As mentioned in earlier posts I have been really lucky to get a sponsorship deal with Alpha Fitness and Rehab which is based in Toll Bar Business Park, Stacksteads. When I applied for the sponsorship I didn't expect it to be so extensive but this deal and the support it provides me with couldn't have come at a better time. Alpha is owned by Dan Whittaker and Sanjay Joy, I have known Dan for a good few years. He was a talented sprinter and took many a county medal off me in my running days. I was never really a 100 or 200m runner and only did them to add to the clubs points/medal tally but even if I had of been concentrating on 100m and 200m I wouldn't have been able to challenge the little shit. I dreaded him moving up to 400m! It's pretty odd that neither of us can run anymore, I doubt anybody thought 10 years ago that we would both be out of able bodied athletics.
I really did have a bad summer on the track this year, the chair kept falling in bits, I kept picking up niggles, I was chasing times in races where people didn't want to do any work and I just ended up down right fed up. I've struggled with depression since my injury, completely losing the plot for a while, training and competing has helped me get it under control. Maybe it is something I have always had and it only reared its ugly head when 18 years of running came to an abrupt end. Anyway, I had a long chat with Jenny and we decided to cut the track season short and concentrate on getting ready for the road races in the Autumn both physically and mentally. At about the same time I got a Call from Sanjay asking me to go up to Alpha for a chat. Both Dan and Sanjay are physiotherapists, they did a full assessment on my niggles and we had a good chat about my sport and what was on offer from Alpha. We decided to work together and planned the way forward, the lads had picked up my rollers from Pioneer gym in Bacup within a week. Once my rollers were at Alpha the lads got me to do a session in my race chair, they looked at the technique of pushing a race chair and looked at my movement. Straight away it was obvious that I had some serious muscle imbalances in my back, and shoulders. My Left trapezius was way bigger than my right, seeing footage of my own back in action was a bit shocking. I knew my back had been playing up but I didn't know the problems were that obvious!
It was then that the hard work started, I was really happy that I had gotten the sponsorship deal but I didn't expect the support Alpha was about to give me. Sanj got to work using kinesiology tape on my back and shoulders, I was taped almost constantly for a month. Dan started acupuncture on my shoulders, not the most pleasant experience of my life but it does work. Sanj Massaged me a few times a week between taping and acupuncture. Dan put together a strength and conditioning programme and gave me one to one delivery of the programme. Having someone who understands elite sport as well as how the body works delivering your strength and conditioning is perfect. I've been to a few gyms now and it is hard to find somebody who hasn't done a mickey mouse gym instructor or personal trainer course - it's even harder to find a properly qualified strength and conditioning coach who is genuinely interested in my sport. Gym idiots are one of my pet hates, I did Sports and Exercise Science at Loughborough Uni which is Europe's leading sports uni but I always feel like I have to defend my qualifications because of all these gym idiots. In the 80's if you were a bit thick your teacher would tell you to be a mechanic if you were a lad and a hairdresser if you were a girl. Now all the numpties go to college to do sport related courses and they devalue real qualifications. Gym instructors who push cutting carbs out, using herbalife or juiceplus instantly lose all my respect and receive the title gym idiot. Luckily there aren't any gym idiots at Alpha and that's something I do not miss from the other gyms.
After 18 years in able bodied athletics I didn't have the perfect build to start out as a wheelchair athlete when I got injured. My legs still work to some extent so they are pretty big compared to my competitors but my arms are small. The other lads at Weir Archer get strength and conditioning coaching at the club in Kingston Upon Thames, I don't have that luxury so I have trained on my own in the gym since I started training in my chair. I don't mind training on my own but when you are using free weights on your own you need to be well within yourself so you can get the weight back on the rack safely. At Alpha Dan is there to spot me so I have been able to push things a bit further than before.
The sessions are great, we use resistance bands for a lot of exercises. They look a bit daft, nowhere near as butch as weights but they are harder work. A weight weighs the same at every point in the exercise (even if it does feel like its getting heavier haha!) but the resistance band gets harder the further into the exercise you get. I hate them! I love them for the training but I hate the pain they cause me! I do free weights too, I have improved with them all so far but still need to improve a hell of a lot more. Most of my sessions end with me pushing on the rollers, that is something I haven't done before and it seems to be working wonders. Having Sanj playing good cop, encouraging me all the way and Dan playing twat cop, giving me abuse the whole way also helps push me on another level. When I get in the chair after strength and conditioning my arms are dead, it takes me a good 10min to get moving properly so trying to sprint is hard work but good practice for when I get to the end of a race. I have almost been sick on the rollers a few times now, shouting for the bin to yak in.
All three of us have been over to Preston to train on a cycle track, a one mile loop built for cycling so it has no sharp turns, no pot holes, no women drivers trying to kill you, no grids for your wheels to fall down and no idiots pulling out of side streets running you over and blaming it on somebody else. I did a session of one and two mile reps with Dan sat in my day chair taking splits and Sanj shouting them as I completed each lap. I did 7 miles faster than my mile PB so I know I am heading in the right direction. After the miles we put into practice a new starting technique that we had been discussing for the previous few days, we'd tried it on the rollers but this was the first time I had a chance to see if it worked for real. Sanj filmed me do a normal start then five of the new starts, the new starts are faster and quite a bit faster.With a bit more practice my sprint PB's are gonna be smashed next year! Such a shame I have to wait 6 months before my first sprint races!
Session complete Dan finally got out of my day chair, I think the group skiing on the tarmac circuit thought there had been a miracle and he was cured from some nasty disease. I got my kit on and we headed off for a bacon butty, nothing better after training.
Since starting training at Alpha I have definitely become fitter and stronger, in Lisbon last weekend I pushed into a head wind at a half decent speed and that's not something I have managed to do before. I have less niggles and I panic less when I do get a niggle because I know I have the backing of two physio's who know their stuff. Something else has changed for the positive in the short time I have been training at Alpha too, my mood, it's not something either Sanj or Dan know about (well they will now but I find it quite hard to talk about, so I have never actually mentioned my depression). I've got two new pals who I get on really well with, we can all take the piss out of each other and we all have the same sense of humour. I normally dread winters training because the dingyness of the valley in winter seems to make my symptoms worse but this winter I know I am going to be laughing near enough every day when I get to Alpha.
I do feel a bit of a fraud being so well looked after when most people at my level are desperately trying to get the money together for the odd massage but I ain't going to waste the chance. I will take the opportunity and run with it..... well so to speak!
Monday 13 October 2014
Friday 10 October 2014
Lisbon Half Marathon Race Day
Race day arrived and I woke at 6AM, half an hour before my alarm, who needs sleep anyhow? I'd got everything I needed ready the night before so it was just a case of putting the kit on under my joggers and rolling down to breakfast, I always find it hard to eat on race day which is unusual for me coz I love my grub! I forced down a few slices of toast and a couple of espressos which I don't really like. I then got myself ready to leave for the start. There were a lot of different makes of chairs in the hotel lobby, I like looking at foreign chairs. In the UK we only really see three makes of chair and they all look very similar so I am always taking note when looking at foreign chairs checking for new developments.
Soon enough it was time to get on the minibuses, the chairs were all packed in vans whilst the convoy waited for the police escorts to arrive. Portuguese police motorbike riders wear knee high brown boots with heels - very camp! Not sure if they are allowed to but they are always smoking. They ride like absolute nutters, once we set off everyone on the minibus was gasping at the riding antics out in front of us. In previous races the police had provided a lot more riders so the few we had were stretched to try and stop traffic, let us through red lights and keep the convoy together.
Once we got to the start, Justin and I rushed off to the toilet. We learnt last year that leaving the none flushing portatoilets until after the Kenyan runners had used them wasn't the most pleasant experience in the world. We had arrived at the start in plenty of time so there was no mad rush to get in our chairs like at the Great North Run. I took my time to get ready, eating a few jelly babies as I did. Once in my chair I did a couple of miles warming up and then made my way to the start.
