I'm never going to get another PB.
For those of you not in the running world, PB means Personal Best. I have a chalkboard on our living room door, made for me one Christmas by my lovely wife, on which I have my PB times for a 5k (3.2 miles), 10k (6.4 miles), half marathon (21.1k/13.1 miles) and marathon (42.2k/26.2 miles) distances. It also has a place for my race numbers, and hooks to hang my medals on.
Every time I've broken my PB in the past, I've come home and wiped the old, outdated time off the board before my shower. (Usually using the sweatband drenched in the efforts of the record breaking run - I'm not sure if this is superstitious, or just gross.) This was a fairly regular occurance - one of my resolutions at the start of 2020 was to get a new PB at least five times, which I managed at the end of September by breaking the 10k PB I'd set back in January. I broke the September PB in January of 2021, and with the return of parkrun later in the year I gradually chipped away at my 5k times, bringing it down to 24:18 in November 2021.
So what's changed? Well, for a start, I've stopped doing such a physical job. Six months ago I left a role that was soul-destroying but excellent for my fitness - I'd regularly cycle 12k a day, and walk a further 15 - for an office job. More restful, but my tummy has grown while my stamina has dropped. The Worthing Half in late April would've been ideal - a few weeks out from leaving that dreadful role, still with the residual fitness but after a few weeks of rest - except the heat, a boring course and issues with my sciatic nerve meant my time was two minutes slower than my last half marathon, which took place two years before and on a harder course.
No matter, I could take the handbrake off and really go for it after that, right? Well, no. Coming back from a weekend in Cologne I felt a bit rough, coughing a bit and generally feeling unwell. After a quick test it turned out I'd contracted the wonderful COVID-19 virus, and while I only missed a weekend of running due to it, the after-effects took a while to get over. I started telling myself that it was the heat, as by the time I was up and running again it was mid-June, the temperatures were exceeding 20 degrees and I never do well in that weather.
I was lying to myself. My 5k time since has been around the 26/27 minute mark, I've not had a 10k take less than an hour, and I've found myself slowing to walk during longer runs too. The virus and the slovenly job have taken their toll on my body. I'm not as fit as I was six months ago. My last 5k PB was set nearly a year ago, my last 10k PB in January this year (52:30). Comparing my times post-COVID I'm around 10% slower.
I'm never going to get another PB...and that's ok. I've had a good run. Heck, a decade ago I did no exercise at all, now I'm annoyed because I'm prohibited from running this weekend. I'm much fitter and healthier than I was back then, and given the way the body ages, I was going to hit a point where I'd never get another PB. At least this way I'm aware of it and can pinpoint it, rather than realising I hadn't got one in a year, pushing my body harder than it is capable of, and doing myself damage. I've reached my peak, and now starts the gentle decline, as my body ages. As long as I can keep my 5k time in minutes smaller than my age in years, I'll be happy.
