Nottingham Grand Prix Race 1 - Rushcliffe 4 Mile

Tonight is race 1 of the Nottingham Grand Prix at my most un-favourite place, Rushcliffe Country Park. It sees me coming.

I hate running on the grit at Rushcliffe and continually ask myself ‘why am I doing this?’. I run on the grass verge to avoid the grit, clip a hole (I think), slip and twist my ankle. I hobble for a bit but then abort the race as my ankle is quickly growing a huge appendage on one side.

I ask the St John’s Ambulance people for an ice pack but instead they grab hold of me, haul me into the ambulance and bandage me up. I am then embarrassingly wheeled in a wheelchair to the car park and sent to A&E. Not that I go. It’s only a sprain after all, I think.

The next day my foot is a nice shade of purple, so... I think race 2 of the series on Thursday at Holme Pierrepoint might be a non starter.

Sheffield Half Marathon

Today I’m entered in the Sheffield Half Marathon, which is one of my favourite races, and I intend to run it despite suffering with a locked up calf as recently as Monday. I’ve had the emergency massage and plenty of rest (well five days), now it’s just a question of crossing the fingers and winging it. If it goes wrong it doesn’t really matter as I don’t have any other imminent races in the diary.

I don’t wing it very far. In fact, the more I warm up the tighter the calf gets. It would probably be sensible to have pulled out then but that’s not really my style.

When the start is delayed, this simply gives me more time to warm up and to hopefully run off the problem or to make it worse. I’ve never been able to run it off before and at Nairn the full 13.1 miles didn't shift it. Today is no exception. 

So by the time we start my calf is well and truly seized up but I give it a go anyway. Drawing on the experience from Nairn, I decide to see if I can hobble the first mile. When I’ve got that far I decide to try and hobble as far at the end of Ecclesall Road where the climbing starts. I get that far and then think, why not see how it is on the hill, you know the four mile long hill. So I do and so on. It’s amazing what you can achieve.

I’m actually rather good at hobbling and it doesn’t actually get any worse until about the 12 mile point, when it gets really sore, but then there’s only a mile to go...

So I made it round but obviously it wasn’t quick but as I say this is one of my favourite races. See you next year.

Wollaton Park Easter 10k

This morning it’s our most local of races, the Wollaton Park Easter 10k which we return to time and time again because there isn’t often a good reason not to do it. I can think of one today though. The weather has been utterly foul all weekend and the park is a complete mud bath but there’s not only me on the start line but L too. 

I am trying to get last minute fit for next weekend’s Sheffield Half Marathon while L has been following a more coordinated plan in her pursuit of the Derby 10k the week after.

I would say that I had a decent run and I did, for 8k of it. It wasn’t quick but then the conditions weren't conducive to quick and it wasn’t particularly pleasant but then the conditions weren't conducive to pleasant. It was ok, until my calf went at 8k. Which puts a huge question mark against Sheffield.

London Landmarks Half Marathon

On Saturday L and I head down to London. This is for the inaugural London Landmarks Half Marathon, that I got into but L didn’t. There was doubt that we’d get here at all due to caring for poor old Doggo but with him sadly no longer with us it frees us up to do stuff like this again.

So a weekend of dog free debauchery awaits although we’ll probably both sit worrying about the little tyke. Daughter dog sits and seems thrilled at the prospect of a weekend with the Lad. I’m sure she will video their day and keep us updated.

Continuing our London tour we stay this time at the Holiday Inn in Victoria which is less than a mile from the start. After a restrained Saturday night around Victoria, we’re already for race day. Well I am, L is annoyed that Waterstone's Piccadilly doesn't open until 12 noon. Quite right too, they probably all want to watch the race.

The race sold out in minutes when it went live last year although half the 10,000 places were kept back for charities which is very mean on us runners (but not on the charities obviously). In fact the whole event is ran by a charity, Tommy’s, but it’s an opportunity to run the sights of London without doing the full London Marathon. If you can get in that of course and this race looks like it could become as hard to get into as it’s big brother.

After a very early breakfast due to the clocks going forward, we head to the start on Pall Mall. At the start there is a sea of yellow event t-shirts which were sent to us in advance along with a nice drawstring bag also in yellow. Obviously I’m not wearing mine and be warned that, if like me, you have a yellow t-shirt phobia the colour is unlikely to change in the future but as there is yellow event branding everywhere.

There is supposed to be a wave start but this doesn’t really happen. You are given a start time and at about that time you join a long funnel which takes you to the start but once you get to the front, off you go, so it was more of a rolling start. Which was fine but it would have been helpful if they’d told us because some people simply slammed their anchors on and refused to start before their allocated start time creating a bit of a log jam.

As I’ve said we only had one place between us, so my number has ‘X’ on it rather than my name. Just in case L had to step in if I was injured but I seem fine at the moment. Someone shouts out to me ‘Come on X-ey’. Not sure how to take that.

There are ‘historical’ mile markers on the course, pointing out what they say are London’s quirky and hidden secrets. These remain hidden to me as naturally I miss most of them. Also some of the areas are apparently themed but again I miss out on these because I am concentrating too much on my race. I do spot most of the landmarks on route, although you do have to crane your neck around the odd skyscraper at times to see them and the route was very winding. I assume to cut down on road closures but I didn’t mind this too much.