We had been told at the technical meeting the previous evening that the women elite runners would be starting at the same time as us but on the other side of the road to us and we wasn't expected to meet them until the second roundabout. There were some nervous looking people at the thought of that, 99% of races set us off before the runners to give us chance to get away. When we got to the start there was a bloke with a loud hailer telling us we would have to keep right as the women were on the left, not on the other side of the road but actually in the same lane as us! Complete madness! I don't think the wheelchair race organisers knew, they are brilliant at what they do and I doubt they would ever agree to this! It would be bad in any race but Lisbon has a roundabout just 70m after the start and we take the 3rd exit. Then we climb up a short but steep hill before turning right. The gun went and we set off, the runners getting away faster and us catching them right at the roundabout, we had to take it wide to leave them enough room but it meant we couldn't manoeuvre around the slower chairs. We climbed at the same rate as the runners and then they just cut across us and separated us all from each other, it was like wacky races. We had kept right when they had the shortest route but they didn't care about our race when we had the racing line, how nobody was run over I will never know. I had a cracking start but found myself separated from the front pack by a group of joggers, elite joggers should have more sense about how they effect other people! By the time I got round the elite joggers the front pack had gone, there was no chance of me catching them now, I kept going hard waiting for someone else to come by me so we could work together to catch the group back up. The first person to catch me was Bret, I tried to draft him but he was in full flight and I can't match his speed yet. One day I will! Next to pass me was Justin, I managed to hang on to Justin for a few hundred meters but he was soon gone.
Soon enough it was time to get on the minibuses, the chairs were all packed in vans whilst the convoy waited for the police escorts to arrive. Portuguese police motorbike riders wear knee high brown boots with heels - very camp! Not sure if they are allowed to but they are always smoking. They ride like absolute nutters, once we set off everyone on the minibus was gasping at the riding antics out in front of us. In previous races the police had provided a lot more riders so the few we had were stretched to try and stop traffic, let us through red lights and keep the convoy together.
Once we got to the start, Justin and I rushed off to the toilet. We learnt last year that leaving the none flushing portatoilets until after the Kenyan runners had used them wasn't the most pleasant experience in the world. We had arrived at the start in plenty of time so there was no mad rush to get in our chairs like at the Great North Run. I took my time to get ready, eating a few jelly babies as I did. Once in my chair I did a couple of miles warming up and then made my way to the start.
We had been told at the technical meeting the previous evening that the women elite runners would be starting at the same time as us but on the other side of the road to us and we wasn't expected to meet them until the second roundabout. There were some nervous looking people at the thought of that, 99% of races set us off before the runners to give us chance to get away. When we got to the start there was a bloke with a loud hailer telling us we would have to keep right as the women were on the left, not on the other side of the road but actually in the same lane as us! Complete madness! I don't think the wheelchair race organisers knew, they are brilliant at what they do and I doubt they would ever agree to this! It would be bad in any race but Lisbon has a roundabout just 70m after the start and we take the 3rd exit. Then we climb up a short but steep hill before turning right. The gun went and we set off, the runners getting away faster and us catching them right at the roundabout, we had to take it wide to leave them enough room but it meant we couldn't manoeuvre around the slower chairs. We climbed at the same rate as the runners and then they just cut across us and separated us all from each other, it was like wacky races. We had kept right when they had the shortest route but they didn't care about our race when we had the racing line, how nobody was run over I will never know. I had a cracking start but found myself separated from the front pack by a group of joggers, elite joggers should have more sense about how they effect other people! By the time I got round the elite joggers the front pack had gone, there was no chance of me catching them now, I kept going hard waiting for someone else to come by me so we could work together to catch the group back up. The first person to catch me was Bret, I tried to draft him but he was in full flight and I can't match his speed yet. One day I will! Next to pass me was Justin, I managed to hang on to Justin for a few hundred meters but he was soon gone.
At the first turn around point I was way behind Bret and about 30m down on Justin. Sammy was about 200m behind me and when we passed each other I gave her a big shout, maybe that was the wrong thing to do as Justin seemed to kick on after that he extended his lead to about 120m. Eventually I pulled my finger out and started to close the gap, it took a few miles but I got back in contact with Justin. I wasn't sure if I should push past him as soon as I caught him or shelter behind him for a while. Stupidly I chose to whip round him, I'd just had a really hard couple of miles trying to close the gap so I didn't have much of an effort left in my arms to try and get rid. I think I might have briefly opened up a 5m gap but I never broke away and I had to settle in behind Justin for a while. About 400m before the turn around point I hit a pothole again and swore loudly, I think Justin heard again because he seemed to kick on and by the turn around point he had opened a small gap on me.
After I turned I realised the second half of the race was going to be hard work! The wind was awfull, it was blowing at 27mph straight at us. I'm not very big for a wheelchair athlete so I do not have the strength to push into strong head winds. I gritted my teeth and tried to keep it going. I was pleasantly surprised at how well I was pushing into the wind, the work in the gym at alpha is paying off but i still have a way to go yet. Justin slowly extended his lead over me. My PB also slowly slipped away, it was hard to keep positive but the course and weather wasn't on my side. Towards the end of the race a copper let a runner walk out right in front of me, I wasn't sure of the Portuguese for "get out the f**king way. Idiot." so I just shouted it in English extra loudly. Then I turned down the steep hill in which starts my least favourite finish of any race I have ever done. At the bottom of the hill we have a 90 degree turn through a narrow gap on to cobbles, cobbles with speedbumps. It truly is an awful finish. This year a few chairs, wheels and tyres were damaged. Luckily my equipment survived the finishing straight, I did cut my hip a couple of times but I do that on the roads of Rossendale anyway.
Finish line crossed Justin ushered me into my day chair because he wanted to go collect his free beer! We dragged Mark along and collected the complimentary straw hats on the way to the free beer. We rolled past an angry looking Bret who was dissecting yet another crash, we all felt for him but none of us could let it get in the way of beer. Once free beer we were momentarily distracted by free ice lollies shortly after we all looked like stereotypical Brits on tour; sweaty, vest and straw hat wearing blokes with a beer in one hand and an ice lolly in the other. After a while Bret came and joined us but he wasn't the most chatty he had ever been, we all struggled to make conversation when was clearly at the end of his tether. Bret is a cracking bloke but he really is bloody clumsy in his chair!
Back at the hotel we all got in touch with friends any family to let them know how we'd done, I was ninth in 56:30 so not a great time but considering the wind and the race conditions it wasn't too bad at all, most people were further behind their best times than I was. Once showered and changed Justin, Mark, Bret and myself headed down to the new part of the city. We headed to the river and started to make our way along towards the old part, over cobbles, again! We even stumbled across some Portuguese doggers, well everyone but Bret did. Not sure how he managed to miss them when the rest of us were laughing and pointing but miss them he did, maybe that's a clue why he crashes so often! We realised we had underestimated the distance between the new and old city and turned back. When we passed to doggers they had finished and were much older and less attractive than we had imagined. We took a roll along a boardwalk... a boardwalk with inch and half gaps between planks perfect for wheelchair wheels to fall through. So we pushed about 800m zigzagging to avoid falling through. We didn't half get some funny looks even though we had removed our straw hats before leaving the hotel. We then spent about 40min in a mall waiting for each other to pop out of the lifts on the right floor. Back at the hotel Joao and Paulo laughed their tits off at us for trying to push from the new town to the old town apparently a round trip would have been much much further than the half marathon we had already competed in that day. When we mentioned the doggers Paulo, without even a seconds thought, asked if they were next to the VW garage which they were! Something you're not telling us Paulo?
It was a brilliant trip to Portugal, I can't wait to go back in March and race on the fast course, hopefully this time Dan and Sanj can travel with me as well as Weir Archer having a bigger contingent there racing. More racers means more drafting and faster times. For now it's a case of me upping my training load and getting stronger in the gym so I can edge closer to the big boys!
