Pre-race There have previously been 2 runnings of the Vitality Big Half, and each time I’ve been very glad I’ve not been running it. In 2018 it was snowing, and in 2019 it was so windy that the other events in the Vitality festival (the Big Mile and the Little Half) were cancelled. Early...

Pre-Pre-Race When preparing for London Marathon in April earlier this year, I decided to take the pressure off London being the ‘big race’ by booking 2 more marathons – Frankfurt in October 2019 and Brighton in April 2020 – in this way, I could think of London more as a training...

The pre-amble While I’ve always generally liked the idea of longer distance running, I’ve never actually liked the reality of it. Primarily for 2 reasons – 1) anything over 12 miles and I’d get calf cramps, and 2) because of the calf cramps, I’d always be slower than everyone else, and...

I was always going to be nervous about this race. I’ve done 3 marathons before in 2012, 2013 and 2014. In every one of them I suffered from severe cramp, both in training and in the race. Long distances just don’t work for me. Last year I found watching the London Marathon so emotional...

So, it’s the day before London Marathon, so it’s time to review my training plan to see how well I’ve kept to it. 5km parkrun every week to see how my fitness is improving Done! Today I did a tail run at Reigate parkrun to complete my parkrun-a-week fix.  The 150/365...

Do you remember your last hangover? People often describe me as lucky when it comes to hangovers. From memory, I’ve had 3 in my life. No, I’m not against drinking – far from it. I’ve just very rarely got up the next morning and thought ‘I don’t feel...

If running has taught me anything, it’s that I shouldn’t be running, and so training ahead of the London Marathon is clearly counter-intuitive. And given all running gives me is pain, I need to rely on fitness to see me through the 26.2 miles in 4 months time. Fitness, agility,...

A week ago, I heard Team GB runner Scott Overall say that it’s better to go into a race under-trained than over-trained. This was lucky, as I was about to run Chester Marathon, and my longest run in the last 6 months was 3 miles. This wasn’t because I didn’t want to train,...

While the Sports Physio was ok at relieving the shin pain, it was only temporary – every time I ran, the shin splints returned. It was time to go techy, so I decided to get an appointment at Surrey Foot & Ankle clinic where they specialise in, well, feet and ankles. So there I lay...

6 months ago I didn’t care much for running. I didn’t like it, but that’s as strong as the emotions got. And now this week has happened. A week that started with me tuning in to hear how the Boston Marathon was going (something I’d have never considered doing 6 months...

It’s not often running 23:14 (my second best time ever) at a parkrun means I only just scrape into the top 200. But then, it’s not often the other parkrunners are the likes of Liz Yelling, Scott Overall, Freya Murray, Andi Jones, James Shane, Joe Thomas, Louise Damen, Amy...

It was the race I wasn’t meant to run. Last week I found my race number for the Hastings Half and thought I’d give Run-Walk strategy a go. The day after I posted that, I managed to make my injury worse with pain in my achilles tendon when walking. I pretty much gave up the idea of...

Back when I was planning to run the London Marathon, I booked a place in the Hastings Half Marathon on 24th March which was meant to be part of my training. Since getting injured and deciding not to do London, I’d forgotten about the Hastings Half. Then earlier this week I found my race...

It’s been 5 weeks since I last properly ran a parkrun. Since then I’ve been brutally assaulted on the physio table twice a week, and the closest I’ve come running is throwing in a few cheeky jogs at parkrun while I’m not allowed to properly run. Yesterday I turned up...

Jungle may be massive, but Data is frickin’ huge. It doesn’t listen to the opinions of others. It doesn’t wear rose tinted glasses. It doesn’t embellish the story, and it doesn’t forget (not unless you drop it down a toilet when drunk). It’s fair to say...

In between the cross training and the physio trying to massage the muscle out of my leg, I still need my parkrun fix. I’m not trying to get a good time at the moment, but if there’s one thing I’ve learnt in the last couple of weeks, it’s that I can quite happily go to...

When your physio tells you you’ve got chronic MTSS and you can’t do the marathon, what’s the natural response? Two marathons. While there’s a small chance I may be able to run the 2013 London Marathon, I know realistically I won’t be ready to run it properly....

On Friday, the Sports Physio said that, in between him pummelling my shin muscles back into shape, I needed active rest. This basically means, cycling, cross training, swimming…. as much exercise as possible without running. Hmmm… without running. He didn’t specifically rule...

So today was the day that I went to see the Sports Injury Clinic about my Shin Splints. It wasn’t good news. On the insides of your legs you should be able to run your finger down your leg between your tibia (at the front) and the muscle and feel the ridge separating them. Unfortunately...

It’s been a week since I last ran. My shins hurt if I do much more than a walk. I should have done a 10 mile run last weekend and a 12 mile run this coming weekend, but that’s not going to happen. There are 67 days until the London Marathon. The plan is all but ripped up. I had a quick look...

Today I was meant to do a mixed pace 5ish mile run – the plan was jog 0.5 miles, run 4 x 1 mile faster pace runs with 2 minute jogs inbetween, and jog a final 0.5 miles. The reality was I managed the half mile and the first faster pace mile, and my legs hurt so much I held a jog until I...

The training is well underway – I’m 4 weeks into my training plan, with just 12 weeks to go until the London Marathon. And the good news is… it seems things are looking up. Desperate to avoid a repeat of last year’s Marathon, I’m clutching at as many straws as I...

It’s not just that I’m not very good at running. It’s more than that. I just don’t like running. I’m not scared of it, it doesn’t fill me with dread, I just don’t like it. Which may seem strange, because I never seem to shut up about it. And given...

On 2nd October 2004, thirteen people stood on the start line for the first ever inaugural parkrun, or as it was known then, the Bushy Park Time Trials. A little over 8 years later, Bushy parkrun is joined by more than 190 other parkrun events every Saturday, with new ones starting every week....

About 6 months ago, a colleague casually mentioned I should try a parkrun – a free timed 5km run held in around 160 locations across the UK every Saturday. The idea of running at 9am on a Saturday didn’t exactly float my boat, but in October when I found out I’d be running...

Where else would the journey to the Virgin London Marathon start but the waiting room of the X-Ray department at the local hospital? OK, so technically the journey to the marathon started when the magazine popped through the letterbox with the words “CONGRATULATIONS” across the...

As many of you know, I’m built for comfort more than speed. The only endurance challenges I’ve participated in to date have led to medals in the food consumption category at Nando’s. On 22nd April 2012 I’m going to be running further than humanly possible** and taking...