"In the highly unlikely event of a plane landing on the course during the race, please take evasive action."
Thus spoke the race director at the start of last Saturday's Shakespeare 10km on an old disused airfield near Stratford-upon-Avon. I've heard some pretty strange things uttered on race start lines over the years, usually by mayors in their robes and chains or Norm Lane on top of a ladder at Bourton, but this was definitely a new one on me. Apparently the airfield is still registered as such so would come into play in an emergency - I half expected MH370 to make an appearance - although given the numerous potholes around the course any sensible pilot would enschew the offer.
This was certainly a race with a difference, in fact four races in one; all on the start line together: 5km (1 lap), 10km (2), half marathon (4), marathon (8). Sadly the race numbers didn't differentiate between distances so it was hard to work out who one was racing against. The 5km 'lap' made life even more interesting consisting as it did of a star-like structure with five 'arms'. Thus course was, essentially, out & back five times with a u-turn at the tip of each arm. Of course the wind blew hard, making conditions pretty tough for all on the bleak flat landscape. But it was fun; second guessing who was running what distance was intriguing and something I got totally wrong. A negative split gave me a respectable time especially as I'd been laid low once again in the week leading up to the race with the consequences of eating cream cake (lactose intolerance kicked in with a vengeance).
With the race being on a Saturday, it was possible to get out for a decent long Sunday run just like the old days. It is understandable that most road races have to be on Sundays these days but it does make life difficult for runners. We were very lucky in years gone by when all races were on Saturdays: a good social with a few pints after the race then a long recovery run on Sunday morning made for the perfect weekend.
Weekends are so key in the training cycle of most runners who work full-time that they need to be utilised as best they can. When I was at optimum mileage, my training week was set-up by how much I did on the weekend. Typically it would go something like this:
So, before getting into the working week a good 40 miles had already been ticked off.
This was certainly a race with a difference, in fact four races in one; all on the start line together: 5km (1 lap), 10km (2), half marathon (4), marathon (8). Sadly the race numbers didn't differentiate between distances so it was hard to work out who one was racing against. The 5km 'lap' made life even more interesting consisting as it did of a star-like structure with five 'arms'. Thus course was, essentially, out & back five times with a u-turn at the tip of each arm. Of course the wind blew hard, making conditions pretty tough for all on the bleak flat landscape. But it was fun; second guessing who was running what distance was intriguing and something I got totally wrong. A negative split gave me a respectable time especially as I'd been laid low once again in the week leading up to the race with the consequences of eating cream cake (lactose intolerance kicked in with a vengeance).
With the race being on a Saturday, it was possible to get out for a decent long Sunday run just like the old days. It is understandable that most road races have to be on Sundays these days but it does make life difficult for runners. We were very lucky in years gone by when all races were on Saturdays: a good social with a few pints after the race then a long recovery run on Sunday morning made for the perfect weekend.
Weekends are so key in the training cycle of most runners who work full-time that they need to be utilised as best they can. When I was at optimum mileage, my training week was set-up by how much I did on the weekend. Typically it would go something like this:
Saturday: easy morning 5 miler; afternoon 2 mile warm-up, 8 mile race (mob match for example) at tempo pace, starting slowly, easing into the race, then running as I felt, 3 mile warm-down. (Although I raced most weekends, most events were treated as tempo runs.)
Sunday: morning lsd of around 20 miles; late afternoon 3 mile recovery jog followed by large whisky, the Sunday papers and Rachmaninov's piano concerto blasting out on the stereo.
So, before getting into the working week a good 40 miles had already been ticked off.
