After I moved to the area I joined a running club – mainly so I would find my way around places but also to get me out of the house and active during a period when Covid and isolation was still quite big. Being an outdoor activity and small managed groups felt like reasonable steps to be safe enough.
I have never been part of a running club before and only ever run on my own so did not know what to expect from the club, if I would even call myself a runner or if I would fit in.
My first impressions were, it was a well organised club and easy to get in contact by email, to ask about joining. Set days and times for sessions made it easy to plan when I could attend and a number of groups meant I could pick the one which I felt comfortable in.
The structure helped me a lot as it gave me a reason to leave the house twice a week, something I would not have done otherwise, I had been struggling mentally to find reasons to leave the house. Initially there was a sign up process, to limit the numbers and follow covid restricitions, this meant I felt responsible to turn up as did not want to make someome else miss out so encouraged me to turn up.
Having some knowledge of how fast I could run helped pick a group which were based on pace – however it was typically only over 5km. This was surprise number 1, most of the runs were 10km which I found out several Km in to my first run, until then I was feeling comfortable. At about 7 Km I realised I had not ran this far or fast for a long time but had no idea where I was so continued to try and keep up with what I seemed to remember was a very hot run. Well I got managed to make it round and got back to the club and somewhere I knew.
This initial run did not put me off but made me go and work on some personal running and fitness before I returned several weeks later. I should point out my previous running was very flat so figuring out how to run up hills took a bit of practice, as I have yet to find a run route which does not now include a hill.
The first few months were certainly tough – a combination of running longer distances than I was previously running. Having usually only ran 10km once a year, I was now trying to do it twice per week. It was also very hot through the summer which makes it harder. However my main aim of getting to know the area and being led round new places was certainly satisfied as each run I discovered new places and paths which could be explored. Still one year on there are new routes and paths to go down.
Later in the year when I was feeling more confident in my running and had figured out what pace I could regularly manage I was introduced to a run series called Peco – which is 5 cross country races held over winter. Expect a bit of mud, some hills and usually between 4-5 miles in different locations each month. Sounded sort of fun and something different also it was quite cheap so I blindly signed up and turned up.
The initial run was not too bad, it was dry so the ground was nice, several hills which I had come to expect on any run round here and generally well organised with a lot of keen runners.
Jump forward several races to the last in the series were I was now accustomed to having mud up to my ankles running through puddles and snow. This was probably the most brutal as 90% of the course was either thick mud or ankle deep water, the only bits which were dry were the steep up-hills. At a barmy -1’C at the start a lot of people were wondering why they were there but soon warmed up after the first steep hill.
📸 credit to Graham Beardsley
The club also introduced me to the local Parkruns of which there are several but I have yet to explore as tend to stick to the local one which I can run to. These are a very good bench mark of running progress and again introduced me to hills but also a bit of competition on a Saturday morning.
The first big race I signed up for was Pontefract 10km, by now I was used to running 10km so the distance was no longer an issue. It was now a challenge against myself, what time could I achieve? In mid week training runs I usually hit 50 minutes quite comfortably so it was a case of trying to find something challenging yet achievable. I picked 45 minutes and set my Garmin to give me a training plan to hit this time. Well I managed to follow the plan for about 2 weeks before realising I had set all the rest days on the plan the same day as club training runs so was not having any days off as the intensity increased. I had also only set the plan up 3 weeks before the run so not really enough time but gave me an idea of what was needed. Race day came round and I had forgotten how many people do these runs as the crowds gathered at the start line, dodging round this many people had not been factored in. Accepting that my first Km would be a slower one I just to adjust my pace in the rest of the run to offset this. Just to note I only actually looked at my watch twice once after the first Km to work out how much time I had lost then again in Km 3 to see if I had made it up. Well I managed to pull back the time and felt comfortable so just kept going at the pace I thought I could sustain. A nice downhill last Km fuelled by the knowledge it was almost over gave me a spurt at the end to cross the line in 42.59 which I was very happy with, as it smashed my planned time as well as my PB for 10km.
📸 credit to Mick Hall
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