And therefore after this post I will only post about running. I won't go as far to say that I will never mention The Corona again, but I'm sick of talking about it, and sick of adding a caveat about not knowing what will happen next to everything I dare to wish or plan for. … Continue reading This is a running blog
Everything about the second wave of this pandemic seems very different from the first. In particular, the atmosphere at work has been very different. During the first wave, we only had a few people off sick with coronavirus, and plenty of people prepared to work overtime to cover for them. The public sent us sticky … Continue reading Wave 2
The moment I set eyes on Mark Keds for the first time was the moment I knew categorically that I was not a lesbian. I was fifteen years old and saw this picture of his band, the Senseless Things, in the NME. Mark Keds, standing with the sun in his face and the wind in … Continue reading Mark Keds
The coronavirus vaccine is nearly here. There's rumours it could land for us NHS workers in the next two weeks. And my current source of utter gobsmacked boggling bemusement is that some people who are able to have the vaccine are actually dragging their heels about it. It would make more sense to me if … Continue reading The End?
Random bleakness from today's run. It's all gone a bit Leyton Orient. Last week I ran my fastest 10k race (1:10:14) on Saturday, my second fastest ever half marathon as a training run on Monday (2:42:24) and equalled my 5k PB on Wednesday (33:53) despite being knackered and having a bit of a hangover. I … Continue reading Two nil up at half time…
With the corona on the up again, I'm not sure how many of my running events will go ahead any more. I'm constantly expecting that email to drop telling me yet another has been cancelled. I'm over virtual medals and not-parkruns and ready to race, so I was extremely happy when the extravaganza at my … Continue reading RunThrough Olympic Park 10k
parkrun announced that they would return in England at the end of October, and of course almost immediately the coronavirus transmission rate went through the roof and an unannouncement swiftly followed. I'm very sad about this, but I do think it was the right decision - not because I think there is much danger associated … Continue reading Velopark 5k
One event that I had planned for 2020 that didn't get cancelled was Dock2Dock, the annual swimming race in my favourite swimming spot, Victoria Dock. The race has three options: 1.5k, 5k and 10k, and takes you all the way from the usual course under the Unreasonably High Footbridge, under Connaught Bridge into the next … Continue reading Dock2Dock
The last six months have been like the worst marathon you can possibly imagine. Six laps of Shoreham Power Station. On the first lap everyone was stealing the toilet paper from the portaloos and stockpiling the finish water. On the second lap, loads of the runners died and you had dodge the dead bodies. On … Continue reading RunThrough Battersea 10k
As the coronavirus related restrictions have eased, it seems like most of the British population has fallen into two camps: Camp One are still vehemently refusing to leave the house for any reason. They do not think schools, pubs, gyms, hairdressers or events of any kind should be open until the virus is completely eradicated. … Continue reading Return to Racing
What a strange world we find ourselves in. London is starting to open up. We have pubs and hairdressers and outdoor pools and soon we will have sports massage and gyms but we do not have parkrun or races or gigs and we have no idea when we will. Stay at home and save lives … Continue reading Just because it’s over doesn’t mean it’s really over
Today is the final day of my challenge. I've completed all seven of my 5k runs, made my donations and here is my final post. Of course this one had to be for George Floyd, the man whose death has sparked the Black Lives Matter protests and, finally, got everyone talking about what we can … Continue reading #BLM day seven: George Floyd
As John Fashanu said, the only way for a black man to make money in the 1980s was to sing, dance or play football. Michael Menson chose the musical route, and those of us of a certain age may remember his work as a member of Double Trouble, as in Double Trouble and the Rebel … Continue reading #BLM day six: Michael Menson
Daniel Adewole was sixteen years old when he died alone in his prison cell. He was an inmate at Cookham Wood Young Offenders Institute. Daniel suffered from epilepsy, but had missed his last hospital appointment "because his family knew the date and place" and the prison were concerned this was a security risk. On the … Continue reading #BLM day five: Daniel Adewole
Justin Fashanu was the first openly gay professional footballer. The homophobia and persecution he received for this cost him his life. Justin and his brother, John, grew up in Norwich. His mother had placed them in Barnardo's orphanage. She was a single parent with three more children. The two boys were adopted by a white … Continue reading #BLM day four: Justin Fashanu
