Droitwich AC Race information

A last minute look for a half marathon led me to Droitwich, a part of the UK, that I've not experienced previously. Droitwich AC personal were so friendly and welcoming and in fact, this hospitality and warmness continued on race day, throughout the event and post race. 

The course was pretty undulating and was essentially two laps around country lanes away from the hustle and bustle of busy roads and pedestrians. It's a well established and heartily attended race with the registration in a local leisure center with all of the amenities that we like on race days like three toilets rather than two, you know, that kind of thing. 

In terms of my race, the intention was to use the route as a training run in which i'd probably put more of an effort into than if I was out running a training alone, so more of a tempo run if you like.

I was off the back of a marathon last week, so there was no way that any heroics would be happening in the Droitwich half marathon by me and in fact, it was nice to go out, enjoy a race and have no expectations other than a good quality run. 

A side line and provocative observation:

I've come to realise in this sport, in any sport, that publicly, competitors/athletes are judged only as capable as your last race or game or competition, with the main interest in 'how fast did you run', how many points did you scored, or "where did you finish". It's about as egoic as it gets and I'm embarrassed to admit to myself that at times I've been drawn into this senseless and inadequate even debilitating, mentality, without the self awareness that I was residing with other people's limiting rules in their game. 

Perhaps, it's about trusting yourself and having confidence in what you want to achieve. It's only when you take a step forward and jump off the merry-go-round that it becomes clear, and thankfully, I certainly do not define myself by results and score sheets. Truly, embracing failures, misses, and short comings is in my view, where the learning and discovering is. It is the true reward, the trophy, the gold medal, the gem. I have found that with this in mind, there is no fear of failure, there are plenty of smiles and nods to those who make judgement however the truth, is that there is no shame or embarrassment of not winning or being faster. There is no performance anxiety, and your not in a decline. In fact the only anxiousness is in the faces of those desperate to hear of your failure in order to elevate their own status and sorrowfully feel better about their place in the world. 

I guess when you have a sense of purpose, it's easier to see these idiocies, these strange ways of thinking and how they are limiting in every sense. A sense of purpose and the drive towards it, means that those thinking deficits which are attempted to be imposed upon us become impenetrable as we focus on our truth. Find your sense of purpose and every occurrence simply works with you as your decisions become effortlessness, there are no wrong turns.

The Pretenders

So Droitwich half marathon a huge success for me, an indication that everything is just as it should be, a great run, a rewarding day, a taste of sunshine and a valuable experience. Thank you Mountain fuel for fueling my run and Raidlight UK for my performance apparel. 

And now, well, it's time for a forced rest for a few days as I've picked up a steamer of a cold, it's out in full force and wants nothing but sleep and feeding. Almost as frustrating as taper days and yet the most sensible part of training.