This was originally a training diary but its turned into a race diary.
The races are actually great training.
For what? For running I suppose. Err, Ill start again
When I knackered my ankle at the start of summer I bought a mileometer (or kilometremeter?) for my mountain bike and measured all my old routes. So now I know the exact distances Ive been running these last few years. Most of the routes turned out to be about a kilometre longer than Id expected. Did a few sums and decided that Id got a few hundred extra kms in the bank thanks to the handy little gadget. Great purchase that.
Thanks to the mileometer I know that since September Ive been doing about 20 miles a week and I also set the vague target of doing a running event every month. This didnt imply any goals, just an excuse to run a bit faster than normal, with like-minded people (or not) and to get out the house for a couple of hours!
The September event was a 10k which proved to be a little too soon and a little too painful. October was the uphill madness described above which I enjoyed enormously although I find it difficult to explain why (and how). And Novembers event was the III Ponferrada Half Marathon. Now I havent run a proper half marathon for over 2 years so I was curious as to how Id get on and guess what? Crossed the finishing line in exactly the same time as I did in the Tipton Half marathon 17 years ago. Now that might mean that I havent improved at all since 1990 although my inborn optimism counters by saying that Im as fit as I was when I was 20!
I suppose this is the glass half-full half-empty syndrome.
The race.
It was free and unadvertised. Me and Miguel Mushroom turned up 15 minutes before the start and were given a ticking off for not having registered earlier. Many of us only found out about the half marathon because they sent a letter to any potential runners which arrived (in my case) the day before the race. They let us in anyway.
Twas a 2-lap course around the outskirts of Ponferrada and we mingled dangerously with the Sunday morning traffic along a couple of the main roads. Occasionally we ran past a local policeman/woman strategically placed to wave down or stop cars. There were untidy red arrows painted on the tarmac to show us the way but in places it was fairly easy to take a wrong turning (and I did). Yes, this had all the hallmarks of a Chus Alonso affair, a great athlete, probably a great bloke but who couldnt organize a borrachera in a cervecería. Perhaps Im being a bit harsh
Despite being the best attended half marathon in Bierzo history there were only 79 finishers (although 50 or so more did a shorter 1-lap course). But just check these classifications out;
http://www.championchipnorte.com/externo...ARATON.htm
Half the field ran 1:30 or faster! Only 2 runners arrived slower than 1:55. I reckon that the thing was badly publicised (as always) but a lot of fun runners are also put off by the apparent seriousness of it all.
Still, it was better than nowt. And just for finishing they gave me a bottle of Aquarius and something called a buff to wrap round my neck during winter. They didnt give me a prize although there were so many different categories that just about everybody else got one. El Chepas won the Vet-F category for the one lap race finishing just behind Miguel Mushroom. Well done El Chepas!
And finally some conclusions:
Running up hills prepares you for running up hills.
Running off road prepares you for running off road.
20 miles a week is a bit on the short side. In the past Ive run the same and felt stronger but I did other things as well (cycling, footie, subbuteo
) And now Im older.
I found it impossible to sustain a regular pace and ached more and longer than in the Morredero mountain pass race last month. My legs felt like theyd endured a right royal battering and I had difficulty walking up the stairs on Monday morning. I reckon my leg muscles arent up to flat road races any more (which might be a good thing).
Next stop Lugo. Maybe
Random running and remote races.
