RED January 2020 - day 2

RED January 2020 day 2 - starting afresh - second consecutive year of RED January

It was a long time ago now that I started running and that was walking and running around a local park until I felt that I could run constantly for longer and longer periods... and that is where I am today, learning to run again. I know how to run continuously as my mind and body retain the memory and can mimic how I used to run happily for some time, but because I am unfit and untrained it would not take many runs before I become broken in some way. So I am telling myself I am a beginner and starting at the beginning - where any good run should start. I am over the phase of being frustrated that I can't go out and run a 10k with relative comfort two or three times a week, and I have made peace with the fact that I weigh too much for my body to cope with running how I would like to.

@REDJanuaryUK 2020 is a fundraiser for MIND, the Mental Health Charity please do support them if you can. The link below take you to my fundraising page...

So this #REDJanuary is all about the process of (re)learning and enjoying the idea of being a new runner. I will walk a lot, I will simply stop if I need to, I will though keep going gradually and patiently. Too many Januarys have shown me that charging at the target like a crazed cartoon bull will only lead to me missing the red cape completely and flying into the anvil hidden behind. My goal is to do what I did years ago and just go out and learn and build incrementally. I have races bought and paid for, but I will simply go and have fun - and carefully forget that I have ever been a runner before.

Happy January peeps, take those resolutions slow and steady, and by next January you will be relieved at not having to make the same resolution again.  This text was first posted on my Strava feed "Andrew Hollins" (by me; with the details of my run session - of course), and then on my Instagram feed "andy_hollins" (with a picture - of course). 

So what happened that smashed a hole in my running year?

If I was to have drawn out my plan of the year it would look nothing like it has turned out. January began with a block of consistent running that was unprecedented in my lifetime, running everyday for 50 days blew away any previous 'streak'. From there I was really enjoying my running and thought that the year was going to be amazing in my running shoes, two marathons were coming next and I thought it was all systems go. Then, as if I haven't telegraphed it, the shoes fell off.

So whilst running a 20 mile race in March, my first one, I began to unravel. Sadly for me, it wasn't just hitting the wall it was race misjudgement, fitness misjudgement, psychological misjudgement and missed steps leaving the event behind. I'll get to each part in a moment but should first mention that the event itself was great, the organisation, support, course, and facilities were all en pointe... so what happened that smashed a hole in the rest of the year?

These four things were what left my running in tatters - firstly 'race judgement' - this was the simplest of the elements and not a unique one in any way... I went out too fast and gave myself a mammoth task in the second ten mile loop. I let, what my physio calls, happy legs run away with me, and although I wasn't far from my overall target time I ran the first half so quickly that the second half was always going to be a physical wrestling match. This played into the second component 'physical misjudgement' - running relatively shorter distances everyday for 50 days gave me a false impression of my base fitness. I had run longer sessions through that period but not with enough structure to give me the kind of long run endurance strength that I needed. Truth be told if I hadn't broken down over the twenty mile distance 26.2 would have undone me a whole lot more.

Fitness being an issue played into the third element 'psychological' - as I muscled my way through the second half pushing and cudgelling myself into getting it done I began to question myself, and question myself, and question myself. Before the end of the race I had verbally (and loudly) laid into myself for  being foolish enough to consider myself a runner... I took myself apart over my preparation, my physical condition, my belief that I was a runner, my lack of ability, my drawing down time from other areas of life to push along with misplaced goals,... it wasn't pretty, I wasn't kind, I wasn't logical, and trust me I used words that I wouldn't level at anyone else I've ever met or will ever meet. I pulled my stuff back together enough to cross the line trying to smile, but I had taken my sporting soul and popped it through a shredder. Suffice to say that I have yet to fully reconcile myself with that 5 minute self-flagellation.

Once over the line feeling mental numb and physically smashed I just wanted to get home, which meant I limped through the leisure centre it was based out of, collected a t-shirt, a drink, and then collapsed into the car to drive myself off to lunch as soon as I could. I didn't stretch, I didn't give myself time to sprawl out and relax my limbs, I crammed myself in the driving position and set off - the fourth element. On the way home I got stuck in traffic for 30 minutes and got back even more sore than when I'd crossed the finish line.

