On Thursday of this week my good friend Danny convinced me to come along to the speed training session that he does on a Thursday. A few of us went along and although we got a good kicking by many of the youngsters of the Harambee running group and got absolutely soaked to the skin in the pouring rain it was a good hard session and I felt good on Friday and ready for more!

Saturday morning at Bushy was setting up to be a fast morning. Conditions were great (cold, firm ground and next to no wind) and in addition to a ‘mob-match’ between two local triathlon clubs the Harambee runners were there for a pre-Christmas blast round the park.

With the team behind the excellent parkrun show and Marathon Talk podcasts in attendance it was set to be lots of fun down at Bushy.

I planned to push pretty hard and see if I could get close to my personal best of 17:32 from a few weeks ago. After a bit of a confused start (a few chaps started early and the starting sequence got a little muddled) over 800 runners headed off towards Teddington Gate.

I don’t have much to say other than I pushed really hard throughout. The field was absolutely ‘stacked’ with fast runners and there were plenty of people around me. Lots of surging, lots of competitive running. It was ace.

Just before the 4k mark Martin Yelling came powering past me looking strong. He looked like he was on a mission and that mission was to take down parkrun show podcast host and co-presenter Danny Norman (which he almost did). The last km was tough (hmm, much like the previous four!).

Sharon was there taking photos and got a great photo at about 4.5km of Danny, Martin and myself in the background…

I crossed the line in 26th position with a time of 17:33 – one second slower than my personal best. Excellent. I have no complaints about that time at all. With four sub-18 minute finishes in the past six parkrun events (OK, we all know the southern courses as ‘soft’!) I firmly believe that I’ve stepped up a level to a new range of times in my running (well, over 5k at least).

Finally, to give an idea of the strength of the field at Bushy here’s an example – last week a friend ran 19:45 and finished 29th. This week he ran 19:43 and finished 102nd! There were admittedly around 23 percent more people this week (810 versus 655) but that means he should have been around 35th place! Talk about top heavy!

Following on from a 10 mile personal best and a good 18:02 5k run at Frimley Lodge parkrun a couple of weeks ago.  The Frimley course is fast but has quite a few turns in it to slow you down so I was really pleased with 18:02.

A week later I was at Bushy parkrun.  I’d not run there since August (shock horror!) and had a nice little warm-up with Sharon before the start.  Conditions were ideal (cool with little wind) and as the 700+ runners set off I found myself pushing hard.

I chose not to look at my watch and just go on feel as much as I could.  As I went round the corner at the end of the first straight (about 1.1km in) I could see Mark G., Chris W., and someone else up ahead about 20m away.  I was feeling good and tried to see if I could slowly reign them in.  There was no rush.  This isn’t a sprint!

By about 2km I was with them and I tucked in close behind.  It felt comfortable being in their draft and before long I decided to push on ahead.  As I moved ahead I expected to see Mark and Chris right behind me (as they’re both much faster than me over 5k) but they didn’t.  I was then off on my own, with no idea of my time/pace other than knowing that either I’m doing very well or Mark and Chris are having a ‘mare!

At 4k I decided to take a glance at my watch.  I didn’t see the timer but did glance at my pace, which was about 5:37 per mile – a few seconds per mile quicker than my PB pace.  OK, all I had to do was try and fight through to the finish and I was looking good for a personal best.

Coming down the final straight I dug real deep – didn’t quite catch the runner ahead of me but crossed the line in 17:32 – a 19 second person best.  As soon as I saw my time I was pretty stunned – then I realised how tough it is going to be to get near it again!  Ho hum.

Fast forward a week to today and I’m on the start line at Richmond parkrun.  I’ve not run here since new years day and its a little challenging course.  The downhill is too steep to be comfortable, and there’s very little comfortable about running uphill on the way back!  I wasn’t expecting anything special today as I’d run 17 miles on Friday as part of my marathon training.  The legs were feeling it but a 10-15 minute warm-up and a few ‘strides’ got me ready.

Over 250 runners set off in ideal conditions once again and it was pretty chaotic at the start as everyone goes off in a mad rush to find clear space.  As I came round the first corner before the downhill I was probably 12th or 13th and I could see the leading two runners moving into the distance.

I pushed on at a solid pace and went through the first mile in 5:33 (there’s a fair bit of downhill during the first mile).  I’d slowly moved up to about seventh place by this point.  As we headed along the grass towards Sheen Gate I caught up with the runner ahead of me and pushed on past him.  I was feeling pretty good but know it was literally all uphill from here!

In the last half mile I caught up with another runner ahead of me and pushed past him on a short steep uphill section.  I opened up a gap and just kept on pushing.

Crossing the line in a time of 18:13 was much better than I’d hoped for at the start.  I was fourth overall and my time was 22 seconds faster than my Richmond parkrun PB of 18:35 (from September 2009).

So, at 10am I was on the start line ready to see how my legs would cope with 10 miles of hard effort, especially after a surprise 18.02 time at Frimley Lodge parkrun yesterday (which doesn’t really lend itself to fast times).  I’d not planned to run that hard but had a couple of people were breathing down my neck and that spurred me on.

Anyway, back to today.  Ignoring whoever was around me (there were about 60 runners from Ranelagh Harriers in the race) and just going at my own pace I started off and settled into a pace around 6:15 minute miling.  This would get me over the finish line in 1:02:30 which I’d be really happy with, compared to my previous years times…

• 2006 – 1:11:47
• 2007 – 1:03:09
• 2008 – 1:06:02
• 2009 – 1:02:22
• 2010 – 1:11:48 (was part of a much longer run)

After two or three miles I was running around 6:12 pace on average and thought I’d just try and stick to it.  The first half should feel fairly ‘steady’ which it did and I crossed the 5 mile marker in 31:11 – bang on my PB pace.  I knew the second half would get much tougher, especially when I’d not trained for this race any way whatsoever (my current training is more about going longer and slower as part of my marathon/Ironman prep) so this could get interesting.

Looking at my GPS I went through 10km in 38:31 (28 seconds slower than PB pace).  Interesting…

During the second half of the race I think I kept myself together very well.  Only three people overtook me – one from The Stragglers running club, a Thames Turbo Triathlon Club member and just before the 9 mile mark it was Ranelagh Harriers clubmate Sean P. who drifted past.

I pushed on as hard as I could through to the finish where I crossed the line in 1:01:56 – giving me a new personal best time over the distance by 26 seconds.  I also managed to negative split the race (first five miles was 31:11, the second five was 30:45).  I finished in 125th place overall (there was some really quick times ran this morning) and my age grading was 73.95%.

A good mornings race, that’s for sure.

More decisions were made for me in the shape of the three of us running a lap of the course with the intention of a reccy and a warm-up. I am very glad we did, as we saw the canal path before it was full of runners!

Anyway, soon enough we had listened to the first time runner briefing and after a “welcome” from the Race Director for the day to us visiting from Bushy, we were off to the start. The course isn’t fast underfoot (though I think a slight downhill gain) and is rather twisty turny but there are marshalls and arrows, so no getting lost. You run in a melee around a football field at the start, then up onto the canal path, OMG! It’s so narrow and tree stumps everywhere!!! It’s so hairy scary, especially given you can’t really overtake anyone including people who set off nearer the front who clearly shouldn’t! Then you go through a lovely little wooded “cross country” area, over a weird hard to run on path during which time I feared for my ankles, through a quagmire squidgy bit and then finally over another football field. Oh, then you repeat it :) I rather like a multiple lap course I must admit…

I don’t know what I was thinking really about my pacing before the start, certainly the canal path on the first lap slowed me down when there was no over-taking but when I glanced at my watch at the start of the second lap, it said 14:01, so I was happy enough with that. I tried really hard to keep pushing but with half a mile to go I was really starting to feel tired. Soon enough though, the end was in sight. I pushed on and crossed the line, my official time was 27:56 – my fastest parkrun time since 22nd March 2008. I was over the moon :) I was even more pleased when I looked at my splits and saw my miles were 9:09, 9:05 and 9:04 (obviously plus the last bit), so pretty much even.

Then of course, the boys made me run another lap as a cool-down. It’s my favourite apparently. Ahem.

