Tuesday 14 February 2012

Join The Club

Running can be seen as a very individual pursuit. If you want to run you just do it, no need to book a court or organise 10 other men and an opposite team to play against. You don’t need company and if you really get bored of looking at scenery or want to avoid what’s going on around you, you can always use a MP3 player. But it doesn’t have to be so, running is a great way to meet like minded people and an opportunity to meet people with widely different beliefs and lifestyles in an unforced scenario. The best way to meet these like minded people is by joining a club. These days the choice of club is almost endless, not just the traditional harrier clubs of my generation but also many new clubs born from the jogging boom and there are also some clubs that cater for a specific aspect, e.g. marathon runners or women only clubs.

There are so many benefits you can get from joining a club you should seriously consider it. What are these benefits?
  • You’ll meet people.
  • Learn from others.
  • Be able to enter races that are club only races.
  • Get reduced entry to races.
  • Reduced prices of running kit.
  • Have company on your run.
  • Try different runs.
  • Get involved in social activities.
  • Run as part of a team in races.
  • Win things as part of a team, that you wouldn’t do as an individual.

But don’t just join up with the first club that you come across, check out a number of them, think about what is important to you and if it is offered by that club. Go along to a few of their training nights and meet the people that you will be running with.

When I began running, in the last century, I was very lucky in my choice of club. I really didn’t know what I was looking for other than I wanted to be part of a team and run with people. I had no idea what clubs did, had no concept of racing, but I just knew that I wanted to be active. As I’ve mentioned in a previous blog I had no idea how good I could be so I was just looking for a local club, having come from a background of hockey and football I didn’t want to just run on my own. Hercules Wimbledon was my club of choice, but only because a friend had recommended them, but, with Hercules being shut on the night I chose to approach them, I ended up around the corner at Belgrave Harriers. Neither club meant anything to me, at the time, in fact I doubt that I knew the names of any clubs other than Crewe and Nantwich. But I didn’t sign up with Belgrave on day 1, I went along to training on a number of occasions before deciding that I’d fit in. Lucky for them because I certainly didn’t feel that way after my first run with them.

Belgrave are one of the more traditional clubs that date back to the 19th century and have a solid history of achievement behind them. At the time I joined they weren’t really an ideal club to join if you were more of a social runner but luckily I was interested in getting the best out of myself so it was a good choice for me. Since then things have changed and it caters for a wider choice of runner and even has a triathlon section. Belgrave fulfilled everything I was after and as I improved as a runner so my ambitions got bigger, luckily I found that Belgrave fulfilled those too so I didn’t have any desires to join anyone else. Of course it was nice to join up with other runners from different teams to run for your County or for NatWest Bank but all of the benefits I mentioned earlier were there for me in Belgrave. During the 16 years I was at Belgrave I met many different people from all walks of life and got friendly with many top British and International runners, who represented the club, as well as many of my opponents from other clubs. My introduction to the coaching of Arthur Bruce changed my life, changed my attitude towards training and, to some degree, my philosophy on living and is responsible for many of the good things I have achieved (I won’t blame him for the bad things I have done or the failures that have occurred, they were all my own doing). Back in the day races tended to be organised much more around the clubs, they were generally organised by the clubs for club athletes. Admittedly the London Marathon, which created the jogging boom in Britain, had been going for seven years but the huge choice of charity 10ks just wasn’t around in those days. So most of the races I entered were on the track, cross country or established road races. These days it’s much easier to feel part of the setup without belonging to a club, but I’d still recommend it for all the advantages it holds.

For a long time I didn’t enter many road races, I considered myself a track and field athlete, but if I did I saved money on the basis that I was registered with a club, this still occurs today, not in every race, and it’s about a £2 saving, not a lot but if you enter a lot of races it adds up. Another benefit I’ve enjoyed over the years is reduced price kit, most independent sports retailers and some chains will give you a 10% or more reduction off the price of non sale items. I also happened to be at Belgrave at the time that we started up a Sports Promotional Company, in fact I was Company Secretary at inauguration. One of the sidelines was selling adidas kit, which was reduced to members of the club.

