A couple of weekends ago I went off to Wales to race a train. This is a multi-terrain race where the competitors aim to beat the train on the Talyllyn Railway. The course, for the main race, is around fourteen miles, starting and finishing in Tywyn, roughly following the railway. The route has a couple [...]
The weekend before last I visited my family and I ran in the inaugural Poole parkrun. Also taking part in the race was local runner Liz Yelling. As we were going to the South West Orienteering Middle Race later in the day my parents supported, rather than ran, and dad went out with his camera. [...]
Anyway, eleven days ago I went to my local parkrun. This race happens a few miles from where I live and I run there and back, giving me a nice 10(ish) mile run. This means that I tend not to do the race flat out, as I want some energy left for the hill on [...]
It seems that the training I have been doing is starting to have an effect. I was down in Dorset over the weekend and while there I raced the last of the Poole Runners Winter Time Trials – a 5k race along the promenade at Boscombe. I ran the first half at a fast, but [...]
Last month when I ran this race my running was not that smooth and it felt difficult. This month was a definite improvement, with my running feeling, and looking, more smooth. I went off more slowly than normal and then picked up the pace on the return leg – the race being an out and [...]
I’ve finished running for this year, which was something I could have said ten days ago as well. I decided to take most of December off and start building up my running again next month. I managed 966 miles this year. I have not run enough this year and that is reflected in a disappointing [...]
Last Friday I travelled down for the 5k race organised by Poole Runners. This was the third in the series of six events, which take place once a month from October to March. I ran two of the races in the series last year, with my 5k PB coming in the equivalent race last December. [...]
A couple of weekends ago, I went to the Berkshire Fetch Mile – these events are organised through the Fetcheveryone website. I had had vague thoughts about doing one of the local parkruns before but decided, instead, to have a welcome lie in. I travelled by train to Thatcham and then had a pleasant couple [...]
On Sunday I ran the Bracknell Half Marathon. I had, early in the year, made plans to attempt to run a PB at this race. In the last few weeks I decided that I was not in the best of shape and shelved the plans for a future day. I did not think much to [...]
Last Friday I travelled down to Dorset and took part in the first race of Poole Runners Summer Series. This race was two laps of Upton Country Park. The Garmin track of my run shows how close we pass to the Holes Bay part of Poole Harbour. I had a reasonable run. I started slightly [...]
Last Saturday I went on a Performance Coaching Day, organised by the British Army Orienteering Club. Over twenty members of Wimborne Orienteers, my club, spent the day in a series of orienteering activities. I have had little formal orienteering coaching before and it was good to spend some time concentrating on specific tasks, which should [...]
This past weekend I travelled down to Cornwall for the Duchy Marathon. My preparation for this race had been mixed. During January I did a decent amount of training, with some good long runs. The lack of running in February, however, meant that I had effectively had a five week taper. My plan was to [...]
On arriving back into the UK yesterday, after two weeks in Santa Fe, NM, I decided that I would run a half marathon. With the lack of sleep and the hours of travelling, I decided that I would run at an easy pace and then pick up the speed towards the end if I felt [...]
This past weekend I travelled down to Dorset again. The main reason was to meet my nephew, who is nine days old today. However, while down I decided that I would make it to the Poole Runners’ Boscombe 5k. My preparation was not great for this race – I finished my old job on Friday [...]
I will not run again this year! The 4.8 miles this morning brought me up to 1232 for the year. There is a temptation to go out and run the extra couple of miles needed to make that 1234 miles for the year, but I will resist. Positives for the year I completed my first [...]
I’ve run fairly well this year but there was a gap in my results – I had not set a 5k PB. I had raced the distance several times, but none had produced a PB. The two parkrun courses that I run (Reading and Basingstoke) are slower at this time of year, so I decided [...]
This morning I ran the Henley Half Marathon. The weather was good – cool and no rain, though it was fairly windy. A couple of weeks ago I got a Garmin 305 and decided to use this to monitor my pace as I went along. This means that there is a Garmin Connect run information [...]
