Run for the Club: Week 3 Update 🏃♂️🏃🏽
By Jon Owen:
The diary of a (very slow) short distance runner - Part Three (days 15-21)
The challenge - to complete one 5km run on each day of the month of June to raise £15,000 for MRFC clubhouse and changing room refurbishments
Taking part in the challenge
Mark Johnson - Commercial Chair (born in the 60's)
Jon Owen - Ex MRFC Player (overweight)
Some of what you read below has been slightly tweaked to make running round a field at a very slow pace more interesting !!
please click on the link to help the cause and give as much as you can
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/mrfc
Day Fifteen - Thursday June 15th - Buzzard
Incredibly we start the third week of the month, and Mark was wasting no time having completed his run at MRFC before most of us had finished our first cup of Earl Grey !
he means business, posting up a great time
I started my run at 930am which was my earliest start. It certainly wasn't as hot and my time was good (relatively speaking) spurred on by a buzzard who was sat on the first team crossbar for the duration
Figuring out if I was to go any slower the bird of prey may attack so I kept the pace throughout the duration of the run
But Mark had pulled one back (and I may have to think of more rules to win this one)
Top five finishers - day fifteen
1. MJ
2. JO
3. N/A
4. N/A
5. N/A
General Classification
1. JO - 11 wins
2. MJ - 4 wins
the rest nowhere
Day Sixteen - Friday June 16th - Stepping it up
With Mark, having already smashed in an early run the time had come for me to up my game if I am to get anywhere close to him when we next run at the same time.
My plan was to take it steady on lap one (easy to do) then on lap two step it up and see if I could go much quicker - IT WORKED and I went half a min quicker.
Could this be the secret?
A steady third lap followed by a quicker fourth and then three and a half steady laps to finish with and I achieved my quickest time to date
however...
I would have to run each of the seven and a half laps at the quicker pace to stand a chance and with only two weeks left after Today I may need to extend the event into July !!
Mark had pulled another one back in the GC
Top five finishers - day sixteen
1. MJ
2. JO
3. N/A
4. N/A
5. N/A
General Classification
1. JO - 11 wins
2. MJ - 5 wins
the rest nowhere
Day Seventeen - Saturday June 17th - Huge Pressure
I was on footy duty with son #02 early morning so my Saturday run didn't start until just before Midday.
This came with two MAJOR issues
Firstly it was 25 deg and getting hotter and secondly there was a players working party at the club clearing out the changing room and doing a great job - the pressure was on to show that after sixteen consecutive days of running I could go quicker than I actually can.
Thinking on my feet (as all past and present second rows usually do) I quickly realised that there was only a 30m section where it would be possible to tell how quick I was actually going
So for seven 30m sections I took a deep breath and upped the pace and I was easily able to recover during the remaining 550(ish)m of the lap !!
JOB DONE
Mark wisely waited until it got cooler before taking to the turf and posted another, considerably quicker time than I did and he closed the GC gap to just five
Top five finishers - day seventeen
1. MJ
2. JO
3. N/A
4. N/A
5. N/A
General Classification
1. JO - 11 wins
2. MJ - 6 wins
the rest nowhere
Day Eighteen - Sunday June 18th - Proving Aesop wrong
We had our first guest runner Today in the shape of Mark's work colleague Steve 'Barney' Barnes who let slip as we limbered up that he used to run 1500m for the county as a youngster
hmmm - this will be interesting !
The run commenced and my tactic was to see if Aesop was correct when he stated 'Slow and steady wins the race' and I went very slowly and very steady
AESOP WAS WRONG as both Barney and Mark lapped me !!
and I wasn't winning any race - but my time, despite being lapped, was my quickest of the week
Barney came home a long way ahead even doing eight laps rather than the seven and a half required
NEW GC RULE - anyone who completes more than the 5k distance on a Sunday is demoted two places
this means that Mark pulls another point back and sits just four behind in the GC
Top five finishers - day eighteen
1. MJ
2. JO
3. S'B'B
4. N/A
5. N/A
General Classification
1. JO - 11 wins
2. MJ - 7 wins
the rest nowhere
Day Nineteen - Monday June 19th - Getting through
Mark put in an early shift at the club and with a good time looked a certainty to pull another point back in the GC
AND INDEED HE DID
I was just getting through another Monday run after far too much Fathers day food and drink intake !!
note to self - stop enjoying Sundays
Luckily it wasn't as hot as the previous Monday and my time was only marginally slower than Sunday's
but...
With just eleven days to go Mark sits just three behind in the GC
WHO IS GOING TO COME OUT ON TOP?
Top five finishers - day nineteen
1. MJ
2. JO
3. N/A
4. N/A
5. N/A
General Classification
1. JO - 11 wins
2. MJ - 8 wins
the rest nowhere
Day Twenty - Tuesday June 20th - Fartlek
Mark, yet again put in a very early shift at the club and finished with another very good time for a bloke born in the 60's - this despite running in a very heavy downpour.
