Running in a winter wonderland

It starts on the bus ride to the course. The butterflies in the stomach, the heart beating just that tiny bit faster than normal. The nervous tension is palpable in the surrounding air; no one is talking. The sound of some local radio station is the only thing breaking the silence. All of a sudden you arrive at your destination, a grassy park in the centre of the city.
 

Instantly, the cold air freezes you to the bone, despite the fact that you’re still wearing numerous layers. You want to start your warm up immediately but with the men’s race being the last of the day, you have an hour or two to wait. You make your way to the changing room, essentially a big tent in the middle of a field. You find a spare space to lie down and rest the legs. The physios and team management are doing their best to keep everyone relaxed and calm but it doesn’t work. The junior athletes start to trickle back into the tent after their races. Their noses red, their bodies shivering in the cold. Is that what I’m going to look like in an hour’s time? And so it’s time to start warming up.

You begin to visualise the start in your head for the hundredth time. You begin to notice twinges in your legs that you’ve never noticed before. You start to question whether you’re ready, whether you’re good enough. Part of you just wants to get back onto the warmth of the bus. But as quick as you have those thoughts, you’re already dismissing them. What if today is my day? I know I’m strong and healthy. I know I’ve done the training. Why can’t I win today? Yes, I’m ready; let’s do this.

You’re standing at the front of the pen. ‘On your marks, gentlemen’. How did it get to be this time already? One last deep breath to try and slow the heart rate. And suddenly you’re off. The first 200m is a sprint, everyone with the same plan of being near the front for that first turn. You lean into the corner, jostling for position with those around you. The first two 500m laps go by in a blur of mud. You ease out into the first of the many long laps and just as you start getting into the race proper, the dreaded thoughts every runner thinks have already popped into your mind…Jeez this is hard…and I’ve still got 27minutes of running to go.

That, my friends, is the European cross country. Sitting here, with five days to go before the race in Belgrade; I’m already getting nervous.

In terms of racing, November has been a mixed bag. I kicked off my cross country season with a comfortable win in a local race in London (Surrey league). Following such a solid victory, my confidence was extremely high heading into the next cross country race, in Soria, Spain. However, everything which could go wrong in a weekend away racing did go wrong. I struggled to get going from the start and finished 12^th, some 80 seconds behind the winner. However, it was exactly the stimulus I needed going forward. Sometimes as a runner, you plateau in training, you feel amazing and you need that terrible race and dip in form before you can make the next step. I feel that Soria was the dip in form that I required. The Irish cross country championships were the following week and I wanted to be certain not to make the same mistakes again. My family had decided to come down to Dublin to watch the race and so I was determined that this was a race I wanted to win.

Qualification for the European Cross race was the primary aim though and so a top three placing was essential. Without knowing who was in good shape, the plan was to sit in for a few laps and give the other leading athletes the respect that they deserve. At the halfway point, in a leading group of eight or so, I felt strong and comfortable. I was chatting to one of my training partners the week before and he said that the key when making a break is to go fast enough that you make everyone else hurt. Otherwise it’s just wasted energy on your part. With that at the forefront of my mind, I decided to throw in a quicker 400m and see who was willing to go with me. Thankfully, I managed to get a gap and could ease back for a relatively comfortable victory. That’s what hard training, consistency and patience gets you. Regardless of what happens in Serbia this Sunday, I am exactly where I want to be in the month of December. I am a stronger, more rounded athlete than ever before and the winter has been near perfect so far. The key now, as all athletes know, is to ensure a smooth transition onto the track.

I think it’s only right that I finish with a message of good luck to all those competing this Sunday. The Irish teams are shaping up well and hopefully we will come away with a few medals. I’m excited and nervous about what we might achieve, especially with Fionnuala going for three in a row. The hard work has all been done, now it’s time to start believing! Tune in on BBC or RTE this Sunday from 1200 until 1400, with the senior men’s race kicking off at 1309 to be exact.

First call

Four weeks have gone by since my last blog. Over 450 more miles are in my legs and nearly as many bags of pasta eaten. Such is my life, the life of a full time athlete. October is a funny month. It’s a time for preparation, a time for just digging in and getting the training done. There is nothing to be won in October, only hard work that’s required for success in the months ahead. I’ve had the benefit of running with Olympic and world class runners these past few weeks and it amazes me how out of shape they are at the start of October. By this time in November however, they are completely different animals.

In terms of my own training, things are going better than I could ever have anticipated. I am feeling strong, I am feeling fit. And recently I’ve entered that phase where I feel unbeatable, my confidence is higher than it’s ever been and I feel that there’s not a single human being who I can’t compete with and win. In short, I am ready to race.