We headed off afterwards for a coffee and a chat with some of the Frimley Lodge volunteer team. By the time we got to the cafe, we had received our text messages from parkrun with our official times, super-quick service! All in all a lovely day, lovely run and great, friendly people. I would thoroughly recommend it if you fancy a visit to a different parkrun.

This morning saw us heading to the inaugural Nonsuch parkrun, in Cheam.  I was so impressed at the organisation and the turn-out for a first event was brilliant, very nearly 200 people.  Wow!  The Lady Mayor is a member of one of the local clubs (Epsom Allsorts) and she was there for the first event too.

We set off, a slight downhill on a path, which swiftly became a little uphill, then along some weird grassy stuff, over a little flint path, through a hedge, over a little bridge, more grass, a bit more uphill, then a slight down to the finish.  The course is two laps, I was just hoping I wouldn’t be lapped!  It was a leg-sapping course I thought (or maybe that’s just a measure of how rubbish I am!) but I enjoyed it.  It was certainly nice to push myself.

David has been twittering on about my doing a sub-30 for the whole week.  I had a great run on Wednesday night, which made me think I might have a chance depending on the course.  I haven’t been sub-30 since 23 March 2009 (29:39).  In fact I finished in 28:51, which was my fastest time since 25 October 2008, when I did a 28:32.  So, suffice to say I am as pleased as punch.  David thought I looked, “a bit tired” when I finished, so I had obviously tried hard!  In fact, our Bushy parkrun visiting group of four were all pleased with how we had run – I managed 155th place out of 199 runners.

The other lovely thing was that we got to catch up with some of our Ironman pals and then went for a latte (skimmed milk, yay!) and chat – David also had a yummy-looking piece of cake but then he had run 11 miles to get to the start of the parkrun, so he more than deserved that.

All in all, a great event, pretty location, nice cafe, good cake (by all accounts), super organisation :)  Thumbs up for Nonsuch parkrun!

Anyway, the Longest parkrun.  From the Longest parkrun page at parkrun.com…

“Started in 2010, the idea is simple – On the first Sunday after the longest day of the year, to visit as many parkruns as possible. But while the potential total distance is quite large (35km or 21.7 miles), this isn’t a heavy duty running event, it is first and foremost a social day – there’s no official timing, runners can turn up at as many (or as few) of the runs as they want, and do as much of the courses as they want.”

In 2010 I didn’t take part during the main activities as I was out for a long 90+ mile bike ride but I did run the final run in Bushy park and go for pizza afterwards.  This year I planned to run all the runs, with the added challenge of cycling between them all.  This was an easy decision – although I’m sure it would be tough later in the day the beauty of being on the bike mean that traffic/parking would not be an issue, especially in places such as Richmond Park in the middle of the day.

The schedule for the day was: Bushy Park (09:00), Bedfont Lakes (10:30), Old Deer Park (12:00), Richmond Park (13:30), Wimbledon Common (15:00), Kingston (16:30) and Bushy Park (18:00).

So, just before 9am on what was to be one of the hottest days of the year (!!!) around 50 runners lined up at Bushy parkrun for the first of 7 5k runs, with a little bit of driving/cycling between them.  As I was on my bike I firstly had to find someone to look after my bag of supplies (suncream, sports drink and food) and found fellow Ranelagh Harriers member Ted – who gave me some room in the boot of his car :)

9am – Bushy parkrun – 22:10

I ran Bushy parkrun fairly steady knowing that this would be a long day.  It was a fairly relaxed run and once we got to the end it was off on the bikes in convoy with about seven or eight others as we headed to Bedfont Lakes parkrun.

10:30am – Bedfont Lakes parkrun 23:16

We arrived with about 15 or so minutes to spare so not much time to get ready.  Bikes locked, quick toilet stop and then it was off.  This was tough.  The sun was shining brightly (a little too bright) and there is no shade at all on the course.  In addition a combination of suncream and sweat made my left eye water like crazy and I probably ran half of it with one eye closed!  I was happy to get to the end of that run – although the longest bike ‘transition’ (to Old Deer Park) was next.

12:00pm – Old Deer Park parkrun – 23:57

The bike ride to Old Deer Park took quite a while and we arrived at about 11:50am – with only a few minutes to spare.  Us cyclists were lucky – we had no trouble with traffic.  Drivers on the other hand had a nightmare – the combination of a ‘Race For Life’ event taking place in the park and an accident on the A316 road very close to the park which closed the main road made it very difficult for some runners to get to Old Deer Park.  Some parked their cars about a mile away and ran to the start, and others headed directly to Richmond Park (no doubt to join the queues getting into Pembroke Lodge car park!).

At midday those of us who were at the start decided that we needed an alternate course because of the park being so busy with ‘Race For Life’ walkers runners.  We chose to run to the Thames towpath and then do an out-and-back route of 5km.  Thankfully this was fully shaded and it was much more pleasant than it would have been had we been running the usual Old Deer Park parkrun course.

Now, because of the traffic problems my supplies bag was not at the park so my food and drink was nowhere to be seen.  Thanks to fellow runner/cyclist Martin he said he’d arrange to allow Ted to park his car in his work car park right by the start of Richmond parkrun and we’d all hopefully meet there before 13:30.

Danny and I gently made our way to the meeting point and I had to stop at a newsagents to get a bottle of coke and some water to drink.  It was hot out there and I hadn’t drunk enough.  We found some shade where we eventually parked our bikes and waited in the hope that Ted would arrive with the car.  About 15 minutes before the start of the parkrun he appeared so I stuffed down one of my sandwiches (a lovely chicken and bacon wrap), had a drink and topped up the suncream.  We then strolled over to the start.

1:30pm – Richmond Park parkrun – 22:53

Richmond I’d say is the toughest of the courses because of the long uphill drag to the finish.  A large group of us set off and before long I found myself running with Paul Sinton-Hewitt, the founder of parkrun.  We chatted away and then he pushed on right towards the finish.  I was pleased with my run – especially as after four runs down I’d ‘broken the back’ of the days running and was getting closer to the finish.

3pm – Wimbledon Common parkrun – 22:38

Danny, Martin and myself made our way on bikes to Wimbledon with plenty of time to spare before the start.  Another cup of coke later and we were off.  This was a fairly uneventful run – nice and shady although I did almost get hit by two dogs that were in the park and decided to run directly in front of me!!  One of them so so nearly made me fall over.

All the cyclists regrouped after Wimbledon and headed to the Hawker Centre in Ham, which was the start of Kingston parkrun.

4:30pm – Kingston parkrun – 22:59

Before the start of Kingston I met up with my ‘supplies bag’ and took some more drink, food and ever important suncream.  I think my ‘stomach of iron’ meant I was able to eat just about anything and get on with it – even with a few minutes to spare before the start.  I did get a bit of a stitch during a couple of the runs but just pushed on and ran through it.

I was happy with this run and pushed fairly hard throughout.  About 15 minutes after finishing a few of us jumped on our bikes and headed off to Bushy for the finale.

6pm – Bushy parkrun – 21:24

The atmosphere was great at Bushy.  A few people who were there at 9am and were busy elsewhere during the day came back to support at 6 and we had time for a couple of group photos.

Run wise I found myself running along with two others (Ian and Tim) at the front of a (albeit unofficial) Bushy parkrun.  I’ve never experienced that before and probably never will.  I was pushing hard (well, this was the final run of the day) but just couldn’t keep up with the leaders.

About 1.5 miles in Paul Sinton-Hewitt made another appearance (he hadn’t run since Richmond earlier in the afternoon) and raced past me.  I couldn’t keep up him…. well, until he started to fade that is (!) and I dug in and pushed on.  Perhaps it was a combination of this being the last run of the day and the promise of a free beer at the finish line in a cool-box that kept me going!

After the finish - these are not my shoes by the way!

I then watched all the other finishers come in and then we slowly headed off – with a number of us heading for a well earned pizza and beer in Teddington.  It was a great day out and one that I’d thoroughly recommend to others.

So my complete times were as follows:

1. Bushy Park – 22:10
2. Bedfont Lakes – 23:16
3. Old Deer Park – 23:57
4. Richmond Park – 22:53
5. Wimbledon Common – 22:38
6. Kingston – 22:59
7. Bushy Park – 21:24

Total running time was around 2 hours 39 minutes for the 35km (21.7 miles) – an average pace of 7 minute 16 seconds per mile.  Add onto this the stop/start nature of the event and the cycling in between (of over 30 miles) and it turned out to be a pretty tough day.