Forty-seven year old Belly Mujinga was a ticket controller at London Victoria Station. She was married with one eleven year old daughter. Back in March, Belly was understandably extremely concerned about going to work during the coronavirus outbreak. Not only did she have a respiratory condition which put her at higher risk of becoming seriously … Continue reading #BLM day three: Belly Mujinga
Breonna was an emergency medical technician and first responder, and had been working hard in a patient facing role at the beginning of the coronavirus epidemic, despite the fact that as a black person she was at far higher risk from the disease than a white person. She lived with her boyfriend in Louisville, Kentucky. … Continue reading #BLM day two: Breonna Taylor
For the next week, I will be running 5km every day in memory of a black person who died too soon, writing a story biography of that person on this blog, and making a donation to a relevant charity. My first run is in memory of Stephen Lawrence. I am writing about Stephen first because … Continue reading #BLM day one: Stephen Lawrence
This weekend, the NHS started coronavirus antibody tests for all staff. These are the tests that tell you whether you have had coronavirus in the past (but not if you have it at the moment). Mine came back positive. It seems I must have been one of those "asymptomatic carriers" who apparently comprise approximately 30% … Continue reading Positive
I wished for (and still wish for) a beginning to the end of lockdown. But not like this. Here is a sample of things I wished for: Public transport to return to normal, in particular the reopening of Blackhorse Road station and the end of the "one way system" at Stratford which necessitates a five … Continue reading Be Careful What You Wish For
Apparently this Sunday Boris is going to announce the beginning of the end of the lockdown. It's not known exactly what he will say, but speculation points at some very small changes such as being allowed to sit in a park with friends, spaced out, or the reopening of certain sorts of businesses. I've been … Continue reading Stockholm Lockdown Syndrome
Pymmes parkrun is the second closest to my flat and the third different parkrun that I attended (after Finsbury Park and Hackney Marshes). Despite it's proximity I haven't been back since that solitary visit nearly three years ago and you might be forgiven for thinking that it was a horrible and unsuitable parkrun. This is … Continue reading Pymmes parkrun
I've had some pretty shit birthdays. I was born on the 28th April, which usually coincides with the last match of the football season - rarely a happy day for Leyton Orient fans, and always a deluge of unseasonable weather after a couple of falsely promising pleasant weeks over Easter. My seventeenth birthday took some … Continue reading Birthday Half Marathon
You know when you've just finished a long plane journey, and your plane lands, and you're all eager and poised ready to get off and start your holiday, but then a tannoy tells you that there's no gates and you're going to have to sit on the plane for an undetermined length of time, and … Continue reading Lockdown – one month in
My alarm goes off at 4:30am, just like it did Before. I'm no longer the only person awake and online at that time; some people are suffering insomnia, some have lost all sense of date and time, others are enjoying a night out at Virtual Slimelight and others have deliberately got up early to go … Continue reading Lockdown, Day 22
Boris has spoken and the only reasons people are allowed to leave their house are for groceries, medical/care needs, work and exercise. Considering the first three are not a lot of fun (especially when the first leads to a scrap in the pasta aisle over the last pack of tagliatelle), it seems every fucker on … Continue reading Womblestow
There's a meme doing the rounds that says something like "If we all stay home, this virus will be gone within four weeks". This nonsense sets fire to my already-short fuse and makes me explode with anger. Let me explain why. It's probably true that if absolutely everyone stayed at home and didn't interact with … Continue reading It Won’t Be Over Any Time Soon
On Monday, 23 March, night the UK went into "lockdown". I will admit, because right now I am beyond caring what anyone thinks of me, I was not at home but visiting a friend who had just been released from a two month stay in a psychiatric hospital. This had been preceded by a two … Continue reading The New Normal
It seems unbelievable that only a couple of weeks ago, I had no idea how the coronacrisis would escalate and change our lives. My second-to-last entry was basically "is this really necessary? Seems like overkill to me!" and I have to concede I was probably wrong there because a lot of people who know what … Continue reading Cancelvirus