 

The past four weeks I’ve been going out for runs every twelve hours, day after day. Sometimes the runs are easy, sometimes they end with me on my knees, retching and not knowing whether I’ll have the energy to get back up again. Somehow I always manage it and stumble through the warm down, bright spots in my eyes and wavering from side to side. That is training. It is neither glamorous nor comfortable and getting funny looks from dogwalkers is normal but it is these sessions that make you strong. It is these sessions that allow you to hit that part of the race with a mile to go and push on through the pain. Looking back over the past four weeks there is not a single thing that I would have done differently. I have done the miles, I have done the gym work, I have eaten right and I have looked after my body. If the next 30 months of training are as good as the past month then I’ll be ready for Rio.

 

But I get ahead of myself. My first proper race of the season is this weekend in Soria, Spain, a tough race against a strong Spanish and African contingent. A week later, I descend upon Santry Park, Dublin to join the best of Ireland’s cross country runners in racing the Irish European cross country trials. I know I am in great shape and running well but the trials are always tough and you can always guarantee that there will be others who believe that they can win. It should be a good race and hopefully Ireland can put a strong team together for the European XC Championships in December.

 

I feel as if a November blog from an Irish athlete wouldn’t be complete without a mention of the recent Dublin marathon. Congratulations to Sean Hehir and Maria McCambridge on their great wins and I wish them both all the success for the future. Congratulations also to everyone who managed to complete the course and achieved your own personal goals. Much chat has recently been about whether international invitations should be sent out for future editions of the marathon or whether it should be an Irish only event. My view on this is quite clear. Realistically a runner only has one autumn marathon in them each year. Why would an athlete pick to do an Irish only Dublin when they could do Berlin or one of the bigger city marathons? I know I would rather come 50^th in 2.14 than come first in 2.18 and I imagine that most runners would be of the same thought. Granted if Dublin became Irish only, Irish athletes may get good prize money, publicity and sense of national pride but, in terms of advancing athletics in our country, it would definitely be a backward step. Athletes, especially in the marathon, need to compete with better runners to help push them on to times and positions that they want to achieve. I have had the good fortune to be the first Irishman home in a Dublin marathon and while it would have been nice to have been first across that finish line, I would not have had it any other way. I doubt that I would have run as well as I did if I was only competing against the other Irish athletes. Changing the Dublin marathon to be Irish only would most likely be counterproductive in that it would actually mean that the best marathon runners in Ireland would look elsewhere for better times. That is not what I want nor, I presume, the marathon mission or the organisers of the Dublin marathon.

 

Lastly, I would like to say thank you to the Mary Peters Trust for their recent support in me and my dream. It is a great organisation that does so much in helping Northern Irish athletes excel in sports. Hopefully I can do them proud and follow in Mary Peters’ footsteps by winning gold next year in Glasgow (I somehow doubt it'll be in the shot put or pentathlon though!).

 

So until next time, keep that head down, get the miles done and all being well, I’ll see you in December with the Euro XC in Serbia just around the corner.

Adaptation

So I came 21^st in the World. That day I’d been planning for since April has come and gone and is now just another happy memory that athletics has given to me. That focus, that goal, has passed but as is the case in athletics, another one quickly replaces the void. In my case, it is the European Cross Country Championships in December, where the best athletes in Europe battle it out over 10,000 metres of mud and dirt.

Seven weeks have passed since my last marathon. Three of those were taken up with eating junk food, late nights and essentially living a ‘normal’ life. However, now it’s back into training mode and considering I’ve given up my job to become a full time athlete its time I looked at all those small things that just might make a difference. I say small things, in actual fact I’m trying to sort out the large things first. Don’t ask me why, and I probably shouldn’t admit publically what an idiot I am, but up until 3 weeks ago I’ve been wearing shoes(racing and training) at least 2 sizes too big for me. It’s said that sport is sometimes a game of inches. Well I don’t know if you’ve ever compared shoes 2 sizes apart but believe me, that is quite literally an inch made up right there! My quickest lap in recent times has been 52 seconds. I sometimes wonder if you give Mo a pair of shoes 2 sizes too big how fast he’d be able to go. Either way I imagine wearing correctly sized shoes should save me some time over the course of a marathon. So my first rule for beginners: Buy a pair of shoes that fit!

 

Another big change I’ve introduced recently is strength and conditioning. I think it’s obvious from any photo of me that I’ve rarely been into a gym in my life. However now that I have the time to concentrate on it, with the help of the crew at St Mary’s Clinic, I’ve got a programme developed to improve my many weaknesses. I’m slowly realising that strength and conditioning should be a core component (excuse the pun, I couldn’t resist) of training with the aim of injury prevention and improving technique when fatigued. For any budding running enthusiasts or beginners I would highly recommend getting into the habit of doing even 15mins of conditioning work regularly. The difference it makes in how strong you feel is incredible.

