Race Organisers and Visualisation

After a full English at the local YH I ambled down to the start line for the Coniston 14+. I knew I was in no shape for this kind of nonense - 14miles was pushing a little. Now here's a problem - normally speaking I will have nothing ill said of race organisers - they work tirelessly to put these events on, corale volunteers to marshall, liase with police, schools- this case, the local community and armies of bakers and tea ladies, champion chip people, goody bag fillers........... getting my point, so they are the good guys. However they seem to have one unspoken characteristic which makes me wonder - why run flat section when you can be sent up a hill, or in the case of the Conniston 14 (which is traditionally sl longer than 14miles anyway) call it the 14+ and make us run nearly 17miles with over 1500ft of ascent.

So 17miles - I've run nowhere near that distance for ages and ages and knew that I'd be in trouble - going to the start line I was regretting it. So I found a bit of space, gave myself a good talking too, gave myself a plan - 8:30 pace (so aiming for 2:30), go off slow, stay slow and finish slow. I'd listened to a running podcast yesterday where some running motivational guru talked about visualisation so I might give that a try.

So went out slow, then picked up in the middle third, then got to 13miles then my legs ceased to be a source of locomotion and became a troublesome source of pain which would have been alright if it was a 14mile mile race as advertised.

So the guru said, visualise yourself running like a gazelle, smoothly and pain free - ok here we go - that worked for 400yards. So think of all the miles you've run preparing for this race - having not done all those miles that just made the pain worse. Imagine the person in front of you pulling you along on a bungee - I tried, but he stopped for a wee. Things were getting bad, so time to improvise - I held an image of the first coffee and cake at Chesters after the race, - now we were getting somewhere, I even started salivating (not nice in company) - that held my pace up for 600 yards, and finally when all else failed - the first pint - that worked for nearly a km. What do those last 2 sentence say about me?

Thank goodness that with a km to go I was greeted by cheering L and the boys who joined me and encouraged me to the line just under 2:29. So pleased with that.

So lessons learned -

1. I'm fatter and slower than I used to be(although I've been fatter and slower)

2. Going out slow is a good move these days

3. Anything less than a marathon demands training beyond race distance

4. I have the mental powers of a gnat

5. When pain overwelms all my senses, my mind turns to cake and beer.

Coniston was a goal to get me back on the road, and dispite that last half hour of pain, I loved it, had some good banter, enjoyed running in the lakes and I'm back to it.

I will need to sit down, plan and be a bit more intentional and focussed over the summer if I'm to recover anything like my fitness levels of 3-4 years ago.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/28173334