After that the marathons came and went without me bothering the start-line, the terrific physio4motion sorted me out with restorative stretches and exercises, but my running soul was cowering somewhere out of sight. I actually found for the first time in years that I didn't want to run, not that I admitted that to anyone. Running doesn't happen in isolation of course and there were huge things going on in my work life and the counselling room that added to the mess (other stories not for here).

So where am I now? Currently I am injured working through a round of plantar fasciitis which has evolved into some sort of a tendon issue in my right foot. I have run a 10k race with a friend which was amazing, and I'm not sure just what I am taking from the fact that I could go out and run in the middle of an injury, but that was likely an outcome of wanting to help someone complete their first ever 10k. Psychological I am still not "on it", but I am hoping that sorting out my foot will get me closer to running regularly again.

On the 2019 rollercoaster

This year started so very well with my running delivering great things, I ran everyday between new years day and Valentine's day before the wheels completely fell off my wagon. Not long after the streak and a few fun races I broke myself at my first ever 20 mile race. In the days that followed a hip issue left me barely able to get out of bed in the mornings, and so my running and mood plummeted. Roll on to now and my mood has not improved much and neither has my running - I now have a heel / plantar fascia issue on the foot of the opposite leg to the now resolved hip issue.

Suffice to say that I am desperate for a run, or at this point any other consistent physical exercise but it feels some way off. I am not done with running, I still have a lot of ambitions to do events and to do some events I have never tackled before. Something needs to change and I am wrestling with how to do that just now.

2019 has certainly started

I have belatedly realised that I have not yet posted in 2019, so here it is a post! It has been a busy beginning to the year and so that is probably why I haven't blogged. If you are a follower of my running over on Strava you have a fair idea of what shenanigans I have been up to. I won't write much more now but suffice it to say I have my first ever 20mile race on Sunday. More soon...

...will have to see if I can beat 5 posts this year (my average for the last two years)... no promises!?!?

Run#7 spring marathon training block

Run#7 of my journey to spring marathons (my 48th parkrun)

This morning I got myself down to the Blackweir parkrun (Cardiff), my outing was split into three parts:

Part 1 - warm-up on the way to the parkrun start

This morning I used the 1km commute to parkrun to jog, and do a dynamic warm-up (including a bit of plyometric skipping). It was a really good warm-up and happily I wasn't skipping when I passed two fellow Pegs Ellen and Caroline. Both of them looked to be well set for a good run and were doing their warm-ups looking relaxed.

At the start area I took of the extra layers that thought it wise to use for a change and left them in the parkrun baggage drop. Near enough the first time I have used it for warm clothes because I usually barrel down in my running kit, survive whatever the weather throws at me and then run home before I get to cold / wet (or both). Once I had sorted myself I stood waiting feeling clear in my purpose for my run session, a warm "good morning" from another Peg, Colin, made me feel even more at my ease.

Part 2 - Blackweir parkrun (A course)

So I set out this morning with a fully formed plan for both preparation and the run, and happily ended up nailing a good parkrun for the third in a row. The middle 3k were as balanced an effort as possible and the numbers look nye on perfect. Today was about borrowing some last kilometre speed and spreading it through the first 4k to take me to sub-30mins for parkrun for the first time this year. The last km was still a controlled burn and happily felt as strong as my last parkrun.

My kilometre splits according to Strava were quite staggering 5:59, 5:37, 5:37, 5:37, 5:00 - I focused hard in the middle on technique and rhythm but was surprised by the quality of the outcome when I interrogated my watch once I got home.

As soon as I got out of the finish token collecting funnel I enjoyed a quick catch up with Luke (another Peg runner), he finished well ahead of me and looked fresh but reported that he has been wrestling with some niggles that are stubbornly not clearing up. I hope he is back to full fitness soon as I hope to be chasing him around some more parkruns in coming months.

Once I was done I got my kit back on and stretched before setting off for home. Pre-warm-up and layers to put back on afterwards were all part of trying to go into each run from here with the best approach / preparation that I can.

Part 3 - the strategic walk home

So then it was the final element in my cunning plan... walking home warming down gradually. It felt good in the moment and I hope that the active stretching of the walk home will improve my post-parkrun recovery time.

#parkrun #blackweir #strava #2018PB #runningwithaplan #marathontraining #brightonmarthon2019training #running #pegasusrc #persistantpegs #dontcallitacomeback

Sunday long steady run that wasn't quite...

