The half-hearted Monkey race report

So looking at the date of entry for the race tells a story in itself 9th December 2014 just eleven days after the death of my father. Secretly I knew this race entry was going to be very hard, after all I had not trained properly or got any mileage in the three months before then. Something in me said I needed a target, a direction and the lack of posts also told a story. In my [grief] madness I decided to enter all four races in the Dover Running Festival, after all, running a marathon and a half marathon in one day followed by a marathon and a 10 km the next day would be easy...wouldn't it? It was supposed to be a distraction to get my mind on other things but bereavement is an incredibly powerful thing which overwhelmed me such that running held no interest.

I could bore you here with bad race planning, injury, the weather or complete stupidity but I had looked forward to this weekend for some time even for the fun of meeting up with old friends and to "talk running" so in a nutshell....it was simply down to not  training.

So here is the breakdown:

Day 1

Marathon - dropped after 7 miles calling it a "tactical withdrawal" so I could concentrate on the half marathon

Half Marathon - Wearing my trusty old Monkey Feet ran 13.1 miles and finished

Day 2

Woke up and my heel, an old injury, had flared up and was now swollen so dropped the marathon and 10km. The weather was foul, such that they changed the route for the 10km as the wind was now up to 50mph so went home after a big breakfast and an extra hour in bed. 

Don't feel upset by any of the outcomes, I know I am unfit and overweight but I am going to do one more (slow) marathon in Hanover in three weeks as I have paid for it and made a commitment to my German friend Christian Hottas who will be running his 2300th marathon. After that, we will see.

The four stages of competence

There is always that moment in the life as a long distance runner when you have this dangerous thing called "Belief."

My Cat 2015

I was requested by my boss the other day to list out my vocational qualifications and skills as she wanted to utilise me more within the wider team and market them to the business. So as a guy still in his 40's (just) I started to write a list in a spreadsheet and then, I added a column so to break each of those skills/assets into more granular skills and then I listed my experience and then the qualification, then cost savings attached to each skill and subset. By the end I was actually amazed that I was in fact pretty skilled up but had taken it for granted, a point noted that a younger person will shout and show off that they can do this and that  whilst the older person takes it for granted and often seen in psychology as:

1. Unconscious incompetence
2. Conscious incompetence
3. Conscious competence
4. Unconscious competence

The younger, less experienced guy will be hanging on at around 2 and 3 whilst the older guy will be at 3 and 4 for skill related aspects of their work and because of it tend not to shout about it.

Bringing this back to my running world there was a time when I thought nothing of jumping out of the door for a quick 10 miles or being marathon ready at the drop of a hat and getting a PB and was definitely unconsciously competent. I have ground out 100+ miles non-stop whilst the four winds battered me but strode on confident that I would get to the end (not always). This attitude can either be your best friend or your worst enemy, a self belief that can either make you a finisher or a wounded non-finisher.

This weekend

So we come to this weekend when in a moment of madness before Christmas I saw that there was the Port of Dover Race Festival which is held over two days, thus:

Both days:

8am – marathons registration at the Clock Tower

9am – marathons start

 

Saturday:

1.30pm Half Marathon registration at the Clock Tower

2.30pm race start

 

Sunday:

1.30pm 10km registration at the Clock Tower

2.30pm race start

 

...and yes I entered all four of them! How I am going to manage it is another thing but looking at the times I think I have a chance if I am not stupid and just plod out the miles. I am going to give these runs a name:

 

Marathon (Day 1)              : Unconscious incompetence

Half Marathon (Day 1)       : Conscious incompetence

Marathon (Day 2)               :Conscious competence

10 kilometre (Day 2)          :Unconscious competence

 

I have no way of knowing if I will complete this set of tasks with such little training of late but I am going for it, to hell with it. This one is for me and if I have to drop at some stage, I will drop and reassess the set of runs each time.....wish me luck.

For Sh1ts and Giggles

"It’s not worth doing something unless someone, somewhere, would much rather you weren’t doing it." —from the foreword to The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy, by David Pringle

I saw this quote today which made me smile as it totally sums up the Delightful Mrs S views my long distance running, there is something quite nice about the total subversive nature of my escapades. My late father made no secret of his views but still wanted to hear some of the things that I saw and people I had met along the way.

I make no secret of it that recently I have not felt the "need" to run realising that it is easier to get in the habit of not running than actually running, this wasn't about that stupid saying you hear from people, "Mojo", which in its purest form means charm, influence or magical power.

Running to me had become a chore, for years I have been pitted against the training plan, goals, the next event or the endless cycle of up weeks and down weeks...I was emotionally worn out. I then found I was beating myself up about it and how I regretted the loss of my cherished fitness, the tales of daring do and the succession of blackened toenails.

There is a saying amongst some of my running buddies... "What is said on the trail, stays on the trail" It means that what you divulge whilst running, in confidence, remains unsaid, call it a therapy but because of this unwritten lore great trust is born.

I received an email from my buddy Duncan the other day, a beautifully crafted message, that was basically a summary of what I had talked about to him two weeks ago and it struck a chord. The result was training plans were deleted, a few things rescheduled and I went to the track with no other plan than to run with one foot always off the ground at all times and just to enjoy the moment.............just for shits and giggles I think the saying goes and absolutely loved it.

See the crowd and take your pick.

Many of my Dear Readers will remember the great comic Tommy Cooper and his wonderful clownery, one of my favourite jokes by him was:

Apparently, 1 in 5 people in the world are Chinese. And there are 5 people in my family, so it must be one of them. It's either my Mum or my Dad. Or my older brother Colin. Or my younger brother Ho-Cha-Chu. But I think it's Colin.

I laugh at the sheer stupidity of the humour and visualisation but now see it in a different way when said thus:

Apparently, 1 in 4 people in the world have suffered from a mental illness in the last year. And there are 4 people in my family, so it must be one of them. It's either my Mum or my Dad. Or my older brother Colin. Or Me.But I think it's Colin. But then again it could be me.

Now look around you, you may be on a train, in an open plan office or sitting in your armchair surrounded by your family. Now say to yourself "1 in 4 people I am looking at have or are suffering from a mental illness.....But then again it could be me"

It seems hard to contemplate that this could be a person you know, or work with, or bump into every day. You can be heard to say:

• "Fred, no way was Fred depressed he was always a joker in the office, always smiling, no way could it be Fred!"
• "Freda was always a miserable old cow, always said she would come out with us, never did."
• "That Fred is a little bit weird, never smiles stay away from him is my advice"

Don't be ashamed, we have all said or made an excuse once but just heed the words that in every crowd 1 in 4 people will be suffering with a mental illness and that one person may be you. It sometimes takes a brave person to approach someone they care for and ask them if they are OK and listen to them, not judge, just listen.

In conclusion, It could Ho-Cha-Chu but I still think it is Colin.

I'll let you decide