Race Report: Liverpool Spring 10km 2015

It's always nice to get a bit of déjà vu when writing a race report; it generally means you've run the race before, and, chances are, if you've run it before and are willing to run it again, it was a good 'un.

Rewind two years and I was participating in the inaugural Liverpool Spring 10k in Sefton Park - a brilliant local race which had a great turnout and atmosphere, as well as a not-so-nice steep set of steps mid-course. Lucky for me it took all the best bits from the last time I completed it, and left out the energy sapping set of steps.

The weather on the morning was abysmal; heavy driving rain, the kind which makes you want to put the fire on and snuggle up on the sofa with a massive cup of tea and your favourite any DVD boxset...

As I pulled up around the edge of Sefton Park the rain abated, bingo! I don't mind running in the rain, I actually enjoy it, but there's something a bit demoralising starting a race in the rain.

I warmed up and headed to the starting pens. I always love seeing all the runners in their club colours - I renewed my membership for my running club last week so will be donning blue and white hoops soon :)

The starter got us underway and off we set. I wasn't too worried about a time, but wanted to complete in a similar time as I finished the Mad Dog 10k in; due to recent personal health issues I've not had a chance to do any speedwork.

After several kilometres a running club buddy saddled up beside me and we had a chat about what time we were aiming for and what running we'd been doing lately - he'd completed the Manchester marathon a couple of weeks a go (awesome!). We were both using this race to get back in to the swing of things, though for obviously different reasons!

The course took us through the park and out and around the perimeter of it, and it was only at the 6km mark did I realise there wasn't going to be any set of steps to climb. The route was undulating though so definitely tested the legs.

Turning into the final straight I was feeling like I'd really worked over the last few kilometres and didn't think I could muster up a sprint finish, but it's funny what a guy dressed as a tyre (for 'dressed as a tyre', read compression skin tight clothing from head to toe - save it for later dude) can do for you.

Finish line, hey there human tyre behind me!

Final Race Stats

43:12 - Quicker than my Mad Dog 10k race, but I felt like I worked harder for it! I was happy with the time, but really want to get some speed work in to my legs to improve my time and fitness.

The medal, t-shirt and goody bag were excellent, especially for a race which cost under £20:

...And yes, that is a can of salmon with the t-shirt and medal!

Garmin Here
Strava Here

Final Notes

The Spring 10k is a brilliant, friendly and well supported race - there is always a crowd and entertainment around the course to help you along the way. If anyone local is considering it, I would urge you to take part!

Words, Hands, Hearts

This is a bit of a prelude to my race report for the Liverpool Spring 10k I 'competed*' in today...

I've steered clear of all things social media lately as I've had some health issues - not due to running for a change.  I'm not going fo go into it in detail but suffice to say that I've had ECGs, chest x-rays and blood tests to rule conditions out, and that I can, thank goodness, still run, pending more tests and results. If nothing else I got to be a 'secret shopper' in the NHS, and it is a bloody brilliant institution!

Anyway, on a slighlty lighter note, and to sign off this post, im sure you'll agree I look dashing in a hospital gown...

Competed is such a loose term, only used loosely when participant is gravely unfit and has forgotten how to pace their exertion levels.

HRM - you and me need to talk

My watch of choice when running is the Garmin 305; despite it looking like you may be able to land a helicopter on it I absolutely love it...

Sure, I probably don't use the full functionality of it the way I should or could, but it has never let me down for my needs. The Garmin 305, as well as tracking my runs (and the occasional cycle) has a Heart Rate Monitor. I generally always wear the HRM, as, despite not doing any specific heart rate training, it's always interesting to see how my heart rate is after certain sections of runs. -Plus, I love having ALL THE DATA!

However, HRM and I haven't been getting on so well lately; we've been drifitng, or, more precisley, its been drifting, down my body whilst I'm running to be precise, ending up around my midriff. I've tried tightening it pre-run, pulling it up like some dodgy bra during run,  and today, tried something totally new...

...Today I went for the 'wear it high' approach. If you don't know what my 'wear it high' approach insinuates, well, basically, I wore it AN (above nipples).

Now, for all I know that could be the way to wear it anyway, but it had disastrous results; it still slipped down to my midriff, but clearly had to get past two, um, 'obstacles' on the way. I can only describe the sensation as being cheese grated, it wasn't pretty, and whilst there was no blood, there was a stinging sensation afterwards in the shower - before you ask, no it was not a pleasant stinging sensation.

