The race
After 10 weeks of training, my first 5k test race approached. But was I actually going to do it?
I almost didn't make it. After 10 weeks of building up strength and running time on my legs so I could do this, I had a strong case of the wobbles the night before the 5K race I had committed to.
Why? Train strikes, buses, ageing parents and car crashes. As well as my stuff, too.
It all starts in 1980
My mum's driving has never been brilliant. Don’t get me wrong: with my dad not driving, she was a lifeline for our family when she got up the courage to learn to drive when I was about 10 years old. This is a woman who fainted when a fast train rushed by close to her on a train platform when she first arrived in the UK in the 1960s. Learning to drive was a big, big deal for her. For all of us. Throughout my life, she’s been one of the strongest women I have known.
The day she passed her driving test (she'd tried twice before she passed, if I recall correctly), she picked me and my sister up from school, and promptly pulled out onto a main road in front of an oncoming truck. We only escaped a nasty collision because she took evasive action and drove onto the pavement.
I remember screaming.
Luckily, there were no pedestrians nearby. Like I said, my mum's driving has never been brilliant - but once she got her confidence, she was safe enough. Until May 2022. Or possibly earlier.
Fast forward to May 2022
My mum turned 80 this year, and I'd been concerned about her driving since she was in her mid-70s. But what with the pandemic and everything, I hadn't been to the UK to see it firsthand. And when I was in London in April / May, I drove her where she needed to go, so she had no need to drive.
But as soon as I returned to NZ, she drove into a brick wall. Nothing serious, but she pressed the accelerator instead of the brake when moving off, and hit a wall. Apparently, she perhaps panicked a little and pressed harder on the accelerator rather than switching to the brake. And, it came to light, that this wasn't the first time this had happened over the past year or two.
So, we had a family chat over video - as we have had to do in these pandemic times - and my mum reluctantly agreed that her driving days were over. It was a moot point really, as the car was a write-off, and the insurance premium had skyrocketed should she want to drive another car.
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Public transport not running
This leads me to my wobbles.
It wasn't the fact that I had to take public transport. I'm a great believer in it, and we managed fine in London.* It was the fact that the day of the race coincided with a rail strike, and I was also going to visit my sister, nephew and niece in Epsom that afternoon. Instead of a 1.5 hour train journey, this was going to be 2.5 hours on the bus (it ended up being over 3 hours). So, I was torn between going to my race, but then getting back home (also by bus instead of train) to start the journey to Epsom in late morning, meaning we hit shopper traffic on a Saturday. Maybe I could just make this a lot less painful if my daughter and I started the journey to Epsom at 8am instead of 11am, and I could just not do my race?
It tempted me. I wobbled.
Firm talking to
I firmed my resolve by looking at my training log and all the work that I had put in over the previous 10 weeks. I looked at the photos of my daughter and I doing the same parkrun just 6 days earlier together - with me coaching her through her first 5K run. I remembered the volunteer staff there , how welcoming they were, and how I said I'd be back the following week. That was the next day. I gritted my teeth. I was going.
Stay on target, despite the pain
Saturday morning, I got on the bus. I reviewed my goals as we motored towards Southall Park.
I wanted to break 30 minutes. Even if only by 2-3 seconds. I'd take that. For reference, from when I was fitter and well-trained, my 5k PR is 21:15.
I'd calculated that anything below 30 mins would get me to about 50% age-graded performance - back into the middle of the pack for my age, which I would consider a big win.
So what does age-graded performance mean, and how is it calculated?
The formula considers data collected by the World Association of Veterans Athletics, which adjusts your performance for age and sex. For each distance and age group, there are world records for both men and women. They use these as benchmarks. So, for example: if the World Record for a 40-year-old man running 10 miles is 46:31 and another 40-year-old man runs 10 miles in 58:30, he has an Age-Graded performance of 79.5% (46:31 divided by 58:30).
I rocked up, warmed up, and tried to chat with fellow runners. But my fellow early bird arrivers weren't a talkative bunch, preferring to stay in their zone or run warm-up strides. We lined up, and the marshall set us off.
And all was fine until I had just passed 3km, when I felt a twinge in my right calf. I didn't stop, but I adjusted my gait a little as I probed and tested out as I continued to run if this was going to stop my run. My assessment was that I could carry on. The good news was that I was about 45 seconds ahead of schedule, looking at a sub-30 minute finish. It was all about hanging on, knowing that I'd pay the price in recovery. I figured it was worth it.
And hang on, I did.
The pay off
If you check out the numbers above, you'll see a few things here.
The race time on 8/10 was 10 minutes faster than the run through with my daughter the previous week.
I kept hold of that 45 second advantage that I gained in the first half of the race (not in the numbers here, but I definitely made that mental calculation when running). It's possible that I was running too fast, and that's what caused the twinge in my calf at 3km. Who knows?
I put in a 52% age-graded performance. Check out below to see how that compares.
Return to the middle
Yes, I'm back in the middle of the pack!
The reason this race was important is that it wasn't just a test of where I had got to and a validation of my training so far. It also gives me a springboard and data from which to plan my next cycle of training. More about that another time.
But what I will tell you is that I hobbled around for 3 days after this run. It was worth it - though sitting on a bus for three hours probably didn't help me keep mobile to aid my recovery. I'll try not to repeat that part of the experience.
Oh, and in case you're wondering, my mum is still not driving. She misses it. She's still getting out and about - though that will be a challenge during the winter months in London. And I still call her most days.
*Outside of London is a different latter, and probably an entirely different audience and newsletter.