So, very pleased with Silverstone. What I neglected to mention though was the injury I picked up after the race, not thinking it would be a big deal at the time. I managed to finish the race without major incident but whilst queuing for the St John's people to look at my fingers I thought I'd take off the chest harness that was holding the camera I was wearing. In trying to wriggle out of that I managed to partially dislocate a rib. Usually one trip to the osteopath sorts me out but I had to go three times last week and it's still not fixed. It seems that running 13.1 miles slightly hunched, as I was with the basketballs, has put additional strain on my back. Once that rib moved all the muscles have tightened up around it and this tightness is preventing it from popping back into place permanently. So I'm taking lots of ibuprofen and icing it several times a day in order to reduce the swelling and relax the muscles. I'll have to go back to the osteopath later in the week to see if I can finally be fixed. I really need to be running. The Brighton marathon is fast approaching.
While I've been injured I've had time to edit the footage I shot at Silverstone. It's up on YouTube now:
http://youtu.be/rbp4EVWin38
Monday 21 March 2016
Sunday 13 March 2016
Silverstone Half
What a day!
Very cold and foggy to start with but by the time the race started the sun was out. It was still cold, but the sun was shining and this was my first test amongst thousands of other runners. That was the main aim of today, to see how I could cope with lots of other people around me. Up until now I've only had to avoid the odd dog and walker and the occasional child on a scooter. This was different and as I have to focus on the floor about 10ft in front of me I was finding the flash of trainers quite mesmerising.
There was a secondary goal. I was aiming for a time of 1:55:00 but my happy window was 1:55:00 to 1:59:59 i.e. anything under 2 hours. Although I didn't pay much attention to the Garmin on my foot, I ran at what I considered a comfortable pace for the time I was aiming for. It was only as I reached mile 12 I noticed I wasn't going to make 1:55:00 but I finished in around 1:57:30 (tbc) with quite a decent sprint finish so I was happy.
I had all sorts of comments from other runners and spectators. Far too many to mention here, but there was lots of "Oh my God!", lots of "Fair play, mate!", a "That's just showing off!" and my personal favourite "Now that's just silly!".
Everyone was really supportive. Firstly I'd like to thank the organisers for letting me do it but the other runners were great too. Lots of encouraging words. I hope I didn't get in anyone's way. I had to take a wide berth round some of the sharper turns as it got a bit congested. I'd particularly like to thank the guy that guided me over the metal walkway they'd put over the gravel we had to cross. He made sure I had a clear path and talked me though it. The balls really didn't bounce too well on it.
It was great to have my family there too. I could hear them cheering from the stands and I could hear my son as he chased me all the way down one of the straights.
I did have to get patched up by St John's at the end. Nothing too serious but at around mile 5 the tip of my right index finger split open and by the end of the race my left one had split too, It's a consequence of dry winter hands. The split on my right finger is really quite deep and is going to take a while to heal. It doesn't make typing this a comfortable experience!
So, overall a very positive experience. Now to focus on the Brighton marathon (without balls) before picking up the basketball training again.
Very cold and foggy to start with but by the time the race started the sun was out. It was still cold, but the sun was shining and this was my first test amongst thousands of other runners. That was the main aim of today, to see how I could cope with lots of other people around me. Up until now I've only had to avoid the odd dog and walker and the occasional child on a scooter. This was different and as I have to focus on the floor about 10ft in front of me I was finding the flash of trainers quite mesmerising.
There was a secondary goal. I was aiming for a time of 1:55:00 but my happy window was 1:55:00 to 1:59:59 i.e. anything under 2 hours. Although I didn't pay much attention to the Garmin on my foot, I ran at what I considered a comfortable pace for the time I was aiming for. It was only as I reached mile 12 I noticed I wasn't going to make 1:55:00 but I finished in around 1:57:30 (tbc) with quite a decent sprint finish so I was happy.