Saturday 4 October 2014
Lisbon Half Marathon Day 3
We have been back to the national stadium again today for our final training session before the race tomorrow, I got in my chair pretty quickly again and started my session. Just a 5 km and a couple of starts. Then I sat back and watched the others get carried away. Some lads did a half marathon in training yesterday, I feel a bit sorry for people who do things like that; it's either nieve or stupid. If I attempted a half marathon less than 48 hours before a big race and less than 24 hours after arriving in a country 20°c warmer than home Jenny would beat the crap out of me and rightly so! If you feel the need to get some extra miles in the tank so close to an event then you can't be all that confident in the training you have done. Even if you do those 13 miles steady you are still draining your body of fluids and in disability sport the effects of dehydration are exaggerated by some conditions. One of these lads got carried away again today in training, it's car crash TV. I noticed he looked a bit uncomfortable as he was going round the track, not long after everybody on the track ended up in one group and the athlete in question ended up hanging on to the group lap after lap. He hadn't considered the others in the group were all athletes who live in hot countries, they started their sessions 15 minutes after he started his session, they hadn't done a half marathon the day before and the next slowest in the group has a marathon pb 15 minutes faster than his! What was he thinking? Maybe he wasn't thinking at all. I mentioned yesterday about how easy it is to get carried away on that track, it's so fast but part of sport is knowing when to hold back! I get on well with the lad in question, it's hard to watch people you like make mistakes but maybe I am wrong - tomorrow will tell! The Spanish lads were looking in fine form, they will be out front in the morning.
After training we returned to the hotel for dinner or lunch if you are posh. Three courses for every meal so far in Portugal, I am definitely going to be well fueled in the morning. I can't normally eat in high temperatures but the food here is so good that I always eat a lot.
Then it was time to have a tour of the course, I remember last year being confused because the tour starts at the 12km mark, goes on to the start, then the finish and finally km 3 to 8 before leaving the route. This year it made perfect sense and I was also able to help Sammy out with the course. It looked as though a lot of the roads have been relayed and most of the pot holes filled in which should help us all finish. The cobbles at the end are still there and the cobble speed bumps are still there too... I still would like to know who speeds on cobbles?
Next up came the technical meeting, they just pointed out the hazards in the race, gave the final instructions for tomorrow and then handed out the numbers etc.
My chair and helmet have the numbers and chips on them, I'm taped up, tyres are pumped up. All there is left to do before the race is sleep.. talking of which.. g-night.
Friday 3 October 2014
Lisbon Half Marathon Day 2
I was shattered last night so slept really well, the best sleep I've had all week. Think my snoring woke Justin though. Oops.
So far today I have just been catching up with Brett 'crash a lot' Crossley and Mark Conway, I spoke about both in my blog from the Great North Run weekend. The field looks a bit smaller than last year's, Sammy is the only girl, Pierre isn't here and all his wisdom will be missed, it's my first time abroad without Jenny too.
I'm writing this from the press conference which is at a fancy 5* hotel in Lisbon city centre. We are only 15 minutes into the speeches but the same extremely boring old man as last year is droning on in his monotone voice, I have no idea what he is talking about but it sounds like he is making an extremely long list. Each sentence is very short and has the same rhythm, he loves the microphone this guy.
Ah next up we have an over the top yank from Rock n Roll run series going on about Lisbon being the most beautiful city in the world; Lisbon is beautiful but Mr rock n roll definitely rolls this speech out in each city he visits.
Now it's another politician type droning on. I think they school politicians out here on how to be boring.
And another. ..
Now on to the athlete interviews, they interviewed one of the Portuguese lads and Sammy, thank god they didn't interview me as I would have done my usual trick of talking in Lancashire dialect. I' m not sure why I do that? Any time I have to talk on a microphone I go all Fred Dibnah! My brain is starting to ache with these interviews; soooo many athletes speaking in different languages and very strong accents. I hope the food is worth it!
Well I have just got in bed so I guess I have to complete the days doings.
The food was great at the press conference. Well worth sitting through the speeches. There was so much to choose from and I was so hungry that I decided the best course of action was to try it all, I had; sea bass fillets in creamy coriander sauce, tuna, octopus, beef, salmon, chicken, spinach, feta cheese salad, rice, potatoes and a partridge in a pear tree! Don't worry though, I left enough room for two deserts! I had a stodgy almond cake with an egg cream which was lovely and finished it off with chocolate cake. After stuffing my face it was time to head back to the hotel to change and get ready to train at Portugal's national stadium. I love training on this track, it is a tartan surface but an old one, it is worn smooth and has lost all of its bounce so it is very very fast for wheelchairs.
Once at the track I got in my chair quickly and got on with my 10 km push that Jenny had set me, it was meant to be done at varying speeds and I had to force myself to slow down. The track is so fast it is too tempting to push too hard. The surroundings don't help as it really is an awe inspiring place; built in the side of a hill so even the top row of seats are still at ground level. The race organisers were telling us the Portuguese cup final is played there and nothing else all year! What a tragedy! Such a beautiful stadium deserves to be used regularly. I was first to finish training and I took the opportunity to admire the stadium whilst the others finished up.
This evening all the British athletes ate together in the restaurant, I really like that. I think the social side of sport is just as important as the competition, if I didn't like the other athletes I wouldn't enjoy coming away with them. It's something Dan picked up on at the Great North Run, he mentioned one night at training about how well all the wheelchair athletes get on and he is 100% right (shh, don't tell him) we get along great for a bunch of people who's hobby involves beating each other. I think it is probably because we need each other, drafting makes pushing so much easier and faster so by working together we all get better results. There are some disagreements but nine times out of ten they are forgotten about within a few weeks. Disability athletics is a world apart from the cliques and in-fighting of able bodied athletics, some of the things the joggers do just make me cringe these days.
Right time for bed, more tomorrow when I have been training, had a look at the course and been to the technical meeting. Peace out!
So far today I have just been catching up with Brett 'crash a lot' Crossley and Mark Conway, I spoke about both in my blog from the Great North Run weekend. The field looks a bit smaller than last year's, Sammy is the only girl, Pierre isn't here and all his wisdom will be missed, it's my first time abroad without Jenny too.
I'm writing this from the press conference which is at a fancy 5* hotel in Lisbon city centre. We are only 15 minutes into the speeches but the same extremely boring old man as last year is droning on in his monotone voice, I have no idea what he is talking about but it sounds like he is making an extremely long list. Each sentence is very short and has the same rhythm, he loves the microphone this guy.
Ah next up we have an over the top yank from Rock n Roll run series going on about Lisbon being the most beautiful city in the world; Lisbon is beautiful but Mr rock n roll definitely rolls this speech out in each city he visits.
Now it's another politician type droning on. I think they school politicians out here on how to be boring.
And another. ..
Now on to the athlete interviews, they interviewed one of the Portuguese lads and Sammy, thank god they didn't interview me as I would have done my usual trick of talking in Lancashire dialect. I' m not sure why I do that? Any time I have to talk on a microphone I go all Fred Dibnah! My brain is starting to ache with these interviews; soooo many athletes speaking in different languages and very strong accents. I hope the food is worth it!
Well I have just got in bed so I guess I have to complete the days doings.
The food was great at the press conference. Well worth sitting through the speeches. There was so much to choose from and I was so hungry that I decided the best course of action was to try it all, I had; sea bass fillets in creamy coriander sauce, tuna, octopus, beef, salmon, chicken, spinach, feta cheese salad, rice, potatoes and a partridge in a pear tree! Don't worry though, I left enough room for two deserts! I had a stodgy almond cake with an egg cream which was lovely and finished it off with chocolate cake. After stuffing my face it was time to head back to the hotel to change and get ready to train at Portugal's national stadium. I love training on this track, it is a tartan surface but an old one, it is worn smooth and has lost all of its bounce so it is very very fast for wheelchairs.
Once at the track I got in my chair quickly and got on with my 10 km push that Jenny had set me, it was meant to be done at varying speeds and I had to force myself to slow down. The track is so fast it is too tempting to push too hard. The surroundings don't help as it really is an awe inspiring place; built in the side of a hill so even the top row of seats are still at ground level. The race organisers were telling us the Portuguese cup final is played there and nothing else all year! What a tragedy! Such a beautiful stadium deserves to be used regularly. I was first to finish training and I took the opportunity to admire the stadium whilst the others finished up.
