cows! Yah! I like cows. Cows are cool. I was thinking today, maybe they’ve always been there and I just hadn’t noticed before and in five years, I’m still going to be saying “cows, yah, I like cows”. There are still four cows, one’s just a bit further away. As usual. I don’t think the other three like that cow.

And a closer up pic of a cow.

This sign confused me. What if the dogs are wild? Are they allowed in the pond? Although they’d have to get through the barbed wire first. Maybe my cat would be allowed in there, she’s wild. Actually, my cat would be allowed in there, as it doesn’t say keep your cats out of the pond, just dogs. So people could give their hamsters a little swim in there too.

And here’s a squirrel. Aah, innit cute?

Watch out for the next instalment of how to stick to a training schedule where I, instead of going out for a 2.5 mile run, go to the running club and do speedwork instead.

Stats:
Miles: 4.82
Total time: 1:00:23
Average pace: 12:31 minute/mile
Average speed: 4.8mph
Max speed: 7.3mph
Total calories: 448
Weather:71F
Cows: 4
Squirrels: 1
Crusties on benches drinking early in the morning: 4
Music:
The Damned – Eloise
Bikini Kill – For Only
Sex Pistols – Lonely Boy
The Police – Next to You
Boomtown Rats
Blur – 1992
Arctic Monkeys – Dancing Shoes
The Crescent – Streets of Tide
Supergrass – Your Love
Primal Scream – Some Velvet Morning
Gary Numan – Remember, I Was Vapour
Manic Street Preachers – Dead Martyrs
The Arcade Fire – Yeah Toast!
Simian – When I Go
The Futureheads – A to B
Scissor Sisters – Electrobix

Oh yes, no one is more stupid than me. I got up bright and early at 6:30, was really looking forward to the race and not a nerve in sight. Got to Hyde Park Corner at 9, luckily Gary was early too so off we went to register which was a bit scary as we were the only ones there, then a few more people turned up but hardly a big turn out so I started thinking oh no, I’m going to be last and not even just last but ages behind everyone else but anyway, eventually the walkers walked off, and the buggypushers pushed off and then half an hour later, we (the runners, of which there were about 15 in the end) were allowed to go.

Everyone except me, Gary and another man sprinted off into the distance. A short while later me and my iPod left Gary and the other man as they slowed off a bit (Gary not helped by the dogs in the park, what with him being scared of dogs and that) and I was happily following a couple of girls in the not too far ahead distance (not in a stalking kind of way I should probably add, just in a I’ll follow them so I don’t get lost kind of way) and managed to overtake one of them as she slowed down and I was trying to keep up with – or at least keep in my view – the other girl so as not to get lost as the marshalls were a bit few and far between.

All was going well, right up until 3 miles. I was going faster than usual and thinking yay, I’m going faster than usual and I’m going to easily reach my target of under 35 minutes when, fuck me, we come to a crossroads and I’m thinking “there’s NO FUCKING MARSHALL THERE! Don’t they know I have no sense of direction? There’s only .1 of a mile left, I don’t want to stop and look at the map, I want to keep on going, and hopefully speed up and do a good time. No no no, this can’t be happening, do I go that way or that way? Fuck, fuck, fuck. I’ll go this way, I think this is where we came in. Oh shit, I don’t think the bandstand was this far down, I think I’ve gone the wrong way. Do I turn back or what? No point turning back, I’ll definitely be last then. Bugger. Oh, there’s the bandstand, what’s it doing over there? Shit, I can’t come through that way, they’ll think I’ve been cheating. Damn, I’ll just go and get changed and go home.”

Here’s a pic of where I took the wrong turning, the blue person is just my *ahem* artist’s impression of where a marshall would have been helpful, it’s not really a marshall, even I would have noticed a big blue stick person.

But yes, I do blame myself, as I don’t think anyone else went the wrong way, so it was just me being an idiot. So I plodded off to the toilet without anyone seeing me, got changed, met up with Gary and went to the pub. Am so pissed off, my first 5k and I completely f****d it up 🙁

Oh well, will carry on training for my 10k and memorise the route before I do it 🙂

Stats:
Miles: 3.05
Total time: 30.26
Average pace: 9:58 minute/mile
Average speed: 6mph
Max speed: 7.1mph
Total calories: 277
Weather:73F

Oh wow, how cool was that? Last night’s Crisis Square Mile Run was brilliant! And yay go me doing it all without stopping apart from at the start when everyone had to stop after quarter of a mile to try and get down some narrow steps. Gary sped off after 5 minutes to try and do his do it in 25 minutes thing but I caught up with him after a mile as he’d gone too fast too soon and I left him for dust. Ha ha. See, I told him he should have trained for it. Did I gloat? No, of course not. Not until I’d had three pints of Hoegaarden, anyway.

Aah, it was so good I wanted to do it all over again straight away. And I wasn’t last. Nowhere near last in fact. Now I want to find me another race. Yah!!

Can’t really put my stats because my Garmin didn’t like Central London and only recorded 3 miles, bugger. Ah well.