The Maidenhead Easter 10. This is a race in Maidenhead, 10 miles long, that takes place at Easter.
No surprise there. I entered it today, partly because I wanted to enter a race with a sensible name. Much better than the Air Products 10K, or the Massey-Ferguson 5, happening the same weekend. Much as I like running at the seaside, there’s something unappealing about the idea of taking part in the Fitness First Bournemouth Bay Half-Marathon. Though I grudgingly acknowledge that having Fitness First as a sponsor is better than some. Far worse: the Epsom National Counties Building Society 10K, the Afford Rent-A-Car Potteries Marathon, the Lipton Ice Tea Marathon Challenge and (this is a corker)the Elan Printing Icknield Way Charity Half-Marathon.
A different category altogether is Races With Silly Names. At least there’s something admirably self-deprecating about these. The Near As Damn It 10K sounds kinda interesting, as does the Hairy legs Challenge Duathlon. The Dogathon 3.5, where you have to run with your dog, is just plain funny, though my response is the same as it is when I see those signs on the tube, next to the escalators, that say “Dogs Must Be Carried”: what are you supposed to do if you don’t have a dog? Walk up the stairs, I suppose. Seems unreasonable though.
Anyway, I think I’m going to boycott races with crap names. Give me the Maidenhead Easter 10 any day.
I returned to the running club this evening for an hour and a half of “Drills and Skills”. We started by prancing up and down the football pitch in the centre of the track for a while, doing unnatural things with our limbs. Then a long spell of intervals on the track followed by a warm-down and some stretching. I took _colin along to check out how much running was actually done in one of these sessions. The slightly startling answer is 5.65 miles, and would have been quite a lot more if I wasn’t so… leisurely in my technique.
It was a tough session, made tougher by the forceful, perpendicular rain that arrived midway through the track session, sending a few squealing weeds flapping back to the shelter of the changing rooms. But well worth doing. The underlying purpose is to try to improve, but the variety it provides is itself a good enough reason to try to keep going. My legs are aching this evening. Probably a good sign.