Of all the starters there were 19 runners who completed all seven parkruns and there were five of us who ran them all and cycled between them all.  I was one of the five :)

The way home was against a strong headwind the whole way.  My quads (the only part of me that was hurting after the marathon) were destroyed and I was really struggling.  All I wanted to do was get home!  As I got through the front door to be met by Sharon I remember my words being “please take the pain away!”  Remember – most people run marathons for fun!  Although she couldn’t take the pain away I was pointed in the direction of a bottle of Mount Gay Barbados White Rum which certainly helped – that’s for sure…

Back on the bike for the next few days and I slowly gained full control of  my legs and was able to walk up and down stairs unaided by a banister!

Saturday morning it was back to Bushy parkrun for my first run since Sunday.  The plan was an easy run but that soon changed!

Prior to the run I was introduced to ultra running legend Bruce Fordyce and his wife.  He was in the country after running the Paris Marathon the same weekend as Brighton and was then going to run the London Marathon the following day.

This man has serious pedigree – he’s won the 56 mile Comrades Marathon nine times, with eight of them back to back!  According to Wikipedia he also holds the world 50 mile record.  Well, he decided to have a little spin of the legs before the London Marathon.

Also towing the start line was our good friend Tom Williams (of Marathon Talk fame).

Just before the start I asked Tom what he was looking to run – he said around 18:30.  I told him to enjoy his run and tell me about it at the finish.  I was going for something much slower – although I didn’t know what!  It all depended on how my legs felt.

Well, clearly my legs felt pretty good as I raced off at somewhere around 18-18:30 pace.  Seems like the fast twitch fibres were still in good condition… I was ahead of Tom but had no idea if he was close by.  At around 3.5km Tom appeared beside me and pushed ahead.  I stuck as close as I could but just couldn’t keep up the pace.  Next thing another chap in a red t-shirt and a parkrun baseball cap came alongside me – it was Bruce Fordyce – and looking super comfortable.  He got past me too and I had to really push to stay close to them.

Myself (second from left), Bruce (middle), Tom (right). Photo by Conor Mulhern.

I had no chance of getting past them again so just pushed hard (i.e., not ‘really’ hard) to the finish and crossed the line in 18:34.  Tom finished in 18:26 with Bruce one second behind.  The following day Bruce ran an excellently paced 3:36 marathon in London.

I love parkrun.  Since I started I’ve had the honour to run with Olympians, Commonwealth medalists and now Comrades winners.  All for free.  How cool is that!

New Years Eve was spent round a friends house for a few nibbles, a little drink and then being turfed out onto the street at about 10:30pm (yes, the ‘party’ ended at 10:30pm).  We then headed to the top of Richmond Hill, watched West London light up with fireworks at midnight and then headed home to sleep.

New Years morning at 9am and I was on the start line at Bushy parkrun along with over 360 other runners.  However, a number of us had bigger and bolder plans than just the one parkrun this morning.

With Banstead Woods and Richmond parkruns starting at 10am quite a few runners were planning on running Bushy and then one of the others.  Danny Norman and myself opted to try and do the ‘double’ with Richmond parkrun and make it more interesting by running between the two events.

Google maps plotted the most direct route on foot to be about 3.9 miles (as opposed to about 5.2 miles by car) so as we lined up shortly before 9am it was a relief that the announcements were kept brief and we were set off on our way bang on time (if not a minute before).

A solid run saw me cross the finish line in 19:09 (23rd) and as I walked through the funnel to collect my finishing position I was being shouted at to ‘hurry up’ by Danny who’d finished over a minute beforehand.  After registering my position we collected our ‘superjuice’ (er, Lucozade Sport drinks) and headed off to Richmond.  We were on our way at 9:20am.  Next stop – Richmond.

The run to Richmond was pleasant enough – the roads were empty which enabled us to take the ‘racing line’ at every opportunity!  We arrived at Richmond Park at about 9:48am with plenty of time to spare, and to get cold waiting for the start!  A few minutes later we were joined by Oliver Garner – another Bushy runner who’d run to Richmond as well – making it the three of us who ran – rather than the run/drive/run approach favoured by everyone else.

Danny, Oliver, David shortly after finishing Richmond parkrun

Richmond parkrun set off just after 10am with a field of 170 runners.  I ran most of the 5k with Paul (Mr parkrun) and after another solid effort crossed the line in 19:54 in 18th place.

The best part of it all was Sharon stood at the finish line with a warm jumper and some gloves to put on.

A solid 10 mile run with two parkruns – a good start to a new year.

For information London in 2011 was currently the only place to ‘do the double’ and 51 parkrunners completed the challenge with the following combinations… Bushy/Richmond, Wimbledon Common/Banstead Woods, Bushy/Banstead and Bromley/Banstead.  I’m sure this time next year there will be more options available.

After finding myself on the injured bench at the end of 2009 I desperately wanted to start 2010 with a parkrun. So, the start of the year began on the 1st January with Bushy parkrun. I finished in 24:24 and logged the following…

“First run since 28 November. Almost stopped after 1k but wasn’t sure if foot pain or just bloody freezing!”

My next run was at Black Park parkrun on the 23rd and then again in mid-February. My left foot was starting to get better but I decided to get back into things but not rush it.

As part of my Ironman training I was getting time in on my bike (and did the brilliant ‘Hell of the Ashdown’ cycle sportive at the end of January in the ice!).

• January mileage – 6.22.
• February mileage – 29.
• March mileage – 86.

So, things were picking up again but I needed to not rush things.

• April mileage – 93.5

In May I was back at the Bognor Regis 10k for my seventh year in succession. All I wanted to do was get under 40 minutes. I’d run a 40 minute 10k on a treadmill a few days before so felt good and with a steady run (although in a strong wind) I finished in 39:53. That’ll do nicely.

At the end of May I was in the pool for my first triathlon of the season (Thames Turbo Race 3) and finished 17th out of 330 finishers.

• May mileage – 147

In May I also started cycle-commuting into London a couple of days a week on my mountain bike. This was a great opportunity to get some extra easy miles in on the bike – especially on ‘recovery’ days when I wanted just an easy session.

I was going to write about the ‘National Family Week 5k’ that was held at Twickenham Stadium at the start of June but the event was such an (expected) shambles that I won’t. You can read about it if you want to…

Mid-June we were in Wales for the Bala Middle Distance triathlon. This is a great event on a tough course and I had a great race. Finishing in 4 hours 48 (nearly 4 minutes faster than in 2009) and 120th out of 629 finishers.

• June mileage – 143

A month later we popped over to Richmond Park to run the Ranelagh Harriers Coad Cup Handicap Race and then jumped straight in the car and headed to Dover to catch an overnight ferry. Five days later I was on the start line at the Challenge Roth Ironman Distance race. What a day! You can read all about it in my race report but my highlights were a 64 minute swim (for 2.4 miles) and a 3 hour 35 marathon!

• July mileage – 110

Post Ironman I seem to have plenty of 5k speed in my legs (no idea how!) so decided to run one of my favourite 5k’s – the annual ‘Wedding Day 7k’. What I hear you ask? Well…. you run it like a 5k race, then hang on for the final 2k. It’s torture, but enjoyable at the same time.  So, 12 days after my Ironman and I got a 19 second PB on the course. Nice.

At the end of August I raced hard at the Thames Turbo triathlon and finished 20th out of 357 finishers with a time of 1 hour, 4 minutes 37 seconds – a few seconds faster than earlier in the year. This was the warm-up for the Vitruvian…

• August mileage – 77

The beginning of September saw us at The Vitruvian half-Ironman distance triathlon – and what a race. I had a blinder of a race and finished in 4 hours 28 – just under 33 minutes faster than I was in 2008!

“What I like about this the most is that I have the same wetsuit and same bike… I am just stronger overall – especially on the bike and run. This is great to know, especially when I know that I can do better with more (and more structured) training.”

This marked the end of the ‘triathlon season’ and I’ve not seen my wetsuit since. Now it was time to concentrate on other things…

• September mileage – 122

I’d been asked if I ‘fancied running a marathon before the end of the year’ some time ago and decided it would be a good idea. The next couple of months were concentrating on marathon training and getting those long runs in. I took part in a few races but didn’t run them hard – I ran these more as controlled training runs.