And lastly, as the nights are getting colder and the sun is disappearing earlier I should probably come up with some words to try and inspire you to leave the comfort of your warm home.  But I’m not going to sit here and write why you should get out the door and run. If you want it, there’s nothing I can say that will make you do it. It has to come from within. It has to be that burning desire to not necessarily be the best but desire to do your best. It is up to you. What I can tell you though, is that I have experienced some of the small rewards of what is possible if you sacrifice your time and your life to this sport and I can guarantee you that it makes it all worthwhile and then some.

I know one day I won’t have the chance to be Olympic champion, that dream will be gone. And once that day has passed there’s no way of getting it back. However, until that point I’m going to do everything I can to get that medal. I don’t want to waste one second, hell even one moment, letting go of that dream until I know I have to. Like all things, there are stepping stones along the way, of course there are. Sometimes I’ll fall in, sometimes I’ll bounce from one to the next. But in 3 years time at Rio there will be no more stepping stones, no more trials and no more sitting back. I will either be ready or I wont, and I tell you now, if I don’t get injured, then I’ll be ready and I will be there. And once I’m there, anything can happen. That is my dream. So it’s time to ask yourself, what is yours? Now go get out that door.

My first blog: Athletics Weekly, the full article

So having quit my job and become a full time athlete based in Teddington, London, I thought I should try to be productive with my time and start a monthly blog. For those of you who have never heard of me before, the article below was recently published in Athletics Weekly and gives my back story of how I got to where I am now. I hope you enjoy the read. Until next time, happy training!!

I imagine you do not know anything about me, not many people outside of Northern Irish athletics do. I have not won any Olympic medals, broken any world records or even competed at a major European championships, not yet at least. My name is Paul Pollock, 27, and I am the current Irish half marathon and marathon champion. I was 14^th at this year’s London marathon and as of 2 weeks ago I came 21^st overall and 2^nd European in the World Athletics Championships for the marathon in Moscow. I achieved all of this while working full time as an A+E doctor in the Royal Hospital, Belfast.

It was a windy Winter night some 10 years ago now when my brother Conor first forced me to race for the first time, and yes forced is the correct word. Having been quite a pudgy kid throughout school I had no real desire to push either my mind or body to its limit. Growing up my parents had always said that everyone needs a sport and so throughout my school years I had tried my hand at most activities but never really excelled in any. That was until that first race. Having never trained or ran any great distance I was as surprised as my brother was when I completed the Monaghan 5k road race as first U20 in a time of 17.30, nothing amazing by anyone’s standard considering most parkruns are won these days in a time sub 16. But still, it was quick enough for my brother to drag me up to his running club Abbey AC the following week. Looking back I remember how much I hated those first few months. There is nothing glamorous about throwing up after a couple of minutes running nor is there anything positive to be taken from being beaten by athletes greater than 3 times my age. Little did I know that those people running past me in those sessions, were shaping me into becoming one of the best distance runners in the country and soon that they would become like a second family to me.

My coach in those early days was a man known as Bobby Rea, an inspiring energetic coach who was quite the statsman when it came to anything athletics related. As coach and founding member of Abbey AC he lived and breathed athletics and it was he who first taught me the joy of running and the happiness that it can bring. Having trained for 6 months I managed to make the World Junior Cross country championships where I finished in the 100s. A number of months later and I had competed at the Commonwealth Youth games in Melbourne where I finished 4^th in the 1500. I was starting to believe that anything might be possible. Sadly just as things were beginning to come together and I was getting ready to make the next step, Bobby passed away after a sudden unexpected illness. Things were tough for everyone involved in Abbey AC. Some athletes faded into the distance, others tried to keep training but for whatever reason no one ever reached the heights which they had achieved with Bobby as coach. The sport of running once again drifted out of my life while I concentrated on my studies in medicine at Belfast.  Four years passed where I would run occasionally to keep fit but doing nothing serious. However, I always knew that I had never reached my potential and that if ever I had the opportunity I might be able to achieve something special.

I graduated as a doctor in 2010 and by luck in my first year of work I became friends with a triathlete Johnny Boylan. Our 2 week holiday break in the medical rota happened to coincide and when he asked if I wanted to travel to Lanzarote with his triathlete club I jumped at the chance. While running across the volcanic rocks under the scorching sun I fell in love with running all over again. I had decided that if ever I was going to be an athlete, with the London Olympics the following year, this was the time. I had made my mind up. I was to become a runner.