Club training is usually fixed to times that benefit the majority of the clubs members. For most clubs this tends to be Tuesday and Thursday nights and Saturday and Sunday, sometime during the day. But for me, once I’d become established at Belgrave, I had a key giving me access to the club, so I could arrange to meet likewise runners at the club on other occasions. As a beginner it was a great way to meet different people and progress from pack to pack. It was good to have people to take me on runs I’d not thought of doing, there were always some established routes that were like folklore. The other thing I enjoyed at Belgrave was that there was always tea and cake available, in the clubhouse, on a Saturday afternoon, a good chance to chat with other members and catch up on some of the tales of past races and current injuries.

Most clubs have a social aspect too, at Belgrave there were times when it was very active. There was a Social Secretary who’s job it was to utilise the Hall, which is a good space, for social activities and there were various things going on. At some point my wife and a lady named Nina were on the social committee and by default I became the resident barman, which also entailed buying in stock and recycling empty bottles. We’d start the year off with a Burns night, which was always great fun, with one of the Queen’s chefs doing the catering, a piper, a band (The Roods – who were fantastic) and, naturally, haggis, neeps, tatties and whisky, plus wine and beer if you wanted it. In the Summer there was a race night with fish and chip supper, Autumn would bring a cocktail evening and then Winter would see the annual darts tournament, for the Denmark Pot, followed a few weeks later by the annual dinner and dance. In fact Belgrave Hall was such a good venue I used it for my wedding reception, which was a great success.

The main thing I got out of being in a club was the fact that I wasn’t just running as an individual, I was part of a team too and it was always nice to make a difference to that team. It’s a great feeling to win, but it can be a lonesome celebration as an individual, celebrating a team win with your team mates and supporters is much more fun. Being part of Belgrave enabled me to win medals that I couldn’t have achieved as an individual, and the same can be said for my time in Edinburgh AC and now with Herne Hill.

I was very fortunate to be at Belgrave when I was, it was a transitioning period from being a good club that had potential, to becoming the top club in the UK, and I was in at the thick of it. I was road and cross country captain for a number of years, a regular at the top events, including representing Belgrave in European competition and spent two years on committee as club secretary. I loved being a part of the club and had no desire to leave, until I turned 40. At that point I could see no future at the club for me, as an aging runner so had to make the painful decision to resign and say goodbye to a possible term as President.

As an elderly man I still had a desire to race, and not just for fun, I was still competitive. Belgrave had some talented M40 men, with more to come just a few years down the line, but there just didn’t seem to be anybody embracing masters athletics, other than Charlie Dickinson and myself. So I made the decision to look elsewhere. Initially, I still wanted to retain my membership of, and ability to race for, Belgrave, so I looked north of the border to Cambuslang. But I didn’t know anyone at Cambuslang and I thought I was maybe getting a bit too serious joining a Scottish club with no link to Scotland, just so I could stay a member of Belgrave. After a chat with Andy Lea-Gerrard, I decided the sensible thing would be to join my local rival club, Herne Hill Harriers. Whilst it would mean I would have to leave Belgrave, at least I was staying local, I also knew a number of the guys at Herne Hill and, whilst fierce rivals on the race track, counted a number of them as friends. They also had some very good runners in or approaching the masters age group, to which I would make a significant difference. So that was it, I handed in my notice at Belgrave, went to Australia for a few weeks and came back a Herne Hill Harrier. I was made very welcome at Herne Hill, of course I wasn’t the first to leave Belgrave for Herne Hill, two of my mates, Kevin Quinn and Owain Lewis had preceded me. Within a matter of months, and despite having torn my hamstring, Herne Hill did become British Masters Champions, with me making a contribution.

