It all seems like a distant memory now, but it makes me smile every time I think about it. I actually entered a race without coercion and finished it.

This all started when a friend of mine mentioned the Poole 10k ace to me. Having already successfully completed two London marathons his running ability is somewhat above mine, so I thought this was the kick up the backside I needed to progress my running.

I gradually increased my running until I managed to run / walk 4.8 miles in about 50 mins. I was happy with that, don’t get me wrong, and this formed the basis for a one hour estimated time for the race.

Two weeks before the race my friend was told he would not be able to run so that left me on my own. The race was booked and paid for and I just needed to keep increasing the time out running or the duration of my runs and I would be fine.

However as the saying goes, the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray. I lost motivation, work got busier and my training reverted to a haphazard, run whenever schedule. I discovered that two current and one ex-work colleague were entered for the 29^th Annual Poole Festival of Running 10k race with me.

Overall the pressure was mounting, as all were more experienced runners, two had completed a couple of marathons each and one is a semi professional footballer for Bashley. My ranking at the bottom of the running and fitness league for this ensemble was now carved in stone..

The race was on Sunday 6^th May, a day that arrived sooner than I could have imagined. On the race morning I awoke feeling quite confident, I enjoyed a bowl of the supermarket’s version of Alpen with skimmed milk and a coffee. Now on reflection the cigar after breakfast maybe wasn’t such a good idea…. and I suppose the additional 6 coffees and cigars to calm my mounting nerves could have been deferred until after the race. Nonetheless the 2 p.m.  start time was looming, my daughter drove me to Poole and I nervously started to mingle with the people gathering around the start line.

I met up quickly with the guys from work who had so obviously done all this stuff before and were just keen to get going. I, however found I was getting quieter which in my world means only one thing, I was bricking it! They moved ahead, nearer to the start line, whereas I was more than happy to mingle in with the crowd. Any minute now we would be starting, these were uncharted waters for me, an experience I was beginning to regret. I was frantically looking at other faces to see if I could find someone who looked as much like a fish out of water as I did.

There was an old guy next to me which gave me encouragement as I thought, if he can do it then so can I. As I started to size up other runners, there was a muffled bang and we were off… only for three or four steps and someone had popped a balloon causing some confusion. Then before we knew what was happening we were off, for real this time, no going back now.

I was surprised how quickly the nerves faded away and how good I felt. I think the pace was a little too quick for me as I started to struggle for breath much earlier than I thought I should. The first slope/hill over the bridge was a killer. This was the first time I noticed the group, I was part of, thinning out. I could see a marker board in the distance just after the narrow gap we were starting to funnel through. I rounded the corner and saw the numbers on the board, “2K first lap” and “7k second lap”. Then it dawned on me, I wasn’t really prepared for this either physically or emotionally. This was going to really test me. I started looking frantically for other runners that were struggling, hoping to see some of them walking. I wasn’t sure of race etiquette so didn’t know if it was acceptable to pull over to one side and slow to a walk. Then, like a miracle I saw someone running, then another and another, “Thank god” I thought as I slowed to walk around 2.5k. After 50m or so of walking a lady passed me and slowed to a walk also. That was all the rest I needed so off I went back into a comfortable pace, or so I thought. Once you’ve slowed for the first time, the need to slow again seems to come around much quicker than the first. Whether that’s a physical or mental action I don’t know, but regardless that’s what happens. After approx. 1.5k’s I found myself really struggling so once again I slowed to a brisk walk to get my breath back. Again as I walked for 50m the lady from before did the same again.

Due to the course layout we had to complete 2 laps of the park. I was now approaching  the start/finish line, I would say I had just under 1k to go (about 27 mins into the race) when the race leader began closing on the small group I was running with. He flew past us with such grace and speed it was inspiring to watch. It felt as though you were in the presence of greatness, it really was a special moment. I don’t expect anyone else to get what I’m saying here, it was one of those ‘you had to be there moments’. Anyway back to the race it turns out that the race leaded was Gordon Mugi and he finished the race in 28min 54sec. I finished my lap in 32mins L I still had to keep going.

For the second half of the race it seemed I kept playing “running leapfrog” (not literally) with the lady who was having a very similar race to me. As we entered the latter stages of the race I was relieved that the end was near, and most importantly I was going to finish. I knew we would be able to see the finish soon and in my mind estimated about 1.5k to go. I slowed to a walk for the last time, took a breath, looked up and saw the sign for 400m to go! Boy had I got that wrong I needed to have a sprint finish, everyone tells you so therefore it must be right.

I summoned up my last reserves and started running, I notched up the pace a little looking for the finish line so I could gauge my sprint and she passed me. That nice lady who had kept the same pace as me, flew past. From somewhere I summoned every last ounce of energy and went for the line. I managed to pass her about 10 meters before the line, but regardless, I had finished. My time was 1h 3m 27s. I had aimed for 1 hour but it didn’t matter, I was exhausted but could feel no pain, I was smiling from ear to ear like the proverbial Cheshire Cat, for the first time in my life I had entered a race and what’s more I had finished. I came 872^nd out of 987 runners so there were some people actually slower than me….(or 646^th for my gender or  114^th for my category whichever way you want to look at it.)

The colleagues from work did really well:

Paul was 737^th overall with a time of 57m 24s making him 591^st in gender and 265^th for category.

Graham was 494^th overall with a time of 50m 30s making him 425^th in gender and 198^th for category.

Dave was 47^th overall with a time of 38m 16s making him 44^th in gender and 30^th for category.

It was a fantastic day and after all is said and done I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.