When I returned from Chalkwell Beach parkrun, I failed to notice the large white envelope that had plopped through my letterbox in my absence. I failed to notice it until the next morning, just after I had finished ringing work to tell them that I was very sorry but my cold had turned into a … Continue reading Evicted in a Epidemic
If I were still writing my work blog, I would have given you an insightful piece about the thrills of working for the ambulance service during a pandemic, how the reaction of the public, press and government is doing far more damage than the disease itself, how at least twenty people who have no relevant … Continue reading Chalkwell Beach parkrun
My friends often complain that I like to get to events, particularly running events, far too early. My general rule is to catch the train before the train I would catch to arrive on time. Next time anyone complains about this, I am going to cut and paste this post at them and explain THIS … Continue reading Surrey Half Marathon
Quick post because I'm off out to football (not cancelled this week) and have very little time! On Sunday I made it to the Berkhamsted 5 Mile "Fun Run" which, despite the sexist and non snail friendly announcer person, was a nice race. It was quite a challenging course with a full mile of uphill … Continue reading Coronavirus Rigidus
NOTE TO FUTURE SELF: Do not EVER plan anything that involves leaving London during the month of February EVER again. Better still, do not plan anything that involves leaving the house for the month of February ever again. This weekend, Leyton Orient were scheduled to play Forest Green Rovers, the league's only all-vegan football team, … Continue reading Stratford Park parkrun (Stroud)
My Facebook feed was full of posts about the Brighton Half Marathon yesterday, which means my half marathon PB is now a mammoth four years old. It's past the toddler stage and soon it will be going to school, and before you know it, it'll be up and away and gone to university and then … Continue reading Limp
It's been a hard weekend. On Saturday I heard the very sad news that my friend Flash had died. I "met" her on the Livejournal group The Ladies Loos about fifteen years ago and she was very kind to me when all that bollocks happened with that horrible ex I mention from time to time. … Continue reading Valentines parkrun (again)
Chase the Moon Olympic Park 12th February 2020 - 35:06. My slowest run at this venue for god knows how long. I ran as fast as I could but I didn't even feel out of breath. My legs can no longer keep up with me. I am feeling very down at the state of my … Continue reading Wankle Woe
Having been confined to Sarf London for the last two months, it was finally time to break free of my shackles and head to the bright lights of Castle Park for the World parkrun Tourists meet up. Castle Park is in Bishops Stortford which is a place I know precisely nothing about quite close to … Continue reading Castle Park parkrun
To celebrate the start of Feet Up February, Rob and I entered a half marathon (each) and then proceeded to run precisely seven miles between the two of us. On the way to this feat of failure, we decided that whoever put in the worst performance would be entitled to the Tequila of Shame in … Continue reading Thorpe and Egham “Half Marathon”
At the time of my last entry I was thirteen days into run-every-bloody-day January, had done far too many miles up and down the squidgy trails of Beckenham Place Park, joined a shit gym in an effort to take pressure of my legs, not used it, done more squidgy hill miles, and got totally complacent … Continue reading How RED January Ruined My Life
This is my second attempt to take part in the MIND initiative, RED, which requires participants to run (or exercise) every single day for a whole month in order to do something-or-other to do with mental health. You may recall last year's fell by the wayside somewhat when I caught a nasty disease from a … Continue reading RED January 2020
Gone are the days when New Year's Day was a hungover write off, sacrificed unto the cause of downing multiple tequilas in a dubious establishment to toast the first hours of the oncoming year. New Year's Day is now the day of The Double, the only day of the year when one can record two … Continue reading Greenwich and Bexley parkruns
It has done nothing but rain for months and I am sick of it. I can't even remember the last time I went out for a run and came back with dry feet. Even last week's 100% tarmac parkrun venue, Peckham Rye, included an unexpected water feature. The soft sarf-landaners of Peckham weren't as hardy … Continue reading Mud Glorious Mud
Ten miles is a great distance for a race. It's far enough to push you without getting into that "I've had enough and want to go to the pub now" stage that always seems to creep in during the last 5k of a half marathon. Unfortunately there are relatively few 10 milers out there - … Continue reading Thanet Alan Green Memorial 10 Mile