It was not really a steady run it was more of a marathon paced run, to see how I would get on. This run turned out to be one of those eventful ones that will stick in the memory for a while. The run started out close to my old marathon pace and then saw how long it would - not long as my post run Strava km splits revealed. I was really pleased with how much better this run went than last weeks run, I felt far more fluid and was in a really good frame of mind setting out.

The plan was to practice gels and take one an hour with one before - having gone around Cardiff Bay to the second gel at two hours of running I discovered I'd lost it somewhere (it must have worked its way out of my run belt). Happily I had packed a pack of 'just in case' sports beans, so I smashed those down and finished of the bottle of water I had carried / used until that point.

On the way back towards town I realised the park entrances to the Taff trial would be locked and I couldn't retrace my steps, new plan hatched (that I calculated wouldn't add too much distance) I ploughed on. Into town it was quite busy and I was greeted by three lads who yelled "Oi, fat slob!!" as I passed them. Already feeling a bit out of sorts at other hiccups this just about mentally finished me off... the long gradual hill up North road was incredibly hard.

Finally I got within a kilometer of home and entertained thoughts of a final push, to which my legs said "no chance!", and then the wall hit and I was in gripped by a full energy bonk as I got back. Breathing rate up, heart rate up, deep fatigue, legs legs jelly... yeah, it was not a long steady run, it was basically a 3 hour tempo run. Glad it was done, glad that I stayed focused (for the most part), and glad that it sets me up to get round Bournemouth marathon (albeit now perhaps as a recce for a better attempt at it another year).

Bournemouth calling (soon)

Why Bournemouth?
It will be an opportunity to meet up with a school friend who has also signed up to run the marathon. Though that said my biggest motivation is to try to take some time off of my most recent marathon time of 5hr 21mins. Initially when I signed up I was thinking of knocking an hour off, from here though I will be happy with simply bettering my last marathon time in a way that builds me into the winter and a crack at Newport again next year.

What is Bournemouth?

The Bournemouth Marathon is ’running as it should be.’ Beautiful coastal views, a chance to run the Boscombe and Bournemouth piers and a spectacular finish. https://www.bournemouthmarathon.com/marathon/

Held this year on Sunday 7th October 2018 (Start time:10am)
It's 2018 lead charity partner is Macmillan Cancer Support.  https://www.bournemouthmarathon.com/charity/affiliates/?charities_id=175

To answer this another way I turn to wikipedia.org...

The Bournemouth Marathon is a road race run over the distance of 42.195 km or 26 miles and 385 yards. It takes place each October in Bournemouth on the south coast of England. The inaugural Bournemouth Marathon took place on 6 October 2013. It is an IAAF Bronze Label Road Race. It is part of a festival of running which includes a half marathon, 10km run along with shorter races.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bournemouth_Marathon

18 week training plan
The fulsome training plan went out of the window with the summer holidays, a change of job role, and well life in general really. Back on the road now and following a hastily assemble 9 week progression aimed at getting me around in one piece. The plan is my own and relies somewhat on prior experience of what works for me, the big issue (as it has been in most training phases of late) is to try and avoid injury whilst building up time on my feet.

Stretching and strength
I am almost permanently broken these days so I have to find some core strength and fascia responsiveness

Mental preparation
At the time in the Newport marathon when things began to unravel and the lack of preparation became fully evident I didn't have the mental preparation of having run long and hard through fatigue in my recent memory. I far from mentally imploded but it was evident that I was wrestling with plan B the rest of the way without the preparation that would have made the last 10k less emotional.

The biggest challenge?
Overcoming myself and the obstacles that I will no doubt put in my own way - the run with too much intensity, the run when I should have rested, the extra helping of food I don't need, the slavish dedication to a preset plan rather than listening intelligently to my body, and probably above all the pressure to run the time that I want to.

The way forwards
Training sessions will pop up on instagram and strava, and periodically be summarised here so that I can track my efforts and reflect upon progressions (weekly or fortnightly posts - I haven't decided yet). Most of all (and again a theme I keep coming back to) I have to get moving.

