Chapter 13: St Albans & Running America

So I conquered London, to a certain extent anyway. But I did not stop there.
I signed up to the infamous St Albans half marathon at the start of June and figured that I should just carry on training. After all it was doing me good eh?

Things were about to take an unusual and positive turn for me as well, which would broaden my running perspective.

I continued to run through May, clocking up over 88 miles in the month. This was in part due to the awesome weather we had in the UK and also my desire to get a sub 1:30 at the St Albans half marathon at the start of June.

I did not want my newfound fitness to ebb away so thought the best thing to do would be to keep moving!

St Albans came and I nailed a personal best at 1:29…I was euphoric. My holy grail had been smashed and guess what? Without ANY music whatsoever…. now I’m not advocating not running with music, however the fact that music was totally outlawed meant I had no choice.

St Albans was notoriously hilly and I threw myself up every hill I touched with gusto. The strategy worked and I returned home to Northwood before lunch before lying prone on the floor all day.

The colour co-ordinated outfit and of course the sub 1:30 time

Now here’s a piece of advice. If you have just run a race, try not to fly to another country that same day and stay in an unfamiliar room. Not conducive to a decent night’s sleep and certainly no fun celebrating on your own.

June and July was all about the USA. I went to work in Sunnyvale at Motorola HQ and running, running and yet more running.

Staying in San Jose, I quickly found out that there was a trail there, the Guadalupe River trail. This pretty much was my weekday salvation travelling anything up to 7 miles first thing in the morning to counter the effects of jet lag. It was great to see so many people up at that time and helped acclimatise.

The only challenge was switching from morning to evening, as it was so damn HOT! I managed to get dehydration twice, once on my birthday eve, which was pretty miserable ☹

San Jose was the warm up for the main event – San Francisco and the allure of The Bridge. Would I want to throw myself over the edge, how long would it take to cross it and would the weather be on my side or not?

Running The Gudalupe River Trail, San Jose at 6am

The Bridge

Having Just Cycled The Bridge

All was to be answered on my first weekend in SF solo. I managed a couple of drinks with some work colleagues on the Friday evening but Saturday was all about cycling and checking out Haight Ashbury and of course The Bridge. It was a glorious day and I cycled far and wide before returning to my hotel to chill.

Sunday was the BIG one and I started down by Fisherman’s Wharf and Fort Mason. The run itself was wet, damp and windy and lacked the majesty I was so hoping for. Nevertheless I did it and got to San Jose a contented chappie, checking into my hotel and chilling for the rest of the day (not before catching a local blues band down the road!).

Alcatraz as The Backdrop: The Bridge Awaits!

I was back in San Jose and San Fran a fortnight later and managed to pack in a 13-mile run that took in the bridge as well as a 13-mile walk! All the exercise and all that wind and sun had one BIG effect on me. COLD SORES! Yep – my mouth erupted on my birthday and stuck with me for a good 10 days leading to antibiotics and my scaring pretty much everyone I came across.

Thankfully they subsided and we were off on our summer holiday to…yep you guessed it…USA!
On the family vacation I ran everywhere we went. I ran the Vegas strip, Yosemite mountain trails (getting dehydrated again!), The shores of Santa Barbara and Santa Monica as well as one last jaunt over The Bridge whilst in San Fran!

The Family in Yosemite: Summer 2013

It was all over before I knew it and I returned to the UK fitter and leaner than ever before focussed on the Florence Marathon at end November.

Firstly there was the small matter of 2 half marathons and one 10 miler to pack in.

Whilst I like the idea of trying new stuff, the Lingfield 10 miler was a bit of a pig. 5 miles uphill and 5 miles up and down…. tough sonofabitch. Not as high mileage as I was used to but boy was it tough. I felt like walking in the first mile it was so vertical. I did persevere and enjoyed the change.

Lingfield Dry Hill

Run to The Beat half was at the start of September and I ran my heart out to beat my previous PB set at St Albans back in June. Hell I had done enough training over the summer. And…made it beating my St Albans time by 1 minute.

My Brother In-Law Oli At The Dry Hill (Check out the non-matching medals)

I still can’t get my head around the fact that all that time, that distance and it comes down to a handful of seconds at the end.

Loving the Dude Photo Bombing This (With Katie Dove at The Start of Run 2 The Beat 2013)

Triumphant at Run 2 The Beat

One final race when it was even more evident was the Gran Union Canal Half, 2 weeks before the Florence Marathon. It took us from the M25/M40 area all the way into Watford along the Grand Union Canal.

I had done many of my long runs along the canal so it was familiar territory.

One thing about canal running – it is a long slog. I like the undulations, the shifts in direction and change in scenery. On long runs it makes things a great deal easier.

Even so after debating whether or not to do it the previous day (as I really wanted to do a 15+ miler) I gave it my all and came 30 seconds behind my Run to The Beat time… I was pleased and knew that I could have made up that time if I had been wearing the right shoes so I did not slip – next time eh?!

Bearded at The Grand Union Canal Half