Let every eye negotiate for itself

You know what it’s like. One minute you’re running along no problem the next you’ve gone for a burton and you’re face down in the mud. That’s why they call it fell racing, I suppose. The bog grabbed hold of one of my legs and momentum just carried me to the ground. It was a bright spot for half a dozen runners who went past as I was faffing around and getting going again. I can recommend Auld Lang Syne as a good run to finish the year though. It starts and ends above Haworth like Withens, but is shorter less steep and mostly better underfoot. Unlike road running you have to watch every step. I’m not sure I like fell running as I’m crap on going uphill and I don’t really enjoy the downs as I’m a wimp. It hurts my knees and I can’t just let go and throw myself downhill with the abandon of others. That said, I do want to support the races put on by Woodentops as I think they’re really generous people who do a great job for hill running in Yorkshire. I let young Brownlee take the glory again for the second time in a week.

Since Chevin Chase on Sunday, I’ve had two rest days and two slow trots. Five miles with run club on Tuesday with a couple of speedy bursts on the way back and six miles to Eccup and back yesterday. I got off to a good start today and held on reasonably well. There were none of my usual rivals to indicate how well I ran, but it felt ok. To be honest though I’ll be glad to be running at a more normal time of the year. You can only get trashed by pixies and reindeer so often before it becomes a tad trying.

Inevitably at this time of the year it’s almost obligatory to reflect on the things that I’ve accomplished (and failed to accomplish) in the past year. Here goes:

I ran 91 races/time trials – 43 of these have been parkrun 5ks. Fastest parkrun time was 19:35 a week before the 2010 London Marathon. I’ve run five other 5ks.

Shortest race was 1 mile – Ilkley Incline (10:33) – and the longest was London Marathon (3:31:20). I’ve completed nine 10ks – fastest Abbey Dash 40:36.

I ran four 10 milers with Otley (1:10:55) being the fastest. I’ve run six half marathons – fastest Brass Monkey in 1:31:28 and slowest Great North Run in 2:00:58. I’ve run two races that were longer than a half marathon and shorter than a marathon – Race The Train (about 14 miles) and Trimpell (20 miles).

I’ve run in two relays, five PECO cross country races and three Yorkshire Vets races. For some absurd reason I’ve also ran seven fell races – just the short ones ranging from 3.3 miles to 7 miles. Add in a couple of trail races and a seven mile road race and that’s my running year.

The only personal bests this year have been at distances I hadn’t previously run, though I did equal my 10k PB. I guess I’m in decline, but difficult to quantify as marathon training (and recovery) meant I haven’t really gone for it in the shorter races.