• October mileage – 180
• November mileage – 184

At the start of December when all my training was banked and ready to deposit on the streets of Luton for their marathon the race was cancelled due to snow.  Very frustrating but something that can happen with a race held in December.  I got my first ever ‘podium’ placing at Bushy parkrun instead!

After missing out on the snow running earlier in the year through injury I got to enjoy what everyone had been raving about many months ago.  I also learnt that cross country spikes are awesome for running on ice covered paths.

In between some of the snow I found myself getting a 5k personal best of 17:51 at Bushy parkrun. It was hard work (as 5k always is) but very satisfying considering the cancellation of the marathon.

A few more parkruns (they’ve been going on all year, I’ve just not mentioned them above) and a couple of small mob-match/races completed the year.

• December mileage – 101 (before I go out for a few miles later today!)

My total run mileage for 2010 was around 1285 (1311 in 2009, 1028 in 2008, 1320 in 2007) so I’m ticking over again and have no complaints after a slow start to the year.  Here’s my monthly run mileage for the past four years where you can see trends for 2010 such as my mileage increasing for my summer Ironman and then again in my October/November marathon run focus.

Here’s a summary of the running races I took part in (ignoring parkruns) during 2010:

• 20 Feb: Ranelagh Harriers ‘mob match’ against Blackheath & Bromley
• 27 Mar: Ranelagh Harriers Baker Cup
• 16 May: Bognor Prom 10k – 39:53
• 31 May: Thames Turbo Triathlon – 17th overall
• 13 Jun: Bala Middle Distance Triathlon – 4:48:15
• 13 Jul: Ranelagh Harriers Coad Cup
• 18 Jul: Challenge Roth – 10:10:58
• 30 Jul: Wedding Day 7k – 26:25
• 30 Aug: Thames Turbo Triathlon
• 04 Sep: Vitruvian Triathlon – 4:28:01
• 09 Oct: Surrey League Cross Country
• 17 Oct: Cabbage Patch 10
• 23 Oct: Ranelagh Harriers ‘mob match’ against SLH
• 20 Nov: Ranelagh Harriers ‘mob match’ against TH&H
• 12 Dec: Stragglers/26.2 ‘mob match’
• 26 Dec: Stragglers Cabbage Patch 4

So, what’s in store for 2011. The cancellation of the Luton Marathon means that I will be going for my London Marathon ‘Good For Age’ time at Brighton in April and we’ll see what happens then. I’m going to be busy at work for at least the first few months of 2010 so I’m currently not planning another Ironman. I will however continue to swim/bike/run train and will do a couple of Half Ironman races in 2010.

Oh, I also seem to have got myself one of my running club ‘ballot’ places in the London Marathon so right now I plan to run the Brighton Marathon and then seven days later the London Marathon. Could be interesting!

Looking back at what I wrote in my Challenge Roth race report at the end of July – six months later and everything remains the same…

“So, what next…. the trouble with most of these Ironman distance races is that you have to enter them a year in advance and I’m not sure I want to commit to one next summer. What I’m currently thinking is concentrating on getting a better standalone marathon time under my belt and also getting some good cycle training in next year. If I don’t do something like the Outlaw Iron distance race in the UK in August 2011 then my next big race will be in 2012, and it could be any of them…possibly even Challenge Wanaka in New Zealand.”

Well…. the good people at Black Park parkrun near Slough decided to run an event on Boxing Day at 9:30am. Excellent.  The trouble is, I love running the ‘Cabbage Patch 4′ race on Boxing Day as well (at 11am).  What should I do…. The Double of course!

Showing off the 'spikes' - photo: Kirsty Bangham

After picking up Kirsty we were at Black Park by 9am to get ready for the 9:30am start.  Following the ice fest that was Bushy Park on Christmas Day I thought I’d try a new strategy – wearing cross country ‘spikes’ rather than just trail shoes.  In my shoe bag I had some brand new 5mm spikes which did absolutely nothing to help grip so had only one option – go for the ‘beavers teeth’ – a set of 15mm spikes that stick out like, well, er, beavers teeth, from the bottom of my shoes.

After a short test run and warmup I decided that the grip on the snow and ice was amazing.  Decision made.

As we lined up for the start there was a big group of runners – in fact just a few under 150.

We set of and within a few seconds we’d all settled into our pace and I found myself in about 7th place.  I had a chap in full Santa Claus outfit (with beard) right on my tail.  After about 1.5 miles I edged ahead of him and hung on to keep in sixth place.

The ‘spikes’ I wore were fantastic and made a huge difference.  I was able to concentrate more on running, rather than dodging around the ice on the ground.

I crossed the line after a solid effort in sixth place in 18:53 – a position and time that I was very happy with.

After registering my parkrun barcode we jumped in the car and headed straight to Twickenham for the 4 mile race at 11am…

The Cabbage Patch 4 race was an altogether different affair.  Trail shoes were worn, the Thames towpath was covered in ice and it was bloody scary and difficult to run!  The amount of times my feet slipped around on the ice was incredible and this, together with the fact that my lower right leg was hurting (as a result of the difficult run at Bushy parkrun yesterday), ensured that I took the run nice and steady.  This is and still remains one of my favourite races, although the conditions were really tough.

I followed the run with big hot chocolate at the local coffee shop with friends.  All in all a good morning out.

Christmas Day 2010 at Bushy parkrun

Christmas Day at 9am means Bushy parkrun – well at least is has done since 2006.

Last year I didn’t run (damn injury) but Sharon did. This year we were both at the start – albeit not fighting fit!

Recent snow and ice had made the course absolutely treacherous. The paths that make the 5km route had become sheet ice and completely un-walkable, let alone runnable. With the cancellation of a couple of other local Christmas Day parkruns because of ice this meant that the numbers at Bushy were going to be more than usual.

Over 530 people were lined up at the start in fine weather, apart from the freezing cold and ice underfoot! After a brief set of announcements we set off on our way – albeit cautiously – a theme that continued for the rest of the run.

I saw one runner almost slip just after 1km and another who was about 3 metres in front of me fell at about 2.5km. He soon got up, overtook me and stayed ahead of me so didn’t come a cropper!

It was hard work on the snow and ice and my time of 19:33 showed that. Of the 531 finishers there were six runners who got new Personal Bests. Looking at Christmas Day 2009 where there were 414 finishers there were 27 runners who recorded PB’s. Clearly the conditions were not conducive to fast times.

Sharon ‘slogged’ her way round to her worst ever parkrun time, but finished with a smile on her face – and to be honest – that’s all that matters.

The weather had taken a turn for the worse with some recent snow and from weighing up both events and the likelihood of a last minute cancellation we opted for Woodbank – as they have an alternative 5k route for these kind of conditions.

So, after an early start we headed to Woodbank – found the car park close to the park and saw a growing number of lycra clad runners get out of there cars and head towards the running track.

Well, the location is perfect!  There’s plenty of car parking (if you’re in a car – if it weren’t 30 miles away then I’d rather run/cycle there), then there’s a little club-house to shelter from the cold, and finally toilets literally 15 metres from the start line!

Today (well, the 18th) was the Woodbank pre-Christmas parkrun and almost everyone was wearing a santa hat or similar.  Except Sharon and I who forgot to pack ours when we drove up the day before.  Rest assured we’ll have our hats out on Christmas Day at Bushy parkrun.

Because of the snow a sensible decision was made to run the three lap flat course rather than the regular two lap ‘full’ course.

David - photo: John Paul Kearns

After a short briefing the 43 of us headed off onto the first of three laps.  Looking at recent results I should be right up at the sharp end of things so headed off in close pursuit of the two chaps who raced off the front.  One runner opened up a slight lead and in second place was a youngster in a ’10 club’ tee.

About two thirds of the way round the first lap I overtook the second place runner and then had probably a 10 second gap between myself and first place.  The trouble is, I just couldn’t bring the gap down!  The on course support from the marshalls was superb and very encouraging – but clearly every word of “you’re catching him up” to me was preceded a few seconds before by “keep pushing, the tall lanky one in the hundred club t-shirt is getting closer!”

