Chapter 4 of Scott Jurek's Eat and Run (which I shall soon review) is titled Pain Only Hurts. This has become something of a mantra for me since I read the book. That's not to say I am continually suffering, or make myself sound like an hypochondriac, more to say that sometimes, when things are tough, you just have to suck it up and deal with it. I felt much this way when, using a new (second hand) bike for the first time at the weekend, I failed to account for much more responsive brakes than those on the borrowed bike I had got used to and so I became more acquainted with the tow path gravel than I might have liked. Because 'Pain Only Hurts', and because I was too far away from home to be bothered with walking, I got up, got back on the bike and carried on. Until I fell off again. And got on again. I only fell off twice.
 A pre-race experiment with new gel and scabby mitts. Mmmm, yummy. | Following my success on the last Todmorden 5k two weeks ago, there was no way I was not running the final race in the series tonight, and so having spent the last three days moving v e r y s l o w l y and performing only a minimal amount of light 'recovery' exercise, I bandaged up my left knee (which, thankfully, had returned to almost the same size as the right knee), sprayed an unholy amount of Deep Heat on my shoulder, sank an ibuprofen and prepared to participate. Not race. Participate. Which is the important thing. Have you heard me say 'I'm not racing!' before? You know how that usually turns out? Yep. you got it. |
| I try and avoid painkillers as I like to 'listen to my body' when I'm injured and know when to stop. Ibuprofen also has a tendency to irritate my stomach. As I munched them like (prescribed) sweeties as a teenager with Rheumatoid Arthritis (you can read a little more about that here if you want) I also have quite a resistance to them which means they don't do much anyway. They were all I had in the cupboard anyway so I thought 'sod it' and took one thinking that things were already not exactly going to plan so I may as well chuck everything at it. Apart from possibly causing some mild indigestion, which could equally have been caused by experimenting with a new gel brand (I don't usually use gels until mile 16 of at least 20 but this one came in my Joggbox and was chocolate flavoured so I figured I could use all the help I could get tonight) they didn't apparently achieve anything at all. Hence, after a surprisingly fast seven and a half minute warm-up mile, I found myself on the Todmorden start line for the last time with a stiff, sore but bearable knee and an increasingly pissed off shoulder. Hey ho. When life gives you lemons... what? What's wrong with lemons anyway? Oh Hey Life. Thanks for the lemons. |  Running away from the sunset! |
So yes. That race hurt. But, I kept telling myself, the faster I run, the faster it's allllllll over and I can sit in the bar and eat my snacks and pick up my prize for coming first last time and not have to think about it anymore. I actually tried not to think about my position in the last race, or my overall standing in the series stats (I was third overall and first lady), or seeing those achievements on two feet slipping away from me due to having been a bit daft and falling off two wheels. It was a lovely summer evening in a beautiful place with a fat, if not full, moon hanging languidly and low in the sky over a row of pine trees, I was surrounded by lovely people and was fully of chocolatey sugar. What could possibly be wrong with that? Ow. Shuttup. Ow. Shuttup. One. Foot. After. The. Other. Just another sensation, just another message to the brain. Oh. and I needed another wee. Don't drink fizzy drinks too soon before a race either, even if they do have caffeine in.
I had already seen and said hi to Autumn, an inspirational runner from Trawden AC with whom I had a very friendly tussle in the first two races of the series (see race one, two and three reports) and it was no surprise at all to see her shoot off ahead of me from the start line. That was one challenge I wasn't even entertaining. It was with some cautious shock then that I found myself on her heels after about a lap and a half (this 5k route is 5 times round a park and then a surprisingly difficult little bit). I really didn't want to overtake her. This was not altruistic, nor good sportsmanship on my part. This was self preservation. If I could sink comfortably into stealth mode just behind her, perhaps I could pull the same trick she demonstrated so impressively in the first race and save a bit of energy, just pipping her over the line by digging deep in the home stretch. If I overtook her now, so early on, she'd more than likely do the same to me. Now, I know I said I wasn't racing but in my experience 90% of success is in managing opportunity effectively and this opportunity seemed just in reach suddenly, which was more than could be said for most things in the last couple of days thanks to reduced mobility in my stupid shoulder. Well, so much for mid race strategic planning. I drew alongside her in about half a lap. Despite a bit of fun with others, I'm only ever really racing against myself anyway and I felt I could go faster. Imagine the following conversation being conducted between two asthmatic elderly ladies climbing a flight of stairs and you'll get an idea of how hard we were both puffing.
