As many of you will know, at the end of last year my wife, Julie, and I launched freestak, a social media marketing business for running and endurance sports brands. In many ways this has been a life-changing experience: I am working many, many more hours than I ever have before. I am also loving [...]
Tag Archives: VLM
Virgin London Marathon 2014 entry opens… and slams the door on some GFA runners
After the excitement and razzamatazz of the London marathon, there follows a somewhat unsightly scramble for places the following year. There is a ballot system in place which is capped at 125,000 entries. Once this is reached the ballot entry closes – and that usually takes a few hours to fill up – and then [...]
The Simple (Simon) Guide to Racing a Marathon – Part four: Psychology
The final post in this mini-series is all about the head. Race day can be stressful and whilst I think that a degree of nerves can be a good thing, I want to keep it under control. And control is what I focus on. Control the things you can and don’t worry about the rest. [...]
The Simple (Simon) Guide to Racing a Marathon – Part three: Fuel
Eat As with hydration, I think that during the race, the best you can hope for is to top up your fuel stores as best you can. The body can absorb 90grms of carbohydrate per hour which equates to about 360 kcal. In general running is considered to require about 500 kcal per hour. However [...]
The Simple (Simon) Guide to Racing a Marathon – Part two: Hydration
Drink I don’t think it is possible to race a marathon (I use the word ‘race’ as against ‘run’ or ‘complete’ because ‘race’ to me means pushing as close to your limits as you can) without getting dehydrated. As with so many things relating to a marathon, the key here is making sure you get [...]
The Simple (Simon) Guide to Racing a Marathon – Part one: Timing
It was my birthday a while ago and my aunt sent me one of those gently amusing cards that cause very little offence or mirth. Here it is… But it got me thinking about how all too often, achieving a goal can become a daunting exercise over over-whelming complexity. I know it was for my [...]
The storm is coming
Think back if you will, to the point before your marathon preparation cycle started. Let’s take November last year for example. Whether or not you raced last autumn, it is highly likely that last November you were not training for anything specific. Wasn’t that a lovely time? Blissful in fact. You were running, sure, but [...]
Runner at the Sharp End #4: Ben Wickham
I first met Ben at the Hackney Marshes ParkRun where it became immediately obvious that we were quite evenly matched. At the time I was living in Hackney so Ben and I were neighbours and ended up running the same races a few times. I was immediately and really hugely impressed by Ben’s level of [...]
The London marathon 2012
As I stood on the start line of the London marathon this year, I couldn’t help feeling a pang of fear. Obviously there was the usual butterflies associated with the desire to do my best, the knowledge that pain was inevitable, the worry that maybe I should have done more or eaten less or worn [...]
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Dommy: It worked for me... Hard consistent training for a...
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Dominic Leung: I\'ve been working at a height adjustable standing...
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Gabrielle Collison: In general, I don\'t think laptops are that good f...
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