Evening,
I think this is my first post in something like two weeks & yes, it is long overdue. I could give you a myriad of excuses as to why I haven’t been posting…….the dog ate my laptop, I was kidnapped by a bunch of sexually delinquent aliens or I recently won the lottery but alas…..none of them are true.
The real reason is much more mundane………I just haven’t had the time! What with work, Xmas coming up, getting the running miles in, racing, my reading group, Xmas parties, school plays/panto’s etc…life just sort of took over! But I guess this is a good thing bcos if it didn’t, I wouldn’t have anything to blog about!
And with that in mind, let me give you a brief (there is nothing brief about it) update as to what has been happening with me lately. I’ll try and stick to the running element as this is what the blog is meant to be about and let be honest, once you’ve seen one school panto, you’ve seen them all right!
So, where do I begin? Well i posted a race report for the Woodbridge XC race so lets go from there! Having shifted around the course at a sharpish pace, even if I do say so myself, I came to the conclusion that I like this XC lark even more than I thought I did. So I decided “hey, why not” & entered the Suffolk County XC Champs. Held on the 4th January at Ickworth Park in Bury St Edmunds, it’s a gruelling 12km (7.45 miles) route over uneven terrain, long grass & mud. And a few bloody big hills as well. The Striders, being the amazing club that they are, pay for it’s members to enter as the race. It’s quite a big deal this race so it’s silly not to take the chance to compete if offered. I remember racing it a few years back when I was a Woodbridge Shuffler, I had to pull out as I was wheezing like a 23st asthmatic. I had just got over a chest infection & this course is brutal, it nearly killed me off!
With the knowledge that the last 12km XC race I did nearly ended me, it seemed only natural that I enter another one. Phhhhhhhh,… I’m starting to think I should be sectioned under some act. There must be one for deranged runners or sociapathic race participants! Yep, I signed up for the National XC Champs held every year at Parliament Hill, London. I have absolutely no clue as to what this race is like other than it is hilly, and has a talented field so I’m going to get muddy and have my backside handed to me on a plate. What more could you ask for on a Saturday morning in February lol. I should mention at this point that again, the magnificent Striders club is paying to put two teams of 6 men & 6 women in the race. If your running club is willing to fork out money for you to compete in a National race against top class runners……..I just don’t see how you can throw that opportunity away.
And last but not least, I seem to have been coaxed into running an Ultra Race?? Not quite sure how it happened but I got back from a run last night and either through being deliriously hungry or not paying enough attention to what I was doing, I agreed to take part in the Stour Valley Path 100km Ultra Race (SVP100). The 62 mile route starts in Newmarket, Suffolk and winds it’s way along the Stour Valley until it finishes at Cattawade in Suffolk. It’s worth doing the race for the views alone, at one point we run past Flatford Mill where John Constable painted the famous ‘The Hay Wain’. At present there is myself, Martin, Matt, Andy and Jason all taking part…although Jason is the only one to have actually entered so far (he’s keen). After the disaster that was the Suffolk Ultra Intro in September, it’s time to redeem myself in the eyes of the Ultra Gods!
Well i think that pretty much covers the races that I have entered in the last couple of weeks. There’s also the Bentley Half Marathon coming up in Feb where i’m hoping to beat my PB but there will be more about that in a future post.
What other news do I have?? Ahhhh, I know that all i seem to have bleated on about is how great my running club is so it really shouldn’t come as a surprise that I’m going to to it some more (I hope the cheque is in the post Striders). I think a lot of clubs do this but the Striders are currently asking for a couple of it’s members to be trained up as a Coaching Assistants to help with the Junior members & possibly progress on from there. They will pay for you to do the course on the condition that you agree to the coaching of the Junior members. I think this is brilliant. What a great opportunity to give something back to the club. Granted, trying to get my 8yr old daughter to do anything is nigh on impossible so to say that the thought of coaching 20 to 30 small children is slightly daunting would be an understantement. But I’m always up for a challenge so I have put my name in the hat for the chance to do it! Hopefully I’ll hear something this week as I think they want to get things moving in January. Exciting stuff!!!
And lastly, again, I’ve somehow been coerced into becoming the Striders Press Officer in the new year. Helen, Don and I were at the Striders Xmas party last Saturday when Emma Yarrow came over. She currently makes an excellent job of being press officer but is planning to stand down come the Striders AGM at the end of January. So there I was sitting at the table, music pounding in the background and myself slightly (very) inebriated on Gin & Tonics when over Emma sauntered & asked if I would be interested in filling the role once she had vacated it. Now, I enjoy writing, I wouldn’t do a blog otherwise but there is a security in knowing that hardly anyone reads it. However, I will now be writing articles for regional newspapers. What if i write something untoward or crack a joke that sinks like the Titanic?? Emma assured me that I would be fine and that she along with Julia (the club IT officer) would ‘hold my hand’ & guide me through what I need to do!
So all in all, 2015 is looking to be an exciting & challenging year!! You can never know what life will throw at you, it’s what makes life so interesting. But equally, life has to be grabbed. You have to snatch & steal every opportunity, moment and chance you can! These ‘opportunities’ that I have mentioned above, these are but the start of what I hope 2015 brings!!
Merry Xmas everyone, and a Happy New Year!!
The Suffolk Strider 