So, HRM and I will have a chat, and if it doesn't behave, it's going back in the box.

Mad Dog 10k Race Review

Woof woof!! Sunday 8th February 2015 saw my return to racing for the first time in (a long) 18 months. The race took place on a darn cold & freezing morning in Southport, a race I'd signed up for twice previously but hadn't been able to compete in due to injury. Southport being the place where, as a high school student, you either went here, or to Liverpool, for a drunken night out***

Anyway, everything I'd heard about the Mad Dog 10k race was positive, and it certainly didn't disappoint; great organisation from the car parking and bus to the start, baggage facilities, and entertainment on course. -The worst part was the shedding of layers and stepping out into the cold February air to warm up.

Warm up I didn't, not until about 4km in to the race anyway!

The out and back course saw the run start off along the Southport promenade before turning back and heading into Southport town a little and past plenty of fantastic singers and those awesome drummer gang/groups.

Despite having a large proportion of the run on the prom, the wind wasn't strong and I only once felt the need (but didn't) to shove my hands down the front of my shorts to warm them up (and before you start frowning, it definitely works - though is somewhat of a skill to keep your balance at times).

With having done zilch speed work, I was aiming for a steady 45 minutes, I even managed to not get caught up in race fever until about 8km in when a lad wearing what can only be described as flip flops made out of car tyres (think Born to Run by Christopher McDougall) decided that he would be posting a faster time than me... That wasn’t going to happen.

In true <insert your running hero here> fashion I tailed tyre feet until the last 200 metres then put on a Mo Farah like dash to the finish line to dip (didn’t really dip) to beat him by milliseconds (wasn’t really milliseconds).

Final Race stats

My time was 43:36 – a time I’m really happy with considering my lack of fitness, and I didn’t feel like I really pushed myself the way I normally would in a race.

The bling and ‘doggy bag’ were excellent; a good quality technical t-shirt, a pair of running socks as well as the usual pens, highlighters and flyers:

 

 

Garmin Here

Strava Here

Final notes 

The Mad Dog 10k made me realise just how much I've missed races; from the camaraderie, to the nerves before the starter gun despite knowing you can run the distance and the swell of adrenaline as you muster up a sprint finish.

 

My only slight disappointment was not running in my club’s colours; I’m not ‘officially’ a member of the club at the moment – something I’m goin to remedy soon J

 

***Alternatively you didn’t go to either of these places for a drunken night out as no false ID would convince any bouncer you were of drinking age.

Being scared… And looking like Edward Cullen*

*but not looking like Edward Cullen because of being tall / handsome / mysterious / pale… Well, maybe pale…

My running has been going pretty well lately, I wouldn’t say my legs are completely back to normal; I’m still susceptible to a tight IT band in my right leg. For anyone who has ever had IT band problems, then you’ll know how mind numbingly infuriating the pain that goes along with it is…

This has meant that whilst I’m increasing the number of times I’m running each week, I’ve been stuck on 4 miles… I’d set myself a target that by the end of January I would be running 10km again. I’m in danger of making the completion of this distance more of a mental thing than a physical thing. However, having struggled for so long to return to running pain free I’m bound to be a bit scared of breaking down again.

Anyway, it’s been pretty cold these last few weeks when I’ve been heading out, so, earlier in the week I dug out my running tights from the bottom of my draws and ‘suited’ up… Problem is, anything tight around my right knee causes IT band unhappiness, bummer dude!

However, I had a cunning plan; Vaseline! If it can protect my lips in these cold temperatures then it should help protect my legs from the chilly winds.

So on I smothered it, feeling very pleased with myself (not because it felt good to rub on, but because I was just a few wax on, wax off motions away from potentially being freeze proof).

Feeling satisfied that I could just as easily slide along the pavements as run, out the door I headed… I have a look down at my legs mid-flow and as the lamp posts emanate their luminous yellow-ness I’m glowing like a vampire from a teen movie! Granted, this could be a combination of the sweat and Vaseline, which we won’t dwell on for too long, but glow I did.

The good news is that Vaseline can officially be used to stop your thighs being turned into a white wind chilled set of ice blocks, and with that success under my belt, fingers crossed I’ll soon be glowing from having completed a 10km run before the month is out.

