Simon Freeman's blog

After the London marathon 2011, when I had a less-than-satisfactory race and missed my target time by five minutes or so, Nick and I had a chat. I was surprised. He was right!

The essence of the agreement forged in the disappointment of my race, was that I would not race another marathon for a year. The masochist in me was hoping for an opportunity for redemption as soon as possible, but Nick was clear – physically and mentally I needed a break. It would take a whole blog post to tell you why Nick’s perception verged in psychic ability, but needless to say that changing jobs, getting married and buying a flat all featured in the 12 months after London 2011, so I was grateful for the lack of marathon pressure.

However, come the dawn of April 2012 and I suddenly realised I was a couple of weeks away from a race that I had dedicated a year of training for. Pressure, much?

Well in typical fashion, Nick gave me a clear race plan (that shall remain a secret!) and told me that I was in shape to run 2:35 – 2:38 depending on the conditions. All I had to do was taper and concentrate.

On the day I was, once again, caught out by the warmth. The air temperature was certainly lower than in ’11, but the sun was strong and by half way my armwarmers had been rolled down, then taken off and stuffed in my shorts and then finally discarded at the feet of a member of the supporting public somewhere just after Tower Bridge. But this year I responded to the sun – I slowed just a little through water stations and drank the water that I took: three or four full mouthfuls. I had more gels (the excellent High 5 ones) taking them every thirty minutes from the moment the race started. I relaxed. I believed.

In the end up I finished in 2:38:30 and 138th place overall. That is more than 2 minute PB and given the head-wind that we all had to battle through on the way from Canary Wharf all the way to the finish, I am delighted. My Dad counted all the runners through at mile 17 and informed me after the race that I was 200th at that point, so when I saw Nick and Phoebe at around mile 21 and they gently and politely informed me that I should start catching a passing the vest in front, I was ready to do that. The result was not the negative split that I was hoping for, but I didn’t slow terribly either (78:30 for the first half 80 min for the second half – I blame that on the head wind!) so all in all, I am delighted with my time and the nature of the race… I just really loved it and I can’t wait for the next one – so please don’t make me wait a year again, Nick!

For the last 8 months or so I have been making a pilgrimage every Tuesday night to the New River stadium to meet up with Nick, Phoebe and a group of the runners they coach to take part in track sessions. These are great fun (always), bloody hard (often) and inspiring (usually). Last night was a gem!

We started as usual with a warm-up and drills, then it was 6 minutes at threshold pace. Then the session started properly: two sets of 6 x 400m at 5km race pace (or quicker… well, it certainly wasn’t my 5km pace!) off a decreasing recovery – 60 seconds after the first 400m, 50 seconds after the second one and so on until the gap between the fifth and last 400m of each set was (in Nick’s words) 20 seconds which isn’t enough time to pull your pants out. Nice, I know!

Then when all that was done, the foolish amongst us – those training for a marathon – went of for 20 minutes at marathon pace. And a miracle happened. I was suddenly floating around the track at just faster than 6 min/mile (target pace for me) feeling great. I felt like I could run at that pace forever. Which is more than I’ll need to, come race day in April. So track really is worth the pain. If you’ve not tried it, I implore you to have a go. It might well be the answer!

I have been frustrated by the nominees for the BBCs Sports Personality of the Year before, but this year my head almost popped with the damned stupidity of there being NO women on the shortlist and three golfers! I don’t really care whether or not the BBC want the show to be representative of what is going on in sport in the UK, it should be and this is a travesty! But I decided that I am not going to fume silently… I am going to take affirmative action and set up my own awards – the Running and Endurance Sports Performance Awards or RESPYs. You can read about them here: http://simonfreeman.co.uk/2011/11/sports-personality-of-the-year-if-youre-a-man/

And if you want to nominate someone (anyone who you think is deserving of the award) then please post a response on the blog post or email me at stuff@simonfreeman.co.uk. By Christmas I’d like to have a shortlist that I can then ask readers of my blog to vote on so that we have the male and female winners of a RESPY for the new year. I’m even going to try to get an interview with the two winners for early in 2012!