It's hilly, but it's not in a field! Hilly Fields parkrun (near Lewisham) has been bothering my to-do list for some time, and an opportunity to visit finally presented itself this freezing Saturday. With many parkruns cancelled due to Weather (of the slippery ice variety) I was very lucky that other than suffering from Loss … Continue reading Hilly Fields parkrun
I have been wanting to do RunThrough's Hertfordshire Half Marathon even since the first event in 2017 - in fact I was on the verge of signing up when I had a stress fracture related relapse and was confined to a hobble. Last year I was still traumatised from The Marathon and couldn't bear to … Continue reading Hertfordshire Half Marathon
With my half marathon looming, I decided to do the sensible thing and not run today. Instead I volunteered my services to Hackney Marshes parkrun, where I was placed in the rather nervewracking role of timekeeper for the second time. I know how disappointing it is when you get a great parkrun time and your … Continue reading The Hackney Marshes Massacre
This weekend was my second time taking part in an Adidas City Run. I did the Shoreditch 10k back in 2017 and it was ok, but not amazing, so I have not gone out of my way to do another. Fulham, however, fitted well with my half marathon training plan and is a fairly novel … Continue reading Adidas City Runs Fulham 10k
One of the many good things about parkrun is that it gives you an excuse to hop on a train and visit friends in far flung glamorous locations (like Derby) whom you have not seen for far too long. You shouldn't need an excuse, of course, but as we get older, busier and less prone … Continue reading Alvaston parkrun
The Ladies' Pond on Hampstead Heath is a funny place. It reminds me of one of those impressionist paintings, full of women in a state of undress frolicking in a meadow and basking in a semi-delirious state of joie de vivre. I have mostly only visited in summer before, where the queue to get in … Continue reading The Ladies’ Pond
I set out to Portsmouth with unfinished business from the 2017 race and, to cut a long story short, I'll be returning in 2020 with even more unfinished business. If you read the last entry you will know that despite suffering from an outbreak of Dodgy Ankle, I was hoping to recover in time and … Continue reading Great South Run 2019
In a great week for running, where Eliud Kipchoge ran the first ever sub 2 hour marathon distance, and Brigid Kosgei smashed the women's marathon record in Chicago, I am sorry to say that I have completely failed to make my own contribution. Last Wednesday saw the first Olympic Park Chase The Moon of the … Continue reading 1:59:40
My employer (a well known ambulance service) has started offering free cycling lessons to staff, provided by our local friendly cycle responders. Obviously I snapped up a place on the "Confident Cyclist" course. Nothing makes you feel more confident about getting on a contraption than having a medically qualified person chasing you around. I was … Continue reading Confident Contrapting
After five years of running, I think I might have finally got the hang of running at a consistent pace! I was extremely proud of my first Long Slow Run of the winter in which I managed to run for 14km with every kilometre between 7:48 and 8:00. Normally it doesn't matter whether I start … Continue reading Pacing
I parkrun in all the most glamorous locations. Paris, Devon, Milton Keynes. The latter was the doing of my friend Sam, who organises the Veteran Runners UK group - she set it up on a whim (I think because everyone was getting fed up with Single Pringles and wanted a less sleazy place to bore … Continue reading Milton Keynes parkrun
Continuing my calamitous week, today I decided to go to a HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) class at my gym. I like HIIT, it is tough but uncomplicated and involves doing the same thing over and over to the point of collapse, then a short recovery, then doing another thing over and over again. The … Continue reading Accidental Step Class
I think I am going to have to stop writing posts entitled "Trianoia" because it seems that whatever catastrophe I fail to worry about is the one that ends up happening. In this case, the Canary Wharf Triathlon was cancelled due to lack of numbers. I have to say I'm not very impressed with the organisers … Continue reading Triathlon Curse
This weekend saw my first parkrun/football combo of the 2019/20 season, and what better way to start than with a sunny weekend and a visit to the Devon coast? Teignmouth Promenade appealed for two reasons: one, the lovely seaside location, and two, it starts with a T. Yes, I could have gone to Tooting or … Continue reading Teignmouth Promenade parkrun
This time last year, I was in a taxi to the Gard de Nord, and the taxi driver explained to me that he'd need to take a diversion due to "feminine joggeurs". I researched this further, and found that the "feminine joggeurs" in question were taking part in a 7km women-only race through central Paris … Continue reading La Parisienne
