British Milers Meet 3,000 metres, an indoor debut.

VARIETY IS A GOOD THING!

Something that had been going through my mind over the past couple of years was to try Indoor Racing, and on Saturday January 4^th 2014 the ideal opportunity arose as the British Milers hosted their now annual New Year’s Meet at the Emirates Arena in the East side of Glasgow.

Ordinarily at this time of year I would have taken part in the Beith Road Races but when this was unfortunately cancelled a couple of months ago my mind was made up and quietly I entered the 3,000 metres race, and even more quietly I strangely was looking forward to it.

Possibly a good thing was that I had no idea what to expect, as previously I had done a couple of 3K’s but only as part of our own Club Championships. Both runs were outdoors, and the best I had ran was 9.57 in 2008 so at least I had some kind of benchmark, albeit I was a bit older and in a new age category now. Indoor was totally new to me, and being accustomed to mainly endurance running on the road the only spikes I own are Cross Country ones, so off I set with nerves kicking in on the Saturday morning with my Killie vest and racing flats to get me through the day.

As I had no idea as to how these things work when I entered -and no form to go by over a short distance for me- the organisers placed me in the “D” Race of 7, meaning I was in the (on paper) 4^th fastest race of 7 on the day. Pretty comfortable with that I then had found out that pacemakers were used in each race and my race’s target pace was 9.30. Although I felt this would be too quick for me I also took the philosophy of “nothing ventured, nothing gained” and maybe I could be dragged along to somewhere near my personal target of sub 10 minutes. I had ran a 10K on Boxing Day in a decent 34.32, and also used a New Years Day Park Run as a tempo run so although I was coming a big bit down in distance I did think the sub 10 was realistic.

Arriving at the Arena, I got my number, entered the main Hall and was delighted to see familiar faces from Kilmarnock including coaches Harald, Donald and many of the Juniors from the Club who were also competing at other events (although I think that they were a lot more surprised to see me than I them!). I also had the pleasure of bumping into Stacie Taylor who is now based in America (and still a member of Kilmarnock Harriers), and despite currently being injured by all accounts she is doing well Stateside which was great to hear from her Mum Sharon.

Despite keeping it low key that I was racing, some did know. As a result James Wales, Stephen McNeill, Cameron Wilson and Cammy’s best man Colin Stevenson had come up for a nosey, and although I did a bit of playful moaning about this I was actually delighted and flattered they took the time to come along for me and they know it meant a lot to see them there.

Big warm up done, we then had the chance to do a couple of laps of the track and here was my first challenge – to run on a slope, and it felt weird! All good to go, we then lined up and if I’m honest I was now more nervous than at any of my nine Marathons, and on a par with my debut for the Scottish Vets Team. One thing I didn’t want to do was shoot off like a maniac, and as pacemaker Mark Pollard was down to do 38 second laps (200 metre track, times 15 laps) to do so I felt would have been the equivalent of running suicide.

Now, anyone who knows me knows I am partial to checking my watch on occasion so my ploy was not to wear one and indeed to run on feel and rely on James in the stands for my splits later. The first few laps were fine, but being a bit away from pacemaker Mark did throw me a bit. I later found out he was running a bit faster than 38 second laps, and apparently I wasn’t too far off pace doing my own thing for the first Kilometre (looking at the clock I went through in 3.11/3.12 ish.

The second Kilometre I sort of switched off a bit which did cost me a bit but not dramatically so. Although the lactic was starting to build up I felt as if I was going okay and certainly below 10 minute pace as long as I didn’t totally blow up. Although the first few laps I felt minorly uncomfortable running on a slope, I have to admit that once I got into the swing of things it felt absolutely fine so I did hold a decent pace in the last Kilometre.

One mistake I did make was kicking in the last lap. As the lap is 200 metres and not 400 I should definitely have went harder 2 laps out but these things happen and will be banked for experience. My last lap was not earth shattering, but a decent 35 seconds so hopefully that shows I have a bit more to come. Once I finished I knew I had ran hard and on checking the results I had ran 9.49.54 which put me 6^th in the heat. A bit annoyingly was the fact I was closing to within a second of a couple in front but I would definitely have bit your hand off for a sub 9.50 run at the start and the day was about individual times rather than places. I also wasn’t lapped which was a concern on a 200 metres track.

Cool down done, and great natter to a few people I know from other Clubs, it was back to sunny Newmilns feeling happy with my day.

In summary, a few lessons were learnt which is always massively positive, and for any Senior who runs up to Marathon distance I would seriously advise doing things like this. Yes it’s a jolt, but it will also do you the world of good and indeed the likes of Mo Farah who is attempting the Marathon next year comes down to distances like 1,500 metres (and recently broke the British record for the distance). Would I do something like this again? Beforehand I wasn’t sure, but now? Definitely.

Speaking to someone who knows a lot more about running, and has been in the Sport a lot longer than I in the hours after the race, I was told by them that this was an excellent starting point and they believe there is more to come so I happily take this on board.

Onwards and upwards……………

Scott  (5^th January 2014)