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“DAYDREAM BELIEVER” |
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To a certain extent
we all live in the past, especially those of us of advancing years. Runners are
just as guilty, dreaming of when they did a certain time for a certain distance.
Oh those memories! Mr Cruse always
quotes: “You are only good as your last race” but even he is slipping
lately, reminiscing about the past. The last time I ran a
I am not as
competitive as I once was. I still want to win but I know my place in the pecking
order has slipped considerably. I never trained properly for any of the Marathons I have done. When I say ‘properly’
I never put the long runs in. Once I ran 18 with Peter and Lee and hated
it. The people who can run them, Steve
and ‘the’ Alex, swear by the long
training run. But that’s my problem; I just don’t want to run 20 miles or more
as a training run. Steve will drive
up to the Bay Horse area past Garstang just off the A6 and run 20 miles but here’s the ‘but’
- he enjoys it.
This time around I
am trying to pile in more miles than usual but it isn’t easy. Like everyone, it
has to fit in with my job and now, after a 12 hour shift, I find it hard to put
in runs straight from work. It is then ‘all or nothing’ between the day and
night shifts. After the Bridleway Relays
my thighs were as stiff as boards. The
hills affected the muscles I obviously never use. I had two days off starting
on the Monday so it was a juggling
act. I played Steff at Badminton at 9.30 and gave her a right
thrashing. I mention this because, though she only started playing last year,
lately she has been beating me. I refuse to play squash or tennis with her
because I know she would kill me. If anyone knows of a good local tennis player
please let me know - she needs competition! I had to play early as I was taking my car in
for a service at Audi on the docks
at
Tuesday was a
killer; I was to meet Caroline at
her mums and we would have a long
run. The run ended up to the Red Lion,
up Knowle Hill down Warbreck then up to and around the
park. Caroline has a ‘camel’ back
pack, a clever rucksack that the bottom has a water pouch fitted within. A tube
comes up from the bag and sits near your shoulder. As we ran Caroline continually sipped her water.
The pace was slow on the way to the park
because of a strong headwind but on the way back it was noticeably much faster.
I started feeling rough as we approached Cleveleys.
I knew I was dehydrated and Caroline had no water left. The pace
slowed at Rossall School - I was
done in! We had run somewhere around 15 miles. All the Marathons, all the halves and I still have not learned about water
intake. I did not want to hinder the proper runners training so I made her
carry on. I crawled for a few hundred yards then broke into a slow trot.
That night Caroline went speed training and,
though dead on her feet, did 5 x 800 metre reps.
On the Message Board I was correctly accused
of only talking about those surrounding me. I replied that I lived in a bubble.
By that I mean I don’t troll the results
to talk of runs I have not seen. I talk of what I see and the people I admire. It
may seem like ‘name dropping’ but people like Caroline is not only a close friend but someone I admire.
I don’t go out and
run 20 miles for pleasure. I don’t get up at 6am for my 2 year old, get my
other two kids ready then take them to school, ask my mother to babysit the 2
year old, run 17 miles then go straight back to being the mother of three again.
There is a reason
why some people are such good runners and the more you get to know them the
more you know why.
Good Luck Caroline and Steve
and to all the others who are running Marathons
in the next few months.
Written by: George Kennedy
Submitted: 9th February 2008
Edited by: Brenda J Earnshaw WRR Editor