Last year I set myself the goal of running under 20 minutes for 5km. It thought it'd be a nice thing to aim for - and it was. It really was. But it's the setting of the goal that's 'nice'. 'Nice' describes the way you tell your friends and family that you've got this goal. 'Nice' describes a hope, a desire. 'Nice' describes the pre-action. 'Nice' describes the theory. 'Nice' fails to describes the way you have to put that desire to work. It's too easy an adjective to take with you on the cold, wet winter runs.
My first 5km park run was on the 19th of January. I ran 23:50 with my brother in Coventry. My personal best in February came at the Gloucester North park run and I ran 23:34 - and that was on grass. Then a great leap forward came at the end of March. I ran 21:52 at Gloucester North again. In April I ran 19 times - the most I've ever run in one month. The training paid off: on the 27th April I ran my first sub-21 park run and I did that at Kingsway. I crossed the line in 20:53 and I was really proud of myself. My legs felt really strong and I remember pacing it really well. The first and third park runs in May were done on grass so no personal bests there: 22:12 and 21:48. The real pay-off came on the last Saturday of the month. I ran a 20:41 at Coventry. I'd ran my first half marathon in Tewkesbury earlier in the month so my legs were clearly benefitting from that extra mileage. June was a great month for running. Not so much in terms of the setting of personal bests - although I came close. On my birthday weekend I celebrated it with the whole family in Southend-on-Sea - my third home. On my 33rd birthday I ran 20:45 at the Southend park run, but the real reason I was there was for the Southend Half Marathon on Sunday. A great run with my brother and cousin. My cousin would have won it had he raced it competitively but he wanted to pace me and James. In July, my personal best came at the end of the month again; I had to wait until the 27th to take a bite out of my previous best. I ran that in 20:20. At this point I thought a sub-20 effort was just around the corner. August was another 19-run month but it didn't yield any personal bests. I hoped the second week of September would be my big moment. It was the cousins weekend in Brighton. I fell short at the Hove Promenade park run, but I was getting close. I gave 110% effort for that and I got 20:15. I was a little gutted. I'd gone off far too fast - I did the first mile in 6 minutes 14 seconds, which was far, far too quick to maintain over the 5k distance. My cousin crossed the line in 17:59 and my brother did it in 19:46. In October, I only dipped below 21 minutes once. I could only manage 20:26 at Coventry. Although training was still going well, the sub-20 was the most elusive of beasts in November. But I was doing a lot of park runs on grass. Time was running out. In mid-December I took a second off my personal best and ran 20:14. On Christmas Eve we travelled back to Southend. My two cousins and my cousin's girlfriend ran Barking park run with me on Christmas Day. Paul was back from injury that had forced him to watch from the sidelines in Brighton. He was back on form. He trounced the competition and won it in 15:33. The second place finisher crossed the line in 17:16. The third place runner was Steve, my other cousin. He did it in 17:41. I crossed the line in 23rd place. A PB of 20:10 but still 11 seconds short of my target. I only had one park run left to achieve my goal! Warwick Racecourse was chosen for its speed and flatness. I had a good warm up before my brother and his girlfriend arrived. James knew how important this goal was to me so he was on pacing duties. The golden pace was 6:25 minutes per mile. If I could maintain that, I would get sub-20. First mile: 6 minutes and 25 seconds. Second mile: 6:29. Third mile: 6:23. Then I emptied the tank - I had to. I sprinted to the line in the last .1 of a mile in 5:35 minute mile pace. I dipped at the line and recorded a time of...wait for it...wait for it...19:57! I'd done it!
When I finally did it after 168 runs over the course of 2019, it did feel like a victory. But it's nothing like the feeling I imagined I'd have when I set the goal. It's more of a quiet, inward happiness than a high-fiving sort of happiness. Long before I reached my target, I was humbled by it. I was humbled by my own effort and the effort I know others around me have had to put in. I was humbled by the disappointment. I was humbled by the journey, the patience it took and the commitment it needed. But one of the things I realised about all the runners who were faster than me is that they all shared one thing in common. It wasn't that they were all fast. That's a result of their similarity. They were all fast because they all really loved running. And love is the stuff that fuels the journey.
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