The finish line was just outside Downing Street where I was handed a medal by someone in fancy dress but I couldn’t for the life of me tell who they were supposed to be. L would have known. It’s a nice medal but, as I’m not a medal fan, I didn’t really look at too closely. Apparently it opens up like a locket, so I must get it out of the drawer sometime and have another look. The goodie bag wasn’t too bad, containing some food and a sweatband, in yellow of course, which I will use.

Apparently the overall winner beat his Dad into second place, now there’s a obscure pub quiz question for you. I complete the course, uninjured, in 1:47. Not bad on little training.

Fradley 10k

With just two weeks to go until the London Landmarks Half Marathon, I desperately need a training run. So today the honour falls on the Fradley 10K. It’s ideal really, it’s quite local and easy to get to. It may be two loops but beggars can’t be choosers.

L has done it before. She says she remembers getting lettuce and a Florette face flannel in her goody bag. We’ll be hoping for something more useful this year then.

It goes relatively well. 46:06 isn’t great but it isn’t a disaster either. They have bacon sandwiches and if nothing else the new puppy has a great time.

East Midlands 10k

Today it's the second running of the East Midlands 10k at Holme Pierrepont and I'm doing it again. So I really must have enjoyed it last year...

The organisers sell it as a 'flat and fast course set with minimal twists and turns' that has 'breath taking views around this facility' of the regatta lake and the canoe slalom course water rapids which is 'home to some of Great Britain’s Olympic athletes'. Although I don't see any today on either of my two laps.

Last year L implied she'd rather gouge her own eyeballs out than do multiple laps of Holme Pierrepont but here she is on the start line with me. Truth is, there's very little choice of races at this time of year. At least it's not as wet as last year but it is very windy.

We both survive it.

Birmingham International Marathon

So... Marathon day. Naturally we would have preferred to have gone by train but despite this being the 21^st Century the country is still unable to run these things before 9am on a Sunday. So we drive there, although we do get a great parking spot right in the centre of Birmingham. From where I get the shuttle bus to the start at the Alexander Stadium while L starts limbering up in readiness for the shops opening.

I have printed her off a map of the route, on which she complains that they haven’t marked Waterstones. They’ve not marked much to be fair but I’m sure she’ll cope.

There are two start times 8.30am and 9.30am. As a Marathon virgin I have been placed in the latter category. It would have nice if everyone could have started together but I guess the current start area simply isn't big enough.

I line up wearing my new barely broken in trainers behind two girls who have labels on their backs saying ‘I’m running for...’ erm ‘Gin’ and ‘Sex’. I suppose it’s a conversation starter but no one’s talking at the moment everyone looks far too worried for chitchat.

This is the rebirth of the Birmingham Marathon. The original, known as the People’s Marathon, started in 1980 which was a year before the inception of the London Marathon. It ran for six years until 1985 and apparently included the M42 (before it was finished). Now it’s back.

So off we go. I like the course which runs us into the city centre before a two lap loop of a large chunk of the usual Half Marathon course. This included Cannon Hill Park, Cadburys and the Edgbaston Cricket Ground. Plenty of people didn’t like the two lap bit but I do like to know where I’m going, as I did second time around. I wouldn’t have wanted to do a third though.

I set off at nine minute mile pace as planned but clearly subconsciously I found this simply too pedestrian as I soon speeded up. Suddenly not four hours but three hours fifty minutes looks briefly on but only briefly.

The atmosphere was good and there were plenty of designated ‘cheering points’ but there were actually plenty of people cheering all the way around at presumably unauthorised points. The route could have perhaps done with a few more bands and there was also no beer stop like at the Great North Run. So they’ll have to sort that omission out.

By half way I have used up all the energy gels I had carried with me and L hands me a few more as I push into the uncharted waters of the second half marathon of the marathon. They are handing gels out at a few points but it would be better if they were available at all the feed stations and a sports drink would be nice too.

I had left a sports bar with L but I don’t take it, which was probably a mistake, as I do start to feel a bit low on energy and start taking jelly babies off the crowd. I discover that it you nibble them slowly you don’t choke on them, which is a bonus. However Haribos and wine gums turn out to be deadly. They are totally inedible and chewy, so I spit them out and go begging for more jelly babies.

Things are going really well until I suffer a minor meltdown at 24 miles. Is this what they call ‘The Wall’? To be honest it’s more of a privet hedge. I start feeling a bit light headed, so I walk for a bit and pour water over my head. This ruins my target time and I slip outside four hours pace as I finish in 4:02.

Bizarrely Erdinger hadn’t sponsored this one and they hand me a bottle of water when I cross the line. How quaint and old fashioned. It was only the one bottle though, which wasn’t enough and I downed mine in one go. I very nearly had to cause a scene in the Sack Of Potatoes pub in order to obtain more fluids.

That’s where I end up by the way, on the grass outside said pub, which is just out of crawling range. Apart from more water, I would have liked a massage but although I can see the sign it might as well be several miles away.

I have informed L where I am and now I await rescue. She says don’t move. That’s easy, I can’t move. She soon found me because she recognised my legs sticking out from under the park bench. I had tried to sit on the bench but hadn’t quite managed it.

I have raided the Goodie Bag but I have to say if this is your typical Marathon Goodie Bag then I’m disappointed. There’s barely anything to eat in it and not much to drink either but I do love the T-shirt.

Apparently I came 1506th out of 5204. Naturally I’m gutted not to make the top 1500 but that’s not too bad for a first effort.