I was "accidentally" passing through Paris this weekend, on the way back from my uncle's house (a mere 480km away), so grasped the opportunity to take part in the second Paris parkrun, Montsouris. Parc Montsouris is an urban, landscaped park in the south of the city; the name (kind of) translates as Mouse Mountain which … Continue reading parkrun de Montsouris
It's official: I am all booked up for the Isle of Dogs Open Water Sprint Triathlon on 22nd September, and with that in mind, I need to update my list of worries as follows: Cycling Delete fear re: U-turns and replace with creeping resentment of the hours spent practicing said pointless manoeuvre all for sodding … Continue reading Trianoia (Part 2)
I've found it hard to get back into the swing of training after the cancelled triathlon. I had the rest of this month earmarked for relaxation and self congratulation but now I find myself with another six weeks of triathlon training with no spare time, no budget for open water swimming and an increasingly fraying … Continue reading Weekend in Belfast
Despite the disappointing news that the swim section of the South Coast Triathlon was almost certainly going to be cancelled, Rob and I set off as planned for Seaford on Friday morning. The weather was calm and clear and despite the weather forecasts to the contrary I clung valiantly to the hope that there would … Continue reading South Coast Non Triathlon
All the triathlon prep and stress has meant I've got a bit behind with my parkrun write ups so I am just going to write a quick paragraph on each of the above. I will probably have to revisit them all and give them a proper review when I have time! Southwark This parkrun would … Continue reading Southwark/Osterley/Shorne Woods parkruns
I have a lot to learn about triathlons. One of those things is that the level of Weather needed to cancel a triathlon is a lot lower than that needed to cancel a run, presumably because however weathery the weather gets runners are generally not in danger of drowning, and while race organisers don't care … Continue reading Triathlon becomes Duathlon
I think the Contraption is trying to tell me something. It all started because I started getting complacent. Spurred on by trivial achievements easily accomplished by the average primary school pupil, such as Mounting With An Audience and Getting Over A Bridge Without Falling In The Water, I started to think I was Victoria bloody … Continue reading Contraption Calamities
You may recall my first attempt at proper open water swimming was a mini aquathlon held in Victoria Dock during the Triathlon Show. This was recorded as a DNF after my complete horror at the experience of putting my face in 10 degree water made me squeal, gasp, swear and flap about ineffectually trying to … Continue reading Victoria Dock Race Night
With just under three weeks to go until The Triathlon, I'm getting acquainted with Trianoia, the older brother of my old friend, Maranoia. Maranoia, as you may recall, is a state of pre-marathon nervous exhaustion where you become convinced that you are ill, injured or otherwise about to suffer a marathon ruining calamity. Trianoia is … Continue reading Trianoia
How am I doing? Hm. Well. I wouldn't go as far to say this challenge is impossible, but certainly I have found it pretty much impossible to do without spending a lot of time and money (that I don't have) and making sacrifices far more difficult than those I made to go vegan. I did … Continue reading Plastic Free July
Friday 5th July 2019 To think that three years ago I thought going to Chelmsford for the sake of a parkrun was excessive! This week I packed my bags and headed to sunny Poland to visit the parkrun tourist Mecca of Zielona Gora, one of only four parkruns to start with the letter Z. Since … Continue reading Zielona Gora parkrun
A quick post from my phone to say that I am taking part in "Plastic Free July". I do love a monthly challenge and the impact of plastic on the environment is something I'm becoming increasingly aware of. When you go vegan, you suddenly find your habits under scrutiny and even if you didn't go … Continue reading Plastic Free July
Somehow I managed to get myself talked into doing a Category A Fell race in Epping Forest. Category A Fell Races are as dangerous as Category A prisoners and Category A drugs. They must have at least 50m of climb per km (this one had more) and no more than 20% of the course on … Continue reading Fell Race
Another new experience this week: swimming in the Thames proper, rather than a dock. Tidal Thames Swims take place on various evenings throughout the summer according to the tides, in the stretch of the Thames beyond Hammersmith Bridge, where swimming is permitted but maybe not the safest thing to do on one's own. The sessions … Continue reading Tidal Thames Midsummer Swim