For those that are interested the results can be viewed by clicking the pdf or the excell link

Then my van for work developed a fault which meant me sitting by the roadside waiting for recovery, combined with the grief of getting a loan vehicle for work and all the stupid bureaucratic nonsense I had to go through, any way that’s a story for a different blog…

Then came Thursday, I was due to attempt my three mile run again and just couldn’t muster the enthusiasm, so watched Avatar instead (fantastic film btw). Today I came home from work, and pretty much changed and went straight on the treadmill. My daughter had covered up the time and distance with post-it notes just leaving the speed showing.

It started really well, I felt fine and much more relaxed than on my last two attempts, I cranked up the speed to 11mph (17.7kph) to try and see what those elite marathon runners run like, and then soon slowed down to a realistic speed. I found that I was quite comfortable at 6.5mph (10.46kph) so I continued.

I was listening to some music on the iPod to distract me from the timer, but eventually I just had to look. I had only done 1.25miles (2.01k). Never mind I still felt good so I concentrated on the music and cracked on.

When you’ve looked once you keep looking at the time. Forget Einstein, I have now found how to manipulate time and distance. Simply keep looking at the clock and the distance counter, the time ticks by slower than normal and the distance counter only increases by a small fraction when you blink.

It took forever to get to 2 miles, then 2.5miles eventually happened along, this was my personal best so far, but I was really feeling it. I slowed to 4mph (6.44kph) a fairly quick walk for 200 yards or so, took a few sips of water, a deep breath, changed the speed up to 7mph (11.27kph) and went for it and then it happened 3 MILES (4.83k) Yes, thank you very much!!!

I dropped the speed right down to half that and then walked for another .2 of a mile (.32k) to cool down, whilst dribbling my water because I was smiling and grinning way too much for someone in a room on their own. To end what has now become a perfect day, I forgot to say I got my fixed van back and after my run and subsequent shower I jumped on the scales and my weight was at its new all time low of 201.9 lbs. (91.77k) (14st 5.9lb) Top all of that with a fantastic steak dinner with my family (cooked partly by me) and I do believe that was, a perfect day.

I woke up this morning earlier than usual for a Sunday, had a coffee in the sunshine and spent 10 minutes discussing with myself the pros and cons of going for a run. I have only run successfully at night for some reason, so this was going to be a first.

Shorts, vest, new trainers and Ray Bans were adorned the stopwatch set and off I went. I seemed to be breathing harder than usual to start with, then my mind started with the negatives, “Maybe you should have waited till this evening”, “It’s too early”, “Your legs are too stiff”, “Your back is hurting”, these were only some of the negative thoughts I could hear, my mind, (inner self, self conscious or whatever you prefer to call that internal voice) was wanting to make me stop and go home.

Within what seemed no time at all I was approaching the uphill gradient that marks a mile on my route, the place where I slowed to a walk a few days ago. As I rounded the corner at the top of the slope and passed the mile marker I was on a roll. The smile just appeared on my face, the nagging voices shut up, my breathing became more controlled and the stiffness had all disappeared. Now my thoughts were on the feeling of smugness I was going to have all day because I had been a good boy and finished my run. Ok I still had 1.2 miles to go but that didn’t matter there was nothing now that could stop me.

Just as I reached the 2 mile marker I saw a friend just finishing his run, he had the smug look of satisfaction on his face that I was going to have very shortly. One small incline, a couple of corners and the end was in sight. I still had the reserves to pick up the pace for the last 200 yards, and then I was home, done, finished top of the class!

Whilst enjoying a much need bottle of water, I sat in the garden, where only 30 minutes previously I could so easily have decided not to run, basking in my own glory! The feeling after running is euphoric, or am I getting way too carried away with all this stuff. Only time will tell but for the moment I’m loving it and can’t wait for the next after run high!

Not the fastest time on record I know but it’s the fact that I actually managed to keep running for over 24 minutes, to me is fantastic. The last time I did that I was a teenager and I’m sure you don’t need to know the reasons anyway….

It’s 100% mind over body, although I was hurting somewhat, the conversation I was having with myself was what’s important. I tried to run this route on Monday and as I rounded what I knew to be the one mile marker, I slowed to an involuntary walk and couldn’t break into a run again. Tonight however as I reached the same milestone I kept a massive grin on my face, knowing that with every stride I had better my last attempt.

I then played several scenarios through in my head, of the conversation I could be having with people tomorrow if I didn’t finish. I could be saying “Well I ran further than I did the other night”, or “Well I haven’t been doing this for long”, or “Maybe it was too much too soon”. Each one sounded horrible and I knew that people will always agree with you just to make you feel better. So the only thing I wanted to be saying tomorrow morning is  “I ran 2.5 miles last night!” with a massive smile on my face.

If you’re a runner then hopefully my waffle will mean something to you, if you’re not a runner get some trainers and give it a go. You wont regret it!

I think overall I ran and walked too fast. Today is day one of the “Couch to 5k plan” and without a stopwatch I counted the seconds myself. As my breathing got heavier and my footsteps got heavier I started counting in time to my breathing, then got totally confused.

The outcome however was that I managed to finish! What a feeling! I stood in my kitchen dripping with sweat, short of breath and positively glowing with warmth. Oh and a massive grin on my face. My legs ached but not painfully, my chest was still pounding slightly and my lungs were still drawing in what seemed like gallons of air, but the smile on my face was amazing.

I had a glass of water and then jumped straight in the shower. After my shower everything had returned to normal, apart from the massive grin I still had on my face. I can’t wait till the next one.

The first thing I needed to do was to buy some trainers, rather than my usual “head first” approach I decided to buy a relatively cheap pair (£29.99 ) just in case I didn’t get on with the running. I dug out my old baggies from the days when I used to lift weights at the gym, stole a hoodie from my teenagee son and finally had no more excuses left. It was time to open the door and get out there.