Sesame Street

Today's blogpost is brought to you by letters M, P and W and the number 4.

The Letter W

At the start of 2013, I started racing for the first time in the North Staffs Road Runners and was allocated to Group W. At the time, I really didn’t really understand the implications of wearing that W on my back in every NSRRA event. It essentially just meant I needed to take extra safety pins to each race. However, after the Alsager 5, the importance of the W became clear… it was about competition, about winning and about rivalry. 

From then on, W-spotting became as much a part of my race strategy as pace, refuelling and clothing choices. Friends and family who came along to support me started W-spotting too, providing me with instant updates on my race position. It definitely brought out my inner competitive streak; after my race win in Alsager (first W), I realised I enjoyed winning and wanted to keep on winning, so I kept on racing. 

There were ups and downs, highs and lows but across 14 races, I achieved 12 wins and 2 second places and was presented with my group winner’s trophy at the NSSRA awards night earlier this month:

Group W trophy presented by Ben Gamble,
with Sue Rushton from Potters Trotters in the background
Photo from Bryan Dale (www.racephotos.org.uk)

The Letter M

Alongside the trophy, I also got promoted to Group M for NSSRA. This means racing against faster runners, people who were ahead of me in many races last year. A new challenge… it remains to be seen if I enjoy racing quite so much if I’m not winning my group! Having turned 40 in 2013, I’ll also be competing in a new age group (VW40-44). So at the first race this weekend, I’ll be looking out for a few different faces amongst the other runners. I hope there will be a few M-spotters to help me!

The Letter P

In a post-run discussion at Hanley parkrun last weekend, someone told me that every run should have a purpose. I’ve been thinking about that ever since… time, pace, distance are the type of things I measure on my Garmin and record in my running spreadsheet (that’s the mathematician in me). But the more I think about, the more I think that purpose can be so much more varied. The purpose of each run is entirely up to me. So this week, I’ve got four more runs planned and each will be very different:

• The purpose of my run on Thursday is to simply enjoy being outside; it is just time to catch-up with a friend. No goals on distance, time or speed are necessary, take it easy, breathe deeply, chat (weather permitting);
• On Friday, the purpose of my run will be to run long – a distance goal. I’d like to run 15 miles, test out refuelling strategies and feel relaxed to the finish;
• On Saturday (or parkrunday), the purpose of my run is community – I’m just looking forward to running with my parkrun family; and
• On Sunday, the purpose of running the Alsager 5 will be much more clearly defined. It’s a race and my goal is a sub40 time for 5 miles.

Do other runners follow this principle? Do you set a purpose for each run? What happens if you don't deliver? Is it ok to change purpose mid-run - stuff happens right?

The Number 4

Even though J could be for Jantastic, the Spring motivational challenge set up by Marathon Talk, there was always a number on Sesame Street. So I'll choose the number 4 for my planned number of runs each week. I've settled on a minimum of 4 runs per week to accomplish my ultimate goal of 26.2 miles at the Virgin Money London Marathon and so far so good. I sneaked in an extra run last week, but really just to escape my desk for 20 minutes, and may do again this week (I can't miss parkrun). If I'm wavering, or the weather is not at its kindest, I'll keep focused on that number 4. 4 runs over 16 weeks = 64 runs to get me to London!

Happy Running

LizT

Sesame Street images and memories from  http://www.sesamestreet.org/