Being a three lap course I lapped a few of the slower runners and we gave one another plenty of support.  Everyone was super friendly.  Must be a northern thing.

In the final km the leader extended his lead and by the finish beat me by 15 seconds.  My time was 19:11.  Considering the conditions (and the fact that my Garmin measured the course at 3.24 miles – however accurate that may be) I was happy with that time, although would have loved the victory!

Sharon - photo: John Paul Kearns

At the finish line we were all given a goodie bag – leftovers from the Stockport 10 road race the week before and then ushered into the Stockport Harriers clubhouse for tea/coffee and cakes.

Everyone we spoke to was incredibly friendly, the number of runners was very manageable, the facilities were top-knotch and this event (of the 16 different parkruns that I’ve been to) had a lovely ‘feel’ to it.

Well done Woodbank parkrun.

So, Bushy Park was covered in snow and I was armed with my trail shoes.  I missed out on the snowy parkruns earlier in the year due to injury so was looking forward to this one.

A good warm up was required (it was about -2 degrees out there) and as we all set off I found myself quite high up in the positions, running alongside a few of the regular fast chaps.  Turning onto the path at the end of Chestnut Avenue I was just inside the top ten and feeling good (I was at the end of an excellent marathon taper you see).  The path was like a bit of an ice rink so most of us chose to run on the grass just to the side of the main route.

Slowly but surely I moved up the field and then found myself gently closing in on the third place runner – Danny.  Turning into the final straight I was right beside him.  He wanted me to get my first ‘podium’ place at Bushy parkrun, and I was happy for him to get the extra point in the annual points competition… I pushed real hard and was able to get ahead and finish third overall out of 331 finishers.  My time was 18:48, which is very slow for a 3rd place but all times (apart from the 15:57 winner!) were much slower than usual because of the snow and ice.

I was chuffed to bits with the run.  My name made it into the local paper, but the buggers only had photos of first and second man, the first woman and some Irish lass who finished further down the field….

Just after registering my finish I got chatting to occasional Bushy parkrunner and Olympic silver medalist, World Athletics Champion (and much much more) Sonia O’Sullivan.  Sonia, Danny, Shane and myself then did an easy cool-down lap of the 5k course – running with an Olympic medal holder isn’t something you do every day!

Fast forward a week to the 11th December and I’m back at Bushy parkrun, this time after going out in London the night before for a few beers at a catch up with some triathlon/Ironman friends….  Conditions at Bushy were ideal, if a little slippery on the grass/mud in places.

As I set off I was feeling strong and pushed hard down the first straight.  After 1k I was in about 15th place.  I was in a very small group of people and pushed to the front and off of it by hanging onto the back of Mark G.  He was running strong and I fought to hang onto him for the rest of the 5k.  We overtook one chap at about 3km and from then on it was just a fight for survival.  It was one of those runs where you think you could ‘blow up’ at any point but you just have to keep pushing hard and hope it doesn’t happen!

Running the final km I knew I was on for a fast time and knew I’d be close to my personal best from October 2009 (17:53).  Sharon screamed my name in support in the final straight – I couldn’t acknowledge as I was giving everything to get to the finish as quickly as possible.

I cross the line, absolutely bloody knackered but delighted with a new personal best time of 17 minutes 51 seconds.  My current run focus is paying off big time and I’m going to keep it going and see what happens over the coming weeks and months as we head into the Spring marathon season…

Last Saturday was the first event so I popped along with a few others to give it a go.  The course is entirely on grass so I wanted to at least get a run in whilst the ground was dry and firm.  I’m not sure I’d want to run this course in the middle of winter.

60 of us lined up at the start for this three lap course.  I’d no plans to race particularly hard as my right calf is pretty tight at the moment (and has been probably since the Wedding Day race a few weeks ago) so wanted to get in just a solid run.

Early on the first lap a few of us got a little confused and ran a little off track (as there was a large group of other people exercising pretty close to the racing line) and when one person runs around them you all seem to follow…  Adjustments were made and I was sat in about fifth place.  As I started the third lap I moved into third place and maintained this position till the end, finishing in 19:44.

I don’t think the course is particularly fast, partly because of the grass surface and also the 6 (yes, 6) 90 degree turns you made on each (yes, each) of the three laps.  Its a lot of stop/start/stop/start on this course – maybe it could be used for some great fartlek training.

This weekend we had a couple of friends (Tom and Helen) staying over, both Ironman athletes with Tom being third place male overall at the Outlaw triathlon race last weekend (I’ll be writing about this race in the coming days).  His 5k best is 18:17 from a couple of years ago.  He was impressed that I came back from Challenge Roth a few weeks ago and ran just over 18:30 a week later and he (and I) wondered if he too could pull out a great performance.

Friday night was off to a local Italian restaurant.  I’m not sure that the beers were ideal preparation but Bushy parkrun is never really an ‘A’ race – it’s just that if you drink the night before you’re unlikely to be on top form at 9am on Saturday.

David and Tom (Williams) on the start line

As Tom and I lined up on the startline he asked me what I was going to aim for – I said about 18:30 and agreed that would be fine.  After a few award presentations (Paul, the founder of parkrun had completed 50 runs so was presented with a t-shirt) we all set off – and were honoured by the presence of 5000m Sydney 2000 olympic silver medalist Sonia O’Sullivan running alongside us.

To run 18:30 we need to be running 3:42 per km.  Tom planned to sit right behind me for as long as possible and at 1k we went through it in about 3:35.  The second km was in 3:33.  Oops.

Somewhere close to 3km Tom pulled up beside me.  I said something like ‘I think we’ve gone off a little too quick!’  His response was along the lines of ‘we’ve done 3k, no way we’re giving up now.’

We worked together and encouraged each other along from 3-4.5k.  It was really hard work and my heart rate was sat at about 185bpm.

Coming round the tree near Hampton Court Gate there was another runner right in front of me.  Tom was just starting to fall back at this point and I heard a shout of ‘Go Dave’ to which the guy in front of me put his foot down!  He was pretty tall and I’m always a fan of getting a good draft off of someone so I tried to sit behind him.  That didn’t last long.

Before long I was in the final straight – I wasn’t sure how close to 18 minutes I was going to be (as we were still both running much faster than originally planned) and as I crossed the line my watch flashed 18 minutes, 0 seconds.  Result.  HR averaged at 180 and maxed at 190.

This is my best Bushy parkrun time since October 2009 and I’m really pleased that I was able to get this time – especially after a solid 60 miles on the bike the previous day.

Tom couldn’t quite stick with me (fair dues though, he did podium the week before) but came through with a time of 18:14, which is a new personal best (PB).  Smiles all round.

That was the extent of my exercise for Saturday, and then Sunday morning it was off to Richmond Park for a 13.5 miler which I pushed pretty hard for the second half.

So, right now training is going well.  Lets see how long I can keep it up for as consistency is the key.

Well, this year things are a little different. I’d competed in an Ironman 12 days before but earlier in the week of the Wedding Day race I thought I’d give it a go. I seem to recover very well from triathlon events and knew I had a good 5k in me after last weekends 18:32 at Bushy parkrun. I wondered what I could do over 7k.

For this race I have a time honoured pacing strategy – treat it like a 5k then hang on for the remaining 2k until the finish. Well, lets just say that I followed the plan like a treat!

After a short warm-up (and a 4 mile bike ride to the start) I made sure I was near the front row and set off close to Duncan and Chris from my club (Ranelagh Harriers). The pace was quick and we all raced off into the park.

The start of the Wedding Day 7k. Photo: Guy Watson

I knew we were going a bit too fast but this is the fun of this race – you know the last 2k is going to be painful so you might as well make it one to remember! As my watch beeped after a mile I glanced down and saw it say 5:41. Oops – just a little too fast. I turned to Duncan who was right beside me and said something like ‘I’m blaming you for this.’ His response was ‘I’m just following you!’

From here on in it was just hard running. Conditions were ideal – not hot although there was a little breeze in places. I found myself running very close to Joseph from 26.2 Road Runners Club who looked like he was running very comfortably. I was puffing and panting and really giving it some welly! Just after 2 miles I edged past him and tried to bridge the gap between myself and the runner in front – a runner from The Stragglers running club. It took almost a mile to get to him.