This evening all the British athletes ate together in the restaurant, I really like that. I think the social side of sport is just as important as the competition, if I didn't like the other athletes I wouldn't enjoy coming away with them. It's something Dan picked up on at the Great North Run, he mentioned one night at training about how well all the wheelchair athletes get on and he is 100% right (shh, don't tell him) we get along great for a bunch of people who's hobby involves beating each other. I think it is probably because we need each other, drafting makes pushing so much easier and faster so by working together we all get better results. There are some disagreements but nine times out of ten they are forgotten about within a few weeks. Disability athletics is a world apart from the cliques and in-fighting of able bodied athletics, some of the things the joggers do just make me cringe these days.
Right time for bed, more tomorrow when I have been training, had a look at the course and been to the technical meeting. Peace out!
Thursday 2 October 2014
Lisbon Half Marathon Day 1
After a bit of a panic last night at the gym I'm currently sat on the plane on the way to Portugal.
Yesterday was absolutely manic, I finally got my compensation for being run over 18 months ago and decided to do some good deeds with it. Dad's been struggling for cash again because his wife is a lazy bint who refuses to get a job even though there is cock all wrong with her other than a work shy attitude. Anyway, after deciding she wanted another dog for my dad to feed, walk and pay for kennelling whilst he took her on holiday to Norfolk in a campervan (aren't campers meant for families with pets?) My old man has been left skint with no transport to get to work to pay for her bone idle lifestyle. He'd been getting himself worked up about it and been walking everywhere and relying on lifts which were making his working day even longer. Dad doesn't mind walking, in fact he quite enjoys it, but the problem is the cold damp weather in the valley is playing havoc with his asthma, he is knocking on the door of 60 years of age and has never been the healthiest of people; colds tend to stick with dad for at least a month! To top it all off he has shattered two vertebrae in his back and slipped a disc, he is waiting for surgery where the doctors will be injecting cement into his damaged vertebrae. Since the day he slipped on ice last autumn, whilst out running, and jarred his back causing this damage he has only had two days off from his job renevating houses which obviously entails lifting very heavy objects. All the time lady muck has been sat on her lazy arse at home. For the first time in my life I have had the funds to help my old man out and on the way home from alpha on Thursday I passed a tidy little punto which was taxed and tested, had low milage for its year and was pretty cheap. I phoned dad to ask if he wanted me to buy him a car to which he replied "don't you f**king dare!" So I went and test drove it yesterday, bartered the price down and dropped it off at dad's house before he got home from work so he couldn't tell me off. Lazy arse was there when I dropped it off, she came and inspected it but didn't utter the words thank you; I felt like removing all the seats other than the drivers seat so her and her equally lazy daughter couldn't benefit from my gift to my dad but I didn't have the time, oh well! I left a bit of cash for my mum, step dad and sister too, with strict instructions they had to use it to enjoy themselves and not to pay bills, I wish I had enough money to do that on a regular basis coz it doesn't half feel good you know!
I'd also had to do the final bits of jobs before my trip to Portugal yesterday which meant three trips to Rawtenstall as I hadn't realised I needed ID to get my own money out of my account, I'd been to work and run a few errands and completely forgot to eat lunch. When I got to the gym to train I felt really run down and totally lacking in 'umph' which was completely my fault for not eating for 10 hours! What a tool! I tried my best to lift, I even equalled a PB on incline bench but after that my arms had had it and I had no zip. Dan tried to adapt the session to keep me going but we ended up abandoning weights and getting on the rollers, I warmed up okay and started the first of four 15 min reps with 30 second sprints every 2 min fairly strongly but by 8 min in I had faded badly. I was in a terrible position, aching all over and I felt like I was going to faint. Dan kept asking if I was okay to which he kept receiving the reply "yeh" I was lying of course! I finished the rep but Dan now knows me too well and he wheeled my day chair over to me and said "you know as well as I do sometimes training isn't the right thing to do!" He told me not to beat myself up about it but he knew I would, he then left the room for 5 min or so - I think he probably knew I needed to calm down before I had a conversation. It was the most worked up I have been in a session in my chair and tears/throwing things weren't that far away. Once back in the room he got the massage table out and had a look at my back. He found a very sore rib and a nasty trigger point. My confidence was now in tatters, shitty session and a very sore back that I could do very little about now Dan wasn't able to travel to Portugal with me.
We quickly hatched a plan for me to drive home get showered to remove the massage oil (Swiss quality massage oil no less!) Then get back to Alpha as fast as possible for Sanjay to tape me and then on to Dan to pick up an electronic massager, AKA the electricution machine. Sanj almost exposed my backside to the kickboxers as they came charging in to the room, thank god he is good at covering people back up in a split second. He's far too well practiced if you ask me. Dignity almost intact I left alpha and shot up to Dan's for massage thingy ma jig and left with a pep talk that was almost up to Jenny Archer MBE standard, he'll definitely have it at the boss's level in another 40 years and he will still have 2 years on Jen! I think Dan is a bit of a Churchill wannabe. Seriously tho it is nice to have somebody that believes in you enough to do what him and Sanj do for me, he's still a twat tho.
After my send off speech I drove home and started packing, yes I am male and I leave everything until the last minute. I had to take the chair in bits to pack that which is a massive ball ache but after everybody laughing at the size of my box last year I cut it down to match the others. I got my tea about 10 and finished packing by 11. This morning wasn't too bad, got here okay and the box didn't cause too many problems. I have managed to sit next to a reet plonker though and a nosey one at that! He is about 60 years old, wearing a Dickiebow and a beige suit, he has no manners (middle class twonks who don't say please and thank you and force burps out whilst drinking red wine should be thrown out without a parachute), worst of all he has watched a documentary in silence on my tablet as I have earphones in and he has read every word of this blog!
Later at the hotel. ...
I'm rooming with Justin! Yay! Justin is sound, think I mentioned that in another entry maybe? That's the good news, the not so good news is that part of my day chair didn't get to Portugal, boooo! Luckily it's not a vital part just a nice to have part. The downright shitty part is Justin's carbon fibre wheels have been written off in transit, that is £1500 down the swanny and he will need to race on some borrowed wheels now! Gutted for him!
It was so nice to meet up with Joà o again, he truly is the world's best race organiser, he leaves nothing to chance; absolutely every detail is meticulously planned. Also his deputy Paulo is cracking, nothing is too much trouble for him. They make an unstoppable team. Apart from chats with Justin, Joà o and Paulo I have reassembled my chariot and been for a wander round the hotel and gardens... I took lots of photographs, mainly to show Dan what he is missing out on! Mwahahahaha!! We had an amazing evening meal; a strange but delicious soup that was a kind of mint and pea soup but with chicken, almonds and boiled egg in it, followed by sea bass and sweet vegetables. We had an iced peach and lemon desert. The food was a million times better than last year, full marks! We ate with Sammy Kinghorn and her family who are really nice they had us giggling, it was strange to be in such a small group as the others arrive tomorrow and Saturday.
Right that's me typed out for the day and Justin is snoring his tits off so I am going to find something to stuff in my ears or failing that something heavy to belt him with.
Yesterday was absolutely manic, I finally got my compensation for being run over 18 months ago and decided to do some good deeds with it. Dad's been struggling for cash again because his wife is a lazy bint who refuses to get a job even though there is cock all wrong with her other than a work shy attitude. Anyway, after deciding she wanted another dog for my dad to feed, walk and pay for kennelling whilst he took her on holiday to Norfolk in a campervan (aren't campers meant for families with pets?) My old man has been left skint with no transport to get to work to pay for her bone idle lifestyle. He'd been getting himself worked up about it and been walking everywhere and relying on lifts which were making his working day even longer. Dad doesn't mind walking, in fact he quite enjoys it, but the problem is the cold damp weather in the valley is playing havoc with his asthma, he is knocking on the door of 60 years of age and has never been the healthiest of people; colds tend to stick with dad for at least a month! To top it all off he has shattered two vertebrae in his back and slipped a disc, he is waiting for surgery where the doctors will be injecting cement into his damaged vertebrae. Since the day he slipped on ice last autumn, whilst out running, and jarred his back causing this damage he has only had two days off from his job renevating houses which obviously entails lifting very heavy objects. All the time lady muck has been sat on her lazy arse at home. For the first time in my life I have had the funds to help my old man out and on the way home from alpha on Thursday I passed a tidy little punto which was taxed and tested, had low milage for its year and was pretty cheap. I phoned dad to ask if he wanted me to buy him a car to which he replied "don't you f**king dare!" So I went and test drove it yesterday, bartered the price down and dropped it off at dad's house before he got home from work so he couldn't tell me off. Lazy arse was there when I dropped it off, she came and inspected it but didn't utter the words thank you; I felt like removing all the seats other than the drivers seat so her and her equally lazy daughter couldn't benefit from my gift to my dad but I didn't have the time, oh well! I left a bit of cash for my mum, step dad and sister too, with strict instructions they had to use it to enjoy themselves and not to pay bills, I wish I had enough money to do that on a regular basis coz it doesn't half feel good you know!
