Still Running (weakly). Issue 07

PAST – inspiration – On 13th July 2023, we saw the 50th anniversary of Dave Bedford’s 10,000 metres world record of 27:30.80, a time which would still rank him very highly today. I have mentioned before that I finally met Dave at the Night of the 10,000 metres PBs in May, when he signed his autograph for me, adding the time and, “50 years ago.” He was an amazing runner and is a great character – the 200 miles a week, the moustache, the red socks.

There is a story about Dave that, the first time he did 200 miles in a week, he was sitting in the bath on the Sunday night, counting up his runs, when he realised that he’d only done 198 miles. He got out of the bath, went out and ran 3 miles, before getting back in the tub. When friends asked why he had done 3 miles instead of 2, he said, “Well, you can’t call 2 miles a run, can you?!”

PRESENT – perspiration – On 15th July, I did Basingstoke parkrun and met two more great characters. I will spare their blushes by not revealing their names! One has done 712 parkruns, ranking him in the top ten in the world – but the surprising thing about him, for all you parkrun tourists, is that he has done them all at Basingstoke. I think there’s something quite wonderful about that. My other friend is someone who has done a more modest 570 parkruns, but he is in his 80s, and again he has done them all at Basingstoke. Oh and last week he won his club’s handicap race! Hope – and inspiration – for us all.

FUTURE – suggestion – This week’s warmdown is about warming up. We all try and make ourselves do the hard sessions, don’t we? The hills, the speedwork, maybe on the track, maybe a tempo run on the roads or trails. And we never really feel like it, do we?

My number one piece of advice here would be to warm up. However bad you are feeling – “ooh, that hamstring’s tight, and I’ve got a bit of a sniffle, and I really should clean the oven” – warm up. Ease yourself into “hard run” mode. Jog for at least ten minutes, then do some faster stride-outs (just 50-60 metres with a good walk between), maybe stretch if you want to, then maybe some slightly faster strides. Walk around for a minute or two, and suddenly you are far more likely to complete that dreaded session than you were before!