About where I thought I was, realistically, given I’ve not run hard longer than 5K for months. Main thing is[…]
Past Races
London Marathon
Legs felt good but struggled with a stitch from the start. It got worse at about mile 19 so I[…]
Forest of Dean Spring Trails Half
12 minutes faster than last year, in muddier conditions. I’ll take that 😊
Bourton 10K
Felt good for the first few miles but then slowed as fatigue from being ill all week set in. Wasn’t[…]
Linda Franks 5
Very pleased to go sub-33. Finally broke my record of getting slower at every running of this race 😅 Onwards[…]
Forest of Dean Spring Half
Goal was to better my first HM time of 1:49:xx, so pleased to comfortably beat that. Especially as that course[…]
Linda Franks 5
First race for two long years! The less said about the time the better, but nice to be back out[…]
Linda Franks 5
A long way off my PB, but quicker than I thought I’d manage. Making slow progress… 👍
Telford 10K
Worse than I’d hoped. Better than I’d feared!
Guy Fawkes 5
Berlin Marathon
Not my day! Started ok, but it became clear by 15K sub-2:45 wasn’t on. Tried to just keep to marathon[…]
Worcester City 10K
Best 10K for two years, but not the time I was looking for, or the PB I felt I was[…]
Newark Half Marathon
What a load of shite. Felt good to begin with, but probably spent too much energy fighting the wind. Battled[…]
Coventry Northbrook 10K
Fairly happy with that on a pretty tough course. Probably could have pushed harder on the hills, but hard to[…]
Stone 10K
Fairly pleased with that – progress at last!
Worcester Pitchcroft 10K
Bit disappointing, but faster than last year and sub-40 (just) at least. Struggled a bit with motivation as I was[…]
Bath Half
Would love to say that was marathon effort, but it was tougher than that 😓 Probably not quite all out[…]
Linda Franks 5
Really happy to go under 30 minutes after the week I’ve had! Achilles felt fine. Superb race, highly recommended.
Telford 10K
Still a long way to go, but a step (well, several thousand) in the right direction 👍
Worcester Pitchcroft parkrun
Nothing if not consistent. Quite breezy today so happy with the performance given a disrupted week.
Worcester Pitchcroft parkrun
Worcester Pitchcroft parkrun
Pleased to sneak under 19 minutes given where I am right now. Pace nice and consistent.
Worcester City 10K
Bourton One Mile Challenge
If nothing else it’s confirmed my belief I don’t respond well to speedwork. Back to what I know on Monday!
Medina I.O.W. parkrun
Happy with that, faster than last week on a much tougher course.
Evesham parkrun
Piss poor parkrun performance. Legs felt flat and heavy from the start. Oh well, hopefully a good training run at[…]
Stone 10K
Worcester Pitchcroft 10K
London Marathon
The London Marathon isn’t like other marathons. Indeed to a large proportion of the non-running public, it’s the only marathon.[…]
Manchester Marathon
Prologue Last summer I set myself the ambitious target of running a sub-80 half marathon at Oxford in October. My[…]
Worcester Pitchcroft parkrun
Happy with that given the massive session I did on Wednesday, and the miles still in my legs.
Worthing Half
After a big block of four tough 100+ mile weeks through January, it was time for the first big fitness[…]
Linda Franks 5
Telford 10K 2̶0̶1̶7̶
Started right at the back due to disastrous warm-up, hard to settle in to pace so ended up running it[…]
Great South Run
After the excitement of the Oxford Half I had just two weeks to recover, and then keep the fitness ticking[…]
Oxford Half
It doesn’t seem like long ago I was preparing for my last big “A” race – the Brighton Marathon. However,[…]
Worcester Pitchcroft parkrun
Worcester City 10K
After a heavy block of training through the summer, which saw me hit a record 421 miles for August, it[…]
Little Aston 5
Worcester Pitchcroft parkrun
Bourton One Mile Challenge
Worcester Pitchcroft 10K
Aztec West Fast 5K
Great Bristol 10K
Not in PB shape so ran it as a hard tempo effort. Happy to get under 40 minutes. Onwards and[…]
Brighton Marathon
After 18 weeks of training and 1,500 miles of running, it was time to see what all that work would[…]
Aztec West Fast 5K
Made the schoolboy error of starting too far back. By 1k I had settled and felt pretty good, but a[…]
Spring Shakespeare 10K
My second “tune-up” race of this marathon campaign was the Spring Shakespeare 10K. Held at the former RAF airfield Long[…]
Brighton Half
Pleased with that. I felt comfortable all the way around, despite the windy and miserable conditions. Felt strong going in[…]
Worthing Half Marathon
After ten weeks of solid marathon training, including four 100 mile weeks and just one minor hiccup where I feared[…]
Frankfurt Marathon
So, after 12 weeks of training and 887 miles on the roads it was time to put all that effort[…]
Bright10
Average pace right on what I was aiming for, despite rather breezy conditions. Overall very pleased given the weather. Roll[…]
Pymmes parkrun
Wasn’t sure how the legs were going to be today, so decided to just see how I felt once I[…]
Great Bristol Half
Another week, another race! Following on from the Worcester 10K I had high hopes of another good performance, although I[…]
Worcester 10K
Sunday saw the third running the Worcester 10K. Worcester is my hometown but this year was the first year the[…]
Self-Transcendence 5K
Self-Transcendence 10K
New PB and first time sub-39. Not quite the 38:00 I was hoping for, but I’ll take it.
Pymmes parkrun
Grovelands parkrun
Pleased with the effort on a breezy morning, on a slightly hilly course.
