Of course, I got lost getting there, so of course I was late. I was greeted and directed by the waiting marshals, the latter of whom warned me that the runners were about to start. They were not wrong. I was almost mowed down in the final hundred yards by a stampede of shoes. I… Continue reading Brimstage Parkrun
Category: Running
Cardiff Half Marathon
We can see the pacer flags for a 2:30 half marathon and think to squeeze closer to them. It’s difficult because the throng of runners and civilians presses us in. Some of these non-runners look like shocked shoppers who have come out of the coffee shop and then nearly been pushed back in. Mostly they… Continue reading Cardiff Half Marathon
Loch Ness Marathon
The song ‘Ring of Fire’ by Johnny Cash has been playing in my head all day on and off. It’s mainly ‘on’ when I try and stand up or go down the stairs. When two rings of fire light up around my quads and I wince audibly. The irony here is that after my previous… Continue reading Loch Ness Marathon
Drumnadrochit
I nearly didn’t make it to Parkrun. The postcode took me to a turning that was signposted as Belladrum and then told me ‘You have arrived’ but it was a narrow road that continued winding through the dark trees. There were a couple of houses and two ‘private’ roads branched off the main track and… Continue reading Drumnadrochit
Tapering For The Loch Ness Marathon
I’m in the last week before my marathon. I have absolutely no idea how well I’m going to run it anymore because although I started the training well with a very good base (for me) of running thirty miles a week and then upping that to thirty-five, I lost the momentum after a long weekend… Continue reading Tapering For The Loch Ness Marathon
A Super Long Run – Done?
Reader: I stopped at sixteen miles. Then I had an ice cream, and then I carried on to the full twenty. Yes, there was a big pause where I recovered somewhat, and no, I’m not going to do that on the big day, unless they decide to put an ice cream van just before we… Continue reading A Super Long Run – Done?
A Super Long Run
I’m a little bit nervous. I have decided to run/walk twenty miles (ish) tomorrow. The first of my two twenty-mile long runs. I’m deliberately going out on the Wirral Way, where it can get tedious because it is flat and straight but is ideal for getting a rhythm going because it is flat and straight.… Continue reading A Super Long Run
Loch Ness MT – Somewhere between Weeks 4 and 8
I haven’t written a blog about my running for four weeks. The last one was talking about Week 4 and now we’re nearing the end of Week 8, so for me, who can normally natter on, that’s a while. In past marathon iterations I’ve managed to get something out more frequently, but not this time.… Continue reading Loch Ness MT – Somewhere between Weeks 4 and 8
Loch Ness MT – Week 4
I made the mistake, the other day, of looking back at my records. Specifically, around the training of the Yorkshire Marathon in October 2023. That was only three years ago. Three years is not that long, but for a woman who had then just turned fifty, and now is nearly fifty-three, it feels like an… Continue reading Loch Ness MT – Week 4
Loch Ness MT – Weeks 2 and 3
Well, the temperature has dropped a bit, but the soles of my feet have been roasting. The rest of me is alright but my feet seem to do this each night in the heat, and I have to drape a cold flannel over so they don’t self-combust. That would not do when I’m supposed to… Continue reading Loch Ness MT – Weeks 2 and 3