I was happy at Herne Hill, it was nice to be local, unfortunately I hadn’t banked on the mid-life crisis, caused by my wife leaving me. This shook my whole life up and I just felt I needed to get away from London. I considered going back to contracting or even looking at a possibility of looking for work abroad and as it turned out that’s exactly what happened. When my bosses at RBS heard what my thoughts were they promoted me and shipped me up to Edinburgh. It wasn’t what I was looking for but luckily I fell in love with Edinburgh, even if I wasn’t always happy there. Being in Scotland meant I could run first claim for both a Scottish and an English club, so I chose to stay at Herne Hill, even if it meant I wouldn’t race for them too often. I wasn’t in a hurry to join a Scottish club because I wanted to focus on my new job, which was quite demanding and stressful, but as it transpired Edinburgh AC got to me first, courtesy of Jim Buick and that proved to be another very successful club relationship.        

My stay in Edinburgh was all too short, I met Carole and fell in love. She was much more in demand than I was and, soon after, she was offered a new job in Cheshire. I could have had a tough decision on my hands, afterall I’d escaped from Cheshire when I was 18, but any decision was made much easier when RBS made me an offer I would have been a fool to refuse and even if I was a fool I didn’t actually have a choice. Still being made redundant meant I didn’t have to bother resigning and whilst many other people, who were made redundant, were unhappy or took time off with work related stress, I went into work each day with a huge smile on my face.

I’ve been back to Cheshire for three years now and we’re settled in Northwich. I’m still at Herne Hill Harriers, not with Edinburgh AC although I retain a link with many friends there – two long distance clubs would just be silly. I’ve thought about joining a local club, it was tempting to join Salford, as I have a number of friends there but I don’t really want to leave Herne Hill and running 2nd claim doesn’t make me eligible to represent the teams so what’s the point. I already have a good relationship with the runners from Vale Royal AC and South Cheshire Harriers, so at least I know some local runners to chat to at races.  

It may be that you feel that a running club isn’t for you, it can be a bit daunting to go running with people that have been running for years and sessions do tend to be geared up for experienced runners, but it’s always worth checking with your local club and go along to see for a few weeks before making a decision. There is of course a Jog Scotland or Run England option, which cater for beginners. I am a Run Leader at Run England, I haven’t organised a group for a while, I’ve been too busy settling in, but I’m thinking of starting a midweek beginners group in Northwich. It’ll probably be in the spring so if anybody is interested let me know and give me an idea what days and times best suit. You can contact me through the website www.rogeralsop.co.uk.

Today is valentines day and I need to dash off to cook something special for ‘er outdoors, but first I need to pop down to the gym for another cardio session. We decided to stay in this year so I’m doing the catering, making some of Carole’s favourites: (actually she doesn’t know some of them are her favourites, but they will be)
Champagne
Squash and cashew nut soup
Macaroni Cheese with a chilli oil and tomato dressing and garlic mushed mushrooms
Mississippi mud pie (ok I bought that, I attempted a 5 minute chocolate cake in a mug at the weekend and burnt my fingers, I hate microwave cookery).

I’m taking a brief break from blogging, so in case you get bored have a look back on some of the old ones.


Written by Roger Alsop
http://www.rogeralsop.co.uk/

Wednesday 8 February 2012

Training/Racing in the Cold

I’ll admit straight away, this is not a scientific blog about the benefits and detriments of training in cold conditions, rather my own observations and experiences, particularly over the last couple of weeks as the UK has been hit by a cold spell.

But before that I’ll just mention why there hasn’t been a blog for a couple of weeks. Last week I had to skip the blog, my computer crashed and I was left without a means to run the bulk of my business. However luckily I’ve got some really good mates and one of them rebuilt my computer for me and here I am writing my next blog whilst converting my vinyl copy of ‘After The Goldrush’, by Neil Young, to iTunes. I’ve not had a record player for years but retained all the records from my youth and now I get to hear them on my ipod, scratches and all, thanks to the converter Carole bought me.

