Rob says I have to start updating this blog again. You'd have thought I'd have grown out of doing things suggested by Rob by now, yet here I am. I suppose Worthing is as good a place to start as any. Part of the reason I haven't written much lately is because everything I try … Continue reading Worthing Half Marathon
Having resolved that four half marathons for the spring season was plenty and that I was under no circumstances to enter any more, I promptly set about entering ten mile races, because of course those last three and a bit miles make all the difference. Rob was doing a two-lap 20 mile race in Milton … Continue reading Twin Lakes 20 (or 10)
Last fortnight I came the closest I ever will ever come to running another marathon, which is running two half marathons a week apart. This wasn't entirely a deliberate choice, both were postponed from 2021 and weren't a week apart when I booked them, though when I learned of the new dates I didn't want … Continue reading Surrey Half Marathon 2022
I know we've been here before but dare I say that I am actually running a real-life, timed, official HALF MARATHON this weekend. The train tickets and Airbnb are booked and I am curiously eyeing a square object with a zip lid that you can fill with clothes, shoes and toy cows. I think they … Continue reading Non Cancelled HM Incoming
Not just one RunThrough race this week but two! Given that my visit to Ally Pally parkrun a couple of years ago was a total horror I'm not sure why I thought it was a good idea to sign up for a 10k race at the same venue. I can only assume I did it … Continue reading Alexandra Palace 10km
This is a running blog... and FINALLY I have a running event to write about! Restrictions on outdoor sport were lifted six days ago and I've certainly made the most of it with two trips to Victoria Dock for swimming, one to Charlton Lido, and two to Mile End track (one to run and one … Continue reading St Albans Easter 10k
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
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
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
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”
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
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
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
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
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
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'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
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
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
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
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
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
(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
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
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
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)
I know I said that after the Greenwich Park palaver I said I wasn't going to go to any TRO events ever again, but I really wanted to do a 10k race today and this was the only sensible/local option. The map looked a lot simpler than Greenwich and I had a discount code. I … Continue reading The Race Organiser Hyde Park 10k
After the crushing disappointment of my limp performance at the Olympic Park Half marathon, I was somewhat trepidatious about returning to the scene of the crime. In fact, I wasn't terribly keen on the prospect of going to a race at all. I worried that I was back on a downward slope towards the painful, … Continue reading RunThrough Chase The Moon Olympic Park
The fact that it's taken me until Wednesday to write about my half marathon performance has probably tipped you off that it didn't go as well as I'd hoped. It was, in fact, the 2014 League One Play Off Final in the form of a run. (My Livejournal post from said event, if you need … Continue reading Olympic Park Half
Before I get started writing about the race, I want to answer the Big Question, which is: should a vegan be entering a race sponsored by Cancer Research, who fund animal testing? I've thought long and hard about this, and as you can see, I did enter. I see it the same as taking part … Continue reading London Winter Run 10k
It is five years now since I started running, and in the whole of that time I have never, ever run a 5k race or parkrun in less than 35 minutes. Until now. It was back to my old friend, Chase The Moon at the Olympic Park. I always run a bit faster at the … Continue reading Over The Moon
You may remember that my last attempt at this race didn't go very well. After a wrong turn at 2km, I found myself horribly off course with no sensible way of getting back on course, got the hump, moaned at the person in charge and went home. My moaning earned me the compensation of a … Continue reading The Race Organiser Greenwich 10k
I thought running two 5kms with a 90 minute break between would be easier than running 10km in one go. I was wrong! Fresh from Mile End parkrun, Linda, Petra and I assembled in Victoria Park where we were met by various RunThrough miscreants. It was SO COLD. Standing round in damp, sweaty parkrun clothes … Continue reading London Poppy Run
35:43! That was my official time at Chase The Moon last night and I'm absolutely delighted. It is only 24 seconds slower than my (not including track runs) 5km PB set at Dulwich parkrun in January. I'm definitely running faster than I was this time last year and I feel that if I take on … Continue reading RunThrough Chase The Moon Olympic Park
Today I was in Southend for the second time in two weeks. It's not just the beaches that draw me to my nearest seaside town. When I'm not running, I like to do a bit of genealogy. I am also better at genealogy than I am at running. A bunch of my ancestors lived in … Continue reading Southend Classic 10k
