Tuesday 20 October 2015

Me and running (Part 2)

Intro
There’s been quite a gap between this post and my last, and there have been a few reasons:
-         I slipped back into my old habit for a while there.  It took re-reading my 1st post to get back on track.  To quote the amazing Joy Formidable, I think "I had a reason but the reason went away".  So I'm back on it now, and you can all benefit from my words of wisdom :-)
-         There’s been a few things going on in my life recently and I was worried how anything I put online would be perceived.  I hope anything I write isn’t taken the wrong way but I can’t stop that, so it isn’t a reason to post anything.
-         This post started off about the reasons why I run and what it does, and has done for me.  But it feels like it’s turning into a big thank you to all the people that I have encountered through running that have helped me in some way to enjoy it more and also who have taught me things that apply outside of running as well.  So I’ve been delaying posting this in case I embarrass anyone or embarrass myself or sound stupid or….. and then I remembered it doesn’t matter.  If people think that then so be it.  I wanted to write this blog for a reason.  For me.  So here I am!
In writing this I may have gone off track but I think I’ll just go with it and apologise now if it goes off on too much of a tangent or gets a bit, I don’t know over the top!  I mean it was never going to be a piece of literary genius, was it!

So, where was I?  Oh yes, the Merrymen of Colwick......

When I started running the Colwick Parkrun there was this pleasant looking, petite lady who shouted a lot at the start and finish each week.  She would welcome everyone to Colwick Parkrun, announce any milestones, ask if there were any tourists and generally make everyone feel, well, welcome!  Granted it would go on a fair bit but it didn’t matter.  It always felt good.  Brought everyone together.  Made it more than just a run.  Its also how my “Why I run Reason #2” came about:
Feeling a sense of community.

I soon found out that this was Mrs Merrymen.  Shortly after this I found out that a quiet bloke that seemed to do what he was told by Mrs Merrymen was her husband, Mr Merrymen.  These two, and their annoyingly quick teenage son, Trainee Merrymen, started having a huge influence on my running.  It's difficult to give exact effects but seeing them week in-week out, oozing enthusiasm, encouraging everybody around them, doing it all for the love of running really inspired me to go further.  It was because of them that I started wanting to help out and so I started volunteering at Parkrun (each Parkrun across the country relies on volunteers to help out each Saturday.  Without them the runs can’t go ahead). 
This was quite a big shift in my thinking as when I started running Parkrun the thought of volunteering never crossed my mind.  I mean, why would you waste one of your Saturday mornings just standing around when you could be running, or even having a lie in???  But now I actually wanted to help.  Wanted to stand around pointing people in the right direction, encouraging them.  Or maybe I’d get to give the finish tokens out or scan the barcodes…..

And that was that.  I volunteered when I could and absolutely loved it!  The atmosphere is amazing; everyone is there for the same reason and gets on so well with each other.  This just solidified Reason #2.

That shift in my attitude was down to the Merrymen family, and if there is only one thing I can be thankful for from then it is this.  The want to be more than just a participant.  To want to be able to help others to participate.  To want to be part of something.  To be better.

Don’t get me wrong this isn’t the only thing that I have to thank them for.  Free coaching (that has improved my times massively), involvement in other events (that has got me out and about loads!), looking at things more positively…..as I said earlier it’s difficult to be specific about everything they have done for me and it’s doubtful they have any idea the influence they have had on me but I owe them a huge thank you.  Like a massive thank you J

Now after that grand statement I guess you think that’s it.  What else could he possibly get out of running??  Surely he is now complete and has the attitude of a Sainted elite athlete?

Well unfortunately for you all there is more!!!

You have to understand that there are people I have met through running, and outside of it, who have had some influence on me.  It’s hard not to be motivated and influenced by the many people you meet but many of them are strangers and they just pass you by.  But the people I have mentioned in this post have done something, or I’ve known them better, that has caused them to stand out and stick in my memory.

Oh, one more thing before I carry on.  I’ve tried to write all these things in chronological order but things get mixed up in my memories and events overlap so don’t take everything as one thing following another.  Imagine it more as a series of events over a period of time…..
                           
So this guy started working in our office.  A contractor.  Handsome, oldish bloke, bit posh sounding.  Mr Avenue.  Apart from being a really nice bloke and quite funny, he was also a runner.  Although he was quite a bit better than me he was always happy to talk to me about all things running (and a fair amount of other random stuff!).  As he would stay over in Nottingham one night a week he kept asking me to go on a run with him.  I always refused, coming up with some excuse, worried that I would slow him down or overdo it.  But eventually I went for a run with him.  Now I only went on 2 runs with him, and he was only working in the office for a year, but of all the things he talked about there were a couple of things that have stuck with me and have become part of my running ethos:
-         Just run.  There’s no need to plan a set route with exact mileage and knowing exactly where you are going.  Just run in a general direction, knowing roughly where you’re going and deal with what you find!!  It’s how you get to know places, how you can enjoy the area, enjoy running.  As a result of this practise I’ve seen bits of Nottingham that I’ve never seen before!
-         Have a “finishing” song/jingle.  Stop giggling you smut merchants!!!  A song that you run through your head when you’re flagging toward the end of a run.  Something to inspire you, to give you that final boost you need to finish (stop it!!!).  So simple yet really effective.
I wish I’d run more with Mr Avenue as the couple of times I did were really enjoyable, for conversation and location.  I’ll always have fond memories of the “I’m only doing 4 or 5 miles” run…….

