Hugh Trenchard

www.worldcommunitygrid.org

After a full bike racing season, consisting of some 25+ races (counting individual stages of stage races as single races), it was interesting to make the mental shift to running in such a short period of time since I dislocated my shoulder at the Bastion Square criterium on September 21.

Cycling is a sport of small numbers, at least in comparison to the thousands of participants who come out to run a marathon and other distances, and there is a distinctive switch that one must undergo from the intense competitiveness of the relatively small peloton, to the massive crowds of runners who participate for a variety of different reasons.

I love both bicycle races and running races. It is interesting that I think I actually have a purer, less egotistical, love for the dynamics of bike racing than I do for running. For me bike racing is so much about generating dynamics, of being a part of the unique experience that is a peloton as it emerges in its multifaceted configurations from the interaction of its parts. As much as placing well is a thrill in bike racing, I find intense satisfaction in simply competing among the collective and knowing that I can be a factor in the outcome of the race.

By contrast, oddly, sometimes I find competitive running to be more about assuaging my ego than it is about the pure enjoyment of the sport. The interesting fact is that I frequently achieve better placings in running races than I do in bike races. Granted I’m not running against fields of solely elite runners, as I do when I am competing in Pro/cat. 1,2 bike races, in which case I would not be able to place very highly at all. Nevertheless, because I can often place high up in the standings among sheer large numbers of runners, there is certainly an ego inflation factor involved. I don’t want to overstate the case, since I expect most people would not describe me as one of the most egotistical people they know (or maybe they would, I’m not entirely sure!), but my point is only that for me there is a very different kind of benefit derived from each discipline.

For me there is certainly ego involved in cycling – of that there is no question – but it is largely derived by demonstrating strength rather than by beating others or by placing well. Running, for me, is not so much about demonstrating strength, as it is about achieving a particular time, but that time standard is also connected with a certain pleasurable satisfaction that comes with placing well, and which in turn entails a different kind of egotistical response.

Many cyclists would question my motivation to exhibit strength at the expense of the best possible placing – brownie points count for nothing, they say – all that matters is where you are at the finish. For me that is not true – in a sense, for me, brownie points count for everything – but yet that is not what it is about either. For me the greatest pleasure is derived from the continuous dynamical interaction of all the cyclists, their movements within the organic peloton; the constant vigilance as to their positions; the imperative to remain near the front, the attacks, the counter-attacks; the cooperation, the deception; the risks taken and lost or won; the relief of survival; the transient microcosm of life that is the peloton.

True, there is a level of vanity in bike racing that is perhaps not as prevalent in running, accompanied by an odd sort of homo-eroticism that comes with staring at men’s asses. Not that we are all necessarily aroused by the sight of mens butts in tight shorts, but you can’t help but notice certain shapes and wonder if women would find that guy’s butt to be hot or not. Regardless, the vanity and such curiosities vanish when you are cross-eyed with suffering, and at that point you really can’t distinguish the shape of one man’s ass from another.

But this was not intended to be an essay about the differences between the respective ego derivatives of cycling and running. Perhaps my primary point is that I found the half marathon experience to be rather like new, allowing me to see my involvement in the activity from a slightly alterered perspective, set against the backdrop of a season of bike racing which I enjoyed immensely.

I’d trained for less than three weeks on a schedule of tempo runs every second day, increasing in length. After about six tempo runs, and easy spins on the exercise bike and light weights on intervening days, I was able to take last week fairly easily and do a couple of easy preparation runs before the half, resulting in being in 1:17 shape. Of course I had an enormous aerobic base to rely on from a season of bike racing, but it was still an interesting experiment to see how quickly I could get into respectable running shape (by my standards).

In summary, I was happy with the outcome.

A most untoward experience: with progress unabated the left shoulder is now in such a state that I did 50 pushups on my knees yesterday; but perhaps I pushed it just a tiny bit far, since today, after an easy 30 minute run, my arm found itself in an awkward position in the process of exiting my car, which in turn resulted in an uncomfortable click and wee spot of a dull ache afterwards.

Well, tomorrow I go for an ultrasound examination. Perhaps they will find fresh damage and a slight set-back. Maybe I should take a less cavalier approach to my injuries. Ah well whatevah – it will heal I have no doubt!