Who the hell am I racing against?
In the second in a series of very self-indulgent posts this weekend (sorry!) I want to answer the questions: who am I competing with? Who am I measuring myself with? Who am I racing against? Watching the best of the best I watched the the women’s World Triathlon…
Seven things I believe have transformed my running
Like many people I have met through running, when I started I really had very little idea what I was doing: all I knew was that I needed to take back control of my life. A friend of mine had made the same lifestyle changes that I needed…
Is scarcity and discomfort good or bad when it comes to marathon running?
I have recently been reading a book, called Kings of the Road, by Cameron Stracher, about the golden period of marathon running in the US, around the late-1970s and early ‘80s. This period followed on from the publication of Jim Fixx’s book The Complete Book of Running, and witnessed…
Guest race report from the Perkins Great Eastern Run, Peterborough (2013) and some thoughts on running a sub 75 minute half marathon
In this guest post Jamie Rutherford, friend of the blog and top level runner, writes about his recent run at the Perkins Great Eastern Run half marathon and how that relates to the blog I wrote recently about picking your half marathons carefully, if you want to focus…
A stat-attack: the best half marathons in the UK if you want to run fast times
I have a theory that if you want to run a fast time in a race, then you really should find a race with as many other fast runners as possible. I am just reading the new book by Malcolm Gladwell, called David and Goliath and in that…
When road meets trail – the intersections of two running tribes
Snowboarders vs. skiers… Twenty20 vs. 5 day test matches… road cyclists vs. mountain bikers… ping-pong vs. table tennis…
Gold medal or Palme d’Or? Why running form is less important than running more.
This morning, as I was sitting eating breakfast, a thought popped into my head about the nature of competition. My wife had cooked eggs and we were eating them with slices of gruyere cheese. But not any old gruyere cheese – award winning gruyere. My wife is Swiss,…
How to get your preparation on track
For many runners, training on a track is something other runners – more talented, more dedicated, more serious runners – do. There is a perception that training on the track is for the elite or for athletes training for track distances. But that should not be the case.…
My review of the 2013 Virgin London Marathon – a case of risk and reward
Going right back to when – and why – I started running in the first place, control was a big issue. I had lost control of my life, with my health, wealth and happiness all seemingly being managed by a greater and more malevolent force than I could…
Three is the magic number – interviewing Kipsang, Mutai and Makau at the 2013 London marathon
It seems as though every year, the organisers of the London marathon bring together “the greatest field ever assembled” for their race – London is one of the six major marathons and is an iconic race on the bucket list of runners from the very elite all the…