Just after I finished the marathon a few of my uni mates decided to apply for a 10k in London. As the marathon hadn’t put me off running I signed up too. At that point there were 3 of us subscribed, by race day there were another 2 runners and a few spectators.

For all of my friends this race was the furthest distance they had ‘formally’ run but even before we had started they showed the spirit of true amateur runners forming their excuses as to why they didn’t get the time they hoped for…

I am going to start this post by doing my stats etc then move on to my whinging about the course as I suspect there are a number of people who really couldn’t care about the poor organisation. Due to the flat course I new a personal best was entirely possible, the only concern was due to the large number of people, how much weaving I would have to do. As it turns out I would have to do a lot, racking up an extra 400meters on my watch as well as being on the curbside a lot more than I would like. Fortunately I still managed a time of 46:02 my fastest yet and the knowledge that probably given the right conditions I could make 45mins…my mates also did awesome coming in at 48mins(Soo), 55 mins(Kev), 1hr6(Jackie) and 1hr20(Kul). As Soo was the only one to wear a chip there is an element of trust on those times esp as 2 of them didn’t even wear a watch! To be honest though it really didn’t matter what time they got as ultimately they all finished and when I sat waiting and listening I could tell all of them had had that adrenaline buzz I have had crossing the finish line. Some said never again but I wouldn’t be surprised if they all try again as I think they all found it slightly better than they imagined…I think on that note if anyone wants to run another one I will willingly run with you to keep you company…

Bits of the course followed the marathon course taking in the infamous underpass on the embankment, one of the few bits of privacy that the London marathon runners will see. It was nice to do these bits and take in some of the sights and not have just run 23miles beforehand. The support was pretty good which to be honest makes sense assuming for every 2 or 3 runners they bring a guest. With better organisation I think this run has real potential, running past some amazing sights, sadly this year (and from reading some other forums) and previous years this poor organisation is a common factor.

Congrats and kudos to all my mates. 4 years ago I didn’t expect to be sitting on a pavement having run 10km with them (then again I suspect that is a mutual thought!) however now it’s time to do what I’m good at and moan, maybe this blog will come high up on google for British 10k and the race organisers may read it!

Having done a fair few paid for runs in the last year I thought the Paris half was the poorest organised until now. This event has to come fairly close to it faltering on several places. The event itself has to be one of the biggest 10k’s in London and with that the organisation should be on par to cope with that but it wasn’t…

Having rocked up into town at what I thought to be an early time I decided that I could avoid the portaloos by heading up Shaftesbury Av to McD’s when I arrived I clearly wasn’t the only person to have this idea as there was a queue. This queue however, as we were about to find out, was about 30 mins (at least) shorter than the portaloos in an incredibly bottle-necked baggage drop of area. I didn’t have to drop off a bag but for those who did it was a good job it didn’t rain as it didn’t look like there would be any coverage for the bags. Also this whole area was far to small for the shear number of people here.

Having found a couple of my mates due to him having his mobile on him we decided to walk to the start. This brings me on to issue number 2, the walk from the drop off point to Hyde park corner must be getting on for at least a km if not more. There must be places nearer to the start, to make matters worse they can’t even justify the bag drop being there as it’s close to the end as it was a similar distance from the finish lines to the bags…move the start or finish I’m sure it can’t be too difficult, that way you maybe able to avoid the u-turns which I’ll come onto later….

The start of the race was a complete shambles. Due to the fact that there were no pens to place similar paced runners I got to the back and realised there were several thousand runners of all shapes and sizes in front of me. Don’t get me wrong they all deserved a spot and they had clearly arrived earlier than me but I had paid money to do a run and with this number in front of people I couldn’t see that being possible for the first couple of kms. I decided to keep pushing forward. Eventually giving up when it was clear there was no way I could push further forward it was clear I still had a few thousand in front. The immensely underwhelming klaxon marked the start of the run yet we appeared to be standing still. We seemed to edge forward about 4 at a time and it wasn’t until I reached the “front” did I learn why. For some reason, they had decided to start the queue on one side and make runners cross to start but the gap to go through to cross couldn’t have been more than 5 people wide meaning the 30 or 40 person wide road had to bottlekneck through to the start. As I was on my own I could squeeze through but would hate to think what it was like to maintain a group at the start! Needless to say once through the start line I did indeed spend the first 10 mins weaving in and out past people that in any other race wouldn’t have started. On the plus side the roads on the whole were quite wide meaning that there was normally room to pass.

As I mentioned the route had some nice focal points but the last 3k in particular had bits of it that felt they were tacked on for an extra 200meters, with the number of people involved doing a complete 180 from one side of the road to the other didn’t feel ideal. This happened twice, being forced to go halfway across Westminster bridge then turn then past the Houses of Parliament up a bit then u-turn. I can understand road closures must be a nightmare but I’m sure that 500m could easily have been added without the need for these 180’s! Perhaps look at where the race starts and finishes and move a tiny bit!

I suspect most will be bored by now but if you are still here the course is certainly flat so if you can avoid weaving then there is certainly a pb chance.

