Six point two miles

                Ten kilometres (10K) is six point two miles which is of course the ideal starter run and a good distance for performance checks for all kinds of distance runners, its just short of a half the distance of a half marathon or a quarter of a full marathon in a metric (which in my opinion is now the way forward)

            

    Over the years I have helped lots of friends make it over the finish line at this distance and its always fun, some friends that started out at novices at this distance went on to achieve marathon distance while others are more than happy to make this distance their running pinnacle, my mate gary for example has zero intention of ever doing a marathon but enjoys doing two annual 10K`s, Grangemouths round the houses event (our local) and the Glasgow his home city and favourite, the first time we done Grangemouth together I chatted all the way he likes that, his words are listening to your pish jokes for fifty minuet’s passes the time kenny! (my jokes are great) gary`s aim generally is to get finished the 10k in under his age which he is finding easy now that he is sixty! But when he was 53 (the age I am now) it was a little harder we were doing fine he did a wee bit moaning around three quarters of the way then when silent until nearing the end, then said lets sprint the finish I had no idea how serious he was I thought he would just pick up the pace slightly? I was wrong he went for it he is tall and by the time I reacted it was far too late to catch him the auld bugger streaked across that line dumping his running partner (me) like an Olympian leaving a club runner! I got my revenge at the Glasgow ten K, when telling him the needle in the center of the park was the finish line! his shoulders dropped on that finish line sprint when he peaked too soon and was a burst baw at the real finish line five hundred yards further! i was at his side at the line lol

            

    The best example of a beginner ten K is my son Cameron when he was in his teens and had stopped playing football, I so wanted him to be able to come out running with me we ski and cycle together and at the time were also doing some weight training, he is a good swimmer I am not but on reflection we may have been better exploring that avenue! Teenagers are reasonably easily bought into doing stuff tell them there is cash for things and their eyes light up, I hatched a plan to get him running

                Cameron says I in three months’ time there will be the annual round the houses race dad does in Grangemouth I am of work how do you fancy joining me? eh naw!  No way dad I hate running always have always will, of course I knew this would be the response that was planned in, listen says I - I will buy you two brand new sets of good trainers some new running tops and shorts some socks all of your choosing, I will help train you I will organise your entry and pay all fees AND! I will give you £50 for running it, now I had his attention, do you think I can do it dad? Yes of course says me every human being is born to run you are no different from anyone else anybody at all who doesn’t have a disability can run that distance with three months to train, do the training and you will find it easy,

                Ok I will do it said Cammy right I said- here’s an added incentive the average person runs around eight minuet miles that roughly translates to an average 10k time being 6 x 8 which equals forty eight minuet’s roughly, for every minute you get in below fifty minuet’s two minuet’s I will give you ten pounds more but for every minute after fifty three I will take ten off, my thoughts on this were it was easily achievable for him to get another £20 to 30 pounds out it, by only running nine min miles easily achievable over that distance for him, it would give him a time of fifty four mins, it would cost me no more than  an extra twenty quid if he ran faster( I had no intention of taking money of him for a slow time, but felt I would tell him that as the carrot on the run)

                We made a day of buying his stuff and trialling it on the running machines in the gym, we had three months to get him ready, this was in the days before couch to five or ten Km apps, I was acting totally as his coach and inspiration which was a mistake, no teenager likes their parents telling them what to do or how to think, I was trying hard to get him to believe in himself taking him out to bash the pavements trying the old walk a lamp post walk a lamp posts tricks. Nothing was working all my positives got spun to negatives, in the end he refused and avoided doing any cardio work with me around and said he was doing it on his own time with me in the background asking if he was going out running after we left the gym or trying to get him onto the running machine, there is a line you cannot cross with being inspirational or pushy he did not find me inspirational and was starting to find me pushy (I backed off)

            

me and 16 yr old Cameron good to go!

    Race day came it was a lovely sunny morning he hated getting his picture taken (still does) I told him my usual mantra that  it wasn’t for him it was for me so get a smile on your face and lets get a photo, after a stretch we were off as usual I was high as a kite there is something magical and exciting at the start of any race for me it fills me with joy, he was filled with dread! The first three mile I stuck on his shoulder giving lots of encouragement waving at people telling jokes and stories, he just plodded on hardly listening, I could see he was struggling over half way now number one I said you are smashing this, only half way I am never going to make it he says, of course you will lets slow the pace you’re doing great, no I’m not I’m shite and I hate running this is rubbish, I was once like you I said you are young and fit believe in yourself you will be fine take your time try to enjoy it. In between panting I got told I didn’t understand it was alright for me apparently! Recognising all the signs that my positivity and encouragement were now definitely viewed with hostile disregard, I asked if he would prefer it if I ran on and left him to run his own race? The answer was a positive yes

                So off I went feeling dejected and helpless it does happen of course he wasn’t the first or last potential running partner to shun my help, its nearly always the people that don’t ask for help that end up not wanting help anyway, so I suppose that’s the answer anyone can run but first they have to want to run, once I crossed the finish line I got my goody bag had a drink of water and a quick chat with some friends and decided I would run back along the course looking for him, when I found him he was still just as pissed of with the whole thing we walked for a while and then I got him back to a plod to get us over the line, which was in a stadium full of people he could have walked in nobody would have bothered but we jogged over the line and I was told he would never run again, and he never has! (this was eight years ago)
                                He is not a moan he has great ability for example when we cycled the forty miles around the bridges when he was 14, he never moaned until the last five mile and that was because i laughed as i told him we had cycled past a train station a while back we could have got a train home from! or the time when he was 10 and we cycled the 26 mile back from Edinburgh he got a little tired at times and told me when, i would stop get a sandwich for him have a wee break and he was fine and happy again. (we had lots of good cycling adventures) this day he was totally filled with self doubt, the only other time i seen him like that was when i booked us to do a spartan obstacle course race( as part of his Christmas lucky boy!) i laughed all the way round he was a tetch grumpy!

                In all fairness to Cameron I had no self-belief at that age, I would never have listen to my dad at that age either, you never know he may well end up just like me and discover the joy of running a bit later in life, we always think we know our own mind our bodies and abilities better than others, I now know this is false,  at his age I was totally clueless on my mind my body or my ability, some people will never discover their own true worth as they will never push themselves to any level of hardship,

A sailing boat is safe in the harbour – but boats weren’t designed to stay in harbours