‘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
What does it take to run a marathon? That’s a question with lots of possible answers. Some more helpful than others. We’ve all seen those memes about the need to be a special kind of idiot and all that jazz. I’d agree, not that marathon runners are idiots exactly, but it does take a certain … Continue reading What Does it Take?
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
Well. That was a tough one. Marathon number 4, Richmond RunFest Marathon. A small, local race in familiar territory. Why was I running this race again? I hadn't really considered that question beyond wanting to achieve a time goal. I'd booked it almost a year ago in the aftermath of getting around the 4:30 mark … Continue reading Better than Kipchoge (Sort Of..!)
You know that feature at the front of Runner's World, 'Rave Run'? Well I had my very own one of those at the weekend. Mr. Duff and I were up in Aberdeen for a family visit. The purpose of the visit was a birthday surprise, so we were actually hiding out in Aberdeen for a … Continue reading Fit’s Adee – Old Deeside Line
Where were we? Oh yes, the first damn bridge. The course profile for the New York City Marathon looks, shall we say, rather undulating. The marathon course runs through all five boroughs of New York and the first of the significant undulations on the profile was the first bridge, the Verrazano Narrows bridge which takes … Continue reading NYC Part 2 – Last Damn Bridge
New York, New York – it’s a hell of a town! I’d completely forgotten how much I like New York. I’d been once before about 12 years ago and loved it then, and there was loads more I wanted to see this time as well as the minor business of running the marathon… We arrived … Continue reading NYC Part 1 – A New York State of Mind
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