"Wilmslow Half Marathon"

After a break of ten years and following a good run at the Stafford Half two weeks ago I was glad that I had once again entered this top class, fast, flat and very local (5 miles away!) race. This year hosting the English Half Marathon Championships and with the race limit of 4000 reached before Christmas, the day turned out to be sunny, cloud free and around 10 degrees centigrade with a slight breeze, the perfect running day.

As I am not fit enough to race hard over this distance I started out steadily (with the aim of remaining below 7.30 as an average) I cruised the first few miles at around 7.08 pace. The lack of distance work told around 10 miles (on one of the course's few climbs around the "Victory Hall" in Mobberley, pictured above) but I kept everything under control and was determined to just "enjoy" the event as a run, coming in at 1.36.46. I crossed the line with the former three time Olympian & Commonwealth Games 800m champion Diane Modahl and was glad she hadn't decided to use that world class pace (even after all these years)to race the last quarter mile!

The time was 12 minutes quicker than Stafford but 10 minutes off a PB!! But it was a great Sunday morning run all the same with a fantastic t-shirt!

I may even be tempted to "race" the "Swift Half Marathon" in the Peak District in May!

"Broken Toe!"

After a great run on Sunday I definitely came down to earth with a bump on Monday morning, or to be more precise down the stairs at home, slipping from top to bottom! The only thing hurt apart from my pride, was that as I fell my little toe caught the stair banister and went in the opposite direction to the rest of me! I'm still not sure if it is broken, dislocated or badly bruised. Medical advice is the same whatever, ice, anti-inflammatories and strapping to the toe next door!

After a couple of days of rest the toe felt much better and I went on a couple of easy runs which I know isn't what the doctor ordered or very sensible either, but a week on and although the injured area is still very swollen and bruised running isn't causing a problem so I may have an easy run out at the Wilmslow Half Marathon next weekend.

The highlight run of the week was on Saturday afternoon where I went out for an hour along the Ashton Canal which runs through the heart of Manchester. leaving my son Matt at the North West Pole Vault squad training at Sportcity, home of the 2002 Commonwealth games, I ran down into the centre of Manchester taking in over 200 years of industrial heritage that saw Manchester become the first city of the Industrial Revolution. Built in 1796 the canal was key to the successful rise of "Cottonopolis" and making Britain the world's leading economy. Several hundred years on the decline in the area is slowly being reversed as old factories are being converted to flats and although i know the city very well from my student days, it was great to keep popping up from the canal at bridges to realise that you were at the heart of what is still today a major international city.

Assuming the toe keeps recovering it is my intention to run the half at the weekend before the start of the track and field season kicks in in a couple of weeks time.

"The Stafford Half"

It's 9.00am on a warm and sunny early spring morning as I sit in a McDonalds just outside of Stafford. An athlete walks in, clearly a runner, and makes his way over to the counter to order a coffee. The voice is unmistakeable, I would have heard it now 101 times (if I had listened to all the podcasts), its Nigel from "Running from the Reaper". We had arranged to meet up for a quick chat prior to him entering his local half marathon on his road to London next month.

After a quick chat about all things running he kindly guides me through the early Sunday traffic to find a parking spot near to the race start and thirty minutes later we are off in the Stafford Half Marathon. Four thousand runners have towed the start line in what are now becoming very warm and unseasonal conditions. The early miles were hit at an almost metronomic eight minute pace (photos are at five miles, I am 218 and Nigel 71) through miles six to nine the rolling road was more challenging and for me as a none road runner these days with my last half being ten years ago I was going into unchartered territory. However the last few miles were along a disused railway and then by the local river. The last mile Nigel really picked up the pace ending with a fantastic last quarter mile turn of speed. The clock stopped at 1.48.31. Not Nigel's quickest by a long way but he was comfortable enough to take confidence away from today as he ramps up the training for London.

For me it was a great day of running and has given me the confidence to attack the Wilmslow Half in two weeks. At the end we had time for a quick chat, put on our hard earned t-shirts for a photograph then it was off. I have run many races over the years but this will certainly be one to remember.

To see how Nigel felt about the run go to http://runningfromthereaper.blogspot.com/ or better still visit itunes and subscribe to his brilliant podcast.

"Over the Hollins"

Another quiet week on the running front with only twenty miles logged. This time of the year is always a strange one, the cross country season has finished but the track season has yet to start. Nevertheless I got some good runs in this week particularly on Monday with a six mile trip over the "The Hollins". Viewed from my office window they are always a challenging set of hills that are forever calling me out for a run!

The remainder of the week was a mixture of tempo runs and a short fartlek session this afternoon when it decided to turn to winter again with a mixture of rain, hail and sleet all in the space of fourty minutes.

The focus of this week will be a return to the track on Tuesday with easy running for the rest of the week, leading to next weekend when I aim to meet up with Nigel from "Running from the Reaper" for a Sunday morning run in the Stafford Half Marathon.

"Running HIGHlights"

The title of this post may be a bit misleading. For the first time this year the running went off the rails this week and the Bosley Cloud Hill Race I was hoping to run this morning was given a miss. After the efforts of last weeks English National XC race, a short recovery run on Monday signalled that everything wasn't quite right, and by Tuesday morning I had the first real head cold of the winter which then went onto my chest. For once I listened to my body and had five days off only going out for a VERY easy 50 minute run in the Spring sun this afternoon.

Whilst out on the run today I tried to think positively (as opposed to what a great race I had missed out on this morning!) and started to think about what have been the running "highs" in my career. After over twenty years of running and racing there have been many memories but in the space of one run there were only a few that really jumped out without too much effort, so here they are, the top 10 -

1. Finishing my one and only marathon at London in the mid 1990s in 3.14.21 (and vowing and meaning never to do it again!)

2. Being chosen to carry the baton (representing Macclesfield Harriers & AC) as part of the baton relay around the United Kingdom before the start of the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester

3. Running a sub 4 minute mile as part of a 4x400 relay squad to celebrate Roger Bannister's first sub four minute mile.

4. Achieving a club vet high jump record of 1m 42 in 2006

5. Everytime I line up to run the English National Cross Country Championships particularly when it is run at the home of XC, Parliament Hill fields on London's Hampstead Heath

6. Cheering my son home to second place when he was 10 in the local inter schools cross country championship

7. Cheering my daughter every time she runs (because she has a running style and ability that I can only dream about) but I won't tell her this just yet!

8. Completing any tough track session on a Tuesday night when the coach says "well done"

9. Competing (and finishing) the World Masters Mountain Running Championships when they came to Keswick in the UK in 2005

10.Finishing the "Tour of Tameside" in one piece in the early 90's (pictured above). Regarded at the time as the toughest test in British athletics, organised by the legendary Ron Hill and featuring a double marathon distance covering six races in seven days.

Next week will be another base training week as I build up to a visit to the Stafford Half Marathon and hopefully a run with Nigel from "Running from the Reaper"