As captain I have asked several runners to write some blog pieces to enlighten us all into what running gives them. Declan is a good friends and training buddy. I’ve been delighted to watch his running improve and the impact this has had on his confidence. Here are his thoughts on his running journey since joining ADRC.
I started running in late 2017, joining ADRC. In the beginning I ran mainly for the social side of it, and it was great to meet new people.
Midway through 2018 I attended my first parkrun. Meeting up at 9am on Saturday morning surrounded by 100s of like-minded people was the best way to start a weekend. I only wish I’d known about it sooner. I recorded a 19:22 at Nostell Priory and finished in the top 5 this was the first time I’d pushed myself at any distance. This spawn the idea of winning one outright. Over the next few years I got my 5k down and regularly placed in the top 3 but never got below 19 minutes. I delved into my training and realised I was only doing 15 miles a week and the runners I was racing did 30-40 mile. I worked up to double my mileage and won my first parkrun at Frickley with a time of 18:26.
I’ve learned that achieving your goals in running is about consistency and getting the right training in. In my case this was running twice a week with the club with an interval session and a long run at the weekend. Running can be cruel with skipped days and injuries but also the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. There’s a huge learning curve and it pays dividends to listen to other runners picking up the tips and training methods.
A game changer for me was adding cycling into my training plans. I began cycling to work adding 40-50 miles a week. Suddenly after only a few weeks I was in the high 17s for parkruns lowering to 17:04.
I used a 3:1 ratio for cycling and running, if I cycled 3 miles this would count as 1 mile running. This was how I avoided overtraining and fitted the consistency around my life.
I regularly attend park run with my mates and they encouraged me to enter a fell racing series call the Trunce. I didn’t really enter any other events and this was a very different beast. Every surface imaginable was crammed in to 3.8 miles and 700ft elevation. I absolutely LOVED IT!!!! I finished 8th and set about improving my fell running game where the local nature reserve became my training ground. I included hill sprint and improve my confidence running downhill. This year |I returned to the series and finished as the 2nd male with 4 personal bests. Although gutted to have just missed out on the win I was proud of myself for giving it a go.
My running journey has constantly evolved through trial and error. I will continue to run as many park runs as I can as well as my love of fell racing. I have the south Yorkshire cross country championships pencilled in at the end of the year.
Running has changed my life and having goals has helped me improve so much. I have transformed other areas of my life too. I have more energy and am a lot happier. I’d strongly encourage anyone to take part in a sport that gets you moving. But the best part is the people you meet that become your friends. It’s a lovely feeling seeing someone achieve a PB or completing a marathon.
Declan
When Declan ran his first cross country event he ran a 10k pb! This should not be possible as cross country is much slower than road racing, but as he mentioned above he rarely runs alternate distances. This led to me nagging him to run two road 10ks which he absolutely smashed with a PB at Doncaster 10k of 34:56!!! Ending his year with a real high!
Declan’s story is similar to many of us who join the club. The people you meet really do become friends, the advice, motivation and experience you gain is not found anywhere else. So if your a non runner, returning to running or looking for a change to your running then ADRC is the place to be.
More blogs to follow
