Great Manchester 10km Run

Sunday 19th May 2019
“Natural ability is important, but you can go far without it if you have the focus, drive, desire and positive attitude.” —  Kirsten Sweetland

Back during cycle 2, I was longing to get back to normal, and do some exercise etc etc. I really wanted a goal:

30th Jan 2019 – “Today I’ve been daydreaming about getting back to normality, in particular exercising. I have the cycle ride in September to focus on, and it will need lot of training to get me there. Some folks at work are doing the 10km Manchester Run towards the end of May, that sounds like something a bit closer that I could manage. I could get (slow) 10k ready in 6 weeks, which gives me a few weeks to recover from the chemo first. I’d be happy just to jog the whole thing without stopping, walk it even. I like goals and it’s a good one to go after, cardio helps the bike work too. I’m just dying to get back out there…“

Later that day, I signed up for it and that was that. If I had to walk it, I’d walk it but it was a goal to look forward to. In all honesty, I really wanted to run the whole thing without walking, and do it in under an hour. Those were my goals.

I was back on my bike pretty much straight after finishing the chemo, commuting to work and knocking around on it to build my fitness. It took a few weeks before I felt like running, but when I did it was bloody difficult. Plagued with calf and ankle pains, I wasn’t getting far very quickly and I kinda ignored it due to that and focussed on my bike riding which came back slowly and steadily, along with my cardio ability. I became quite disheartened at how badly the running was going, conceded that my goals were a bit too much of a stretch and to just go out and enjoy the event and not worry about achieving a particular time. I also stopped running so much.

With 1 week to go, I had only managed to run 2.5km without stopping, so I decided to bite the bullet and try a 4 mile run last Sunday. Mainly to see how much pain I’d be in afterwards! I managed just less than a mile before needing to walk, and in total did a run/walk/run/walk of 4.1 miles in about 43 minutes. That pace would bring me in for a 10km at around the 1 hour 5 minute mark, although more likely up to 1 hour 10 mins as I was knackered and would be walking more in the extra 2 miles. Hey ho.

I’ve been really looking forward to it all week. I’ve done it 4 times before around 2008 – 2012, and I know that the buzz of the crowd, the bands and music along he way, and the atmosphere in general is really motivating. I’d commuted to the office and back on my bike all 5 days this week and I’m pretty quick again now so my cardio fitness is good. Just not my running muscles.

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Anyhow, the time came, and it didn’t disappoint. There’s so many folks doing it for so many different reasons. The atmosphere is great whilst waiting for the start, so much excitement. Spotting the chap infront’s vest, running for child bereavement with a picture of his daughter, is just one of many examples that brings it home, everyone has challenges of their own however big or small. The chap behind read the message on my back of why I was running for the Christie, shook my hand and said well done 🙂 People are great.

I’ve been telling myself for the last week, I can break the hour. It would be super unlikely, but I could do it. All morning, I was telling myself to give it my best and I could do it. I knew I had to run 9m39s mile pace to break the hour. I set off and for the first couple of km I was running at 9m10s pace, which I was happy with as I knew later in the race when I had to do some walking that I’d have banked some time.

All the way to 5km, I felt great, none of the usual aches around my calf and ankle. I was still at 9m10s pace and felt ok. Legs were getting a bit sore, but cardio wise I wasn’t really out of breath. So I plodded on. The support from the sidelines, kids and grown ups of all ages, with banners and signs like “you can do it” and “you are amazing” really is motivating. I’d picked another runner as my pacer, she was in a bright green t-shirt and running the perfect pace for me, so I thought as long as I kept her in my sights then I’d be ok. Past the 5km mark there was a chap on the floor being defibrillated, I hope he was ok. It was pretty quiet and sombre for a short while after that. There’s nothing in the news about any casualties so fingers crossed.

Up to 7km and The Christie bus was there so I got a big cheer, and I was still going at 9m10s pace. All along, I thought the 2nd half of this race would just be pain, and walking, and being a bit downbeat about not hitting my goals, therefore being quite an emotional struggle. Quite the opposite, by this point for the first time I had the belief that I could just keep going at this same pace and nail it, and I couldn’t stop smiling. And so I did…

The last 2km was hard, but I kept it going and I didn’t need to use any of that “banked” time to walk. Instead I’d smash my goals 🙂 I had to text Jayne and my Sister to let them know I was ahead of time, they were trying to find a spot close to the finish line. As I got towards the finish line, I sped up a bit and in the last 20 metres, I had my arms out in the air like a footballer celebrating the goal. As I crossed the line, I leaped up in the air and did a massive fist pump, it felt absolutely amazing.

57 minutes and 29 seconds. I’m still blown away by that, on a massive high. Compared to last Sunday’s 4 mile effort, it was a crazy improvement. My sister and Shane were just past the line and managed to get some pictures and a video of me crossing the line. A little further down were Jayne and the boys waiting for me with some big high 5’s.

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In the 5 times I’ve run the Great Manchester 10km (and I’ve never really been a runner or trained properly before), this was my PB. I’d done it between 58 mins and 1hr 7mins all those years ago. The fastest I’ve run 10km on a training run is 54 minutes something back in 2017, so today’s effort in the context of this year was just fantastic.

I met up with the family, and we wandered down to the charity marquee to say hi to the folks from The Christie. I decided not to get a massage, just milled around for a bit while the boys took advantage of the “free merch” and took as much as they could. Then off home before the legs seized up, which they are now well on the way to doing.

Just a quick reminder that I’m not just doing this for my own recovery, I’m doing it to raise money for a truly special place. Thank you so much to everyone that has donated so far – https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/chemophil

So if the all clear appointment a few weeks back drew a line under the diagnosis side of things, then this well and truly draws a line under the recovery, 10 weeks on from my last treatment. From now on it’s all behind me.

The only 2 lingering consequences of my chemo are that my hair still hasn’t fully grown back, and I’m struggling really badly with itchy hands. It’s driving me mad at points and it’s sometimes keeping me awake at night, but I’m coping. The pain in my fingers has gone, and I guess this is this itching malarkey is final part of the healing process so I’ll bear with it.

Such an inspirational, emotional and motivating day. Like so many signs pointed out today, if you put your mind to it, “you can do it”….