I had all sorts of comments from other runners and spectators. Far too many to mention here, but there was lots of "Oh my God!", lots of "Fair play, mate!", a "That's just showing off!" and my personal favourite "Now that's just silly!".
Everyone was really supportive. Firstly I'd like to thank the organisers for letting me do it but the other runners were great too. Lots of encouraging words. I hope I didn't get in anyone's way. I had to take a wide berth round some of the sharper turns as it got a bit congested. I'd particularly like to thank the guy that guided me over the metal walkway they'd put over the gravel we had to cross. He made sure I had a clear path and talked me though it. The balls really didn't bounce too well on it.
It was great to have my family there too. I could hear them cheering from the stands and I could hear my son as he chased me all the way down one of the straights.
I did have to get patched up by St John's at the end. Nothing too serious but at around mile 5 the tip of my right index finger split open and by the end of the race my left one had split too, It's a consequence of dry winter hands. The split on my right finger is really quite deep and is going to take a while to heal. It doesn't make typing this a comfortable experience!
So, overall a very positive experience. Now to focus on the Brighton marathon (without balls) before picking up the basketball training again.
Friday 11 March 2016
Nice Crossover!
So I've been concentrating on improving my pace for the Brighton marathon of late and have neglected my balls recently. However, the Silverstone half is this Sunday and I needed to break in the new race balls I'd ordered. I only pumped them up this morning so I needed to spend some time with them making sure the pressures were right. I took one of the babies I look after to the park, along with the two balls this morning. I pushed the him in the swing whilst dribbling the balls, and he went back and forth just dribbling (he goes through a lot of bibs). Because they're brand new they need a bit of scuffing up. They have a bit of a greasy, oily feel to them from when they were made.
After work this evening I went back to the playground at dusk to work on them some more. Practising some skills with my back to the main park I heard a "Nice crossover!" from a guy walking his dog. It turns out he used to play a bit. We had a good chat and he might even go and have a runout at my old club. It's nice meeting new people locally - that's what I like about my job.
Anyway, the balls feel OK but I'm going to give them a scrub in the bath later to remove whatever that oil is. I'll have another little practise with them tomorrow.
I'm feeling pretty good about Sunday. It should be fun. I expect I'll attract a bit of attention and I'm hoping I'll have the energy to put in a decent sprint finish. I'm looking forward to seeing how many people I can demoralise by overtaking them in the final straight. It's always good to be doing the overtaking at the end - it means you've paced yourself well. I'll make another blog post Sunday night and that's when I'm going to go public with the record attempt and this blog. It'll be interesting to see how that affects my viewing stats and whether anyone gives a sh*t!
See you Sunday, Silverstone!
PS. I've been thinking about having that last minute nervous pit stop and contemplating having to ask someone:
"Excuse me, would you mind holding my balls while I have a wee?"
After work this evening I went back to the playground at dusk to work on them some more. Practising some skills with my back to the main park I heard a "Nice crossover!" from a guy walking his dog. It turns out he used to play a bit. We had a good chat and he might even go and have a runout at my old club. It's nice meeting new people locally - that's what I like about my job.
Anyway, the balls feel OK but I'm going to give them a scrub in the bath later to remove whatever that oil is. I'll have another little practise with them tomorrow.
I'm feeling pretty good about Sunday. It should be fun. I expect I'll attract a bit of attention and I'm hoping I'll have the energy to put in a decent sprint finish. I'm looking forward to seeing how many people I can demoralise by overtaking them in the final straight. It's always good to be doing the overtaking at the end - it means you've paced yourself well. I'll make another blog post Sunday night and that's when I'm going to go public with the record attempt and this blog. It'll be interesting to see how that affects my viewing stats and whether anyone gives a sh*t!
See you Sunday, Silverstone!
PS. I've been thinking about having that last minute nervous pit stop and contemplating having to ask someone:
"Excuse me, would you mind holding my balls while I have a wee?"
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