A few years ago I dusted off my squash racket and got back into the game – having not played it since school. A colleague and I would hit the court almost routinely on a Tuesday morning before work for a (mostly) friendly knockabout. We did this for some while and I think we got a little better and every so often I’d also head down with a school mate who would proceed to whip my arse as he was a in a whole different league to myself but he was also fairly happy to coach me in my ways. However, during my marathon training I put a stop to playing squash, as sports go it’s fairly intense on the ankles and also the body so thought it was probably best to put this alongside the other “high risk activities” and stop doing it!

Anyway Ad and I did get a sneaky game in early on in my training but today was a time for a rematch, he beat me last time (3 games to 2 I think) but we were both at a very similar level so thought it should be quite fun to play again, plus I have been promising it for months now!

Rocking up to London Bridge Fitness First at 830 I was already hot and bothered, the central line stopped at Stratford so had to change route and ultimately arrived late even though I had given myself a good 15/20 min extra time. Quick change and we were on the court…

I guess it should be fairly obvious that an enclosed room was going to be hot given the temperature outside but I don’t think either of us were totally prepared for the heat in there which was obvious from the start! I was already warmed up following a brisk walk from the station so let Ad hit about whilst I sorted out some fluid for during the game. Got back to the court and did a bit of racket / hand-eye calibration, I was shockingly bad and I am sure Ad must have been thinking that this morning was going to be a walkover (I was thinking the exact opposite)!

I won the racket-spin and elected to serve, lost the first game but I think it was a close one (I can’t believe I genuinely can’t remember – worrying!). However, after game one I managed to win 3 games in a row (again with very close scoring). At 3-1(best of 5) Adam suggested to play another game, not really sure why – I’m pretty sure he was as shattered and as hot as I was! He won this bringing the score to 3:2 to me and a reverse of last time. That brings the match score to 1:1 meaning a rematch is definitely on the cards!

Oddly whilst playing yesterday I felt a lot quicker around the court, managing to get to drop shots I don’t think I would have got to before. I can only put this down to my improved fitness. Also today was the first time I have ever really realised how little support squash shoes give. There were shots where I didn’t feel particularly comfortable when running to get the ball. I don’t really want to spend more money on a sport i barely do but I may have to look to see if they sell indoor shoes with feet that pronate in mind…?

Another cool thing about squash is as it’s high intensity my heart rate went through the roof reaching peaks of 184 (see graph below). To give some useful comparison when I go spinning even on the fastest sprints and biggest hills getting my heart rate above 170 is an almost impossible challenge, and during my runs I normally sit around a constant 175. I can’t really remember the last time I broke the 180 mark but apparently I was training in ‘zone 5′. Not really too sure what that means but all I do know was that the morning was tough and knackering so that must be good right??

“It’s too hot”…I’m sure almost every runner out there have usesd this line at least once in their lifetime, alongside “it was rainy/windy/icy etc”. It seems like a bloody good excuse and once you get this excuse into your brain whilst out it’s a challenge to get it out – this weekend I failed!

Having faffed a little and had a relatively long lie in (for me) I didn’t manage to get out the door until about 11am. At this point the demons were already telling me not to bother but fortunately I had the willpower to ignore those ones. Having barely made it to the bottom of the road I knew instantly today was going to be hot (well hot for England anyway) and stuffy and at this point I was trying to work out how I could cut my run short thinking things like “maybe I’ll just do 5km – it doesn’t really matter how far I go anyway, I’m not really working towards anything”.

The route I chose was the much flatter Longfield track along 1 road and then turning back on myself. I ran it once during my marathon training and remember thinking it was a little dull and not quite as flat as you would expect it to be. However, it was this or the hill route of last week an for some reason that route really wasn’t appealing to me that morning.

I got to 4km a couple of km’s short of where I turned on my last attempt and decided that that would be a good turning point. I could add a km at the other end easily taking the run up to a currently respectable 9km and what’s one km between friends anyway! Turning back on myself I reran exactly the same path (Ive never been a fan of tracking back on yourself I’d much rather a loop…) that said it has a little scenery including a few fields with horses, there was also a mirror on the route which provided a rather amusing annecdote but I don’t think I can do the story (or my stupidity) any justice on this blog… » Continue reading “I’m English so lets complain about the weather….”

Over the last week I have been very lazy. Repeatedly putting off doing exercise (gym/run) with no real excuse in fact baring a fairly intense spin session on Monday I have done nothing else even though I think I have taken gym kit into work every day! I decided that I wasn’t going to miss out on a long(ish) run as well so as I was at Laura’s I opted for the hill run upto her nans.

I have done this route once before, last time I only did the uphill stage and got a lift back, this time I was going to do both stages, after all the down should be the easier part! After a 3.5k incline (first 1.5k high gradient) I reached the summit At this point I decided that I would run this as a 10k so added a loop at the top (and at the bottom). » Continue reading “Hill running”

Contrary to what could be implied in the title I did not have a lavish shopping spree in some of the fancy shops in Bluewater this weekend instead on a glorious Sunday morning at stupid o’clock I donned my running gear woke up my taxi ride (sorry Laura) and headed the few miles from hers to the big shopping center.