I know it is not much to boast about, but I won a Parkrun 5K this morning and it really ignited a fire in me that has been missing recently. I have got into a bit of a rut as far as mental toughness is concerned and it has manifested itself in me slowing to a walk for a few seconds in London earlier this year and almost doing the same in the Oxford half last weekend. The problem has been that in less-than-perfect conditions I have been losing focus on what I was doing, letting my pace slip and then mentally giving up a bit. I had lost the determination that I thought I had.

The Parkrun this morning sort of went the same way. I decided that I would focus on running my pace but found myself in a group of 4 at the front of the race almost immediately. I wanted to try to be consistent and wind up the pace if anything, so I didn’t race off the front thinking that I felt pretty good and if I played my cards right I might have my second ever 1st place in a race…

… then at the half way point one of the group of four accelerated hard. I went with him but started to question whether I could maintain the pace for 2.5km. Then he slowed a bit and I caught my breath. Then he went again! And finally with about a kilometer to go he really surged again and a 10m gap opened up.

I immediately thought “OK, this chap is quicker than me. I’m knackered and 2nd place is nothing to be ashamed of” and then instantly I felt ashamed. WHAT WAS I THINKING? I am not giving up – I WANT FIRST PLACE, damn it!

With 600m to go I just pumped my arms as hard as I could, trying to drive my lactate-filled legs to go a bit faster and thought “I want 1st place and if I don’t get past this chap it won’t be for the lack of trying”

We sprinted towards the finish line and I actually had to dip (!) winning by the length of my hair, which was conveniently sticking up due to chronic bed-head.

DONE IT! First place and I had rediscovered my backbone. No more giving up for me. No more accepting defeat or second best. I know it is only a 5K today but I don’t think I have ever worked so hard in a race and I loved every second of the 16min 52sec it took me to get round. Now bring on Amsterdam and I’m going to give that the same treatment!

Recently I suspect many of you fellow endurance athletes, like me, have been watching and really thoroughly enjoying Mo Farah’s performances on the track. His tactical awareness, subtle aggression, devastating finishing kick and smooth running style make for very enjoyable viewing. He has always been a great athlete and a credit to UK athletics, but recently he has reached new heights and in doing so has topped my personal list of ‘favourite athletes’ (sorry Ben, but you’ve been bumped down a spot!) Mo has become an inspiration for me, some who I would very much like to emulate…

So with the image of my new hero in my mind and Nick exhorting me to get out of my comfort zone, I headed off to Watford for the Wednesday night open track meet.

The race was brief (although not as brief as it should have been and not as brief as the next one will be!) so the report will be brief;

line up
check numbers… twice
grin nervously at fellow runners
gun
run… hard
get out of comfort zone
stay out of comfort zone
try to not get passed in last 200m
finish
mis-read clock
whoop for joy
realise actual time
still smile from ear-to-ear
start thinking about the next race…

So my findings are as follows; speed is crucial for us endurance runners – it is essential that we get out of the comfort zone and 3000m on the track is perfect for that; open track meets are inspiring places to run; it is a late night, but racing is great and I really enjoyed a mid-week fix. I hope I will see some of you there – Team RunningWithUs!

After absolutely no deliberation whatsoever I have signed up for the Seville marathon next year – 19 February – and I am as excited as… well it is possible to be about a marathon.

Nick assures me that there is less of a gamble as far as weather is concerned than in London and I like the idea that by early March I can be starting the build-up to an Autumn marathon 2012. So here we go again. Anyone else fancy a trip to the artistic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain (according to Wikipedia!) for a cool, flat and fantastic marathon? Oh and in case you do, when you come to enter your nationality and country on the entry form, you are looking for Reino Unido. Go on, you know you want to!