It was time for me to get serious if I was to have any hope of holding onto my GC lead
and my mind turned to the art of the Fartlek
for those of you who don't know Fartlek is a middle- and long-distance runner's training approach developed in the late 1930s by Swedish Olympian Gösta Holmér. (thank you wikipedia)
the idea being that you speed up for certain sections of your run and recover during your resting or normal speed sections with the aim of running the total distance quicker than you normally would
It didn't take me long to map out the six sections per lap where I would up my pace
and by the time I started the last lap I was ready to go - ok the Fartlek approach would have to wait until Tomorrow but like all good GCSE & A-Level students my revision plan was in place
Just by thinking about Fartlek I posted my quickest time of the month but there are only ten days left to shave a few more mins (yes minutes not seconds) off my time
PLEASE NOTE - that the Fartlek should not be confused with the Fartneck which was seen in many a post match rugby clubhouse during the 1990's until it was banned for perhaps obvious reasons !!
Mark, having posted a much better time than me now sits just two behind in the GC
Top five finishers - day twenty
1. MJ
2. JO
3. N/A
4. N/A
5. N/A
General Classification
1. JO - 11 wins
2. MJ - 9 wins
the rest nowhere
Day Twenty One - Wednesday June 21st - A singing welcome
I was late on parade Today due to helping out my lovely wife Helen who was setting up for a wedding this coming Saturday -
Going in my running gear to save time I wished I had taken notice of helen'sr warning to take of my running shoes before walking on the cream carpet in the marquee !!
Moving swiftly on I was greeted at the club by the sound of singing - hearing the perfect harmony I soon realised that this wasn't the first XV but another of the U3A groups who were singing a song I had never heard of but it seemed like the chorus was called 'Welcome in' which seemed very appropriate as I took to the pitch
Thinking about my Fartlek plan for a second day running (I should be good to go a week Friday) I trundled round and shaved a further twenty seconds of my quickest time of the month
As I left the field I could them singing another tune in perfect harmony - this one sounded like 'are you still here' or similar
Mark, was (yet) again away on business so would be completing his run on the cobbled streets of Copenhagen but regardless of his time it's not at MRFC so I increase my lead to three again
NINE DAYS TO GO
Top five finishers - day twenty one
1. JO
2. MJ
3. N/A
4. N/A
5. N/A
General Classification
1. JO - 12 wins
2. MJ - 9 wins
the rest nowhere
A huge thank you to those who have already supported the cause - hopefully we can get a few more £££ in over the next few days
here is the link again
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/mrfc
cheers, J.O
By Jon Owen:
The diary of a (very slow) short distance runner - Part Three (days 15-21)
The challenge - to complete one 5km run on each day of the month of June to raise £15,000 for MRFC clubhouse and changing room refurbishments
Taking part in the challenge
Mark Johnson - Commercial Chair (born in the 60's)
Jon Owen - Ex MRFC Player (overweight)
Some of what you read below has been slightly tweaked to make running round a field at a very slow pace more interesting !!
please click on the link to help the cause and give as much as you can
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/mrfc
Day Fifteen - Thursday June 15th - Buzzard
Incredibly we start the third week of the month, and Mark was wasting no time having completed his run at MRFC before most of us had finished our first cup of Earl Grey !
he means business, posting up a great time
I started my run at 930am which was my earliest start. It certainly wasn't as hot and my time was good (relatively speaking) spurred on by a buzzard who was sat on the first team crossbar for the duration
Figuring out if I was to go any slower the bird of prey may attack so I kept the pace throughout the duration of the run
But Mark had pulled one back (and I may have to think of more rules to win this one)
Top five finishers - day fifteen
1. MJ
2. JO
3. N/A
4. N/A
5. N/A
General Classification
1. JO - 11 wins
2. MJ - 4 wins
the rest nowhere
Day Sixteen - Friday June 16th - Stepping it up
With Mark, having already smashed in an early run the time had come for me to up my game if I am to get anywhere close to him when we next run at the same time.
My plan was to take it steady on lap one (easy to do) then on lap two step it up and see if I could go much quicker - IT WORKED and I went half a min quicker.
Could this be the secret?
A steady third lap followed by a quicker fourth and then three and a half steady laps to finish with and I achieved my quickest time to date
however...
I would have to run each of the seven and a half laps at the quicker pace to stand a chance and with only two weeks left after Today I may need to extend the event into July !!
Mark had pulled another one back in the GC
Top five finishers - day sixteen
1. MJ
2. JO
3. N/A
4. N/A
5. N/A
General Classification
1. JO - 11 wins
2. MJ - 5 wins
the rest nowhere
Day Seventeen - Saturday June 17th - Huge Pressure
I was on footy duty with son #02 early morning so my Saturday run didn't start until just before Midday.
This came with two MAJOR issues
Firstly it was 25 deg and getting hotter and secondly there was a players working party at the club clearing out the changing room and doing a great job - the pressure was on to show that after sixteen consecutive days of running I could go quicker than I actually can.
