Day 132 - Humility

Wednesday August 26th

Humility is a virtue I am making use of this week. Last night, I made it down to the pub with the party crew. It was fun being back in a student pub but at times an uneasy juxtaposition - between really enjoying the banter and complaining about how fresh the beer was (at 1.69 a pint, who cares?).

I am humbled by how bright everyone seems to be, how quick they are to figure out problems while I bumble around in the dark. I am humbled by how dedicated everyone is and that the lecturers publish books, run competitions and teach all at the same time. I am humbled by Chris who can run a half marathon in 1 hour 11

[an email I wrote to the Hastings running crew this week]

So, I am on a Maths 'summer school' up in York all week and go for my Tuesday morning run at 6.15. I am pleasantly surprised to see a few other runners. In particular I pass a young guy going the other way who is running at a decent pace.

Later in the day I get chatting to him with the intention of suggesting we run together next time. I talk at length about my running, trying to find a track to do some intervals etc. and then ask him if he runs seriously. He says he does a ferw 10ks and Halfs and is training for his first marathon.

I then proudly tell him about the Ragnar and he says he did a 10x10k relay with some friends in Holland and they averaged 32 minute 10ks. I wither inside and ask him what he runs a Half in. 71 minutes he says. A mile? 4:25 he says.

Needless to say, I did not go on to suggest we run together this week

He did also say that the first 5k he did 5 years ago was 24mins and the secret to improving your race pace is lots and lots of interval work - 400s, 800s, miles: building up the repetitions with 90 seconds rest between and NO negative splits, just a steady pace and maybe pushing yourself to the next level on your last one.