Between the fields and a spreadsheet

Not a brilliant couple of weeks’ running I am afraid… Bad nights’ sleep (Philip is transitioning seamlessly from a cold to teething!) and a cold of my own conspired to keep me under my weekly mileage and away from Parkruns so far this month. Still, I’ve managed three runs per week regardless, even if there…

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Hiems ante portas!

I took my hoodie off to warm up for Saturday’s Parkrun, and 200m later rushed back to the car to put it back on – where it stayed till just before the start! On Sunday I got caught out by the changing clocks and the much earlier evening, and had to tweak my long run…

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A bad run

It was always going to be a bad run last night. I was home a bit later from work, so by the time we had gone for our family walk and I was setting off for my run, Philip was close to his bedtime: I would be back after he was asleep. I didn’t like…

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The spice of life

I am always happier after a run, but there were two (otherwise unremarkable) occasions this month that left me particularly euphoric. One was a cheeky run by the Seine when I had popped to my parents to collect Dash and the other a run to the opposite direction of the Grand Union Canal to which…

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Nerdy runner!

You left me dear readers, basking in the onset of summer, and already there were indications that after my marathon training in the winter / early spring and the focus on speedwork in the late spring, summer was going to be much lazier… And indeed, in typical Sisyphean fashion I let my fitness roll down…

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Summer Solstice

The weather of late has been more conductive to sipping wine or (in my case) gulping beer by the bbq than sweating it out on the trails, and that has begun to show not only on the suspicion of a tan, but unfortunately also on my scales and the Strava fitness metric I’m beginning to…

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Jasmine and Spreadsheets

I was a bit remiss with my running last week, managing only one run and one bike ride, but I am not beating myself too much about it. The weather was hot and sunny and I ended up spending a lot of time in the garden, clearing away half a tree that had fallen (narrowly…

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Alone in the Sun

I am finding it surprisingly difficult to come up with something to write about the London Marathon: I thought that a few days would let my impressions and thoughts settle and help me express them in a coherent way, but all that has happened is that I seem to have digested them, let the moment…

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Post London Post!

And all of a sudden… it’s done! It will probably take me a while to process all the emotions, sights and sounds of the London Marathon weekend and even longer to write coherently about them. But I did not want to delay thanking every one of you for your amazing support over the past few…

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Breathe out and… taper!

On Sunday I went out for my last Long Run before the London Marathon, and have now began my taper: a period of reduced training volume, aimed at allowing the body to rest and recover before the main event. It was quite a hot day (a taste of real summer in early April, which my…

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Ending March on a high!

This afternoon I received a call from Noma from the LT Museum, the charity I am fundraising for in this year’s London marathon, to ask how I was getting on with training, fundraising etc. I explained that training had been a bit so-so after Ashby 20, as Philip has decided that he’s too old to…

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Fundraising Update

Just as my London Marathon training is approaching its peak, my fundraising for London Transport Museum and their Enjoyment to Employment programme has passed the £1,000 mark! There is a long way still to go, many fundraising ideas to apply, but I still need your help!