At the 5k point I looked at my watch and it said 18:02. Oops! That’s 9 seconds off of my 5k standalone PB. I knew for sure at this point that the final 2k would be hard hard work (hmn, much like the previous five were!).

I then drifted past Simon from Stragglers, we both gave each other words of encouragement and away I went. With just over half a mile to go Joseph came back past me and I tried to stick with him as long as I could.  I couldn’t quite stick to him ’til the finish but I certainly tried.

A few hundred metres before the finish I saw Roger W. supporting – he said something like, ‘take it easy David’ – he could see how hard I was working at this point.

Seconds from the finish. Photo: Guy Watson

I then turned onto the grass area, raced to the finish and stopped my watch. My overall time was 26:25, a 19 second PB on my time from 2008 and I finished 19th overall out of 506 finishers. Brilliant. I was chuffed to bits with this – a great hard run. This is the hardest that I’ve run over a short distance for a long long time – my heart rate averaged 179 and maxed at 190.

As with all local races the Ranelagh Harriers ‘stats’ man and webmaster, Ken, was there making notes on everyone’s finishing times. He also had his list of estimates for people and had mine down at 29:08! Shocking. I went over to him and jokingly complained at his poor estimate and he commented something like ‘but you hardly ever race.’ Fair point. Also I have to admit that my previous Ranelagh races haven’t been raced hard at all – so his data will be a little skewed to how I’m really running at present.

The evening finished off with a beer, some food and watching some of the European Championship athletics on the TV in the cricket club in the park. Another great Wedding Day race done and dusted. See you next year.

PS. Saturday morning dawned and I put in a steady 19:08 run at Bushy parkrun. That was my running done for the rest of the weekend. A good 60 miles on the bike on Sunday was all I could manage…

6:15am on Saturday morning and Sharon and I jump in the car to head to Lakeside Multisports in Eastleigh for their second parkrun 5k run.  Why so early?  Well, as the run is organised by the same people who run an open water swimming session in a lovely little lake.

After being welcomed by a couple of lovely ladies at the swim ‘sign-in’ I donned my wetsuit and went down to the water where I was given a briefing (the water isn’t deep and if you’re in trouble just shout!) and sent on my way.  Each loop of the lake buoys is a little shy of 400m and in my opinion its a great distance.  There’s plenty of time to concentrate on your stroke and sighting, but also plenty of buoys to navigate round and with a ‘small’ lake there’s always plenty of people nearby – rather than being all out on your own in a huge lake.  The water is also pretty shallow and as such it will warm up quickly over the coming weeks and months.  Today it was 13 degrees.

After just over 2km of swimming I cheered on some of the competitors in an aquathlon (swim/run) that was taking place and then it was time to get changed and ready for the 9am 5km Eastleigh parkrun.

Sharon and I lined up at the start with just over 50 others and were given a briefing by Brett, the race director.  We were then set off on our way.  The course is lovely.  You start by running round a couple of lakes, where there were plenty of fisherman and geese and their goslings dotted around the edges.  After a right hand turn you head up a slight incline, through a wooded area and then have to content with the first obstacle – the local minature steam railway!  Across the tracks and then you head alongside the tracks for a little while towards something called ‘the bowl’ – a little like a volcanic crater but without the lava, or something like that!

After running round the top edge of the bowl you cross the railway tracks twice more, avoiding any trains (!!) and head back towards the start.  Two laps of this and there you go.  The course is mostly gravel paths and grass, and expect a pair of trail shoes would be well advised for the winter months.

I’d left my GPS at home and was happy to run without it and just went at a medium/tough pace.  After about a minute I’d settled into sixth place and just stayed there, running pretty much on my own for 4.5km.

Although I don’t yet know my finishing time (the results aren’t up), I believe it was around 19:30 or just under.  No complaints there.  UPDATE: the results are in and I finished in 19:46.  Still no complaints.

In the afternoon I then went out sailing and then headed to the pub to watch the second half of the FA cup final football match!

David out for a little sail in Sharon's boat.

The last few weeks I’ve decided to make amends (starting with some better tyres for the horrific road surfaces I’ve been riding on – not getting punctures every ride really does help with morale!).

Looking at my long bike rides over the past two months, things are starting to look consistent…

• 30 April – 86 miles
• 24 April – 86.5 miles
• 17 April – 90 miles
• 10 April – 65 miles (including a 5km time trial run in the middle)
• 2 April – 76 miles
• 27 March – 76 miles
• 15 March – 15 miles :(
• 13 March – 74.5 miles

This past weekend I planned a big load of cycling. I’m not following any kind of training plan other than cycle a lot, build up running as if I’m marathon training (i.e., build up to some 20 mile runs) and swim in between all of that!  I’d entered an 85 miles sportive bike ride in West Sussex, not too far from my parents house.  As Sharon was working all weekend my plan was as follows…

• Saturday – open water swim (first of the season for me), 5km parkrun, 60 mile cycle to my parents house
• Sunday – 85 mile sportive bike ride

Saturday started with a visit to Princes Club – where I did most of my swimming last year.  Lets just say the water was very, er, ‘fresh’, at 7:30am on a cold rainy morning.  I swam about 2km and it wasn’t great.  I’m clearly slower than last year but I’m sure it’ll come back to me in a few weeks time.

At the end of the first lap. Credit: Kath

After the swim I headed over the road to the Bedfont Lakes parkrun.  I’ve not run this since June last year and it was good to be back there.  After a little warm up a large group of us set off.  I found myself in about fifth place early on and by about 2.5km I was in third.  I ran hard and hung on and finished in 18:58, which is my fastest parkrun time in six months.  Things seem to be getting back on track again with the running (even if I’m heavier than I was this time last year – a downside of months living in a hotel during the week!).

Jumped in the car, headed home and got the bike ready for an easy ride to my parents.  60 miles later and a lovely tailwind the whole way (averaged 17.9 mph) I arrived by the seaside at about 2pm.  I got the bike ready for Sunday and that was pretty much it for the day.

Come Sunday morning I wasn’t overly in the mood for another long bike ride but sometimes you just have to get on with these things.  My father drove me to the start of the sportive (the Duncton Sunday Sportive) and shortly after 8:30am I set off.  The condition of some of the roads was pretty horrific, and there was very little flat riding – it was all up, down, up, down throughout.  Although there was plenty of opportunities to get into ‘chain gangs’ of riders – which would allow the workload to be shared amongst a group of riders through drafting I purposely avoided these groups.  Come race day I will be doing an individual 112 mile time trial with no drafting – so I didn’t want to have an easy ride of it today.

The final climb - less than 50m to the finish.

There were a few really nasty hills and after about 50 miles I was really feeling tired and worn out from the past few days of exercise.  The last 7 miles or so I cycled mostly alongside another chap and it was good to have some company near by.  We both pushed each other which got us to the finish sooner.  As I headed up the final short climb to the finish it was great to be met by my parents who gave me a lift home.  If I had to I could have ridden the final 20 miles home but boy I was glad to finish at this point.

The total distance clocked on was 86.49 miles with an average speed of 16.7mph.  Ride time was 5 hours 10 minutes according to my GPS and the total duration was 5 hours 17.  These seven minutes consisted of two fuel-stops and a ‘comfort’ break.

I’ve been doing a few calculations on the published results and after removing the 10 riders who somehow rode at around 40-50 mp/h for the last 20 miles (i.e., impossible) of the 163 finishers I was 40th fastest.  To see how I progressed throughout the ride in comparison to others I worked out my position at each of the feed stations.  At the first one (after 34.5 miles) I was 42nd.  Looking solely at the second segment (from 34.5 to 65 miles) I was 43rd, and in the final 20 miles I was 34th – so although I was finding it incredibly tough, there were plenty of others who found it tougher!  This is all good reading for me, especially when I know that I rode every mile on my own and not in any of the groups of riders who worked together.  Remember…. Iron rusts… Ironmen don’t!

Adding things up, the past seven days I’ve ridden 172 miles on the bike, a record amount for me by some way, and during the weekend I rode just shy of 147 miles.  That, in my eyes, is a big bike weekend.

I now plan a few easier days as I prepare for a 10k run this coming Sunday.  I’ll get another 60/70 miles on the bike before then though.