Swansea Half Marathon
After running a couple of decent half-marathons during marathon training earlier this year, I picked out the Swansea Half so[…]
City of London Mile
Really wasn’t sure how today’s race would go, coming at the end of my second 80+ mile week of training,[…]
Dulwich parkrun
Thought I might have a PB in me today so travelled down to Dulwich Park for what I’ve seen referred[…]
London 10,000
Very hectic first few kilometres, including idiots in the fast start walking within 100m?! Pleased to keep a nice steady[…]
Westminster Mile
Great Bristol 10K
Spent most of yesterday drinking in the sunshine, so ran this as a slightly hungover tempo run. Pleased with the[…]
Victoria Park Open 5
Hard work! Not as bad as I feared it might be, but not too great either. Legs felt good, didn’t[…]
Brighton Marathon
Sunday saw the sixth running of the Brighton Marathon, now the UK’s second largest marathon after London with 10,947 starters.[…]
Self-Transcendence 10M
3-hour pace, well within marathon HR and felt comfortable. Hmmmm… big decision to make!
Hackney Marshes parkrun
Bath Half
Today couldn’t have been much better conditions wise – sunny, relatively cool, a little wind at times but nothing too[…]
Self-Transcendence 10K
Wasn’t sure what to expect today. I knew I am in good condition at the moment, but with a lot[…]
Worthing Half
The Worthing HM takes place up and down the seafront – you actually run up and down twice during the[…]
Victoria Park 10K
Ran this as a training run, as it replaced a tempo run in my marathon training plan. I forgot to[…]
Hackney Marshes parkrun
Sub-19 – did it! After thinking I was coming down with a cold on Thursday I wasn’t sure if I’d[…]
Self-Transcendence 10K
On Saturday I headed to Battersea Park for another of the Self-Transcendence 10K races the Sri Chinmoy Athletic Club regularly[…]
Hackney Marshes parkrun
In two minds about parkrunning today as the weather was wet and windy, but woke up feeling fresh so decided to go for it. Glad I did! The trip to Hackney was worth it as I had people around me to run with. Great flat course although small trail section was a bit slippy today. Pleased with the PB even though there was a decent wind against me at times.
Bright10
Sunday was the inaugural Bright10 10 mile race in Brighton. The race uses a similar course to the half and[…]
Finsbury parkrun
First time at Finsbury parkrun – nice course and only two laps which somehow makes it feel shorter. Hilly though so definitely not a PB course!
HRM played up for first half, so tried to run by feel. Definitely need to practice running downhill fast, so might try to make this course a regular visit.
Self-Transcendence 10K
Today was a sort of rehearsal – the same 10K race in Battersea Park that I’ll also be doing in[…]
Bristol Half Marathon
After the Brighton Marathon I briefly flirted with the idea of doing an autumn marathon, but in the end decided[…]
Pymmes parkrun
1st place and sub-20!
Pride Run 10K
The Pride Run 10K was formerly known as the London Pride 10K, but renamed due to confusion around whether it[…]
Worcester parkrun
GPS didn’t like the woods! Any hope of a PB was over in the first few KM as the course[…]
Great Newham London 10k
Not every day you get to run in the stadium where Rudisha set his WR and Mo Farah won double-gold! Amazing feeling!
City of London Mile
Bupa London 10K
First race since the marathon. Pretty pleased to get so close to my 10K PB, especially after the Westminster Mile[…]
Westminster Mile
Brighton Marathon
My first marathon! Training had gone reasonably well, if not perfectly. I had chosen to do the P&D 55-70 mile[…]
North London Half Marathon
This race was based at the Allianz Stadium in North London, where the Saracens rugby union team play. Handily it[…]
Bath Half Marathon
Pymmes parkrun
Might have scrapped a PB by a few seconds! Quite pleased given I’m coming towards the end of my biggest mileage week ever, and doing mainly easy running at the moment. I haven’t ran intervals since September, and have only done a few tempo runs since October. Hopefully this means my forthcoming marathon training might yield some new PBs in shorter races too.
Pymmes parkrun
Royal Parks Half
I haven’t had much luck with half marathons since my first one at the same race two years ago when[…]
Pymmes parkrun
My first ever parkrun, and indeed my first ever proper 5K effort. A PB was therefore a given, but I[…]
Regent&;s Park 10K
New PB!
Run Hackney Half Marathon
To give a bit of background, I did my first half marathon back in October 2012, smashing my target of[…]
Bupa London 10K
Regent&;s Park 10K &;
Regent&;s Park 10K &;
Was hoping for 7:40ish pace, but didn’t have it in me today. Wasn’t quite up for it today, my heart wasn’t in it. I’ve managed faster pace on training runs! Still, not a big race so not going to beat myself up about it.
Brighton Half Marathon
Regent&;s Park 10K &;
Regent&;s Park 10K &;
Bupa London 10K
Berliner Halbmarathon
Regent&;s Park 10K
With my thigh still causing at the end of last week I decided to have a break from running this week in the hopes of getting healed ready for this race. I did some rowing and cycling in the gym, including some fast rowing and cycling intervals, but stayed away from the treadmill and off the roads. It does seem to be working, although it’s still not quite 100% so will see how I get on next week.
Anyway, today was my first attempt at the Regent’s Park
Royal Parks Half Marathon
My first half marathon! Training had gone well, although I came down with a cold and a cough a week[…]
Bupa London 10K
A scrappy final few weeks of training, a knee injury, as well as incredibly warm weather, weren’t ideal circumstances for[…]