On Saturday afternoon I went along to the Berkshire Fetch Everyone Mile. This is an event organised through the Fetch Everyone website and gives an opportunity for people to meet up, have a run, eat some cake, and talk about running. My aim was to take at least one second off my PB, though I [...]
Parkruns are weekly, free, timed, 5k runs. I have been to the Basingstoke parkrun several times and run the Brahmall Park and Leeds Hyde Park ones as well. Last week one started in Reading. As I was in London last week I could not make the first one, but went along yesterday. The Reading parkrun [...]
This could easily be titled: ‘A good run with a friend.’ I am off on holiday in a few days – six days of orienteering in Switzerland – so I did not want to overdo it today. I had a vague plan of starting at nine minute miles and speeding up in the second half [...]
It has been a hot week. Reading University’s weather station recorded the hottest temperature of the not only this year, but of the last three years, at 5:09pm – 28.9C. Not ideal conditions for racing, which was a problem as I was entered for the second race in the Yateley 10k series. The race organisers [...]
On Saturday I went to Basingstoke to run a 5k and then onto a track near Newbury to run a mile. Rather a good combination for the day and making good use of the fine weather we have been having recently. Basingstoke Parkrun Before this race I could not decide how fast to run. I [...]
Yesterday evening saw another race – a trip out to Bracknell Forest for a five mile race. Last week I had had a hectic day before racing, but this week was more relaxed. Sadly, my legs felt tired during my warm up. I started slowly and then picked up to a reasonable pace in the [...]
On Wednesday evening I went to the first of the Yateley 10k races. I was going with a friend and we both had hectic days and little chance to think about the race until we were driving across. The race centre organisation was good. I had no wait to pick up my number/chip, get a [...]
It seems to be 10k season at the moment and, maybe, I will run this distance well at some point. Certainly Sunday was not a well paced effort and slower than I wanted to go. When I woke up it was nice and sunny, but the clouds quickly came over and it started tipping it [...]
An ok run. I was not going flat out, as I did not feel too well, and was a minute or so behind my PB. Well done to R for keeping me company when it looked like he could run faster and for him still managing to take a few minutes off his PB. I’ll [...]
Yesterday I ran a quarter marathon – which is about 500m longer than a 10k. It was a good day to be out running. The first part of this race is over two miles along the seafront, starting at Boscombe pier. These two miles seem to go on for ever, with the sea on the [...]
I knew, from my recent 10 mile races, that I had the opportunity to take several minutes off my PB and that a time of 1:35 was possible. However, I also knew that it would require hard work towards the end – I have done very few runs of over 10 miles this year. So [...]
I had not been intended to go to Basingstoke this morning but I woke up early and decided last minute to make the trip. When I set off from home it was fairly chilly, but the sun soon got to work and by the time I arrived it was nice temperature. I took the first [...]
Two PBs this weekend – one for mum and one for me. Basingstoke parkrun On Saturday I travelled down to Basingstoke, where I met with my parents. Mum had decided it was time for an attack on her 5k PB and, with me running Salisbury 10 the next day, I decided to run with her. [...]
This past weekend I travelled to Basingstoke to run the parkrun 5k and then onto the New Forest for the British Relay Orienteering Championships. Basingstoke parkrun I had a reasonable run and finished in 20:52. This adds to the bulk of my 5k results, where I have now five times between 20:47 and 20:55. This [...]
I had been really struggling to decide on a race plan for the Bramley 10. I am only just back to full training after my marathon last month. I have had a few confidence building training runs in the past week and decided to aim for as close to 75 minutes as possible, with a [...]
Running on fresh snow is great – before the snow has time to turn to ice it is not slippery and all you have to do is watch out for covered trip hazards. I ran 3.6 miles this morning – making sure that I was very well wrapped up against the cold before going out. [...]