This week I decided to give it a go.  I was running a race in the afternoon and needed to get a bike ride in as well so decided to put a 5k/3mile run either side of my bike ride.  This meant that my Saturday morning started with a parkrun.

The course has changed since last week (which was a change from the original course) and 38 of us took part.  I’ve had a good running week (for a change) and got a 10 mile run in on both Monday and Wednesday evenings.  In anticipation of a long days training I took it steady and crossed the line in 20:02 in 8th place.  There was some confusion over part of the course during the turnaround, where you run into Ham Lands and this will explain my GPS measuring 3.02 miles (4.86km).  I’m sure there’ll be more marshalls/markings out next week.

Apart from the towpath being a little muddy (as always down that stretch past Teddington Lock) its a lovely course right alongside the river.  Great stuff.

• Start around 9am
• Start at the Bushy parkrun current finish line.
• Run the Bushy parkrun course as many times as you like, looping round the start line and finishing line trees.
• Anyone can join in and run any number of laps at any time at any speed, either alone or in groups.
• No official timing, time yourself if you’d like.
• Friends and supporters congregate at the parkrun finish line to give encouragement and support, or maybe just enjoy an alfresco picnic/refreshments and a social.
• People can run as many laps as they like.
• It’s Not the London Marathon, cos it’s not a race, it’s not a marathon distance for everyone, and anyone can join in anytime.

In 2009 Sharon and I took part along with about 15 or so others and had a great time.  Today we did it all again…  At about 9am a group of 25 of us lined up at the start (ok, so there’s 24 in the photo, but Tom Morgan turned up too late for the photo!) and started our watches.  A few other runners joined in during the first ‘lap.’

Not The London Marathon 2010

After a (pleasant if you can call it that) 75 mile bike ride on Saturday my legs were in need of a little stretch so I planned to run 10km – two laps of the Bushy parkrun course.  Because of my dodgy left foot (read about it elsewhere on the blog) and visits to other parkrun’s I’d not run in Bushy Park since the 1st January.  It was lovely to be back in the park and oh I love it being so flat!

After setting off I watched the fast runners head into the distance whereas I settled in to a moderate long run pace for me (about 7:30 minute miling).  One lap down…. two laps down…. and then I decided to do a third.  After crossing the finish ‘line’ after the third lap and heading back to where some of the others were watching/supporting my GPS had clocked me at 9.5 miles in just over 71 minutes (7:28 miling).  Lovely.  This is the furthest that I’ve run in almost four months so I’m really pleased with how it went.  My 5k parkrun times were approximately 24:04, 23:08 and 22:27.

Not The London Marathon is turning into a little fixture in our unofficial racing calendar.  Just don’t remind Roger about his idea to do a 12 hour version later in the Summer!

7am on Saturday morning and Sharon, Kirsty, Paul and myself jump into the car for the drive to Greenwich – or Avery Hill Park to be precise.

There’s ample car parking, toilets right by the start and its a small 3 lap course with each lap being just over 1 mile in length.  This is a perfect parkrun for those who are not yet up to 5k (3.1 miles) of running, as you could run a lap, walk a lap, run a lap etc.  I’d also say its a pretty child friendly course as you’re never more than about half a kilometer from the start/finish area if you need to stop short.

After recent rain the past week has been dry and Saturday was no exception – the trouble was that part of the course was a bit waterlogged and extremely muddy – and thus slippery underfoot.  I didn’t bring trail shoes and just had my standard ‘runners.’

After an introduction and course description we were off, all 18 of us (nice low key numbers for this first Greenwich parkrun).  Immediately I found myself in the lead and I was glad I’d run a warm-up lap beforehand to work out the course (there’s great signage on the course which makes it extremely difficult to make mistakes).

I kept my position at the front and just ran solidly steady.  It was hard work on the slippery mud/grassy area (in the summer the lower part of the course will be just fine, but for the other three seasons it could get messy).  Towards the end of each lap you head onto a tarmac pathway and there’s a slight incline to the finish/lap point.  Plenty of marshals were on hand to let you know where to go, and to encourage you to keep on pushing.  Thanks.

My run wasn’t fast but I led the field home to my third parkrun victory (after Bedfont and Bromley in 2009).  My finishing time was 21:16 and probably one of the slowest ever winning times.  According to my Garmin my mile splits were fairly even (6:48, 6:43, 6:43).  This, er, winning time means that I currently hold the course record for the parkrun.  A record that will surely fall this coming Saturday.

As for the others in our little ‘outing’, Paul finished in second place, and Kirsty was first lady.  Sharon’s back was playing up (she hurt it at work a few weeks ago) and she was way off of her best.  Her form/fitness will return.  You just mustn’t rush these things.

Overall it wasn’t an easy course, and this was mainly because of the mud and I’d say hill-wise its got a little more climbing that the Bedfont Lakes parkrun.  I’d say this is a lovely little parkrun, even though the cafe was being re-furbished and wasn’t open on the day!

Because of the cafe situation we had to head into Eltham, just up the road for a coffee and some cake, so all was well.  I then spent most of the journey home fielding mobile phone calls for Paul as a result of a little computer issue back at parkrun HQ.  I think I spoke to probably most of the parkrun race directors during that journey home!

Anyway, back to the present.  Sharon and I had been wanting to come and visit some friends of ours who live in Glasgow for a long time and we found a date that fitted in all of our diaries.  So here we are, up in Glasgow.

With our friend Richard being one of the Glasgow parkrun race directors (and our parkrun addiction) we had to go for a run whilst we were visiting.  In my preparation I managed to run 5k on a treadmill earlier in the week with no real difficulty so felt I was good to go for the 5k parkrun this weekend.  I’d run 6 miles in January and 5k on the treadmill so far this month.

Saturday morning – 9am came and passed – which wasn’t a problem as Scottish parkrun events take place at 9:30am.  Glasgow parkrun is currently going from strength to strength and they’re puling in fantastic numbers – this week being their third record attendance in a row – with 286 runners taking part.

My plan for the run was really just to enjoy it but put in some decent effort and see how my fitness (and foot) was holding up.

Coming into the finish - photo: Gill Williamson

The Glasgow course is lovely – it’s not easy but not too tough (I’d rank it similar in difficulty to Richmond parkrun).  All the hilly bits are fairly short so you’re never having to slog uphill for long – and the down-hills are not too steep as to make it difficult.  The course is on a great surface and running through the woods of Pollok Park is lovely.  I’m sure it is stunning in the springtime.

I started steady and after a few minutes settled into a solid pace.  There was little movement between myself and the runners around me and we all just got on with it.  After the first lap (it’s a two lap course) I did wonder if I’d be able to hold my pace for the next 2.5-3k as I’ve not run this fast since November.  Thankfully I was able to do so.

Before long I came into the finish in 38th position and my watch stopped at 19:44 – a time that I was very happy with.  My legs certainly felt it but my (dodgy) foot felt no worse than before so that’s all good.  Sharon had a reasonable run and finished in 33:35 considering the lack of running that she’s been doing of late.

As with almost all parkrun events we followed it up with cake and coffee which was lovely.  A top morning out with great friends on a great course.  Well done Glasgow parkrun.

Interestingly my last seven parkruns have all been at different events – I wonder if I’ll find another new parkrun to try next time or whether I’ll just play it safe and go back to Bushy Park…

After some discussions last week at Bushy parkrun a few of us decided to ‘tick this one off of the list.’

First thing Saturday morning (7:30am) Sharon and I collected Kirsty and headed out west to Black Park parkrun.  Pre-run toilets were all locked so although some people chose to ‘water’ the plants themselves, we chose to wait till the obligatory post run coffee shop visit.

My running has pretty much been non-existant of late.  I did a parkrun on the 28 November, then one on 1 January and nothing else until today.  My foot still hurts all of the time, but doesn’t seem to get better (or worse) – so I’m kind of thinking that this is probably just how its going to be from now on.  As the Black Park course is mostly soft ground and any running I plan on doing right now will be on soft ground, I thought I’d give this a go.  I had no plans to try and run fast (I’ve forgotten how to anyhow!) so just wanted an easy run…

I set off close to Kirsty and the main mass of runners who finish between about 22-28 minutes.  We had an easy first mile and then I started to warm up (actually, my hands took a couple of miles to get vaguely warm!) and speed up a little.  I slowly but surely worked my way past people and at the same time ensured that I wasn’t racing or pushing too hard.

