The PB Club

You book with 18-30 if you want a guaranteed shag on holiday, Madame Scrampton's House Of Pain in Southwest DC if you want a pvc clad woman to beat you with a spiked dildo and you go to a Watford Open Meeting if you want a PB. Or so it seems anyway.

Last night Bedford and County's swarm of locusts descended on Watford and proceeded to feed on at least 7 PBs by my count. A couple of the young guns broke 2:00 for the 800m for the first time and three of us smacked the arse of our 3k PBs in the final race.

A while back I classified my PBs in three ways:

http://cunningrunt.blogspot.com/2010/06/smug-shit-incorporated.html

My 3k PB would be classed as 'fair game' - a respectable time for me particularly as I dislike the distance intensely. Since my comeback I've run 4 pretty moderate 3k races (9:10 - 9:25), so although I am hard fit I never seem to race them well and at this stage far removed from heavy VO2 max work. Despite this I lined up determined to give it a good crack with a sub-9 clocking the barometer of success.

As it happened I raced it very well and despite a mildly shitty 12th position was delighted with a 8:50.96 clocking - knocking a good 7 seconds off my PB of 2001. My splits were 2:56 / 2:59 / 2:55 which averages out at sub 4:45 for nearly 2 miles. Unfortunately I failed to catch Alex Bellew with whom I'd had a bet he'd have to shave his Jesus locks if I beat him. As it was I didn't see him all race - my eyesight not extending that far - which meant a big PB for him also. He was obviously as confident in my lack of endurance as everyone else at the club. Nicholson smashed his admittedly weak PB to secure Cornetto McFlurrys all round.

It must be my new streamlined 'minimalist' haircut (ordered as prison rapist grade at the barbers) that did it.

Tomorrow I'm off to Hungary for the European Veterans' Championships which has been the principal target all season. We are due for 1500m semis on saturday (which I doubt will happen as they are having a 16-runner final) and the final on monday. I'll try and update as we go - although I'm not sure if they have colour tvs over there so we'll see about web access.

The website is here if you feel so inclined:

http://www.evacs2010.hu/info/