As scenic parkrun locations go, you can't do much better than a Surrey vineyard in the shadows of Box Hill. Mole Valley lies a mile from Dorking station, in the midst of Denbies Wine Estate, the largest vineyard in England, 265 sprawling acres amongst the leafy Surrey Hills, adjacent to the North Downs Way. It … Continue reading Mole Valley parkrun
All this splashing about in Victoria Dock is all well and good, but the South Coast triathlon doesn't take place in a dock, it takes place in the actual sea. I have never actually swum properly in the sea (splashing about in Crete after a few pina coladas on multiple occasions doesn't count) so it … Continue reading Idiots at the Beach
There has been a lot of weather this week, weather of the cold, wet, grey, wet, windy, wet, wet, wet variety. This has not made me happy. On Wednesday I went down to the Docklands Watersports Centre for a bit of open water swimming. This is the first time I've been completely on my own … Continue reading Weather
Some of my friends are obsessed with The Cure in the same way that I am obsessed with parkrun. They spend thousands of pounds visiting weird and wonderful locations, hours on Facebook discussing the peaks and pitfalls of various sets, and spend time outdoors getting sunburnt or soaked. One friend, Gary, even keeps a spreadsheet … Continue reading Malahide parkrun
Clair - in Haywards Heath - is a parkrun that rarely seems to get much attention from parkrun tourists, perhaps it's because it's so close to Brighton that people think if they've gone all that way, they might as well go to the seaside. Or perhaps it's because it has four and a half laps. … Continue reading Clair parkrun
The Hackney Half is the only half marathon I have run three times. My first outing was in 2015 and it almost didn't happen. I had wanted to enter, but it clashed with my friends' 40th birthday party. But ten days before the party, the friend in question, who had not been well, decided to … Continue reading Hackney Half 2019
In two and a half months I will be a triathlete. So I had better get on with writing some posts about triathlon training. I will take it one discipline at a time. Running You all know how my running is because already because I don't stop talking about it. Swimming Perhaps the biggest surprise … Continue reading Why Be Bad At One Sport When You Can Be Bad at Three?
I am behind on blog posts again; it's the fault of triathlon training. I need to write a long post about how that is going but I don't have time at the moment so here is a little one detailing a rather inauspicious PB. I've beaten my 5k PB three times already this year so … Continue reading The 10k PB
There are four parkruns that I can do on a workday without being late: Mile End, Victoria Dock, Barking and Beckton. I have already done the first three, so finally it was time to tick off Beckton, and so I boarded the Docklands Light Snailway (ha ha ha) on one of the most horrible grey, … Continue reading Beckton parkrun
Continuing the theme of bonkers runs in unglamorous locations, Monday found me taking a trip to the far end of the Metropolitan line for the Watford 10k. This was Rosie's fault as she is vaguely local, and all her children were taking part in the 1k and 3k races (and getting ridiculously fast times - … Continue reading Watford 10k
The highlight of my childhood visits to my grandparents' house in Kettering was always a trip to Wicksteed Park. Sailing down the bumpy slide in the children's playground, losing your lunch on the lurching Pirate Ship and of course the terrifyingly precarious Pinfari rollercoaster. In the interim years, I've visited much bigger and fancier rides, … Continue reading Kettering parkrun
It's all kicked off now. Liz, the 7.5 hour London Marathon pacer, has been on several TV and radio news programme and appeared in the national and international press talking about the appalling treatment of slower participants. I've gathered together a few links if you want to fill yourself in: Liz's blog - Marathon Queen … Continue reading Back of the Pack Fight Back
I'll start this post with a quick parkrun round-up: Saturday was my third visit to Hampstead Heath, this time for the B course which is very similar to the A course but with a slightly harder "tail" section with trailier trails and steeper hills - it also finishes significantly higher than it starts. I was … Continue reading The London Marathon: not for snails
(Or, more posts about the weather.) Friday was the two year anniversary of my first RunThrough race! I started going to RunThrough events around the same time I started going to parkrun and for the same reason - I wanted some races to look forward to, but didn't want to risk spending large amounts of … Continue reading RunThrough Victoria Park and Catford parkrun
Oh dear. I seem to be terribly behind on my blog posts. I must have been far too busy training to have time to write about training. Anyway, I'll pick up where I left off, which is somewhere in the Eastbourne Travelodge after being pelted with hailstones and eating vegan kebabs in Brighton. The first … Continue reading BM10K
