“If something is important enough you should try, even if the probable outcome is failure.”
Elon Musk
This blog has less consistency than a lactose intolerants’ bowel movements post McFlurry. The TL;DR on the ‘Lockdown Marathon’ is my coach gave me a… talking to… and thus it was “shit canned” (Rikki James). So the only way to make up for this is to update you extensively on my track season this year. You may celebrate.
There’s only one Oval Office I care about
May
Track seasons are like onions, they both have layers and to understand my ‘layers’ we have to look beyond the start of it.
28/05 – Battersea Park – Friday Night 5K Under the Lights (road 5K) I had been injured the previous week, I barely ran, and I was literally on holiday (think muchos food and beer… lad). So logically I PB’ed… 14:26… I swear Justin Gatlin passing a doping test would be more likely. Something bad as a result of this race, I got infected with the thing beginning with C. Complacency. Will Bryan assumed he could just run well with little effort. *Spoilers*… he was a fucking idiot.
31/05 – Aldershot Military Stadium – Aldershot, Farnham & District AC Open Meeting 3 (track 1500m) My current PB before this race was 4:02.85 and I thought this was going to be made to look silly. I sauntered over to the track in sliders, more chilled than the bloke from the Coors Light ads. My PB after this race was 4:02.85; I ran a good 6s slower. But surely it was a one-off? Everybody has a bad race right? Ha.
My rollercoaster season visualised
June
06/06 – Bromley – National Athletics League Premier London South (track 800m/1500m double mistake) Like any classic SAC team we were short of athletes and a 800m scoring position needed filling. Ya boy after A LOT of persuading steps up. Eh, my PB going into this race was 2:02.2 which isn’t too bad I guess?
I went off at a pace I thought was hard and was completely dropped after 200m. Looking up and being 10s down on the leader after a lap is character building. Not as character building as the following lap which contained more lactic than a dairy farm. 2:05.04… oooof.
A few hours later I did back it up with a relatively solid 4:07.94 1500, so maybe a potential turnaround? Ha.
12/06 – Watford – BMC Grand Prix (track 5000m) Back to my territory. Okay I will admit, I did have an issue many fit and healthy 23 year olds get. I had some back problems after the above shenanigans so training had been off. But it was 5000m and I had just run 14:26 on the road. No problemo, I’ll run well regardless, I’ve done once recently so I will do it again. 12.5 laps later (8.5 questioning whether to drop out due to posterior sensations) and the clock is stopped at 14:43.35. Now I know something is up. Something needed to change. After a chat with coach Stevie P we decided I was too ‘glass like’ to hit running volume and speed. I started to embrace cross-training, cycling on a static bike for my doubles instead of yogging.
July
17/07 – Milton Keynes – SOAR MK 5000 PB Special (track 5000m) I did have an NAL 5000m before this but I’ve had enough self-deprecation. I tell you what 2 months of crappy racing does, it cures that complacency. If one could bleed anger I’d have Jeremy Kyle telling Bruce Banner was my biological father. I was mentally a different man. On a Saharan-esque evening I had work to do.
ANGRY WILLIAM
They say 90% of running is mental and I was fully inside my own head. 12.5 laps later and the clock is stopped at 14:28.16. Not a PB, but I was buzzing like Andy’s mum’s toy of the same name as Mr Lightyear. Well well well, how the turn tables.
24/07 – Luffbra – BMC Grand Prix (track 5000m) I was shaking before this race, not from anger this time but from fear. I felt nerves unlike any since my uni finals and it wasn’t just because I was in the midlands. But I used it, it told me I cared. We set off and I kept telling myself the pace is easy, just one lap at a time, just… relax. They say running is 90% mental and there might be something to that. I felt great. 12.5 laps later and the clock is stopped at 14:25.04. I rewarded myself with a tub of ice-cream that evening.
Post 4:05.94 1500m debrief having lost to the bloke in black who was on an IV 11 days before. Built different that one.
August
07/09 – Wimbledon – Hercules Wimbledon 5000m Festival (track 5000m) The swan song for the season. There’s only one thing you can do in these circumstances and it’s go balls to the wall. Go for broke and see what happens. 12.5 laps later and the clocked stopped at 14:29.04. I went through the 3K mark several seconds up on my PB split at 3K. No regrets, we rolled the dice and it was another sub 14:30 banked.
Now What?
My diet has switched, a big session was 10K total volume and it is now just the opening rep. Why? Great North Run. It’s coming soon… watch this space.
Lots of love,
Will xx
Trusting The Process 
Great to see your progress and successes. Keep it up – we are routing for you! Xx
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