You know what I'm like with a hill. As soon as my favourite running events company, RunThrough, announced they were putting on a race on the infamous zigzag road loved by cyclists in lycra on fancy bikes and featured in the Olympic cycle route, I was there. Box Hill, near Dorking, is a "site of … Continue reading Beat Box Hill 5km
Yesterday, I headed to Potters Fields near London Bridge for an emotional reunion with my RunThrough buddies, whom I have not seen for a whole six days. Now the Chase The Sun events are over, we are all feeling a bit bereft, so it was nice to have an alternative evening run to attend. I … Continue reading Run the River
Last year I took part in the Kew Gardens 10k, which is part of the Richmond Running Festival and really enjoyed it, so in 2018 it was back for round two. There had been a couple of improvements from last year, in that the route stayed within the gardens the whole way instead of taking an … Continue reading Kew Gardens 10k
(For the 59 billionth time) This week's excuse for not doing 10k was the fact that I'd been up since the crack of dawn getting the Eurostar home from France and endured a very stressful journey in the same carriage as a family who seemed to think the aisle was a children's playground and who … Continue reading Chase the Sun Olympic Park
I woke up the day after my million mile bike ride with a whole new set of aches and pains to content with. Normally I would find my lower legs and hips were giving me bother. Today it was my upper legs, my knees and my upper back. I had lost all bendiness and was … Continue reading The Race Organiser Regents Park 10k
The summer is almost over. I know this because for me, the weekly Wednesday night excursions to London parks to earn sun-shaped medals are over. There's one I can't get to next week, then the Wednesday nights go back to once a month in the Olympic Park until April. I actually feel quite bereft as … Continue reading RunThrough Chase The Sun Brixton
Yesterday was the fourth time I have run the RunThrough Hyde Park 5k. My times from the previous four outings went like this: 25 April 39:17 23 May 39:26 6 June 40:10 and this was quite depressing because one is supposed to get faster and not slower! Anyway, I am delighted to say I have … Continue reading RunThrough Chase The Sun Hyde Park
Regular readers of this blog (both of you) will notice that I have been fartarsing around with my running ever since the marathon with statements such as "Look I chose a parkrun with really big hills so I am perfectly justified in walking half of it" "It's a bit hot, I think I'll Jeff it, … Continue reading RunThrough Chase The Sun Olympic Park
On Tuesday I was at the Olympic Park for a run with a bit of a difference. Instead of running horizontally, I was running vertically - up the Orbit, that is, the peculiar helter-skelter-like structure next to the stadium. It's 114.5 metres tall with 455 spiral stairs. I did this event last year and knew … Continue reading Upslide Down
I was rather nervous about last night's race, not just because of the hills and uneven terrain of Crystal Palace Park, but because the equivalent fixture in last year's Chase The Sun calendar (exactly a year ago) had ended very badly. The race itself had seemed to go okay, but I had been having a … Continue reading Chase The Sun Crystal Palace
I woke up this morning - the day after my cobble-related accident at Victoria Dock parkrun - to find that my right leg no longer bent in the middle and that I couldn't lift my left arm above my head. This was a bit of a problem as I was signed up for another race … Continue reading RunThrough Finsbury Park
I have not a lot to say about this week's race as it was pretty much exactly the same as the last month's. It was significantly hotter, but also significantly less mudder so I am hoping those two factors cancelled each other out and my time (40:11, exactly a minute faster than last month) represents … Continue reading RunThrough Chase The Sun Wimbledon Common
The latest edition of RunThrough's evening run series took me to sunny Wimbledon, home of tennis and Wombles. I will admit that if I hadn't got the season pass, I would probably have given this one a big miss as it is a trail run and I might have mentioned once or twice that I … Continue reading RunThrough Chase The Sun Wimbledon
When I signed up for the Westminster Mile nearly a year ago, I had some great ideas about doing lots of speedwork to train properly for it and do a super-speedy flying feet mile. It started well and by November I was down to 9:51. Then The Marathon happened and everything went to pot and … Continue reading Westminster Mile and London 10000
This will be a fairly quick review, as the course was completely unchanged from last time, my time was almost exactly the same, and even the weather was pretty much identical. I went out last night with four goals: Run the whole thing (ie. no walking) Don't get lost Don't have a tantrum about inappropriate … Continue reading RunThrough Chase The Moon Hyde Park
This weekend I did a lot of running related stuff but not a lot of actual running. Most of this centred round the Hackney Festival of Fitness. But first of all, there was Wanstead Flats' seventh anniversary. I didn't want to run because a) I was doing the Hackney 5k later b) it's a trail … Continue reading Hackney Festival of Fitness
My first 10k back was indeed a shambles - but not for the reason I thought it would be! The race was part of The Race Organiser's summer Royal Parks series, and took place in lovely, hilly Greenwich Park. The first 2km went really well, my legs felt fine and I was moving at roughly … Continue reading The Race Organiser Greenwich Park 10k
I saw the work physio yesterday. He spent a while prodding my tibiæ (I had to Google the plural of "tibia") and poking them with what looked like a vibrating tuning fork, before agreeing with my self-assessment that I had a case of shin splints but no fracture and needed to take a week or … Continue reading RunThrough Chase The Sun Finsbury Park
