Blackpool (53) With all the parkruns in Cumbria having been visited, a Lake District holiday saw me heading south down the M6 early on Saturday to visit Blackpool parkrun. It was probably an unwise thing to do as I wasn’t feeling great and it was a cold morning, but I resolved to run it slowly. […]
Author: Stephen Dawson
Categories
Lucy’s first parkrun
After 10 years of well-meant teasing about how odd runners are, Lucy decided she was going to give it a decent stab, perhaps inspired in part by the London Marathon. She embarked with determination on the NHS Couch to 5k programme on 9 April, and with suitable tweaks continued to progress with three runs every […]
Categories
London Marathon 2018
The short version I completed my first marathon in the hottest London Marathon yet, with wonderful support from family and friends coming to London and many others more remotely. The crowd support was quite extraordinary. In common with almost everyone in the race, my time was slower than originally planned – in my case a […]
Categories
Dear friends (two days to go)
As I approach my run in the London Marathon this Sunday, I wanted to thank you for your support, through your words of encouragement and morale-boosting. I am feeling excited but also a little nervous in advance of my first marathon, but I think that’s normal. It is said that running is a series of […]
Categories
Picking a pace
A pleasant run 24km this morning, mostly on lanes towards Diss but including about a mile on a rather muddy byway. There were a few spits and spots of rain, but not enough to wet the ground, and getting distinctly warm towards the end. I found myself racing the postman in his van for several […]
Categories
Peak District 35km – longest yet
I ran 35km this morning on the High Peak and Tissington Trails in the Peak District, starting from Middleton Top. (The photo shows a wagon at the top of Sheep Pasture Incline and the engine house which used to pull the wagons up the 1:8 incline). This was my longest run yet, done in 3h38. […]
Categories
Speedy legs in Essex
This morning I popped to the Essex coast for a nice almost flat traffic-free half marathon, from Walton past Frinton and Holland and back again, where possible using the upper and lower options available in the two directions. The weather was cloudy and hazy but a perfect temperature for a run, with only very light […]
Categories
Within sight
With five weeks till the London Marathon, I ran 31.3 km this morning, my longest run yet, in 3h14. It snowed almost throughout but fortunately only very light, but the wind was gale-force so with the temperature below freezing (the Met Office said a “feels like” temperature of minus nine) it felt pretty chilly on […]
Categories
Getting longer
28km this morning, my longest yet. I found it went in four phases, perhaps more mental than physical. First it was easy, as any run will be to start with. Second it turned hard with my legs no longer fresh and as I became aware of still how far it was to go. Third it […]
Categories
Cyprus half marathon
Seven weeks to go till the London Marathon, and my training plan had suggested a half-marathon race, and somehow that got turned into a short holiday to Cyprus. It was an early start on Sunday morning to get to the Cyprus half in Paphos by 7.40. I was able to use a loo in the […]
Categories
8 weeks to go
So, just 8 weeks to go till the London Marathon. So, how are things going? A good week, I think. During the week, some hill intervals on the treadmill, a good paced 10km, some speed intervals, a swim and a good cycle. Then on Saturday I took the car to Melton and then the train […]
Categories
Claire’s 50th parkrun
Today was Claire’s 50th parkrun, and someone who bear’s his share of the responsibility for Claire doing parkruns (and 10k’s and 10-milers) at all, I thought I would pop down to Hadleigh to help celebrate. It was a glorious morning albeit rather chilly, with lovely views across the Thames estuary. Claire was tailwalking with her […]
Categories
Plans afoot
Since getting my place in May 2017 for in The Big One on 22 April 2018, I’ve deliberately run a lot more races than previously, with more in the pipeline. Those planned still to do: In March, my first overseas race, the Cyprus Half Marathon in Paphos. In places it’s not the most thrilling of routes, […]
at the Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, 3rd February The organisers of the Virgin Money London Marathon put on an event called “Meet the Experts”, an opportunity to hear from a range of experts to help those attending (almost exclusively first timers such as myself) to be better prepared by the time we get to 22nd […]
Categories
Hadleigh 2012 Legacy 10k, January 2018
Part of the legacy of the 2012 Olympics is the mountain-bike course at Hadleigh in Essex, including some rather challenging terrain for bikes. Arising from that is the slightly confusingly named Hadleigh 2012 Legacy 10k, confusing only in the sense that one must understand that the 2012 doesn’t refer to the year of the event, […]