After the London this year I had my now customary fortnight off and then started the build-up again. But I found it very difficult to be completely focussed on what I was supposed to be doing with my running. There was the obvious and ever-present distraction of work, and the usual desire post-marathon to regain some of my social life. But that wasn’t really the problem. There was something else, much bigger that kept me from being fully engaged with my running…

Like a cork ready to burst out of a champagne bottle the pressure was at it’s most acute last week and on Friday it was suddenly released, when the most wonderful and beautiful woman I have ever met said “I do” and we were officially married!

A weekend of chaos and celebration ensued (sorry Nick, but my Saturday and Sunday runs were either farcical or non-existent) and I had the best time of my life.

But now the excuses are all behind me. I have started a new chapter at work and the marriage certificate is signed, sealed, delivered. So I am filled with a massive sense of optimism. The sun is shining and I am really to give my running 100%… I think that a couple of PBs would be the perfect wedding present to myself.

The day after the London marathon and I have had time to reflect on an interesting race. Physically I really did feel great going into the race although that wasn’t mirrored by my mental state, having had a pretty torrid time at work recently. But on the morning I felt as good as I hoped I would and I thought I was ready to notch up another PB. Sadly that was not to be the case.

I actually ran on feel for most of the race which I haven’t done in previous marathons and I think that might have been partly responsible for my demise because I went through half way in 77:58 slightly ahead of the target Nick and I had discussed and in no way adjusted for the heat that I was already worrying about by 10 miles. I know it is not a good idea to slow down when feeling good because the watch says you are ahead of target but I might have benefited from a slightly slower first half when at mile 17…

… the wheels started to wobble. Actually – and this is the biggest positive of the day for me – the wheels never completely fell off. By mile 20 I was feeling pretty ropey and so I managed to slow my pace down, get much more water on board and keep moving while adjusting my predicted finish time so that I realised by mile 21 that I could still finish well inside 2:45, which I did with 2:43:37.

So I have learned a few things from the race. I learned that I can tough it out when things start to go wrong. I also learned that I am not great in the heat (like a lot of people I guess). I learned that I need to practice running on feel more so that I understand what the opening miles of a marathon should feel like. And I learned – again – that I love running and I am more determined than ever to work hard in all areas of my life to ensure that I get the PB next time.

Finally a bit shout out to a couple of people who had a brilliant day and made me smile from ear to ear. Richard Gregory and Julie Kummer who both got PBs on a tough day and in doing so have inspired me to do better next time. Oh and thanks to Nick for getting me in shape in the first place!

I returned home from the RunningWithUs training camp in Portugal last night and I have had a good opportunity to think about how it went for me, because I wanted to tell my fiancée about the trip in a condensed form. The conclusion is that it was a really superb week.

Undoubtedly I will have benefited from the training that I did on the camp – I ran nearly twice a day, every day and flew through some hard sessions. However I think that the real benefits of the camp for me, were rather more psychological and, I must admit,  unexpected.

The main thing I have taken away from the week is a really positive mood. Everyone on the camp was friendly, enthusiastic, supportive and positive. Nick and Bud in particular talk about the importance of surrounding yourself with positive people and the entire group was just that – I must make a special mention of Richard, Dionne, both the Steves, David and Colin who were all brilliant fun to run with, talk with and generally hang out with – and I enjoyed the company of all 30 of the people in the Algarve.

The second thing that I have taken away from the week, is the number of perfect runs I had – we ran recovery runs starting at 9 min/mile (I’ve never done that), I ran a marathon pace/track/marathon pace session ‘bang on’ the paces I was aiming for. My long runs felt great given the heat and undulations of the roads we were on… I really felt that there wasn’t a bad run for me.

So thanks to Nick, Phoebe and Bud for a wonderful weekend, masses of great training, bags of great advice and lots of laughs. Like Arnie said… “I’ll be back”