Was It Everything You Dreamt It Would Be?

 Over the past couple of weeks, one thing that has been on my mind a lot and has therefore been something I have talked about a lot, both in person and online, has been the Reunion 5K at Kempton Park. The race had already changed a lot, or it felt like it had, from the original announcement of a Reunion 10K at a park in Hertfordshire, to be half of the distance and somewhere the opposite side of London, but hey, whatever, organising one of these things is effectively a logistical migraine, so if that's what it needs to be, go with it. 

When first announced, the 5K at Kempton was aiming for 3,000 runners in 3 races - what actually happened was around a thousand runners in two races, so again, a lot of changes. Originally I thought I was going for an afternoon run and it would be an earlier start than I was used to but nothing inhuman, and a potentially late night, but the change meant everyone was running in the morning and I had to be up at four, our by four-thirty and got to the train station at five in the morning. Had I been coming straight back to Manchester after the race, that would have been getting home at maybe six or seven in the evening, so not too horrendous overall, but I had a pit stop at the new house of a friend to have tea in the garden - weather be damned!! - so I didn't get back into the house until about ten in the evening and it had been an exceptionally long day. The obvious question on the minds of my family and friends: did you have a good time? Was it worth it? 

The simple answer was, oh my God, yes. 

When we first got there, everyone seemed, to me at least, to be nervous of the fact that we (runners) were back (together/ at an event/ in close proximity/ etc) and it was as though no one wanted to believe it. There was one lone guy doing his warm-up circuits around groups of other runners, but people were in ones and twos, maybe a few smatterings of people who were about a handful, but they seemed like they could be families. Even running the warm-up laps we went for seemed to be a bit distanced - when it wasn't the chaos of getting into the loop at the right point and then also being able to slingshot out of the loop to go to the bag drop or the loo. But then we were asked to move across the field and people started to need to move closer together, and there were quite a few who seemed to be shying away from being so close together. And then something changed. 

The atmosphere of parkrun and of races came back and people were chatting and laughing in bigger groups. The announcer that had previously seemed to be trying to rile everyone up and not getting anywhere got the crowd going and it was like being back at the beginning of London Landmarks in 2019. I was getting a bit emotional if I'm honest, and then we were all walking up to the start line, and that was it. It was happening. There was a lead bike out in front like when we had parkrun, there was a bunch of people running so fast you could be exhausted watching them and there was a back of the pack group that were supporting each other, sexy pacing the heck out of it and just enjoying the day. 

The whole thing was organised beautifully, with time to finish, plenty of staff to support, a swift moving bag drop, ACTUAL toilets as well as portaloos and runners who were just happy to be there. The changes in races meant that a few of the people I had been hoping to meet there couldn't make it, but even without them, it was a hell of a day, and the first wooden medal I have ever had, so that's pretty cool. 

Picking up your own medal from a stand instead of having someone put it on for you was one of the things that had needed to change because of COVID (as well as the 'fun' of lateral flow and PCR tests) but it worked, and we were all glad to still get a medal, and everything with the train station had been organised well to make it easy for the many of us who weren't driving. 

That isn't to say it was easy. I have never felt, or I don't remember feeling, quite this done in by a 5K. I honestly look at it and wonder how there was ever a point where I was running one of these every weekend. Both of my knees hurt yesterday, which wasn't a good sign, as did my calves - rock solid calves do not help me run well at all!! - and then today everything hurts. I even stretched at the station, so as much as I know I brought this on myself, I am a bit cheesed off that I'm in so much pain. However, there is a good thing with it. It has shown me that I really need to get my ass into gear for the training plan, because the start of the sixteen-week plan that included two half marathons isn't far off, and then it will be London Marathon. Also, if this weekend was anything to go by, and I hope it will be, this is it. Races are coming back and they are coming back in person, all together, taking to the streets of London (all my races are in London, but in theory, all races should be coming back!) and there is no hiding from it, or walking it at whatever pace because there is no cut off time. There is a cut-off time and I want to be way ahead of it. 

So honestly, it was the best day I have had since March 2020 and I know that I am not alone in that thought. And the last thing I have to say on the subject is: roll on the next one! I am not ready now, and in truth, I may not be ready on the day, but I am a hundred percent ready to give it a go, raising money for Macmillan, and trying to get a bit fitter and a bit healthier along the way. 

What Changes in the Week Before a Race?

 I wrote a blog yesterday about what a week before the race meant, and a big component of it was the fact I'm not drinking beer (or wine, or anything alcoholic, but I have beer in the house and that's what I have been drinking recently). I kind of felt like I was focusing a bit too much on that and there went on a tangent about snacks because I was hungry, so this is attempt number two. What has changed this week? Why is this week different?

This week I am more concerned by how much water I am drinking, the food that I am eating and being as healthy as I can be whilst not being completely in control of what I'm eating - yay for living with my parents - I'm cutting out things like booze that I know have a negative impact on my heart rate and my sleep quality and I'm trying to sleep better. 

Today, I went for a good long walk at a faster pace than I have been going out at, I got my running backpack out of storage - it's one that normally had a water bladder in it, but since it's a five-kilometer run and that would be ridiculous, it's just having all of the stuff I need for the trip to London and back - and started thinking about what I was going to wear. I also got my test kits (PCR tests for Saturday morning and 5 days after the race) and made sure I actually knew what I had to do with them (before realising the process is very similar to the process used for the lateral flow tests which I've currently done one of). 

