English Champ - I don't think so!

Wow, how do I sum up that weekend's racing experience - eventful, emotional, gutting, wet!

You would think that winning the English Championships 3000m steeplechase would be a joyous occasion. Instead, the first feeling I had to overcome upon crossing the finish line was a dripping sense of baffled embarrassment having spent a short time fully submerged, upside down in the water pit on the last lap. I can't help write this without smiling, but I still don't know quite what happened other than at the crucial take off moment, my brain failed me and that unique ability to tell your legs to jump (when logical sense actually says - big barrier, deep water, potential danger) sent me clumsily falling sideways and then onto my back into the deep end. But with a comfotable lead, I resurfaced and splodged home slowly in first place. 

This is what I must have looked like the second guy.......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9haxOZvlAFs&feature=related

But then the real horror of the day started to unfold when I learnt that I was disqualified from the champs on the grounds of ineligibility (although I had started to suspect this from about lap 3 when the announcer starting talking about me as a "guest". What, how, no????????? Aparrently, 11 years residency is not sufficient to allow one to win an English title. Or so they say......but oddly enough we can't find a single rule that confirms this and as such we are in the process of appealing this DQ.

Even though the rain had now stopped, there were a few tears as I made the long solo 4-hour trip back up the M1 from Bedford with the only thing making me remotely smile being the mental image of myself splashing into the pit! 

Race Preview

On the eve of possibly the biggest race of my summer season, I thought I would spend my lunch break writing some pre-race thoughts as some form of mental preparation. After all, blogs are suppose to be reflective and running is as much about what goes on in your head as in your legs. 

Tomorrow is the English National Track and Field Champs and on paper, I am by far the fastest entrant with Sarah Hood (running as a guest) my nearest rival. I feel a bit nervous but also excited about the prospect of winning the race and adding this title to the Scottish one that I won last year. I suppose it is "being favourtie" that is actually making me nervous with my friend and rival Sarah causing me greatest cause for concern. And particularly since she is long overdue a big chase PB.  

In terms of training and race-prep, things have improved over the last two weeks and aside from a total lack of track training and track races, I am confidently fit as a fiddle. I really have whacked in the summer mileage and over a 7-day period ending last sunday, I ran 70miles, raced a 5km, ran two sessions, did some hurdling and lots of core/arm stuff. So I have no doubts about my endurance and leg strength. Furtehrmore, based on my 5km race two weeks ago and the session I did last Saturday, I sure do have the longer endurance and 80sec/lap leg pace. Plus, with 10-days of hurdling reguarly now in the bag (albeit using my wooden hurdles hammered into a slightly rough grass field on a gently hill), I am confident about the barriers and actually think my left leg leads are OK. And after Loughborough and am more than happy about the water jump - I just need to attack away.

Having said all that, I do naturally, have some reservations. First is a lack of anaerobic work (or 1500m work) which some suggest a good steeplchaser needs - but I can overcome this by starting steady and not running into the anaerobic zone until the later stages. A big error would be to go off too hard. Indeed, given the "championship" nature of the race, I am keen to relax and cool the pace down early on. The other main area of concern I am hanging onto is that I am about 4 pounds above my racing weight - although what this is in the first instance is somewhat debatable since you only need to look at the likes of Helen C / Erin Don etc and note that being stick thin does not always equate to running fast. Furthermore, steeplechase is a strength event and perhaps these 4-pounds are muscle and will help propel me around the track.

All in all, I have a plan in my head, I am confident of beating everyone and fundamentally, the most important thing, is to be relaxed - if I am relaxed, then my hurdling technique will take less out of me. Oh and one other thing, I really do want to race and to win - something I was admittedly lacking earlier in the season. 

So good luck to me and I do hope that my next blog entry is a happy one!

Pendle Witches

Last week, I climbed Pendle Hill with five members of my work team. We discussed the story of the Pendle witches and only Jane knew a version of the story. I decided that it was my duty to investigate the story some more and report my new knowledge back to my team. Here goes:

Pendle Hill in Lancashire, is a lump of hill made of millstone grit (I think) that was tougher to erode that the surrounding limestone dales during the last glaciation. Hence it was left. In glaciology terminology, it is like a giant drumlin, with a steep east facing end and a gentler westerly side. Other than moorland grass, not a lot else grows and it is relatively featureless. Hence, it is a good job that it is shrouded in the mysterious story of the witches.

In 1612, twelve people, mainly women, were accused of the murders of ten people by use of witchcraft, put on trial and all but one was found guilty and hung. They all lived in the area around Pendle Hill and most came from two families and included four generations of women. The Lancashire witch trials were unusual due to the number of simultaneous hangings with fewer than 500 executions of witches in England between the 15th and 18th centuries.