running, reading, nonsense.
Another weekend, another 10k. It’s the first time I’ve done back to back races in I don’t know how long, and the first time ever that both of those races have been at the 10k distance. The second event, at Prestwold Hall in Leicestershire, did not deliver quite as satisfying a time performance (37:17) as… Continue reading Racing is Training.
When we entered 2020 long, long ago in faraway January, I imagined my year would be chock full of 10k road races. There are loads of little events over that distance in my local area, and I intended on entering as many of them as possible. Obviously that did not happen. Indeed, only this past… Continue reading Bedford Autodrome 10k.
Tapering is a strange but necessary phenomena. To a non runner it may seem strange to make a reduction in training right before a big race, but for runners it is vital to go into a peak effort as rested as possible. If you aren’t familiar, tapering means to decrease mileage and intensity in the… Continue reading Tapering
Photo by Daniel Olah on Unsplash About a year ago the race that I had returned to serious training for was supposed to happen. The weather was dreadful; the skies were leaden, leaking. The grey pavements were soaked. I sat in my car, windows steaming, spiralling into the zone. I had arrived early, nervous energy… Continue reading Race Day
It isn’t autumn just yet, but the storm strength winds which have been recently blowing through have littered the paths, roads, and trails with leaves, giving the sense that although it may not actually be here, it is most definitely on the way. It has been a strange summer. Early in the year I was… Continue reading Autumn Watch
I wouldn’t run so much if it wasn’t fun, and for the most part it can stay fun. You can make a lot of progress running at a nice steady pace, maybe even enjoying yourself. You can make a lot of progress running even slower than that, especially if you can mix in some trails… Continue reading The Right Pain
When lockdown restrictions were first put in place in March, I assumed that my work would be deemed non-essential and I’d be off. This did not happen. In fact, what happened was that I ended up working more than usual. Things have now calmed somewhat. The country is attempting (perhaps prematurely, but time will time)… Continue reading Reflections on Running through Lockdown.
It’s been a bit of a struggle to find the time and energy to update this blog as much as I would like. I have been reading, and I have been running, it's just that I’ve been fighting a losing battle against actually writing about those things. I have been eating a lot though, and… Continue reading Eating to a PB
Last week I ended my blog by saying: ‘This time next week I’m hoping to be able to come back and say that I kept my word to myself, and saved the fire for the right occasion.’ Well, that didn’t happen. As planned I went ahead and took it really, really easy on Monday, basically… Continue reading The Setback
The more I run, the more I care about running. The more I care about running, the more likely I am to read/watch/listen to other people talk about running, and having done that a lot this week one of the things I’ve picked up on is the idea of creating a training journal, not just… Continue reading Training Diary #1
run into words 