But back to the point at hand, training in the cold. Now I’ve never had a big problem with the cold, I don’t particularly like it but I don’t generally let it get in the way of my life. Yes there have been times when the snow and ice has hampered my journey into work but I don’t ever recall not making it into the office in London, Herzogenaurach, Bratislava or Edinburgh. I do recall walking home from work, through the snow, in Edinburgh, because it was quicker to walk the three miles from the office to my home than wait in the cold for public transport. I’m also not keen to let the weather dictate my training to me. If it’s too icy on the road I try to find some grass, though you have to be careful because frozen ruts can be pretty good for turning your ankle. In Germany I ran through the forest when it snowed, it was great while the snow was virginal but, after everybody else at adidas and Puma had run through it, the snow turned into compressed ice and became deadly, as I nearly found out half way through a 5 minute rep. In Edinburgh, when I was working the nightshift, I used to go out any time between 23:00 (if I wanted to try to outrun the drunks) and 04:00 (if we’d had an issue that I needed to be present for), I didn’t care how cold it was, it was preferable to sitting staring at two computer screens, and infinitely more pleasurable than dealing with some of the people I had the pleasure of working with. However there were occasions where I just had to cut the run short because it was too risky. There have also been times when the roads have seemed fine but you hit a sheltered spot or somewhere close to water you suddenly hit a spot of ice. I have come a cropper on ice on two occasions and although suffering cuts and bruises I was lucky enough to continue to run, generally ice is the one thing that will stop me from running, since Steve Bishop of Boxhill fell over on the ice and broke his nose, I’d rather miss one run than two weeks of running.

If it’s cold I’ll wrap up, I have been known to wear two pairs of gloves but I now have a great pair of Ronhill gloves that are really warm. I’ll also wear a hat, particularly as I have less hair these days, currently I’m testing a Hilly hat that is similar to those worn by snowboarders and I have to admit it feels great to wear in these conditions. I also have thermal tops and thermal lycras. Occasionally, I have been known to race in long trousers, sleeves and a hat, though it’s fairly infrequent in big races.

That’s how I turned up at Pennington Flash on 28 January. In truth I often turn up in training gear at parkruns, as it’s more like a sociable time trial than a race, though it’s always nice to win one and I’m still keen to beat Jeff Whittington’s age graded record around Pennington Flash, not sure if I’ll be able to run any faster so may just have to wait until I become more ancient and hope my running doesn’t disintegrate too much. On this particular occasion it was the start of our cold snap and I was even wearing a wind jacket, although there was no wind. As usual, at the start line, Bill gave his safety briefing. There were icy striations but they were avoidable, unless you’re Alex Armstrong, who managed to hit one on the first corner and had to withdraw from the run with a nasty gash on his knee, though looking at the positive it did give him a head start to the Ranger’s hut and the tea and cakes. We set of reasonably cautiously, except for Alex, but I felt like I was running fast as I jumped over the icy bits, hard work jumping while you run. As we approached the part of the course close to the Flash, the sheer cold suddenly hit me like a punch in the chest, I was actually finding it hard to breathe as the air in my lungs was so cold. It’s not often that happens but it made me feel winded. I pressed on but my toes and fingers were cold too so I wasn’t enjoying it (I wasn’t wearing my super Ronhill gloves on this occasion). My breathlessness from the cold and the constant skipping over icy patches was making me feel tired and I’ll admit to not pressing quite as hard this time, I had a good lead on second place and I’d already resigned myself to a post 18 minute clocking, so much that I didn’t bother looking at my watch once during the run. I finished with another win, my 7th at Pennington Flash, but was surprised to clock 17:48, not even my slowest time. It was a good turnout too and everybody finished without incident, apart from Alex. But I was glad to finish and head for the tea and cakes. Still it must’ve been worse for those volunteers standing in the cold, particularly Bill who had to set up and take down the course too.

This last week it’s become colder but so far I haven’t had to miss a session, two years ago I was training on a treadmill as it was too icy to run outside. My gym is a bit cold, mind you, though not as cold as the garage I trained in when I lived in Edinburgh. This morning I had to cut my gym session short by 5 minutes as my fingers were getting too painful, I suffer from Raynaud’s Phenomenon and it can take a long time or a session of washing up to bring feeling back into my fingers, when they get cold.