Thinking on my feet (as all past and present second rows usually do) I quickly realised that there was only a 30m section where it would be possible to tell how quick I was actually going
So for seven 30m sections I took a deep breath and upped the pace and I was easily able to recover during the remaining 550(ish)m of the lap !!
JOB DONE
Mark wisely waited until it got cooler before taking to the turf and posted another, considerably quicker time than I did and he closed the GC gap to just five
Top five finishers - day seventeen
1. MJ
2. JO
3. N/A
4. N/A
5. N/A
General Classification
1. JO - 11 wins
2. MJ - 6 wins
the rest nowhere
Day Eighteen - Sunday June 18th - Proving Aesop wrong
We had our first guest runner Today in the shape of Mark's work colleague Steve 'Barney' Barnes who let slip as we limbered up that he used to run 1500m for the county as a youngster
hmmm - this will be interesting !
The run commenced and my tactic was to see if Aesop was correct when he stated 'Slow and steady wins the race' and I went very slowly and very steady
AESOP WAS WRONG as both Barney and Mark lapped me !!
and I wasn't winning any race - but my time, despite being lapped, was my quickest of the week
Barney came home a long way ahead even doing eight laps rather than the seven and a half required
NEW GC RULE - anyone who completes more than the 5k distance on a Sunday is demoted two places
this means that Mark pulls another point back and sits just four behind in the GC
Top five finishers - day eighteen
1. MJ
2. JO
3. S'B'B
4. N/A
5. N/A
General Classification
1. JO - 11 wins
2. MJ - 7 wins
the rest nowhere
Day Nineteen - Monday June 19th - Getting through
Mark put in an early shift at the club and with a good time looked a certainty to pull another point back in the GC
AND INDEED HE DID
I was just getting through another Monday run after far too much Fathers day food and drink intake !!
note to self - stop enjoying Sundays
Luckily it wasn't as hot as the previous Monday and my time was only marginally slower than Sunday's
but...
With just eleven days to go Mark sits just three behind in the GC
WHO IS GOING TO COME OUT ON TOP?
Top five finishers - day nineteen
1. MJ
2. JO
3. N/A
4. N/A
5. N/A
General Classification
1. JO - 11 wins
2. MJ - 8 wins
the rest nowhere
Day Twenty - Tuesday June 20th - Fartlek
Mark, yet again put in a very early shift at the club and finished with another very good time for a bloke born in the 60's - this despite running in a very heavy downpour.
It was time for me to get serious if I was to have any hope of holding onto my GC lead
and my mind turned to the art of the Fartlek
for those of you who don't know Fartlek is a middle- and long-distance runner's training approach developed in the late 1930s by Swedish Olympian Gösta Holmér. (thank you wikipedia)
the idea being that you speed up for certain sections of your run and recover during your resting or normal speed sections with the aim of running the total distance quicker than you normally would
It didn't take me long to map out the six sections per lap where I would up my pace
and by the time I started the last lap I was ready to go - ok the Fartlek approach would have to wait until Tomorrow but like all good GCSE & A-Level students my revision plan was in place
Just by thinking about Fartlek I posted my quickest time of the month but there are only ten days left to shave a few more mins (yes minutes not seconds) off my time
PLEASE NOTE - that the Fartlek should not be confused with the Fartneck which was seen in many a post match rugby clubhouse during the 1990's until it was banned for perhaps obvious reasons !!
Mark, having posted a much better time than me now sits just two behind in the GC
Top five finishers - day twenty
1. MJ
2. JO
3. N/A
4. N/A
5. N/A
General Classification
1. JO - 11 wins
2. MJ - 9 wins
the rest nowhere
Day Twenty One - Wednesday June 21st - A singing welcome
I was late on parade Today due to helping out my lovely wife Helen who was setting up for a wedding this coming Saturday -
Going in my running gear to save time I wished I had taken notice of helen'sr warning to take of my running shoes before walking on the cream carpet in the marquee !!
Moving swiftly on I was greeted at the club by the sound of singing - hearing the perfect harmony I soon realised that this wasn't the first XV but another of the U3A groups who were singing a song I had never heard of but it seemed like the chorus was called 'Welcome in' which seemed very appropriate as I took to the pitch
Thinking about my Fartlek plan for a second day running (I should be good to go a week Friday) I trundled round and shaved a further twenty seconds of my quickest time of the month
As I left the field I could them singing another tune in perfect harmony - this one sounded like 'are you still here' or similar
Mark, was (yet) again away on business so would be completing his run on the cobbled streets of Copenhagen but regardless of his time it's not at MRFC so I increase my lead to three again
NINE DAYS TO GO
Top five finishers - day twenty one
1. JO
2. MJ
3. N/A
4. N/A
5. N/A
General Classification
1. JO - 12 wins
2. MJ - 9 wins
the rest nowhere
A huge thank you to those who have already supported the cause - hopefully we can get a few more £££ in over the next few days
here is the link again
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/mrfc
cheers, J.O
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