Finally, after 566 days, I ran a race.
Back in February 2012 when I managed to "do my back in", and in the following months, there were many occasions when I feared this day may never come around. It's been a long road to here, and there is still a long way to go, I am far from being race fit, but the great news is I am back running again, and able to take part again.
In July I started to run again, and gradually over the past 6 weeks I have been increasing the distance from the 4 minutes of pain reported before, to completing a 5 Km race this morning. There have been a few false starts, with a slight breathing problem at first, resulting in a visit to the doctor, thankfully nothing wrong really, maybe a touch of hay fever asthma, but Banbridge Leisure Centre Treadmill has been getting a pounding as I gradually increased the distance and pace, from 2 Km up to 5 Km, and I felt I was ready to take on the challenge of an actual race,
This morning I got up early, checked out my running gear, and went to get the 8:20 bus to Lisburn, and Wallace Park, the venue for Wallace Parkrun, a 5Km timed event. For those unfamiliar with the Parkrun concept, they are a series of 5 Km races, all over the UK, and now spreading around the world, on Saturday mornings, and the best thing, they are FREE to enter. Obviously they are low key, staffed by volunteers, but they provide a full results service, and the stats on the web site are brilliant.
I arrived at the venue a little after 9, with the start due at 9:30. Friendly fellow runners and volunteers were gathering, and at 9:30 we started on the run. This week there were 110 entrants, all with our downloaded bar code, and off we set on a sunny, if a little breezy, morning. The course consists of one short lap, followed by 3 long laps, around the park, all on tarmac paths. The long laps include a really lovely hill right at the start, going up, then along to the duck pond, before descending sharply, just so you get no benefit of a downhill section to offset the uphill. Naturally I started off way too fast for my level of "unfitness", and by the time I had climbed the hill on the first of the long laps I was feeling it in my breathing. I make no apology for taking a walk break here, and subsequently on each of the long laps, I know it seems like a crime to walk on a 5 K race, but given where I've been, I had no qualms about them.
There wasn't really a lot to report. My only target today was to get round. I had hoped to break 30 minutes, as I had gone under 29 minutes for 5 K on the treadmill on Wednesday, but I hadn't accounted for the hills, and I was a little off target. I finished in 30:40, ending up 71st out of the 110 starters, and 3rd in my age group, with an age grading of 50.11%, a personal all time worst, which at the same time is a PB for my M55 Age Group, which I entered earlier this year. The best thing of all was that I got around without any problems from my back. Even now while I write this a few hours later, the back is feeling great, even if the legs feel a little sore - it was their first bit of hard work in 18 months!
Given where I was, I am delighted to be able to be writing this. Last year, there were many times I felt I would never be able to walk again, never mind run and take part in a race. All being well my progress can continue, and I can build from here. I am obviously a long way from being really fit, but thanks to Parkrun motivating me to set a target, I can only improve from here. It's like being a new runner all over again - Thanks to everyone who has encouraged me in the long road back, kept me incentivised and motivated, I couldn't have done it without you.... Now, that 30 minute target - When's the next try?