All those people who gave annoying, unsolicited, know it all advice in the run up to the marathon? I'd love to say they all conked out at 20 miles and shut up, but sadly not, they're all now boasting about how little time it took them to get back up and running again after the … Continue reading RunThrough Chase The Sun Hyde Park
I am no longer training for anything (well, a few 10ks, but I can already run 10k) and this means I can do exactly as I like. So with this in mind, I went for a run. I have the Chase The Sun season pass this year, so I can attend as many of the … Continue reading RunThrough Chase The Sun Clapham Common
Photos from Saturday at the Race Village I'll get the important bit over and done with: the weather on the day of the 2018 Brighton Marathon turned out almost perfectly. It was cool and grey for the majority of the race, with an hour of not-too-heavy rain, and a little sun round about the time … Continue reading Brighton Marathon 2018
In the end I went with Plan B (just get round) but really I should have stuck with Plan C (drop out halfway) or even Plan E (fuck it all off and go to the pub). It was a shocker. I'm feeling pretty down about the whole thing so please excuse the negative tone of … Continue reading Brighton Half Marathon 2018
Other than the aforementioned swimming, 20 minutes on a cross trainer and a little bit of Pokémon Go related walking I have done absolutely no exercise since the incident on Monday. At first I felt absolutely great for it but it is starting to wear off now. I feel all my muscles have turned into … Continue reading One Day to Brighton Half
Yesterday was Valentine's Day! So what did I do for Valentine's Day? I went for a run, of course, like I do most days. Thankfully Valentine's Day fell on a Chase The Moon day and RunThrough were on hand with heart themed medals to distract us from Smug Happy Couple Day. My friend Yasmin, who … Continue reading Chase The Moon Olympic Park (yet again)
My fascination with the Barcelona Half began in June 2016, when an ex whom I had been planning a trip to Barcelona with unceremoniously gave me the elbow. "Sod him, I'll go anyway" I said to myself, and when I spotted that Barcelona had a half marathon, this seemed an ideal time to go. Unfortunately, … Continue reading Barcelona Half Marathon 2018
And I am terrified! Entering a half marathon with a 2:45 cut off didn't seem a problem in June 2016, when I'd just run a half in 2:35 and naively assumed that my times would continue to improve. A month later I had a stress fracture. I completed my next half marathon (the … Continue reading I am in Barcelona
This was my third year taking part in the London Winter Run. This is a large, informal 10km through the streets of Central London which fills a glaring gap in the running calendar. I never understand why nearly all of the big runs are in summer, when hot weather is so hard to run in. … Continue reading London Winter Run 2018
In three weeks time, I'm going to be running the Brighton Half for the second time. The first time was one of the best days of my life. I've never actually written a post about it before, because it sounds a bit like a twee inspirational fat girl running story, and I hate those, but … Continue reading Brighton Half Marathon, 2016
First of all, can I please say a massive WELL DONE to the people who took part in the monster 6.5 lap half marathon at Victoria Park this morning. This is something that I could not, would not, will never do. I have done six half marathons and they are tough. What gets me through … Continue reading RunThrough Victoria Park 10km
On Tuesday it was time for another track session with the ViewTube lot. We had allegedly been promised an easy session to help ease us into the New Year but this did not transpire. There were "trains", intervals, handicap sprint 400 metre thingies and finally a relay race in which I let my team down … Continue reading RunThrough Chase The Moon Olympic Park
2017 started very badly with my withdrawal from the Barcelona Half with two weeks to go. Having missed so much training through injury, I knew there was no way I could run it within the time limit, and I decided to cut my losses and defer until 2018. I write this post with six weeks … Continue reading 2017 in Running
Christmas these days seems to be defined by a distinct lack of activity, closures and cancellations and gleeful gluttonous overconsumption of poor quality foodstuffs. Thank god for RunThrough to save us from all this with a festive run in Greenwich Park! They'd pulled out all the seasonal stops, with marshals in inflatable Santa suits and … Continue reading RunThrough Christmas Greenwich Park 10k
This is a post I wrote exactly a year ago which popped up in my memories today. I thought you might appreciate it. I am from London. I do runs that start in places like Trafalgar Square and take you across smooth, wide roads with not so much as a pothole in your way. If … Continue reading The Great Yorkshire Pieathlon 2016
Yesterday it was off to the Olympic Park for another RunThrough race. Throughout the summer, RunThrough organised a series of "Chase The Sun" races, taking place in a variety of parks throughout London on Wednesday nights, starting at 7pm. As a shiftworker I am always extraordinarily grateful for any company that puts things on on … Continue reading RunThrough Chase The Moon Olympic Park 10k
RunThrough are a smallish, friendly company that organise running events in parks, mainly in London. They also have a lively Facebook group, a newsletter and a free interval session on Mondays in Clapham (which I keep meaning to go to, but haven't yet). The events have a similar vibe to parkruns, in that they're full … Continue reading RunThrough Battersea Park
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