It's now becoming an annual tradition for me to head down to Brighton in the middle of April for marathon weekend. Since I no longer have any stupid ideas about actually running said marathon, my head had filled with altogether more pleasant notions about drinking on the beach, swimming in the sea and having a … Continue reading Eastbourne parkrun
This time last year I was nervously packing to head off to Brighton to run the marathon. My last 5k before the marathon was Grovelands parkrun, which I completed in 38:39. Every step was agony and I felt like I was going to throw up at the top of the hill. I remember getting to … Continue reading Chase the Sun Olympic Park
I said I'd never run Victoria Dock parkrun again. I still have a scar on my left shoulder from my last visit there, when I stacked it on the cobblestones and spent a minute flailing on the floor before limping in second from last. I am always quite sardonic when someone opines that Victoria Dock … Continue reading A Return to Victoria Dock
I have had a rude awakening. I have been totally blazé about the swimming section of the triathlon. I can easily swim 750 metres front crawl in the balmy waters of Waltham Forest Feel Good Centre. I'm not very fast (when am I ever fast?) but I manage to prevent the water entering my respiratory … Continue reading My First Cold Water Swim
I guess Barking has inadvertantly become my bogey parkrun. It's a fast, flat, smooth tarmac, uncrowded course with a downhill start and finish and very PB friendly, but despite this, my first run there has remained my fastest, a not-terribly-impressive 36:50. I've not minded too much, because it is such a pleasure to run there, but it's … Continue reading Barking parkrun (part 4)
This cartoon from Webcomic Name came up on my Facebook the other day: and I had to admit that it had rather hit the spot where it comes to my triathlon training, which has so far consisted of the following: Try on wetsuit to make sure it still fits. (It does, just.) Visit bike cupboard … Continue reading Bring back running
Sunday arrived, bringing with it blue sunny skies and my final chance to get a decent half marathon time this season. I went from worrying about hailstones and gales to thinking it might actually be a little too warm. Donning sunglasses and a layer of suncream, I headed off to Trafalgar Square, to find an … Continue reading London Landmarks Half Marathon
It is the night before London Landmarks. I am nervous and am posting too much to Facebook, carb loading with vegan millionnaire shortbread, listening to stompy music and lining my kit up neatly. I have not had a lot of time for training in the last week since work decided to lumber me with six … Continue reading One Day To Go
I wasn't supposed to go to parkrun yesterday, but when the Resource Centre said I could change my shift from a 7am start to an 11am start, it was an opportunity not to be missed, and off to Mile End in the continuing gales I went. It probably wasn't the best of ideas as I … Continue reading Technology Breakdown
Last night was the final Chase the Moon of the season, as the moon will be in retirement for the summer and allowing THE SUN to be chased instead! I am so excited by this, Chase the Sun is the highlight of my summer. I love turning up every week and seeing my running buddies … Continue reading RunThrough Chase the Moon Olympic Park (for the fifty millionth time)
It has been quite windy this weekend. By "quite windy" I actually mean scaffolding-smashing, tree-toppling 70mph gusts of wind that made me quite glad I was saddled with work, dispatching ambulances to people who had been upended by the weather, rather than getting upended by the weather myself. Most of my friends were taking part … Continue reading Blown Away
Two weeks and three days until London Landmarks, so I had better bring you up to date with my latest training. Last Thursday, two days after running 10 miles in the sun and coming home with tan lines, I went to the viewtube track session and got absolutely soaked to death. For some reason the … Continue reading More Half Marathon Training
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mostly running, with added wrestling, comics and geek tat.
Crappy • Runners • Are • People • Too
Be yourself. Everyone else is taken. Oscar Wilde
See you on the track or on the cushion
Be Awesome. Inspire People.
Running through life
Base state: on the sofa with the cat
Matt Bodkin... usually running
Better at writing than at running
In which I attempt to demonstrate I am about more than my day job.
Ainda Vivente Na Lama Do Rio Corrente
Kath's Kith & Kin
“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” ~ Alexander Graham Bell
PHOTOGRAPHY, FAMILY HISTORY and LIFE IN GENERAL
Where Distant Family Become Close
Fun With Genealogy
Better at writing than at running
Better at writing than at running