I'd also had to do the final bits of jobs before my trip to Portugal yesterday which meant three trips to Rawtenstall as I hadn't realised I needed ID to get my own money out of my account, I'd been to work and run a few errands and completely forgot to eat lunch. When I got to the gym to train I felt really run down and totally lacking in 'umph' which was completely my fault for not eating for 10 hours! What a tool! I tried my best to lift, I even equalled a PB on incline bench but after that my arms had had it and I had no zip. Dan tried to adapt the session to keep me going but we ended up abandoning weights and getting on the rollers, I warmed up okay and started the first of four 15 min reps with 30 second sprints every 2 min fairly strongly but by 8 min in I had faded badly. I was in a terrible position, aching all over and I felt like I was going to faint. Dan kept asking if I was okay to which he kept receiving the reply "yeh" I was lying of course! I finished the rep but Dan now knows me too well and he wheeled my day chair over to me and said "you know as well as I do sometimes training isn't the right thing to do!" He told me not to beat myself up about it but he knew I would, he then left the room for 5 min or so - I think he probably knew I needed to calm down before I had a conversation. It was the most worked up I have been in a session in my chair and tears/throwing things weren't that far away. Once back in the room he got the massage table out and had a look at my back. He found a very sore rib and a nasty trigger point. My confidence was now in tatters, shitty session and a very sore back that I could do very little about now Dan wasn't able to travel to Portugal with me.
We quickly hatched a plan for me to drive home get showered to remove the massage oil (Swiss quality massage oil no less!) Then get back to Alpha as fast as possible for Sanjay to tape me and then on to Dan to pick up an electronic massager, AKA the electricution machine. Sanj almost exposed my backside to the kickboxers as they came charging in to the room, thank god he is good at covering people back up in a split second. He's far too well practiced if you ask me. Dignity almost intact I left alpha and shot up to Dan's for massage thingy ma jig and left with a pep talk that was almost up to Jenny Archer MBE standard, he'll definitely have it at the boss's level in another 40 years and he will still have 2 years on Jen! I think Dan is a bit of a Churchill wannabe. Seriously tho it is nice to have somebody that believes in you enough to do what him and Sanj do for me, he's still a twat tho.
After my send off speech I drove home and started packing, yes I am male and I leave everything until the last minute. I had to take the chair in bits to pack that which is a massive ball ache but after everybody laughing at the size of my box last year I cut it down to match the others. I got my tea about 10 and finished packing by 11. This morning wasn't too bad, got here okay and the box didn't cause too many problems. I have managed to sit next to a reet plonker though and a nosey one at that! He is about 60 years old, wearing a Dickiebow and a beige suit, he has no manners (middle class twonks who don't say please and thank you and force burps out whilst drinking red wine should be thrown out without a parachute), worst of all he has watched a documentary in silence on my tablet as I have earphones in and he has read every word of this blog!
Later at the hotel. ...
I'm rooming with Justin! Yay! Justin is sound, think I mentioned that in another entry maybe? That's the good news, the not so good news is that part of my day chair didn't get to Portugal, boooo! Luckily it's not a vital part just a nice to have part. The downright shitty part is Justin's carbon fibre wheels have been written off in transit, that is £1500 down the swanny and he will need to race on some borrowed wheels now! Gutted for him!
It was so nice to meet up with Joà o again, he truly is the world's best race organiser, he leaves nothing to chance; absolutely every detail is meticulously planned. Also his deputy Paulo is cracking, nothing is too much trouble for him. They make an unstoppable team. Apart from chats with Justin, Joà o and Paulo I have reassembled my chariot and been for a wander round the hotel and gardens... I took lots of photographs, mainly to show Dan what he is missing out on! Mwahahahaha!! We had an amazing evening meal; a strange but delicious soup that was a kind of mint and pea soup but with chicken, almonds and boiled egg in it, followed by sea bass and sweet vegetables. We had an iced peach and lemon desert. The food was a million times better than last year, full marks! We ate with Sammy Kinghorn and her family who are really nice they had us giggling, it was strange to be in such a small group as the others arrive tomorrow and Saturday.
Right that's me typed out for the day and Justin is snoring his tits off so I am going to find something to stuff in my ears or failing that something heavy to belt him with.
Saturday 27 September 2014
Great North Run 2014
So 2014 was the first year that Bupa have offered to put me up in the elite hotel which was a nice surprise. It was offered after I had been emailed yet again to be told there was no room at the inn. It was slightly bittersweet when I found out my club mate and friend Justin Levene hadn't been put up. The rooming policy at Bupa Great Run events seems to be a bit of a secret - if one actually exists. In my mind the rooms for wheelchair athletes should be given to the fastest athletes first and people doing it for the challenge should have to pay their own way, in the same way you wouldn't expect Mo Farah to be told to book himself in to a hotel whilst fun runners were put up in the elite hotel. The race missed out on another British athlete up front as Justin couldn't afford to make the journey to Newcastle for the race with no support from Bupa, big big shame.
Anyway, I was one of the first athletes to arrive at the hotel on the Saturday. I checked in and had a quick nap in the room before going down to get lunch. I met up with Simon Lawson on the way and we ended up having lunch together, it was great to catch up. Simon is a great lad and an impressive athlete -he went on to finish second in the race the following day. After lunch I went down to the riverside to watch the street athletics. It's great to see athletics pulling in the crowds. Although it was a sad day do see Andy Turner in his final race, what a cracking athlete for Team GB. I had a good mooch around the city, up and down those bloody hills and then headed back to the hotel to wait for the other athletes arriving.
I tried my best to direct a few people around the diversions to get to the hotel. I was told several times people could see the hotel but couldn't get to it. I have to admit I felt a bit smug that I had set off early and didn't have the stress of thinking I was going to miss the technical meeting. Although Martyna Snopek didn't find my smugness amusing when she phoned to say she had got to the hotel but couldn't find a parking place and I asked if she had "tried the car park?" .... she hadn't tried the car park incase you were wondering. My new sponsors were the next to be directed in by me. Dan Whittaker and Sanjay Joy of Alpha Fitness and Rehab based in Rossendale have been amazing with me and nursed me back fitness after all my injuries this summer. I have been so so lucky to get this deal, free personal strength and conditioning sessions three or four times a week, roller sessions, massage, acupuncture, taping and they have even found a welder for my chair! Dan and Sanjay made the trip north to support me in the race. They massaged my dodgy back just after they arrived and also delt with Martyna's sore pec/chest/tit. The technical meeting was next on the agenda which was the usual boring description of the course and the warning about the final downhill on to Southshield's seafront. The good thing about the technical meeting is we get fed after it! I had a good chat in the queue for the food with Stephen Kiprotich, the 2012 Olympic marathon champion , from Uganda. He was really interested in how fast the chairs go and we compared pb's, he did drop a bit of a clanger when he asked if wheelchair athletes had to train although he was genuinely interested in how many sessions and miles we fit in each week. The food was the usual pre race chicken and rice - I love both so the blandness doesn't bother me.
