‘Ugh. Well this is just perfect. Is anything else going to go wrong today? I really should just not bother’. I had just locked the front door about to head out for my last long run before London, leaving my sunglasses on the other side of the same door on a bright day that was … Continue reading Perfection is the Enemy of Good
Hello Taper, my old friend I've made it to you once again For 13 weeks you’ve seemed elusive My longing for you so effusive And it’s tempting to think the work is now all done But still I run… Within the bounds of taper That’s your lot I’m afraid. I’m neither creative nor talented enough … Continue reading Tapertastic
This update might be controversial. Not sure. It’ll be interesting to see what people think. Here’s the thing; I’m pretty sure I’m going to run slower on marathon day than I originally said I intended to...but on purpose. Not something you hear runners admit to everyday. And I promise I’m not sandbagging. When I first … Continue reading Running Happy: Realistic Goals
It was all going so well... Week 5 of marathon training and I’d been diligently building up the Sunday long run mileage, running up and down hills and doing some actual proper speed work. My fitness and pace seem to be on their way back and I was pleased to be heading into the heaviest … Continue reading The Yamauchi Triangle
There are times when training for a marathon makes you question your life choices. Lying face down on a massage table in a small room with a stranger’s elbow rammed into places you’d usually slap someone for touching is definitely one of them. I’ve got a confession to make. Since I lucked out and got … Continue reading The Laziness of the Long Distance Runner
It’s taken me a couple of days to gather my thoughts about the London Marathon. It was such a surreal experience with such a range of emotions involved. It was only really on Tuesday morning as I was walking to work eager to show my colleagues my medal that it really hit me; I ran … Continue reading London Baby!
Its like the run up to Christmas, when you're excited to see what Santa brings but you're not sure if you're on the nice list or the naughty list. Its like the day after the final dress rehearsal, when you're keen to get on the stage and greet the audience but you're not sure you can remember … Continue reading Almost There
It happens to the best of us. Even if your training has gone spot on and you've hit every session exactly right, when the countdown clock goes under 21 days there's always room for a bit of maranoia. The week after Kingston, the last week of full training on my plan before taper, was annoyingly … Continue reading Maranoia
It's just over three weeks til Sunday 23rd April, the date which has been looming large in my diary since new year. London Marathon Day! And my charity vest just arrived. As I've mentioned, I'm running for Coram, the UK's oldest children's charity. Originally I was attracted to Coram as a charity because of the … Continue reading 23 Days til 23rd April…
Quite a large part of marathon training can feel like a bit of a slog. There's almost an element of Stockholm Syndrome to it. You're either running, recovering from running, thinking about running, or sitting at work wishing you were running instead. However at some point, if you're really lucky, things start to feel a … Continue reading Turning Points
duffrunning.com 