Puff.
"Hi"
"Hey"
(Pause for more laboured breathing)
"Keep pushing on!"
"You'll soon be passing me!"
Puff. Puff.
 Jen powers towards the finish! | That last statement wasn't an attempt to appear humble. I honestly fully expected to be thoroughly pummelled on the last leg, however, my determination to just get the damn thing over and done with, combined with the burning sensation of a very determined person running as hard as she possibly could right behind me, apparently provided pretty good running fuel and so I brought in my fourth ever sub 20 minute 5k (I'm not sure of the exact time, I forgot to stop my watch immediately and some technical hiccups mean we don't have official results yet) as second lady. Huzzah. And yes it still hurt. Actually, by the time I got over the line, pretty much everything hurt. It can feel a bit like that anyway when you've been running at your fastest for 20 minutes but this was the point, goal achieved, at which El Boddo decided to inform me in a stern tone that I usually reserve for shocking teenage boys into obedience, that when we got home we were Having Words. Still, that was for when we got home and with one, possibly now two (I like to wait for confirmation of my position before patting myself on the back) prizes to collect, I could allow myself a little bask in some hard-earned glory. |
| After thanking and chatting to Autumn and a few other runners, I headed back to the finish to cheer Jen (an equally inspirational fellow Salford Harrier) and a few others over the finish and we then all traipsed back to the pub (Ahhhh. Pub.) to have a damn good natter. Oh, and for the prize giving. I was then able to confirm that I had indeed come in as second lady, though unfortunately, thanks to aforementioned gremlins, we don't yet have the official times or the series results. They will follow soon I'm sure and it's of massive credit to John (pictured, right, also a Salford Harrier!) of Cannonball Events that he managed what could have been a tricky situation with an easy, professional confidence and successfully negotiated a characteristically generous prize giving. I'll update this post no doubt, when the results are published but in the meantime you can check out the previous three races. After enjoying, and giving some light applause (ow, ow, grazed palms, ow), and catching up with a few people, I managed a last chat with Autumn. She recently announced an ambitious goal of upgrading her achieved Good For Age place at the London 2015 Marathon by running a half marathon in less than 90 minutes and in so doing has unwittingly scuppered my chances of a nice, relaxing Thames Meander on the 23rd. Oh great. I never even knew I could do that. So now I have another challenge. Shave over 7 minutes off my Half Marathon PB and see if I can do the same. Thanks very much. Not. It turns out her half marathon is also on the 23rd. I wished her very well, soundly un-thanked her for raising the bar yet again and then jumped back in the car for the power ballad fuelled journey to Manchester with Jen and her partner Rob. Singing along to Starship, Europe and Whitesnake at the top of one's voice on a summer evening when you have just done quite well in a race you were expecting to totally flunk is a wonderful anaesthetic but the heated seats in Rob's very nice car were also extremely therapeutic! So, another second place ladies finish in the bag for Salford Harriers, but possibly the best thing about tonight? Winning a pair of cycling gloves. Take that tow path! Next time you decide to high five me, *I'll* have the last laugh! |  A fuzzy glow as I collect my prize(s)  Ka-Ching! |
Update! | 08.08.14 | |
Following what sounds like quite a lot of effort on the part of the team at Cannonball Events, we now have official times for last night's race (miraculously, mine is 19.44; spot on the same as what I recorded on the Garmin, this never happens!) and the overall series results. I was a bit bummed out to discover that I have been pushed from 3rd down to 12th but I guess I should be glad to have hung on to the top female spot. I always feel a bit of a cheat when I say 'I came first/second/third/whatever!' and then have to suffix that statement with 'out of the women that is'. Yes, I know, men and women are different, blah blah blah, but I don't want to have 'run like a girl' I want to have 'run like a human' and in this case, there were 12 humans who ran better than me. Now, I don't class myself as a feminist, mostly because I have never met anyone claiming to be a feminist who, when it really came down to it actually wanted equality rather than a veiled female supremacy, at least until it comes to things like losing your favourable car insurance quote or having dinner bought for you. BUT, I do like to think of myself as being as capable of most things as other people regardless of what they're packing in their pants, so having to 'admit' that I 'ran quite well... for a lady' just stings a bit, But I'll stop being an ungrateful so-and-so now as it seems like I'll probably get yet another, possibly undeserved prize and I'm nothing if not very grateful for that! So, thanks again to all involved in organising what has been my first race series and thanks also to all my running buddies, especially Jen and Mark for their support and motivation! You guys rock! \m/