After food everybody drifted back to their rooms, I had been allocated a room with Mark Conway who is always a pleasure to share with. It's been fantastic to see him improve so quickly these last 18 months or so. We sat up chatting for a couple of hours then I decided to try and get some shut eye. I was really nervous as the race had snowballed in significance for me during the build up so I knew I was going to struggle to nod off. The Great North will always be special for me as I used to love the Rossendale Harriers coach trips away when I was 5, 6, 7 years old and the odd one as a teenager to watch my old man in his favourite race. This year's race was my comeback after a shitty couple of months with injuries, health troubles and chair breakages. It was the race that fell closest to the 25th anniversary of the day my dad took me for my first training session at Rossendale Harriers. It was also my first race after picking up the alpha sponsorship and I wanted to do the lads proud.
I woke up on race day ready to go, I hate eating breakfast on race day; nerves make it really difficult to eat but having Martyna there was great - I was worrying about her injured tit which took the nerves away from me! I had the now customary espresso - if it's good enough for Dave it's good enough for us all, even if I do think it tastes crap! After breakfast Dan and Sanjay taped up my back and Martyna's, er, tit and then we waited in the hotel lobby for the coach to take us to the start.... and waited. .. and waited. Eventually we got on the coach and made our way through the 55,000 runners who were walking to the start. It does make you feel like a celebrity especially when people are trying to look at who is in the coach. When we got to the start we were warned that because the staff had got us to the start late the warm up time would be significantly shorter than normal. As soon as we were out of the coach we were oined about getting in our race chairs ASAP! Not a chance I was getting in my chair until I had been for my last nervous pee! Pee done, I transfered into my race chair and managed about a quarter of my usual warm up before we were called to the start line. I hadn't seen the starting grid so I just got myself in a good position on the second row behind the Spanish lad who I thought would win and therefore start well, I was right on one count he won but he was slow off the mark.
After the TV introductions I glanced up at the clock above the start line and noticed it had ticked past the official start time, I got into the set position as fast as I could and a split second after I was in position the gun went, no warning, no on your marks just the gun! Most were not ready including Jordi Jimenez the eventual winner who I had lined up behind. I rammed him and shouted something along the lines of "c'mon! ". The balls up at the start really got me worked up and I hammered my pushrims and despite the problems had a cracking start, I was in 6th for the first mile or so feeling great. At 2 miles I was in a nice little group with my roommate Mark, fellow northerner Bret Crossley, Shelly Woods and Jade Jones we briefly worked well together but as soon as we got to the hill that climbs out of Newcastle to Gateshead Stadium I didn't feel my usual self. I tried hard to stick with the group, but I let them slip away - not by much but too far for me to draft off the group. When the road flattened out I tried and toiled and worked and gritted my teeth to close the gap on the group which was starting to break up. The gap narrowed but I didn't close in on the athletes in front before the next climb. That was it, I knew I would be pushing a mainly solo race for the next 8 miles.
Resigned to the fact I was going to have a tough race with no drafting I started to settle in to a rhythm that I thought I could keep going at and beat my PB, the old morale got a boost when I went through the 10 km mark almost 2 min under my 10 km PB. Doing sums in my head and taking into account the second half of the race is slower than the first I thought I was on for a PB of about 2 min and finish in the high 51's. That gave my pushing a boost and I started to close the now large gap between me and the athletes in front. At about 7 miles some idiot controlling one of the showers the runners go through to keep themselves cool decided to turn it on right before I got to it. I'm not sure why it was in the main carriageway as all the others were switched off as I went passed and positioned in a bus stop pull in but it was impossible to avoid. The guy who was controlling it got a mouthful from me and my gloves and pushrims got soaked which seriously slowed me down for the next half a mile or so. The next mishap happened at the 8 mile mark and it was a major mishap. My chair frame developed a crack in the frame on the wheel arch, each time I pushed the crack opened and the frame flexed so much the wheel touched the side of the frame making a squelching noise and slowing the chair down. I could of pulled out of the race there and then, for a split second I did consider it but it was only a split second and I'm pretty proud that it only took a split second to decide to nurse my chair to the end. A year ago I would of pulled out of the race with no hesitation. The next mile or so of the race I spent trying to find the maximum about of power I could hit the pushrims with that didn't open up the cracks, it was a fairly decent pace on the flat but on the ascents it was pitifully slow. Climbing slowly allowed Mel Nicholls to catch me, I did get back passed her on a flat part of the course and even opened a gap but another long dragging climb meant she overtook again and disappeared off in to the distance. The final hurdle In my race was the steep decent, unfortunately I had to take it really steady because I didn't want my wheel to fall off at 30mph! Once I was down the hill my final mile was fairly quick but the cracks had cost me a few minutes. I finished 9th in 54:36 which was 3 places and 70 seconds better than last year.
When I crossed the line I was completely devastated, I thought I had let myself and my team of supporters down. I like to cross a finish line and know there was nothing more I could have done, I like to throw the kitchen sink at races and finish without the energy to hold my head up. In this race I was fairly fresh at the end and I hadn't punished my body. Instead, it was my chair that couldn't go any faster. Once I had calmed down a bit I began to come round to the idea that me and my chair are a team and we are only as good as the weakest link, we had done the best that we could do on the day and to beat last year's time with only three and a half weeks training and a broken chair was a pretty good result.
After the TV interviews and the awards ceremony we were transported back to the hotel for my favourite part of the Great North Run weekend; the post race meal in the Hilton. I love the food there, it's amazing and chatting about the race with all the other athletes is great too. The drive home was less great!
Anyway, I was one of the first athletes to arrive at the hotel on the Saturday. I checked in and had a quick nap in the room before going down to get lunch. I met up with Simon Lawson on the way and we ended up having lunch together, it was great to catch up. Simon is a great lad and an impressive athlete -he went on to finish second in the race the following day. After lunch I went down to the riverside to watch the street athletics. It's great to see athletics pulling in the crowds. Although it was a sad day do see Andy Turner in his final race, what a cracking athlete for Team GB. I had a good mooch around the city, up and down those bloody hills and then headed back to the hotel to wait for the other athletes arriving.
I tried my best to direct a few people around the diversions to get to the hotel. I was told several times people could see the hotel but couldn't get to it. I have to admit I felt a bit smug that I had set off early and didn't have the stress of thinking I was going to miss the technical meeting. Although Martyna Snopek didn't find my smugness amusing when she phoned to say she had got to the hotel but couldn't find a parking place and I asked if she had "tried the car park?" .... she hadn't tried the car park incase you were wondering. My new sponsors were the next to be directed in by me. Dan Whittaker and Sanjay Joy of Alpha Fitness and Rehab based in Rossendale have been amazing with me and nursed me back fitness after all my injuries this summer. I have been so so lucky to get this deal, free personal strength and conditioning sessions three or four times a week, roller sessions, massage, acupuncture, taping and they have even found a welder for my chair! Dan and Sanjay made the trip north to support me in the race. They massaged my dodgy back just after they arrived and also delt with Martyna's sore pec/chest/tit. The technical meeting was next on the agenda which was the usual boring description of the course and the warning about the final downhill on to Southshield's seafront. The good thing about the technical meeting is we get fed after it! I had a good chat in the queue for the food with Stephen Kiprotich, the 2012 Olympic marathon champion , from Uganda. He was really interested in how fast the chairs go and we compared pb's, he did drop a bit of a clanger when he asked if wheelchair athletes had to train although he was genuinely interested in how many sessions and miles we fit in each week. The food was the usual pre race chicken and rice - I love both so the blandness doesn't bother me.
After food everybody drifted back to their rooms, I had been allocated a room with Mark Conway who is always a pleasure to share with. It's been fantastic to see him improve so quickly these last 18 months or so. We sat up chatting for a couple of hours then I decided to try and get some shut eye. I was really nervous as the race had snowballed in significance for me during the build up so I knew I was going to struggle to nod off. The Great North will always be special for me as I used to love the Rossendale Harriers coach trips away when I was 5, 6, 7 years old and the odd one as a teenager to watch my old man in his favourite race. This year's race was my comeback after a shitty couple of months with injuries, health troubles and chair breakages. It was the race that fell closest to the 25th anniversary of the day my dad took me for my first training session at Rossendale Harriers. It was also my first race after picking up the alpha sponsorship and I wanted to do the lads proud.
