This week has been a write-off when it comes to marathon training. I was very busy at work interviewing candidates for four posts and then I ended up becoming ill. I managed a training session on Monday and have spent the rest of the week focusing on staying alive. Monday night training I made it out to LRR’s Monday night training, which was an interval session on the Common. I did as well as possible and enjoyed it, but I felt tired afterwards. Ganger Farm parkrun On Saturday, I had agreed with others that I would go to Ganger Farm parkrun‘s second event. It’s only 8 miles away, so we didn’t ..read more

When planning my running schedule for this week (14th-20th November), I had hoped to take part in a CC6 (local cross-country race) at Itchen Valley Country Park. However, it was also Remembrance Day and M was asked to take part in a parade with her Beavers colony. I figured that I should be able to fit in more runs during the week, so I spent the morning with Morgelyn. Then I did huge amounts of leaf raking in the afternoon. Photo by Kadri Võsumäe on Pexels.comLordshill Road Runners Monday night session On Monday, I joined Lordshill Road Runners group C for an interval session. It was the larg ..read more

The last week or so has been good. I’ve fitted in a variety of runs including my fastest 5km since February 2020. On Tuesday, I did a 12-minute online workout. It’s one that Stuart used to do when he was training for his ironman. At points, he was in agony and I couldn’t feel the stretches in the right places, so I think I couldn’t have been doing it right. My first long run of training On Wednesday, I went out at lunchtime and did a 5km run up and down the hills near my home. It felt very slow, but I couldn’t make myself run faster. Ultimately, I looked at my time and realised that I had run ..read more

I’m determined to train consistently so that I can enjoy London Marathon and achieve a time that I’m proud of. I hope to be running 10 miles by the start of 2023. I didn’t train as much as I would have liked to this week as it was M’s birthday (and half term). It was a very busy week. However, an advantage of this was that we did a lot of walking. I was also pleased to fit in a Halloween run. Monday 24th October – Lordshill Road Runners Group C training This was a hills session at the sports centre. We did various intervals, including running fast uphill and recovering on the downhill, followe ..read more

It’s been a long time since I blogged consistently, so I’m hoping I’ll magically find enough time to change that over the next six months. Why? Because I’ve finally got a place in London Marathon! What’s going on in my life? I’ve got a lot going on in my life. I still work full-time, but I am back to working 5 days a week. I mostly work from home, so I no longer have a lovely daily cycle commute. M is at school, so I take her when I can. I also collect her and take her to various after-school activities (ballet, tap and gymnastics). I tried cycling to school with M last academic year. There wa ..read more

I’ve nearly achieved my goal for January – walk 10000 steps a day – so I’m now planning my next goal. I’ve decided to take part in the Local Landmarks 10k on Sunday 20th February 2022. This is a new challenge from the same team as the London Landmarks Half Marathon (which I completed in 2018). It only cost £15 to enter and all registration profits go to the charity Tommy’s to save babies’ lives. What’s the route? The quirk of this event is that everyone takes part by plotting their own 10k route. You can walk or run and it’s up to you whether you bring your dog or push a buggy. It’s also open ..read more

In December 2019, I posted that I’d completed all of the parkruns in Cornwall. However, in October 2021, a new parkrun started: Penryn Campus parkrun. I was hoping to visit on 18th December, but that ended up being the start date of Bartley Park parkrun, an event that I’m the ambassador for. On 25th December, I felt that I shouldn’t miss too much of Christmas day with M, so I stayed local and went to Heartlands. Arriving at the start Getting to the start was easy. I knew how to get to Treliever roundabout. Then there were clear signposts to the car park nearest the start. It was a short walk f ..read more

I’ve been parkrunning for over 11 years, so it’s an essential part of my Saturday mornings. I’ve been struggling with running since I put a lot of weight on, but I still love turning up to parkrun. This weekend’s run is one that I’ve been anticipating for quite a long time – I finally completed my 350th parkrun. In anticipation of the event, I bought a box of chocolates to share with fellow runners, as well as a bag of groceries to donate to Southampton Basics Bank. (Fellow Run Directors, Jill and Malcolm, had organised a donation drive). M has not been interested in running recently, so Stu ..read more

This weekend, my mum came to stay, which meant that I had a free pass to travel to another parkrun. (My mum comes to visit M, not me!) I’m trying to complete my parkrun alphabet and as the letters that I needed were J, Y and Z, it was an easy decision. There’s only one Y left in the UK (York), which is at least 4 hours drive away. There is no Z in the UK. So, I decided to visit Jersey Farm parkrun in St Albans. My running buddy, Pete, said that he’d be happy to drive in return for some company, so Stu, Kate and I got a lift with him. In advance, Pete checked the event details with Laura, anoth ..read more

The second race of the CC6 series took place last Sunday at Manor Farm. I was a little nervous about it as my run at parkrun on Saturday had been terrible. My shins had been in severe pain and I was worried that I had run too much this week. Malcolm and Jill had kindly agreed to give me a lift, so I just needed to get myself to their house. It’s about 3km away, so not far. I considered cycling, but my commuter bike has M’s bike attached to it and I thought it would be a faff. After getting up early, I thought I’d have plenty of time… but I hadn’t bargained with M’s recalcitrance. I left home 1 ..read more