So it was back to Berlin last Sunday for a run out over the Half Marathon distance, it was here I made my debut over the distance in 2011. I was hoping to eclipse my PB set two years ago although when I landed in snowy conditions on Friday I wasn't filled with much hope. [...]
It has been a while but I finally have something to shout about - another medal at the National XC, this time silver! My last competitive outing was over the marathon distance in September in Berlin. Whilst I was really pleased to run a good time I felt like I had a grey cloud hanging [...]
Setting an alarm for 4.45am to eat breakfast with your eyes shut just seems a weird way to wake up and start a Sunday morning but that's what marathon runners do and it is oddly satisfying. At 7.45am we took a stroll to the start area from the hotel through the Tiergarten Park. Berlin is [...]
After an enjoyable debut in London in April I decided I wanted to target an Autumn Marathon. The Berlin Marathon would be my new goal. I started with my 'what went well' and 'what to improve' list from my previous build up and from there my coach and I put the programme together to get [...]
So I made it to the start line. The London Marathon was finally upon me and the thousands of other runners taking part. The last 12 weeks was all about today. I enjoyed a pretty relaxed day in the hotel the day before. Nick and I had a very efficient production line of water bottles [...]
After the inspiration of Iten it was a bit of a shock to return to the sub zero temperatures and cold, dark nights of the UK. My body didn't react too well without the sun to keep my vitamin D levels topped up and resulted in a few weeks of colds and sore throats, which [...]
In a bid to gain some base fitness I have decided to live and train the Kenyan way, so I have left my home comforts in Loughborough and headed for Iten in the Rift Valley, Kenya. The red dirt roads of Iten are the training ground for the best endurance athletes in the world and [...]
Just spent the last month in awesome surroundings and great weather in preparation for my Marathon debut. Here are some of the best moments...
After finishing my track season at the UK Champs in Birmingham I set off for some altitude training in the Pyrenees. Font Romeu is such an inspiring place to run with magnificent views and a chance to rest and recover between training runs. I am hoping to do my marathon debut in September so my [...]
Loughborough is a fantastic training base but I love nothing more than heading home to the North East for a weekend. Currently in a solid training block I decided to tie in a tempo workout by running the Sunderland 10k and of course it was an ideal excuse to have my Mum's legendary Sunday Roast [...]
Don't get me wrong, UKA are doing some fantastic things for UK endurance at the moment to try and raise standards including a raft of opportunities to go and train at altitude in Kenya and Font Romeu. However, their recent selection decision to not take full teams to the European Cup 10000m championships in Olso [...]
Here are some of my running photos from Buffalo Park, Flagstaff. It's a great place for medium to long reps (surface is a little slippy for anything too much faster) and steady state runs. Did see Bernard Lagat doing some mile reps here the other week so mustn't be too bad a place to train. [...]