I woke up on race day ready to go, I hate eating breakfast on race day; nerves make it really difficult to eat but having Martyna there was great - I was worrying about her injured tit which took the nerves away from me! I had the now customary espresso - if it's good enough for Dave it's good enough for us all, even if I do think it tastes crap! After breakfast Dan and Sanjay taped up my back and Martyna's, er, tit and then we waited in the hotel lobby for the coach to take us to the start.... and waited. .. and waited. Eventually we got on the coach and made our way through the 55,000 runners who were walking to the start. It does make you feel like a celebrity especially when people are trying to look at who is in the coach. When we got to the start we were warned that because the staff had got us to the start late the warm up time would be significantly shorter than normal. As soon as we were out of the coach we were oined about getting in our race chairs ASAP! Not a chance I was getting in my chair until I had been for my last nervous pee! Pee done, I transfered into my race chair and managed about a quarter of my usual warm up before we were called to the start line. I hadn't seen the starting grid so I just got myself in a good position on the second row behind the Spanish lad who I thought would win and therefore start well, I was right on one count he won but he was slow off the mark.
After the TV introductions I glanced up at the clock above the start line and noticed it had ticked past the official start time, I got into the set position as fast as I could and a split second after I was in position the gun went, no warning, no on your marks just the gun! Most were not ready including Jordi Jimenez the eventual winner who I had lined up behind. I rammed him and shouted something along the lines of "c'mon! ". The balls up at the start really got me worked up and I hammered my pushrims and despite the problems had a cracking start, I was in 6th for the first mile or so feeling great. At 2 miles I was in a nice little group with my roommate Mark, fellow northerner Bret Crossley, Shelly Woods and Jade Jones we briefly worked well together but as soon as we got to the hill that climbs out of Newcastle to Gateshead Stadium I didn't feel my usual self. I tried hard to stick with the group, but I let them slip away - not by much but too far for me to draft off the group. When the road flattened out I tried and toiled and worked and gritted my teeth to close the gap on the group which was starting to break up. The gap narrowed but I didn't close in on the athletes in front before the next climb. That was it, I knew I would be pushing a mainly solo race for the next 8 miles.
Resigned to the fact I was going to have a tough race with no drafting I started to settle in to a rhythm that I thought I could keep going at and beat my PB, the old morale got a boost when I went through the 10 km mark almost 2 min under my 10 km PB. Doing sums in my head and taking into account the second half of the race is slower than the first I thought I was on for a PB of about 2 min and finish in the high 51's. That gave my pushing a boost and I started to close the now large gap between me and the athletes in front. At about 7 miles some idiot controlling one of the showers the runners go through to keep themselves cool decided to turn it on right before I got to it. I'm not sure why it was in the main carriageway as all the others were switched off as I went passed and positioned in a bus stop pull in but it was impossible to avoid. The guy who was controlling it got a mouthful from me and my gloves and pushrims got soaked which seriously slowed me down for the next half a mile or so. The next mishap happened at the 8 mile mark and it was a major mishap. My chair frame developed a crack in the frame on the wheel arch, each time I pushed the crack opened and the frame flexed so much the wheel touched the side of the frame making a squelching noise and slowing the chair down. I could of pulled out of the race there and then, for a split second I did consider it but it was only a split second and I'm pretty proud that it only took a split second to decide to nurse my chair to the end. A year ago I would of pulled out of the race with no hesitation. The next mile or so of the race I spent trying to find the maximum about of power I could hit the pushrims with that didn't open up the cracks, it was a fairly decent pace on the flat but on the ascents it was pitifully slow. Climbing slowly allowed Mel Nicholls to catch me, I did get back passed her on a flat part of the course and even opened a gap but another long dragging climb meant she overtook again and disappeared off in to the distance. The final hurdle In my race was the steep decent, unfortunately I had to take it really steady because I didn't want my wheel to fall off at 30mph! Once I was down the hill my final mile was fairly quick but the cracks had cost me a few minutes. I finished 9th in 54:36 which was 3 places and 70 seconds better than last year.
When I crossed the line I was completely devastated, I thought I had let myself and my team of supporters down. I like to cross a finish line and know there was nothing more I could have done, I like to throw the kitchen sink at races and finish without the energy to hold my head up. In this race I was fairly fresh at the end and I hadn't punished my body. Instead, it was my chair that couldn't go any faster. Once I had calmed down a bit I began to come round to the idea that me and my chair are a team and we are only as good as the weakest link, we had done the best that we could do on the day and to beat last year's time with only three and a half weeks training and a broken chair was a pretty good result.
After the TV interviews and the awards ceremony we were transported back to the hotel for my favourite part of the Great North Run weekend; the post race meal in the Hilton. I love the food there, it's amazing and chatting about the race with all the other athletes is great too. The drive home was less great!
Thursday 5 June 2014
Bad day at the track
Today I found out what happened to my wheelchair and why it has been making creaking noises. I had gone to the track at Burnley to train and after a long warm up I began my reps but I started hearing my wheel catching again. It's so annoying when that happens to me, it last happened at the national championships in the 1500m and it cost me a lot of time. Tonight as soon as I got up to speed for my reps I could hear the same noise again. It sounds like the squelching noise you make when you walk through deep, wet mud wearing wellies as a kid.
When I got out of the chair to have a look at what was happening. I could of cried when I saw the crack that had appeared. It runs round the weld that joins the wheel arch to the U frame (the U frame joins the wheel arch to the main shaft of the chair) I am not sure if it can be fixed.
I have had a lot of problems with my chair since being run over by David Holmes whilst out training. I was pushing along Broadway in Helmshore whe the driver pulled out of a side street on the opposite side of the road. He crashed in to me and carried on driving even though I was punching the side of his car. Eventually I was flipped upside down and the driver still carried on for another 50m or so.
David Holmes was found guilty of driving without due care and attention, given a small fine and six points on his licence. I had dislocated my shoulder, damaged my collar bone - permanently, wrote off a set of wheels and damanged my chair frame which was brand new at the time.
Over a year later I am still pushing a damaged chair which is affecting my training and racing. I've had to miss most of a session tonight because of the damage. It's totally disheartening :(
When I got out of the chair to have a look at what was happening. I could of cried when I saw the crack that had appeared. It runs round the weld that joins the wheel arch to the U frame (the U frame joins the wheel arch to the main shaft of the chair) I am not sure if it can be fixed.
I have had a lot of problems with my chair since being run over by David Holmes whilst out training. I was pushing along Broadway in Helmshore whe the driver pulled out of a side street on the opposite side of the road. He crashed in to me and carried on driving even though I was punching the side of his car. Eventually I was flipped upside down and the driver still carried on for another 50m or so.
David Holmes was found guilty of driving without due care and attention, given a small fine and six points on his licence. I had dislocated my shoulder, damaged my collar bone - permanently, wrote off a set of wheels and damanged my chair frame which was brand new at the time.
Over a year later I am still pushing a damaged chair which is affecting my training and racing. I've had to miss most of a session tonight because of the damage. It's totally disheartening :(
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Rock n Roll Half Marathon, Lisbon 2013
Report from October 2013
I’ve just got back from my first international race as a wheelchair athlete in Lisbon, Portugal. It was an invite only race so I was pretty surprised to get an invite 8 weeks ago as at the time my PB was a next to useless 77min.
I am part of the Weir Archer Academy which was set up in April by David Weir and his long term coach Jenny Archer – I’m sure David needs no introduction but his (and now my) coach is little known outside disability sport and that is a huge shame. Jenny coached David to six Paralympic golds, four of which were in London last year she has also guided him to six London Marathon wins, four world records and British records at every distance from 100m to Marathon! She also worked with the famous Wimbledon Crazy Gang and was known as the ‘woman who tamed the crazy gang’! Anybody who is considered to have tamed Dennis wise, John Fashanu, Lawrie Sanchez and Vinnie Jones is obviously hard as nails! Jenny and Dave wanted to get involved with this whole legacy thing that we had drummed into us all during the London Games, they took it upon themselves to set up a group where disabled athletes can get world class coaching and access to all the backroom support that international athletes get.