Last week I travelled over to Florida. My main reason for going was to run in the Walt Disney World Marathon.
The year is nearly finished, so time for a review or my running and orienteering! Miles run: 1433 Days run: 182 Races: 14 Orienteering: 26 Best Race Windsor Half Marathon – paced this really well and ran strongly for much of the time, lowering my PB to 1:42:10. Best Orienteering British Sprint Championships at Warwick [...]
On Saturday afternoon I went and ran a track mile – the first time I had run on a track! This event was organised through the running website Fetcheveryone – combining some running and socialising. Oh, and cake eating! I went round a few times to warm up and get used to the feel of [...]
Another trip yesterday to Basingstoke to run in the weekly parkrun 5k. It was also the Christmas event and social, which meant that several people were in fancy dress. My parents were also around with mum also running the 5k. I had decided that I would start off and see if I was up for [...]
This morning saw another trip to Basingstoke to run the weekly 5k parkrun. Being able to run a simple, efficiently organised event each week is good. I did not run a PB today but did put in a solid run, finishing in 20:37. After I joined some of the others runners for coffee and a [...]
The plan for this race was simple. A quick warm up, then some miles at intended race pace of 8mm, followed by the half marathon at the same 8mm pace, and finishing with a quick warm down. This would mean that the half marathon would be run in a time three minutes slower than my [...]
Saturday morning saw an early start, so that I could get to Basingstoke in time for the parkrun 5k. Last time I had been down I had not eaten enough before going, so I started this morning with a good combination of cereal, a banana, and coffee. The trip to the park involved a 2 [...]
I was heading up north for a weekend of orienteering. On Saturday the races were in Leeds and they started late enough in the day that I could go and run the local parkrun first. We stayed on the outskirts of Leeds and woke early enough for me to eat breakfast before travelling in to [...]
A while back I went to the inaugural North Hampshire Time Trial. Since then the series has been rebranded and the event is now the Basingstoke parkrun, but this was the first Saturday where I had managed to get back again. I started fairly well – managing to keep at a reasonable pace, but without [...]
Yesterday saw a trip to Windsor to run in the 26th Windsor Half Marathon. A 1pm start saw an odd morning routine based around deciding when to eat and then travelling early to avoid the traffic. A bit before the start of the race I went for a slow warm up. This did not have [...]
Yesterday I took part in the ‘Down Tow Up Flow’ Thames Towpath Half Marathon 2008 – a run along the Thames tow path from Windsor to Marlow. During last week I kept checking the weather forecast and it kept point to a hot day. Yep, the forecasters were right – it started hot and just [...]
This past weekend I went to the inaugural North Hampshire Time Trial – a 5k race around the Basingstoke War Memorial Park. I travelled down on the morning by train and walked across to the park. It would have made more sense to use the journey to the park as a warm up, but I [...]
As I was heading up to Stockport for the weekend, for the orienteering and to visit family, I decided I would also get up in time to run this 5k race. Originally I had planned to travel up on Friday, but plans changed and I ended up driving up on Saturday morning – meaning a [...]
A rather good Father’s Day outing – with most of the family running. The course went round the town I lived in for ten years. I started at a good pace and after 600m realised that I was just behind my brother. I ran down the main hill with him, but he pulled away just [...]
I have lived in Reading for five and a half years and often taken some notice of the local half marathon, but not too much. Last year, while in China (IIRC), I was talking with one of my colleagues and we came to the idea of running this year.
The first orienteering event for me this year and it was the club based competition – the Compass Sport Cup. Or rather Compass Sport Trophy, since Wimborne Orienteers are a ‘small’ club. Having been ill in the run up to this event I was not expecting to run too well, meaning that I expected to [...]
In a poor start to the year I went down with flu on the second day. I had arranged to run a 10k road race with a colleague, but had to give it a miss. Also the 10 mile race I had pencilled in for next month has had to be cancelled. Combined the means [...]