On Sunday it was a race I’d been looking forward to for a while, the Alsager 5. It has a reputation as a fast course, though I’ve never been able to live up to that. I never got to Alsager when I was at my best and I’ve been told that the course was different in those days. When I turned 40 I made the trip up from London and although, in cold conditions, I ran a disappointing 26:49 for 28th, I was first M40. Moving to Edinburgh that year I never made it back down in my M40-44 period, but two years ago, now living 3 miles away, I entered again. This time I was first M45 in a time of 26:33, though in 38th position. Last year I’d just started running again after two months of injury, so I went to watch instead. This year I’m running ok, I’ve trained hard and was looking to put down a marker at Alsager.

As the week progressed there were reports of the weather getting bad for the weekend but nobody seemed sure and it was also reported that temperatures might be 6C. As the weekend approached forecasts and the weather were getting grimmer, then on Saturday afternoon, whilst we were out looking at new bathrooms, a whole heap of cold white stuff came down around us and boy did it get cold. Of course I was still optimistically looking forward to a 6C Sunday so I wasn’t too bothered.

On the morning of the race, I got up nice and early, so I could have just the right amount of breakfast. I looked out of my window and it didn’t look good, but then we’re on an estate up a side road so it was never going to be as clear as the main road. I checked the website and it was still optimistically referencing the previous night’s message that the road was gritted so all would be ok. Looking at facebook there were clearly a number of other concerned runners. I was in two minds, if the roads were clear then I didn’t have a problem, yes it would be cold but I can run on a road whatever the conditions, but if there was any ice I wasn’t keen to risk it for a biscuit. Sometimes I think my optimism gets the better of me and we set off, yep the roads on the way were much clearer and I was thinking it would be ok if they were like that at the venue, but then we arrived at Alsager and hit
Pikemere Road
, the start point of the race. It was covered in slush, and the rest of the course we saw didn’t look any better. And that was it, a cloud of negativity descended over me, slapped me about the chops a bit and told me I was going to have a bad race.

On a positive note I did get to catch up with many of my running friends before the race, didn’t catch up with many during the race. To be fair to myself, despite the negativity going on in my head, once the gun went I did get into race mode, but it was so difficult to run freely as for the bulk of the race there was only one distinct line and it was rather like running cross country, a game of follow the leader for if you moved off line you lost all traction. I came up on my mate Mick Hatton as we approached a tight right bend, as I was about to pass him he skidded over towards me, luckily my slightly younger legs allowed me to undercut but it wasn’t fun, I thought I was going to end up on the floor. As I went along, finally catching the first M50, Malcolm Eustace, I had a few other near misses. Then we hit a stretch of road with minimal ice, I was able to get into my stride, just as 3 runners passed me. One had a bald head so I was convinced he must be in my age group. I clung onto him and followed him with a plan of where to attack but just at that very point we hit ice again and I slip slided away. I managed to hang onto his short tails with the intention of out sprinting him at the finish, but again it was one good line and the rest ice, I tried to go round him and lost traction again, back into his slip stream but then as we got to the finish and the road area opened out a little he kicked and it was all over 2nd M45 by 1 second. Oh well, to be honest I thought I was running so badly I wouldn’t be in the first 3 M45 and I can’t complain about the way I was beaten because if the road was better, who’s to say he wouldn’t have finished further ahead of me.

We didn’t stay for the presentation, usually we do, but I was soaked, as was Carole who’s still awaiting her result, she seems to have been missed despite the guy reading out her number as she finished. Since the race I’ve lost my motivation to run for any length of time, of course I’m also really busy with organising plumbers, shopping for bathroom stuff and working with a whole load of new clients, so I’m keeping the runs short knowing that it’s only a short matter of time before my motivation is back up.   


Written by Roger Alsop
http://www.rogeralsop.co.uk/