THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF A LONG DISTANCE RUNNER
CHORLEY 4
Heavy afternoon rain gave way to much kinder conditions by the 7.30 start.but the early raIn seemed to have put some runners off, but not 5 intrepid souls from SWAC. This race marked the return of Tracey Peters who am glad to say is back on the road again after a serious ankle injury which required hospital treatment! also on the start line was inform Rob Mcgrath and Carlos Irizar who is going through a glorious purple patch, getting faster with each race he runs. Sarah Reynolds was here to only days after her Triathlon . Rob took a few more seconds off last months time finishing 13th 22.02 and winning first v 40 yet again, Rob will soon have enough vouchers to buy a whole running store! Carlos easily achieved his target of breaking 25 minutes looking very smooth with a elegant running style he crossed the line very happy with his finishing time of 24.45, I have a feeling that he could be pushing under the 24 min barrier be next month. Tracey almost missed the start after getting lost and reached the start line in a breathless state,once into the race she found the going tough, but ran well to finish in 27.13 close to her p.b. and am sure with a few more races she will surpass her previous best times. Only days after a tough Triathlon Sarah looked relaxed coming into the finish running 36.18, 8 secs up on last month! As for me well they say life is a roller coaster and after a great race last week i pulled my back muscles lifting a heavy weight! i abandoned a run on monday after 20mins because of my legs feeling weak with sciatic pains, Tuesday I felt a bit better so thought i would risk the race, once running i felt uncomfortable and could only manage a restricted short stride. Even though I won my age group i felt disappointed with 22.50 So am hoping a trip to my chiropractor this morning will sort me out. Remember its Haigh Hall next week, its a very enjoyable event so come on down! RESULTS
MY NEXT RACE IS THE CHORLEY 4 ON WED 2nd JULY
RESULTS
Tue 1st
ONE HOUR OF CHIRUNNING PRACTICE WITH STEADY EDDIE
Mon 30th
PULLED MY BACK MUSCLES CORE TRAINING, ONLY ABLE TO RUN FOR 25 MINS, 5 X LEG SPEED.
was not very 'focused in' when doing my core training, result i lifted my dumb bells up with straight legs, DUMB OR WHAT, Just like THOMAS am going through some highs and lows, after a great Blackpool marathon [ 11th and 1st v45] I went through a bit of a low, which i found to be iron deficiency,I sorted that out and bounced back to have my best race in four years last week only to hurt my back on Monday!
IS THERE A LESSON IN ALL OF THIS; YES, LIFE CAN BE A REAL BITCH, BUT SOMETIMES ITS THE SWEETEST THING! [great U2 video]
Sun 29th
easy run with BIG JON round the pinewoods = 1.05
There was a time when the Chorley 4 attracted large numbers of SWAC members, but those days seem to be sadly long gone! Back in the good old days the likes of Jon Singleton and Terry Bolland use to affectionately call this race the Chorley Bore due to the course being about as exciting as running round a motorway ring road! Interestingly Terry's P.B. set in the early 90's would have given him a easy victory here today! now there is something for Brian Grice to sink his teeth into! the times are a changing!
Anyway a small band of us made it to the start line for two laps of boredom and pain, first back for the club was Rob Mcgrath scorching round in an impressive 22.12 a whopping 45 second improvement on last year and good enough for 17th place and first vet 40. As for me, well i don't remember the last time I felt so bad, I ran the first mile in a slow 5.40 and it felt so hard i really wanted to hand the towel in! from some where I found the resolve to carry on but man did it feel like torture,I guess after such a torrid time i should be happy with 22.37 but then I keep thinking back to when i could run 21.31 back in 2003 and it seemed easy!
Andy Hudson a regular here like myself for many years pulled a muscle on his way to recording 25.51 , lets hope he recovers in time for the Benrigg race this weekend! Not too far behind it was nice to see Ian Kilshaw finding the time in his busy work schedule to run 26.21, Ian told me that he's only being doing steady runs this year so this race must have been a bit of a shock to the system!
Of the girls, Vicky Harvey had a good run with 28.35 not far off her best, Sarah Reynelds had a tough time and battled on to finish in 36.24, Sarah was quite ill this winter and is still struggling to find top form, lets hope next weeks Haigh Hall brings us better results!
The most stunning run of the night came from Katie Ingram of Horwich RMI Harriers running an incredible 21.29 for 8th place and smashing her p.b. by almost a minute.
Looking on the bright side I did finish 24 secs up on this race last year, so with luck i should be able to reach my target of low 22s by the end of summer.
RESULTS
