Racing for the Line

The joys of running races

It feels ironic that I'm writing this ode to athleticism after being on sofa with the flu for the past two days...

Until my first triathlon in 2015, I hadn't ever really competed in any kind of race bar school sports days. In fact at the time of entering said triathlon I didn't run and could barely envisage competing in one race let alone spending a good portion of my weekends doing so. This year I've raced at least once a month including three half marathons and two triathlons and set PBs at 5K, 10K, 10 Mile, and Half Marathon distances. Which is not too shabby, particularly considering I've been carrying an (incredibly minor) injury on and off since January...

You don't have to race to be a runner in the same way that you do to be a triathlete and plenty of runners rarely bother racing, particularly with Parkrun now providing extensive opportunities to run a timed 5K in a non-competitive environment. However I love racing, particularly since I joined a running club a few years ago and it took on much more of a social element. This is partly because I need goals to motivate me to do anything at all but it's also a lot of fun. So to celebrate (probably) having run my last race for 2018 here's a list of all the things I've learnt about racing over the past few years:

Races invariably start too early. Maybe this is just my inherent laziness showing but even a more relaxed 11am start requires getting out of bed far earlier than any sane person would do on a Sunday morning
Race organisers always say that you need to be at the start at least an hour beforehand. This often means that you spend an hour hanging about when you could have been in bed
It is however possible to cut it too fine - I do not recommend showing up less than 15 minutes before the start, particularly if you have to collect your numbers from disgruntled teammates then walk to the start line!
There will always, always, always be a queue for the loos. It doesn't how matter how extensive the facilities or how few people are competing, you'll always end up queuing
If you don't join the toilet queue before the start you'll inevitably regret it later
Whether you're on your own, with one or two friends, or with a huge group of club mates races are such a friendly environment. The sense of community is palpable, whether you're a scared first timer or a seasoned competitor
There will always be someone with a loud hailer making announcements as you wait for the start. You will rarely be able to hear what they're saying
In running races you should always start further forward than you think - it's far preferable to be overtaken by a few people than to spend the first mile of the race trying to dodge slower runners
The same holds true to an extent for triathlons in the pool but in an open water triathlon don't try to compete from the front unless you're Johnny Brownlee or enjoy being kicked in the head
Don't start too fast! You can sometimes get away with it over short distances but honestly for anything over 5k you need to pace yourself sensibly - if you can't run a seven minute mile in training don't think it's magically going to become possibly on the day
However much training you've done the weather can really spoil your day - I really struggle to run in the heat so this summer wasn't a huge barrel of laughs apart from the one race in the tipping rain! You may be surprised to find yourself praying for overcast, grey days with a hint of drizzle
You can adjust to running without headphones (normally banned in races) but it does mean that you have to occasionally listen to the middle aged men just behind you talking absolute rubbish about their training, nutrition, race strategy etc (#notallmiddleagedmen)
Beating other people doesn't really matter (again, unless perhaps you're Johnny Brownlee) but you can always beat yourself - whether it's beating a personal best, hitting a particular club or county standard, or just getting to the end when your feet hurt!
There's no feeling quite like knowing you've achieved that goal - be it a PB or just surviving to the end. Sometimes that feeling comes a mile or two before the end, sometimes it catches up to you sometime after you've crossed the finish line, but it always makes it all worthwhile
However exciting the post-race goody bag is you'll always end up with some kind of bizarre "performance" nutrition item which tastes exactly like cardboard. If you're lucky...
No-one looks good in the race photos. Unless you're secretly Beyoncé of course
Races couldn't happen without a huge number of volunteers to organise the event, not just the people in hi-vis marshalling the course but a whole army of people organising stuff behind the scenes to make sure a load of loons can run around for a few hours.

What I've Been:

Watching:
As an avid watcher of Sabrina the Teenage Witch in the '90s, I had mixed feelings about Netflix's Chilling Adventures of Sabrina but I'm really enjoying it so far. It's got almost nothing in common with the nineties series other than character names but it does have a faintly campy sixties horror vibe that's really great. Also Jeff from Coupling plays the Devil's representative on Earth which is absolutely, absurdly perfect!

I'm less enthralled by series three of Daredevil, also on Netflix, mostly because it digs hard into Matt Murdock being an idiot who can't possibly talk to the people in his life like a normal human being. I'm just so sick of these superhero stories about men who "have" to isolate themselves, it feels like an endless hell of toxic masculinity. Having said that, the other stories being told in Daredevil are much more interesting so maybe there's hope for the series yet... Vincent D'Onofrio is one again mesmerising as Daredevil's nemesis Wilson Fisk and Deborah Ann Woll's Karen Page is grittily and wonderfully complicated.

Listening to:
I've followed Daisy Buchanan on twitter for years and always loved her writing for The Pool (amongst other places). She's just started a podcast called You're Booked which basically involves snooping around other people's bookshelves. It's an unpretentious and fun look at what people really enjoy reading. I've only heard the first two episodes so far but I'd thoroughly recommend it.

Reading:
It's been a while since I've read any history books but Castle: A History of the Buildings that Shaped Medieval Britain by Marc Morris was on sale on Amazon the other week so I treated myself. The narrative covers British Castles from the Norman Conquest to the Civil War and, whilst it's not ground-breaking research, Morris is a really engaging writer. He does have a tendency to make questionable logical leaps but the book brings to life both the castles of Britain and those who built and lived within them. It also reinforced my sadness about Edward I's conquest of Wales, reminded me how much I hate Oliver Cromwell, and made me want to visit every castle in the book. Not bad for £2.99!

Doing:
We went to see Metric at the O2 Institute in Birmingham a few weeks ago which was fantastic - Emily Haines is just such an incredible singer! Metric's new album Art of Doubt is also really excellent. Although if you're ever going to a gig at the Institute make sure you have a few drinks before you get there otherwise you'll queue for several weeks for very mediocre cider...

I'm off to nurse my cold and feel sorry for myself on the sofa, until next time... Cx