It has been a good while since I posted here, nearer to three years than two. I have a big year of running planned for 2020 so I’ve decided to resuscitate the running blog.

First a brief summary of my running since the last update:

After running the 2017 Reading Half I settled into a fairly unchallenging routine of two or three 5k runs during the week, usually on the way home from work, followed by a 10k stretch on Sunday morning. The next race was Rivermead 10k in November 2017. I’m used to running on roads, and was not expecting this race to be on grass (and muddy grass at that) for much of its length. Elsewhere on the course it was a very narrow path which led to a bit of runners logjam in places. A disappointing 48:51 was the result.

To compound my woes I next signed up for the Mapledurham 10k in December 2017, again not realising this was a mixed terrain race, much of it on trails or muddy fields. I was not equipped for it, and also lost the route at a key point so ended up running 11.2k rather than 10k. Let’s not talk about the time. Least said, soonest mended.

I went off 10k races for a while after that, preferring to focus on half marathon distance. I duly signed up for the 2018 Reading Half, trained to beat 1:45 but was then snookered by the weather – the event was cancelled after 3cm of snow dropped the night before. Not wanting to waste the training miles I looked for an alternative event and found one at Dorney rowing lake – four and a bit laps of the lake. It’s a dull route, very small crowds, but it is dead flat and good for PB attempts. I was going well, on the race plan the whole way around then I got lost! This ought not to be possible on such a simple route, but I obviously wasn’t listening to the pre-race briefing. I got confused about where the finish was, running an extra few hundred metres before getting back on track. I was going pretty well, so this messing about might just have cost me the 1:45 goal, I ended up finishing on 1:48:46.

Despite the stupid finish, I was sufficiently encouraged by some of my splits in the latter stages of the half to see if I could turn that into a sub 45 minute 10k. I found a 10k tune-up training plan which, given a suitable base of miles, will prep you for a 10k in a specified time. I picked the Royal Berks 10k in May 2018 which is quite a flat, fast route. I trained well and on race day was going great. At about km 8 I could no longer ignore a pressing need to pee, so was forced into a roadside pitstop. This cost me about a minute, not far off the difference between the goal and my actual time of 46:15. Another annoying near miss.

Having run the Dorney lakes Half I decided I could expand my horizons, signing up for the Windsor Half in late September 2018. Man, that turned out to be a hilly race! I don’t do well with hills, or more accurately, I don’t train sufficiently to do well with them, so it was hard work. The finish is hellish as well, dead straight and with a good view down the Long Walk from the Iron Duke statue, it feels like it should only take a few minutes. Nuh-uh! Takes an age. I finished with 1:47:12, once again missing the 1:45 goal. Pesky hills.

Over the winter I ran two 10k races, Woodcote and Goring, both hilly, sharing as they do the same corner of the Chilterns. Glutton for hill punishment! I ran 48:48 and 47:08 respectively. Not bad, but still not under the elusive 45 minutes.

In March 2019 I ran the Reading Half again, determined to beat the 1:45 goal. I trained accordingly, following a more stringent plan than before. I nailed it, finishing in 1:42:55. This was just over 8 minutes off my previous course best of 1:51, and a good 4 minutes off my distance PB. I felt strong all the way around, sticking pretty well to my race plan. By the time I was down to the final few kilometres I just needed to run sub-5min km pace for the remainder to ace the goal. Shame about the race t-shirt, the latest in a long line of crappy t-shirts from the Reading Half.

I spent the next couple months avoiding running due to injury, hoping it would go away by itself. I eventually went to see a physio who basically told me to stop being a wimp and to get running again. He did also give me some exercises and stretches to do, and told me to ease myself in gently, but still. Around mid-May I picked it up again, signing up for the Maidenhead Half on 1st September to give me something to aim for. I trained well over the summer, and felt I was in good shape to breach the 1:40 mark. The day of the race was sunny and warm, I think this was the first time I’d raced in those conditions. For the first 15k I was bang on track, then my legs stopped obeying instructions, refusing to move as quickly as I needed them to. Things deteriorated from there, to the point that I don’t remember the last 2km of the race – AT ALL. Complete blank, away with the fairies.

I think I didn’t stay sufficiently hydrated. I do remember staggering over the finish line and then being basically unable to move for 45 minutes. I did recover after getting some water into me, but it was a rough afternoon. I finished in 1:45, so not awful, but not what I wanted.

In a fit of pique, and wanting to make best use of the prior training effort, I found the Oxford Half which was just this last weekend, 13th October. I’ll do a separate race report for that, but I can reveal now that it went very well!

So, we’re all caught up. Next year I will be having something of a mid-life crisis in the running department. Something inside me has snapped, the half marathon distance is no longer enough. I have signed up for the full marathon distance, the Brighton Marathon in mid-April next year. Not content with that, I have also signed up for a 100km ultramarathon in September. I might fit in a sprinkling of other races – 10ks and halves – next year, but those are the main events. More – much more – on those when the training for Brighton kicks in.

I’ll be back in a few days with the race report for the Oxford Half.