David a few seconds before the finish - photo: George Mardall

After about 20 minutes I made the turn into the final long long straight and just about managed to glance back to see Kirsty running strong (having a great run by the look of things).

I crossed the finish line in 24:26, so only 6 and a half minutes away from my PB but happy to have got round with no additional foot pain.  Kirsty came in a few seconds behind me and then Sharon came in a few minutes later.

As we waited in line to register our positions we chatted away, congratulated Darren ’250 parkrun’ Wood on his 3rd place and generally admired the surroundings.

The parkrun is located in beautiful park and I’m going to try and make sure I head back there in the spring to run or at least take some photos.

Following the run we headed to the coffee shop, had a drink and refuelled ourselves before going to the local swimming pool for a swim…

Injury once again reared its ugly head.  Running may be great for fitness but it really can hurt at times!   Aside from avoiding injury as much as possible, the main aim for 2009 was my first Ironman triathlon – a 2.4 mile swim, followed by a (short!) 112 mile bike ride, topped off by a 26.2 mile marathon run.  Easy huh!

Prior to this I had an entry into April’s London Marathon to prepare for.  Towards the end of January I was getting some ITB grief which turned into general knee pain in my left leg.  This made my marathon training tougher as I wasn’t able to do anywhere near as much training as I had wanted to.  I just about squeezed in three runs of over 20 miles and as I lined up on the start line with over 35,500 other runners at the end of April I just had to get on with it.  I finished in a time of 3 hours 19 minutes and 46 seconds – a time that I was very happy with – especially for my first marathon – although I know I can run quicker and a sub 3 hour time is in me (somewhere).  My London Marathon report can be found elsewhere on this site.

I recovered from London pretty quickly – which was just as well as I had to train for the Ironman in mid-July.  In addition to plenty of running, I was also putting lots of time in on my bike, with a number of 80-100 mile bike rides from the start of May.  My swimming was coming along as well and from an exercise point of view all was good.  My priority was on multi-discipline rather than just running, and I think partly because of this I just missed out on going sub-40 minutes at the Bognor Regis 10k in May (my favourite race).

During the spring, Saturday mornings mostly consisted of a lake swim followed by a 5k parkrun event – and occasionally a long bike ride afterwards.  At the start of June I won my first parkrun race (and running race at that) – with an 18:25 run at Bedfont parkrun.

A couple of weeks later I finished in under 5 hours at the Bala middle distance triathlon in Wales which I was chuffed to bits with – the race was tough but fun – tough during the race but fun once I’d finished!

July was Ironman time and I had a suberb race, clocking 10 hours 37 overall and a 3:46 marathon (after the swim and bike).  On our return from Zurich I wrote a very lengthy report about it all.

During the Autumn I was back concentrating more on parkrun 5k racing (i.e., races that last minutes and not over 10 hours!) and at the start of October got a new personal best (first one in 2 years) of 17 minutes 53.  I’ve not yet dipped again under 18 minutes – because of injury and other races taking priority.

As we moved into the Winter cross country season this was something that I was really looking forward to – challenging running which could only make me stronger – or break me!  As I write this now I’m not sure what it’s done – it was fantastic with my fitness but I’m a little broken at present (read the Epsom 10 report for more background).

At the end of November I decided to take a few weeks off of running – to try and sort out my left foot.  Right now I’m going to give it a few more days before attempting an easy run – and that will be on soft grass as much as possible.

After all the words above its time for a few facts and figures…

My total mileage for 2009 was 1311 (compared with 1028 and 1320 in 2008 and 2007 respectively).  This is only 11 months running as I’m not running in December.  My average weekly mileage was 25.1 miles (although based on the first 11 months it was 27.6 which is more accurate).  The increase in my mileage this year has to be related to my two marathons (at the London Marathon and Ironman Switzerland) – those long runs really add up.  I’d love to be lots more though – as that’s what I need to get quicker.

Event wise I did the following:

• 40 parkrun (5km) running races (although not all of them racing)
• 4 Apr: Ranelagh Harriers Baker Cup Handicap
• 26 Apr: London Marathon – 3:19 (very pleased)
• 17 May: Bognor Regis 10k – 40:24 (weather wasn’t ideal)
• 25 Jun: Thames Turbo Aquathlon – 8th overall
• 14 Jun: Bala Middle Distance Triathlon (4:51:58)
• 7 Jul: Ironman Switzerland
• 5 Sep: Ranelagh Harriers Thomas Cup
• 3 Oct: Ranelagh Harriers Page Cup
• 10 Oct: Surrey League Cross Country
• 18 Oct: Cabbage Patch 10 (new 10 mile PB of 1:02:22)
• 24 Oct: Ranelagh Harriers ‘mob match’ against SLH
• 14 Nov: Surrey League Cross Country
• 21 Nov: Ranelagh Harriers ‘mob match’ against TH&H
• 28 Nov: Epsom 10 (the run that knackered my foot!)

Looking ahead to 2010 my main race plans are a 20 mile race in March (which is looking more and more unlikely by the day and won’t be treated as a race) and an Ironman distance race in July.  I also have to put in the Bognor Regis 10k (in May) and the Bala triathlon in June.  Right now, those are my only plans for 2010.

Other things I’d like to do are…. run the Dorking 10 mile race in June and get a 10k PB.  I wouldn’t mind running a half marathon at some point – the last half marathon I did was in Barbados in December 2008 – maybe that’s a idea….

So, if you want to see how I get on, there’s only one thing to do – and that’s stay tune to this site.  Thanks for reading, whoever you are and wherever you are…

After a lot of overnight rain the weather cleared up, but there was plenty of evidence on the ground – many of the paths were waterlogged!  If you look at the course map at the parkrun website your head will probably be spinning with confusion trying to remember the course.  However, the course was superbly marked and marshalled, so there was never any chance of taking a wrong turn.

After last weekends Epsom 10 miler when I hobbled home in pain this past week has been interesting.  On Monday and Tuesday the only way for me to get down the stairs was sat on my backside and sliding down the stairs one by one.  Things have made a lot of improvement since then and I’m walking fairly normally now, although still feel some pain in my left foot when walking.

My plan for today was to just get round the course.  I’d threatened to run with Sharon – which I thought she’d enjoy as its our 11 year wedding anniversary today – but she didn’t want any of it!!!

The parkrun is set in a lovely park area with all sorts of playgrounds, bowling greens and a large lake.  It’s a great park in a very accessible location (and a huge car park right by the start).

With the event currently run by volunteers from the University of Manchester this possibly explained the large number of young people/students taking part.  Sharon and I were some of the oldest runners there!  We were most impressed to see these young students out and about before 9am on a Saturday morning.  When I was a student I would always end up watching Saturday morning TV at 9am on a Saturday.  Then again, I was over 17 stone in weight and didn’t know the meaning of the word exercise.

After a detailed briefing (follow the yellow arrows for the first 3.5k, then follow the pink ones, ‘homeward bound’,  to the finish) 77 runners set off on this, the third South Manchester parkrun.

Sharon's muddy feet post parkrun!

I started slowly as I had no idea how my foot would be and I made a conscious effort to stay off of my forefoot whilst running as much as possible.  After a couple of hundred metres we turned onto a smaller path and this is where the water logged surface was at its worst.  The path was wet, and the surrounding grass was muddy.  Wherever you ran you couldn’t avoid getting wet and muddy.  I really wasn’t expecting this but it added a little bit of excitement to the run!

I was probably in the mid 20′s position wise and as I settled in I drifted further and further up the field.  There were marshals everywhere, all really smiley and with some of them jumping around (partly just to stay warm, as it was a cold morning).  I slowly moved up the field, my foot not giving me any real cause for concern (although it did hut a bit towards the end), and crossed the line in 8th place with a time of around 20:24 according to my watch.

After I finished, I went along to support Sharon (the course is great to see other runners multiple times).  I ended up talking to Linda one of the Race Directors (who was lovely and friendly) and we want to thank her and her team of super-friendly marshals for running an excellent event.

Sharon had an average run – her shoes filled with water early on because of the puddles and now we are back at the hotel, they weigh so much!  Sharon liked the cross country feel of the course – but wished she had brought spare shoes with her…off to the shops now :)