The NHS and what us runners cost

I work, for the NHS, I've never hidden away from that and I'm proud to say I'm employed by what I think is a fantastic establishment. I'm not clinical, so I wouldn't be able to tell you symptoms, tests, or treatments to diagnose any weird or unheard of diseases (except for feed a cold, starve a fever maybe !). However, being a finance and performance employee I can tell you things that not many people know, as well as knowing things which everyone should know, but probably don't...

You'll all be aware of the A & E 4 hour wait time, and that hospitals must deliver this for 95% of their patients? That's a pretty standard one which is currently getting a lot of media coverage. Read headlines such as patients rocking up at A&E who don’t need to be there/should be going to their GP or Walk in Centre instead…

How about the 18 weeks referral to treatment rule? This one doesn't get the coverage I think it deserves... Every patient across the country has a statutory right under NHS guidelines to receive the start of their treatment within 18 weeks of their initial referral to be treated.

But what does that even mean?! Well, it means that if you go to your GP and they send you on to hospital, you must receive the treatment to whatever your ailment is within 18 weeks. Note the word TREATMENT here, tests & diagnostics do not constitute treatment.

So, if you end up being referred to hospital and require an operation, if your operation is not within 18 weeks from your initial referral to hospital, then the hospital has an obligation to move your operation date forward at their expense (this includes having your operation at another hospital if needs be in order to meet the 18 weeks target).

I find this extremely interesting and probably take waaaaay too much pride out of telling everyone I know about it. I get the same reaction every time though, glossed over eyes because they’re so busy concentrating on listening to what I've got to say J

The way the cost of your stay at hospital is calculated is equally as interesting; it’s unsurprisingly, based on your diagnoses and any procedures you have, as well as whether you attended A & E, you were admitted (be that in an emergency, or if it was planned), or if you 'simply' turned up for an appointment for a diagnostic test / examination from a doctor or consultant.

The combination of this ‘care setting’ you are treated under, and what your diagnoses / procedures are get mashed together into a magical algorithm to determine what your hospital stay costs.

So, what do runners cost? I’m just providing some generic, run of the mill costs which will likely be the pathway a runner would follow.

David goes to his GP with a hurty knee and is referred to hospital, where he is seen by a consultant. This will cost £119. If the consultant decides that David needs a scan, (likely a MRI scan), this will cost between £138 and £188 dependent on the number of areas scanned.

Following a scan, David goes to get his results, this will cost £70, as will every subsequent attendance with the consultant whether a scan has occurred or not.

If David is then sent for physiotherapy, this is where it gets a bit complicated; it doesn't cost the same at every hospital. Hospitals are generally paid a ‘block contract’ for physiotherapy, that is, they will employ a certain number of physiotherapists and be expected to treat all patients sent to them. These physiotherapists will often be expected to complete a patient's course of treatment within 4 – 6 visits. This will cost in the range of £25 - £65, but is different at each hospital, and should be used as a guideline only.

If, as I’m often reminded, that running ‘ruins your knees’ and a knee replacement is required, you’re looking at £9,000.

 

Now you have an idea of what runners cost, it realistically, is not huge sums of money, and will be little in comparison to other ‘self induced’ medical conditions…

One final note, none of the information I've posted, particularly around the costs above are a secret or confidential; they are free to view by anyone and everyone. Yu could just Google (other search engines available) PbR (Payment by Results) National Tariff and find the information.

Running in to the new year - Part 2

Happy New Year! We've finally entered 2015 and with it will mark my 30th year on this planet... Every time I think of turning 30 I'm always reminded of this:

Source Joey: Why God?!! Why?!! We had a deal!! Let the others grow old! Not me!!

Mr Joey Tribbiani had it right!!

Anyway, moving away from the inevitable day of when I get old... I did manage to 'run' in to 2015. I set out 11:55pm 31 December 2014 and finished 12:09am 2 January 2015. It wasn't fast, it wasn't long, and it was over quickly (*insert your innuendo-laden joke here*):

 

I'm really glad I laced up and saw out the New Year this way, as it can come off my bucket list, but it wasn't quite what I thought it would be, or built it up to be - I would definitely recommend the getting drunk with family and loved ones. Unless of course your family and loved ones joined you on the run!

So, on to 2015, I don't really make resolutions, but I find that the start of a new year helps to focus my mind and think about what direction I want my life to go in. For me, it's simple, have an injury free year and get back to the level of running I was at a couple of years ago...

...And if possible, not turn 30.

All the best for 2015!