"Each step forward has a sacred meaning of its own"   Sri Chinmoy

SIMPLICITY 2 Mile Virtual Race - November 22nd, 2020

All my focus is on these weekly 2-milers right now - long runs have taken a short vacation, bike rides have been furloughed, I'm just trying to get myself in the best shape I can for the weekend competition. Lockdown ends in a couple of weeks and there are some "real" races on the calendar but not many, so they are all sold out. I'll try and get myself a place in something when the situation eases but until then I'll race against my invisible friends.

Last week I absolutely beasted myself to scrape under 12 minutes against a wild headwind. The stupidly fast start had tweaked one band of muscle in my left quad - days later it was still sore and felt like a bit of nylon rope where a soft and pliable muscle should have been. My left foot felt bruised across the top - shoes too tight maybe? And there had also been the 20 minute coughing fit straight after the race. With that rather worrying reaction I decided to take it easier in the "Simplicity" race a week later.

Conditions for this one were perfect - I had the company of Suswara and Kokila - suitably distanced of course - and the windspeed was only clocking on the BBC weather app at 5mph. That's as low as it goes in November in Filton. It was around seven degrees, so cool but not too cold, and no standing water or frost to worry about. For warmup I had 25 mins of easy jog and a few strides. In the week I'd had 3 easy 40-min jogs to try and recover the dodgy quad and then on the 4th day I'd tried some short speed intervals only to find it still felt sore - so I held back and ran just to the limit where I could feel a touch of discomfort but no actual pain. I followed that up with a day of total rest then a day where Kokila and I went for a 5 mile hike without pushing the pace. Somehow that combination fixed it completely.

On the start line I reminded myself to take it easy compared to last week. Our race prayer was the famous saying of Sri Chinmoy's "Simplicity is an advanced course". After that and a brief silence, Kokila started us off and I took the left hand lane so I could run the bends wide and went off at what felt like a sustainable pace instead of my usual over-optimistic speed..

Unlike the previous week I didn't keep checking my watch - it was beeping which meant I was over 6.10 pace or under 5.50 but I really wasn't sure which. At the second turn, with around 600m behind me I glanced at it and saw a speed of 5.52. I was definitely working less hard than usual and feeling more relaxed able to sustain the effort. Somehow my mind felt looser and more relaxed as well. I kept thinking of the phrase "relaxation based upon confidence" from an answer Sri Chinmoy once gave - though I can't exactly remember the question. I tried to run in that frame of mind.

Half way round I was on an average pace of 5.52 still and although the effort needed to keep pushing myself ramped up and up and up into the second mile and I did slow down a little, I was still on for a sub-12 time when I had 600m to go. I gradually increased my breathing rhythm through those last few hundred, realising I was on course for around 11.50 and then managed to accelarate for the last 300. Once over the "line" I staggered to a halt and walked in slow circles to let my breathing normalise while I checked my 2-mile lap time. A very pleasing 11.45. Best time since around 10 years ago, best of the season, best in my 50s, and all on a day where I was determined not to push myself so hard.

Suswara also got his best time in the series and Kokila, despite having been unwell during the week, was happy with her result. 4 more of these virtual 2 milers to go. I sincerely hope that by the time this series has finished I'll be able to book myself into an actual race somewhere and also put some effort into my much-neglected cycling. But for now I'm enjoying the satisfaction that comes from making progress in what is probably my favourite distance at my favourite sport.

Sacred Steps Home