So I had decided, with no coach and still quite unfit, that I would take a year out of medicine to try and get to the Olympic Games, the pinnacle of athletics in this world. I had no doubt in myself that I had the ability and talent, what I was lacking was a coach and group who I trusted in and who believed in me. I emailed tens of universities in America and understandably for a runner with a 15.30 pb the answer was always the same. Thanks for your email but we’re not interested. My older brother Noel, coincidentally the current GB athletics team doctor and previous runner in his own right (3.44 1500m), put me in touch with a UK based coach Andy Hobdell. He was a man I had never heard of and to be honest I was quite dubious that things would work out. However at this stage I had one month of work left before my career break and I still had no plans of who would be coaching me or even in what country I would be based.  Andy Hobdell it would have to be. Little did I know that this would be the best decision I could ever make.

Andy is a no nonsense coach with quite possibly the best distance training group at least in the UK. Unfortunately in that year out after having placed a disappointing 16^th in the European Cross Country, I injured my knee two weeks later. The injury required surgery and rehab meant essentially no proper running for the next 5 months. The dream of competing in London was well and truly over. Back to medicine I went in August of 2012. I clearly remember that instead of competing I was stuck in work during that glorious Saturday evening for UK athletics. This was not how I wanted to hang up my racing shoes. I sat down with my coach and worked out a plan until Rio. My first year plan was to get strong, to do as many miles as I could whilst working the ridiculous hours that junior doctors occasionally have to do. It’s no exaggeration that for days on end I was waking up early, running 5 miles into work, doing a 13 hour shift and then running 10miles home again. Day after day, week after week. Patience and consistency is Andy Hobdell’s motto and as the weeks turned into months I was getting stronger than I ever imagined possible at the beginning of the year.

I’m always asked how do I run so much, do I not get bored. Through running I’ve been fortunate enough to see places and meet people I would never have had a chance to otherwise. From the oxygen deprived heights of Kenya to the rocky beaches of Lanzarote. From being chased by dogs in the Chilean Andes to being cheered at by schoolkids in Malaysia. From the scorching heat of Melbourne to the snow capped mountains of New Zealand. Running has provided me with memories and friends that I will never forget. I may not be able to tell you what I did for the rest of the day but for whatever reason I could tell you every part of a run I did 5 years ago as if it were yesterday.

My first venture into marathon territory was October 2012 in Dublin. I had no idea what to expect. My longest run in the lead up was 20miles. This was definitely going to be the unprofessional way to run a marathon. I was always a bit of an optimistic runner when it came to pace judgement. In my naivety I believed that steady 5 min miling was possible. After leading for the first 10miles I hit a very firm wall at 20miles finishing in 2.16.30. More work was to be done but I had ran the Commonwealth time for Northern Ireland and also the World Championships qualifying time. Unfortunately Athletics Ireland released their own standards a number of months later with a 2.13 qualifying standard required. All of a sudden the London Marathon was on the cards and having had time off after Dublin it would be a rush against time to get to the startline fit and in sub 2.13 shape. Once again in London I went off strong, perhaps foolishly strong but I was chasing 2.13 and it needed to be an all or nothing effort. In the end it comes down to me not being ready or fit enough. I ran 2.17.10 after a fast first half and hitting that wall again at the 20 mile mark. Thankfully Athletics Ireland decided to take a chance and selected me for the World Championships, Moscow. However, like before I was on a break after London having resigned myself to not being selected and with only 11 weeks until the race it was going to be a big ask for me to be fit, especially as I was still working some crazy shift patterns in A+E. It’s a testament to Andy Hobdell that he got me as fit as he did.

There is no feeling like the morning of a marathon, especially when you’re up against the best in the world. The nerves, the dreaming of what you might run, the anticipation. I’ve always said nerves are just a sign of what you believe you can achieve and that morning before Moscow I was nervous.

In 18 days I’m going to be running alongside the 50 best marathoners in the world to see who among us is the best. Who knows where I will place but thanks as always to coach Hobdell for getting me to where I am now. I’m looking forward to getting back and mixing it up with the best training group in Europe, as well as having many fun times with the Station Road crew. Hopefully this is just the beginning….A man once said ‘to live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all’. Through racing I feel alive. There is no bullshit, no time for fake personalities and nowhere to hide. At some point you will crack, either your body or your mind. You accept that, just as every other competitor does, and that’s what unites you. I have much more respect for a 90minute 10k runner than someone who is too afraid to try. The key is to try to time it so that the finish line is the point at which you break. I ended up coming 21^st in the marathon, 10 seconds off my pb and taking some good scalps. Taking into account that I ran that whilst working full time on erratic shift patterns, with essentially no support from anyone outside friends and family, it bodes well for the future. I left my job 2 days before I left for Moscow. All being well I won’t be going back until after I see the sights of Rio. This world is a place for your dreams to become reality. Pick your goal. Aim for it relentlessly, unwaveringly and one day you might just be lucky enough for it to come true. The only thing stopping you is yourself.