From reading the reviews online perhaps we got lucky in knowing side routes into Bluewater, setting off at 730 and only sitting in a small queue of traffic it appears some were not so lucky stuck waiting on the A2 in a queue that could compete with Christmas Eve shopping traffic. By 8am we were parked and I was off heading for my usual pre run routine, namely queuing for the portaloos…sigh

Necessities out of the way and obligatory pre-run photo done, I set off for the start. Bumping into Sports Clinic Chris (would give a link but they have no website) on route was good to have a chat with someone I knew, he was quiet at the time but I suspect this wouldn’t last long and just after an hour after he should have clients trickling in. Start time was now approaching so I headed for the “pens”.

Being smaller in number to a few of the other runs the only restrictions in the starting pens was that women were one side of the road and men the other – not sure why other than it may make a nice photo opportunity. Both groups were started at the same time, and by 830 we were off, running down the road that you enter the shopping center on merging about 800m in at a roundabout.

I didn’t enter this course expecting to see sites, BW is built in a quarry and hence the biggest landmarks on the route could possibly be either the QE2 bridge or Asda . Sadly we didn’t get to run over the QE2 – something I would really like to do one day….Lakeside to Bluewater Run maybe heh. I was blissfully unaware of the hilly nature of this course. Looking at the reviews after most describe the course as undulating – “To give a wavelike appearance or form to”. This to me seems a fairly accurate description of the course, baring the hill at 5km which lasted best part of a 1.5km – that was fun but was over quite quickly with a descent to reclaim some of the time. » Continue reading “Bluewater 10k”

Almost a year after heading to Florida Laura and I were back on a plane heading to the west coast of America this time, in particular California. Much the same as last year my running shoes were packed and I was going to ensure I did at least one run whilst I was out there, this I did, albeit on the day we left!

Los Angeles offers some what appear to be lovely running routes the path that runs alongside Venice beach upto Santa Monica looks amazing but if I’m totally honest the club sandwiches with huge portions of food and the general attitude I seem to adopt when heading to the States makes me struggle for motivation to want to run! Anyway as my trainers had traveled thousands of miles I was going to wear them…

On the final morning I set up my kit and left for a short jog around Pasadena, this was no race, far from it. Having put on what felt like a stone in the last 7 days, it was more about getting moving and stopping my legs going to sleep. A short 5k was decided heading round in familiar territory near to the hotel. The Garmin took a while to work out where we were – I assume there is some form of intelligence that says ‘I was here last time so see if I’m nearby to that point still’. All I can imagine is walking out of the hotel and the watch going “ahhhhhh where the hell am I!!”, or something like that. » Continue reading “Running in the USA”

Since ‘the Big One’ my runs have been few and far between. I have done one 10k and a tough hill run but that’s about it. This is fine, this is the time for recovery and in perfectly aware of that. However, that hasn’t stopped me getting itchy feet entering a couple of ballots NYC Marathon (unsuccessful) and the 2010 London one as well as signing up for a 10k with a few mates. It is with this 10k in mind I clean off my shoes and start retraining.

The Niketown run is nothing new for me ( to any of you who subscribed to my marathon blog apologies for the repetition) however I think it’s probably a good time to advertise the concept again – not that it is under subscribed! If you head over to the nikeplus site make sure you are on the UK site (union jack on the bottom right), then click community, niketown runners, sign up (free) select your preference 3/4/7 miles then turn up at NikeTown Oxford Circus at 6:15 Monday(for girls) / Tuesday night ready to run! I will also make in the next few posts a conceited effort to write a review of my Nike+. If you want to go for a free run on a weeknight it’s a good wheez in my humble opinion.

This week I opted for a seven miler and had the previously rare benefit of having a running buddy. Soo, who is also doing the 10k in July decided he would join me for my first lap. I really enjoy running with others as it tends to push me a bit more, I’m a bloke hence I’m naturally competitive. Anyway we set off and the pace creeps up, I’m breathing fairly heavily after 3k I was aware this wasn’t going go be a gentle one. My problem is when someone drops back a bit I slow myself a bit to let them catchup but then tend to find myself speeding up when they do cause I feel like I’ve dropped too much, viscious circle. After the first lap Soo dropped off and headed back to the shop, by this point I was aware that it was going to be a fast one realising we had put in some 4:35min kms. I knew I wouldn’t be able to maintain the same pace on my own on the second lap but endeveaoured to stay at a faster than 5:00 km pace which it turns out from looking at my garmin data I managed.

Over the next few blogs I really want to pull out some info from both my watch and my nikeplus to embedd on the right and in posts. There is some really cool stuff including heart rate / pace info which I don’t feel the way garmin presents it does it much justice. I think I have found some graphing software that looks good and a way of extracting the info so hopefully it should all fall into place a lot better!