As I started enjoying running more I realised that there was more to it than just pounding the nice, urban tarmac streets of cities.  That’s when I got introduced to something called the Wolf Run.  Basically it’s a cross country run but made harder using muddy fields and putting ridiculous obstacles in the way!!  Someone at work (we’ll call him Hop-along) asked if I wanted to join his “Pack” and take part in one.  Well who was I to turn that down?!!?  I missed the first one due to a torn calf but have since run several Wolf Runs with the Wolfies (as well as a few other obstacle runs) and loved every mud covered, freezing water, A-Frame climbing minute of it!!!  The events themselves are about finishing, not about position or times.  About helping your pack out and others around you.  Everyone is there for the same reason, they’re all in the same boat and as a result always willing to help (reason #2 folks!) and get you to the end.  I recommend you try one!
Because of these events I have made some amazing friends (well I have made some amazing friends, so I’m hoping they have as well or this is going to be really awkward!)  They’ve helped in so many ways, supported me and encouraged me.  They’ve got me wanting to try new events, push my limits, all through how they are, how they act, their attitude to everything they do.  They have been, and are just, amazing.  OK, a bit mental and nuts sometimes, but amazing.  Friends that I would have never made unless I ran (“Why I run Reason #4”: Meeting new people).

I hope by now you can see what I’m trying to get across about me and running.  And I’m sure I’m not alone in what running has done to and for me.  And I’m not saying only running can do this, I think it’s something more than just an activity that does it.

It’s the people.  The community.  The attitudes.

However, sometimes, even with all this positive attitude and people around you, you sometimes need a reminder or a catalyst or something to get you going when things become a bit flat.  I’d fallen off the running wagon this year and wasn’t really enjoying it (yes, amazing considering all I have just written!!).  Lost my running mojo as it were.  Yes, I’d go out for the odd run but it just felt like I was doing it because that’s what I thought I had to do.  I wanted to do a marathon but I just couldn’t be bothered with the mileage (bit of honesty here, I had planned on running my 1st marathon on my birthday this year in Tel Aviv.  I pulled out of it telling everyone that I’d been injured during training and wasn’t ready.  That wasn’t true.  I just hadn’t put the training in.  I just couldn’t be bothered.  I felt really bad about that).  I wanted to improve my technique and pace but just didn’t do the training.  I was in a bit of a slump.

Then, quite by chance, I met Johnstone.  Ridiculously lively and motivated, always doing something, fitting things into her day, getting things done without excuse, putting her mind to things and doing them……basically the catalyst I needed!  Finding out she would train at silly hours of the day because that’s when she had time, doing more than one thing in an evening (I always had the mind-set of doing one thing and one thing only!), pushing herself to do the things that needed to be done to succeed at the things she did……just doing things.  It was quite an eye opener.
Then she told me she had started running. 
I knew she hated, but could tell that she enjoyed it despite the hate!  Seeing her fit it in around her hectic lifestyle.  Seeing her take this up and getting on with it pretty much got me back out running.  Inspired me (or is that shamed me, seeing as I had gone on about my running so much yet wasn’t doing it???).  It made me think about why I ran.  Made me remember all the things I have written about here.  I smiled when I ran now!!!  OK, not all the time but you know what I mean!  I started training properly like I hadn’t done before.  I started going to a training session organised by the Merrymen and Super Kev (I’ve not mentioned him too much but the guy is a legend!! Google him! ), Weekly Wednesday Workout, and I had Parkrun PBs coming out of my ears!  I made a renewed push to complete my 50 Parkruns (check out #TourTo50Parkruns on Twitter to see how it went), I felt good, my fitness improved, I was getting back in shape, I started to remember all the good things about running, the benefits, the reasons(“…even a song from the Beatles!!” J).
I even started training for the Robin Hood Marathon without complaint, fitting it into my less than hectic lifestyle.  I ran late in the evening when in the past I would have stopped for the day.  I’d not use another activity as an excuse to skip training.  I just got on with it (it was all going well until a series of minor injuries during training meant that I wasn’t going to be ready and I’ve had to postpone my first marathon again.  But I know the reasons are genuine this time).  She caused me to shift how I look at things, not just training but my attitude to a lot of things.  She rekindled my enthusiasm for running (as well as training in general).  And I owe her a massive thank you for it.  A huge thank you.

So there was a point to all this rambling, honestly, and not just a big thank you blog.  The things I have learnt through running, the changes in attitude, in how I approach things, all of it, don’t just apply to running.  It has affected my “normal” life as well.  The interactions with others, the work ethic, how I look at things, everything.  And I think that sort of sums up why I run, what it is about me and running.  Its part of me at all times now.  It has changed me and made me, in my opinion, a better person.

I am a Runner.  Not a good one, but it doesn’t matter. 

Last bit
People who know me may notice that I go on about exercise and the benefits of it quite a bit.  I like to think that it helps encourage people but I tend to think I’m not that influential to people so I doubt it.  But I wanted to mention Drummer Boy and Little Red.
Drummer Boy ran his first half marathon last year and recently got the running bug again and said he fancied running this year’s Robin Hood half but trying to do a good time.  I sent him a training plan and that was that!  He stuck to it, improved massively and took 30 minutes off last years’ time!!!
Little Red had never run until she started an 8 week training plan to go from sofa to 5k.  I’ve known of a few people who have done this sort of plan but never actually had a friend who’s done it.  She stuck with it, doing everything it said to do and on top of that changed her eating habits, and in 8 weeks’ time she ran 5k!!  She even ran a Parkrun!  Absolutely amazing!!
I did try and encourage them both through the training, so I do hope I helped a bit, but my main point is that I was, and still am, so impressed by them both.  The way they stuck to the plan and nailed their goals exactly as they wanted to.  And its people like this that keep me motivated now, that keep me on track, that keep me running J

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