Being a member of the Weir Archer Academy is what got me invited to the race along with four other WAA athletes; My mates who did the Manchester to Blackpool push with me which CLEM members helped with Kirsty Grange and Stuart Bloor along with London based athletes Ash Archer and Justin Levine. When I got the invite I spoke to Jenny and we said if I accepted I needed to get some serious work done as 77min wasn’t an acceptable PB, I spent a week on a new training program whilst I decided if I should accept or not. I loved training twice a day and doing the extra milage so I decided to give it a crack. All I had to do was find £160 for my flights everything else was paid for by the organisers.
Five weeks into my new training plan I did the Tyne Tunnel 2km and Great North Run. The Tyne Tunnel race is the fastest wheelchair race in the world and I finished 9th overall and 3rd Brit. I was over 2min faster than last year and enjoyed every moment!
Two days later I did the GNR one year after the course almost made me quit racing because of the pain I was in for a few weeks after the race. This year I was in a new chair custom built to fit me exactly, I was fitter and lighter. I really enjoyed the race this year and smashed my PB with 55:36 and 12th place. I think that is the one and only time I will ever have a 22min PB! The weekend in Newcastle gave me a huge boost of confidence and made me knuckle down and train even harder out on the roads of Rossendale and down at Barden Lane track for the last 3 weeks building up towards the Lisbon race.
I flew out on Thursday morning, had quite a few people in the airport doing the ‘trying not to stare’ routine. I guess a lad pushing a wheelchair with one hand whilst pushing a race chair along in front with his spare hand complete with suitcase, spare wheels and pump stacked on top is a fairly unusual sight! Whilst sat in departures the mother phoned to wish me luck and remind me that last time I competed abroad I ended up in a wheelchair so I “wasn’t to do anything stupid” – yeah, cheers for that mum!
We were met at the airport in Lisbon by the race staff who had our chairs in a van and us in a car on the way to the elite athletes hotel in no time. The hotel was the same one the England football team stayed in during Euro 2004, my apartment had three bedrooms, two bathrooms a kitchen and large lounge with a wrap around balcony. I shared with Justin and Ash, who are both fairly new to the sport like me. We had time to explore the hotel, test out the indoor pool and sauna, pick up a start list and google everybody’s PB’s before tea. The dinner table was like a who’s who of wheelchair road racing with most of the athletes being paralympians. Friday morning was spent chatting with the foreign lads and picking up tips on everything from gluing sandpaper to gloves for grip in wet weather to how much pressure to put in tyres on a rough course like Lisbon. At lunch time all the elite athletes able bodied and disabled were taken to a press conference at the Hilton. I have to say sitting through two hours of foreign politicians making speeches which looked to be of the mutual back patting type was extremely boring when you don’t speak a word of Portuguese, a few of the Kenyans fell asleep!! The speeches were followed by the papers taking photo’s and once we were all suitably blinded by the flash bulbs we were led to the dinning room for lunch. I managed to make an idiot of my self on the way by pulling a hand rail off the leather lined walls of the lift – still it got a cheer and a round of applause from all the other wheelers waiting for the lift!
Lunch made up for the two hours of boredom a thousand times over, swordfish and it was b.e.a.u.tiful and once I knew it was definitely free the northerner in me came to the fore ‘owt for nowt’….. I had an apple crumble for desert, followed by gateaux..followed by fruit salad… followed by chocolate cheesecake. All of which were great! After stuffing my face at the Hilton we had a couple of hours rest before a training session at Portugal’s national athletics center which was built into the side of a hill which meant it had virtually no wind at all. The track was old and worn which made it really fast for chairs as there was no give in the surface. Jenny had us do an easy 10km, it was hard to hold back on such a fast track when I felt so fit, I didn’t want to give anything away to my competitors so each time somebody was near me on the track I stopped pushing and started doing arm drills instead.
Saturday morning we had another session on the same track, just an easy 5km. As soon as the minibus and van stopped I was out and in my chair, I got the 5km done whilst others were still messing about getting sorted before starting the session. That suited me and helped me with my tactic of not giving anything away. In the afternoon I had a massage from the race physio on a niggle in my shoulder that Garry Wilkinson has been working on at home. I ate my own body weight in rice and had an early night.
On race day I was up and ready for breakfast at 6AM, WAA athletes and Jenny had a table to ourselves and she did a great job of calming us all down. Once our chairs had been loaded all the elite athletes traveled to the start in convoy with a police escort, complete with out riders who closed off roundabouts and traffic light controlled junctions to let us speed through. We had a 200m long stretch of road on a hill to warm up on which was soon filled with nervous looking athletes, about 5min before the start we had our final team talk from Jenny and then made our way to the start grid. I was 4 rows back but there were another 4 rows behind me so it was the furthest forward I have ever started a race. Once in position Jenny went round her athletes and whispered a final instruction for each individual. She has a way of getting the best from us and I used my instruction through the course.
Once the gun went there was the usual mad dash for the racing line, my main targets were Stuart who was next to me on the start grid, Bret Crossley who beat me by over three minutes at the Great North and was on the row in front of me along with Shelly Woods who also beat me at the great North by a few minutes (however old we get and however good they are, lads don’t like losing to girls!). I knew lads in the row behind were gunning for me so I started fast and shot around Shelly before the roundabout followed by a steep climb 80m into the course. Stuart stuck by my side up the climb and I think we were both a little surprised that Bret had stole a march on us, Bret is faster than both of us but he isn’t usually as strong on the climbs. we spent a kilometer or so closing the gap on him and by the next hill we had caught him and passed him. Stu then worked at the front for three kilometers or so and I hung on like hell, to be honest he had me blowing big time but I didn’t let him go. By kilometer six we had caught a Portuguese athlete but Bret had caught us, I noticed the Portuguese guy pushing one handed for long periods and it annoyed me he was keeping up with me so I hit the front of our group and tried to drop him. After going past the 10km mark in 24:29 (1min 37 under my 10km PB) I decided I’d done my bit and asked Stu to take over at the front. I tucked in behind him and unfortunately he took us straight to a huge pothole, Stu hit it, I rammed Stu and hit the pothole but Bret and the Portuguese one armed bandit managed to swerve round us and keep their speed.
We spent another two kilometers closing back in on the pair of them when Bret’s tyre exploded – it’s awful seeing that happen to a mate but there is nothing you can do about it. The one armed bandit almost stopped pushing until we caught him, he really didn’t like doing any work at the front of the group. At kilometer 14 I was starting to think about the finish line and the fact that my training buddy has a much much faster 100m pb to me. I’d never been with him at any point other than the first 5km in my other two Half Marathons but I decided to try an wind it up ‘Paula Style’ and drop him before the finish. I worked my backside off and opened a gap on three occasions but each time the course threw a hill at me. Stuart only has one leg so his power to weight ratio is slightly better than mine as I have two useless limbs to carry around with me, he closed the gap each time and the inevitable happened…. We hit the last 300m and he shot round me along with the one armed bandit who was now pushing with both arms again. The Finish was an experience to say the least, it was made with small uneven cobbles complete with speed bumps (who the hell speeds on cobbles?) it was like riding rodeo and I seriously thought I was going to end up out of the chair. Stu and the part-time one armed bandit both got given the same finish time and they had taken 6 seconds out of me but I was mega happy with my 8th place and 54:26 taking 1:10 off my three week old PB on such a rough old course was a good day at the office.
At the finish line everyone was comparing war wounds and missing kit, there were GoPro, Garmin, race gloves, push rims and tyres that had been lost whilst trying to stay seated in the home straight…. luckily I had only lost my Jelly Babies that I hadn’t had chance to eat.
That night the Weir Archer crew hit the hotel bar with Shelly Woods and her fella. We had a few beers and swapped stories just like I would have done after a big race as a runner. It was a cracking trip and I learnt so much from both my coach, the other athletes and the organisers (who did a cracking job). I can’t wait for my next opportunity to wear the Clayton vest abroad.
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