The big things for tomorrow are taking the lateral flow test and making sure I use the short form of my name when registering the result (because I didn't think about that when I registered for the race, used the short form of my name knowing that it would likely be printed on my running number and then read in the instructions which have been sent out since that the race number name and test result names have to match, which is very logical, but still difficult when you don't use your legal name for anything because you don't like it) packing up the rest of my stuff into my run bag and making sure I know where everything is for the morning and heading to Lidl to grab myself some things to eat and drink on the two and a half hour train to London, the twenty-minute tube and then the hour train from Waterloo to the actual venue of the run. Oh, and then also get an early night so that waking up at four in the morning doesn't feel quite so despicable. 

Saturday morning, thankfully I just need to get up, get dressed, take the test and leave the package on the dining room table for my mum to post when she's awake at a much less unGodly hour, and then jump into a taxi into town, because there are no buses until about ten minutes before the last train I can get on which would get me into London at the right time. I also keep forgetting that I can't have caffeine tomorrow, which is going to be horrendous, but worthwhile. I also have a few other errands to run, so this is going to be a hell of a day. 

I'm partly writing this for those who are interested in what's happening on the day, but it's mostly because it helps me get it straight in my head what I need to sort and organise and what I need to do. I hate trying to be organised because I don't feel good at it, but I love writing lists and I love writing narratives of this is what I need to do and this is how I am going to do something to try and convince myself I've got it all in hand, and there's nothing to worry about. That being said, I have anxiety, I will worry whether I plan to the nth degree or not. 

So anyway, that's my Saturday and my Sunday will likely be about recovering from how exhausting my Saturday was, and I am a hundred percent okay with that.

Why This 5K Is So Important,

  The most exciting thing that has happened today is that I signed up for a race I have been wanting to do for a few weeks, and the best part is that it's only ten days away. It seems crazy that it is that soon, but at the same time, it's kind of cool. It's a short distance, nothing more than a parkrun, and there's not a huge amount of time to pick up injury beforehand that would stop me from being able to do it. I'm ecstatic, and not just because it's an excuse to be back in one of my favourite parts of London. The main reason I am so excited is because this race is unlike any other race I have ever done before and that is because at it's heart, it's not a race - it's a science experiment. Well, it's a data collection exercise. 

At the moment, the government and events industry are trying to get people back to large scale events, but the paramount concern is safety. Can we safely run concerts? Can we safely run sporting events? Can we safely run mass participation sporting events like London Marathon? Is it possible to run them and have the participants behave in the way that they're familiar, or do we need to ask runners, people who are used to being shoulder to shoulder, who are used to carrying others over finish lines, hugging each other in celebration, to keep to social distancing? Can we really ask kids spectating at the event not to come along with signs that say High Five for a Power Up? Can we create an atmosphere of encouraging sport if the crowds aren't actually crowds but small pockets of people, who can't pass out sweets to the runners, who can't hug their family member or friend as they're on the last leg of the race? If we want to get back to the mass participation events of the past, and I have a feeling that's where most runners would prefer to be, we need to prove that it is safe. We need to prove it to runners, we need to prove it to be public, and probably most important of all, we need to prove it to insurance companies, because we need them to back races, or races can't go ahead. 

So this race, it's only like a parkrun, but I've not been able to parkrun for over a year, so even that would sound amazing right now, but this race is potentially key to getting every other race I want to do this year green lit and back on track. This race, and the data that comes from it, could be the difference between waiting weeks and months for the whole of parkrun to come back, or having that data to back parkrun making it's comeback now, and if we can prove that it's safe, everyone who started running during the lockdown, everyone who realised that they needed to do something to support their heart health and their lungs' health or needed to do something to support their mental health, all of those people who realised that the second you lace your shoes up and go, you are a runner, they automatically have a home, and they have a community and they have their people, and they know where and when to find them. 

Across the globe, parkrun is already making its comeback. Junior parkrun is back, and we're getting to the point where particularly the smaller events can get back to going, and whilst I get a little flutter of happiness every time I see a Tweet or a Facebook post to say another team is getting ready and they will be back soon, I won't be truly happy until it's possible to go for a run with your barcode, and then get a coffee and cake afterwards with the other parkrunners, because that is what this community means to me. We desperately need all of the data being collected that is saying we've done it. Everything we have done over the last fourteen months has been worth it because we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it's getting brighter.

I have found a lot of things about lockdown overwhelming, and knowing we're coming to the end of it is a huge sigh of relief in many ways, but also a worry in many others. Like a lot of people, the life I have now is very different from my life all of that time ago. I gave up my flat, I moved out of London, I focused on other things. I'm not even going to be doing the same job for too much longer, so exactly what life post lockdown looks like, I'm not sure, but I do know that running and the normality of training, is something I need to keep myself balanced. I honestly get confused over what day it is at the moment, and a lot of that is because every day is the same. Getting back to structuring my week around activities is going to be so beneficial. 

The last thing though is that my last two races have been virtual and it has sucked. London Marathon in the streets of where I live was the weirdest thing I have ever encountered and whilst my neighbours and friends were as supportive as they possibly could be, nothing compares to the landmarks in London. Nothing compares to the crowd. I have crossed Tower Bridge precisely once in my life, at least to my memory, and that was one the back of a motorbike. I am determined that the next time, it will be as part of London Marathon, and I'm determined that it will be this year, and not having to wait another six months or more. 

So this race is important to me. 

Yes, I'm a suitable amount of worried about the travel. I'm a suitable amount of worried that entering into an environment without social distancing will mean that I could contract the virus, particularly because I haven't had a vaccine yet (not through my own choice, I might add) and I'm a suitable amount of irked about the tests, because I don't find it pleasant, though who does, sticking a swab into my throat, or up my nose, but if it's what we need to do to provide the data that let's running make a comeback, if we need to test different models and make sure that there is one that works, that's what has to happen, and I'm over the moon to be able to be apart of it, even if appropriately anxious.