Hashtag cloud - #bmf2018 #runbournemouth #andyonthemove #autumnmarathontraining #comebackkid #anothermarathon #marathontraining #newtonrunning #garminrunning #stravarunning #chasingfitness #letsdoit #persistentrunner #slowandsteadywinstherace

2018 so far

Apologies for the distinct lack of blogging, I have been very busy instagram'ing, strava'ing, and so forth but not sitting down to write and build blog posts. But then I realised that I have been missing writing about my running in a longer form, so I am trying to get back here a little more.

Running wise it was a brilliant start the year, a 10 week marathon training block that went about as well as any training plan ever has for me, and then I ran a half marathon. The Llanelli half went fabulously well, it was my fourth fastest ever, the bit that didn't go so well was the aftermath. As I healed up after the race it became clear that I had more than just little niggles, I had the kind of niggles that were going to keep me out of running for some time. The good part was that I really really really enjoyed the 10 weeks, and that I found lots of elements that worked for me.

At the end of the April I managed to get myself to the Newport Wales Marathon... more on that at the beginning of next week...

Race review - 2017 Severn Bridge10k

2017 Severn Bridge Half Marathon and 10k - Sunday 27th August
Website: http://severnbridgehalfmarathon.com/

Organisation:
The first ever Severn Bridge 10k was a good one because it was born out of an existing half marathon course and organisation. The runners village was well proportioned and well laid out within the available space. Sunshine bathed the event on August bank holiday Sunday and even had some of us hunting the shade before the start.

Would I recommend the race to a friend? Yes, because it is well organised, a good sized event, an accessible location (as you might expect being as most of it is run on the motorway network), the goodie bag was very well appointed, and scenery is very different - how often do you run along a plank of concrete suspended between the sea and the sky?

How it went for me:
What happens when you haven't run a 10k in a while? You run the best 10k you have in three years - of course. It was a strange circumstance indeed and I can only fathom that as I have run so many near 5k PBs this summer that I carried something through to the bigger distance. I was absolutely chuffed to bits to smash my own low expectations. The runners high and raw endorphin buzz was huge afterwards, so much so I might still be riding on the wave.

We started at one junction of the motorway bouncing to power ballads and dance tracks played over the public address system with many runner tucking themselves out of the sun under a road bridge. Before the gun went off I had the pleasure of milling about with the merry band of Pegasus club mates that had also opted for the 10k race instead of the half. We discussed sun cream (which I was able to 'borrow' from a kindly Peg in the runners village), the nature of the last hill into the finish, what everyone hoped to achieve, and we even waylaid an official photographer to do us a group shot.

I started off running the first two kilometres with no idea how I was going to go and clinging to the hope of dipping below the hour mark. During the opening 15 minutes I settled, found a pace, and more importantly found my breathing in the warm weather. It helped that I found a flatter part of the road deck camber and was following a club mate up ahead who I knew was on a similar schedule. By the time we reached the turn around point just inside of 5k I was happy that it was turning out pretty well, and was bracing for the second pass up and over the suspension bridge. Running with Pegasus Club mates made for a buzz before the race and great encouragement during the race. It was at the half way mark that I realised I was in fact chasing just the one Peg up ahead of me.

On the down hill slopes I gained and worked to try and limit loses on the up hills, the Peg up the road was doing a great job of pushing up the hills and was consisting gapping me more on those sections. In the last 3k I settled into the thought that as long as I didn't slow down beyond 6:20/km I was coming in under the hour and any real notions of pushing harder melted within that thought process of "Under an hour? Awesome!". The sun was shining across the whole cross and I was not at all comfortable with the heat, but knew I could keep efforts where I wanted them.

That talked about last hill was indeed a kicker, not hugely long but a sharp gradient that took me right out of my rhythm. Up ahead I could still see my club mate and was pleased that she would be first home of our cohort. After the hill levelled off leaving about 100m to go I briefly gave chase and had given up when a guy sprinted up next to me. He clearly wanted to beat me to the line, so rather than throttle back I daftly decided to throw on the afterburners and race him. I held him all the way to the line where he actually squeezed over in the narrow funnel to make sure I wouldn't pip him on the line. Could have been he was running the half and not the 10k (as they come into the last 3k together), but I like to think I spurred him to a better time (! - ahem, will I ever learn!).

A welcome can of pop, a flipping big medal, and a cracking time

Summary: Absolutely chuffed to bits with my efforts, most of which I paid for over the following days of course having done so little training. The race is very good, and I reckon I will be back for a crack at the half-marathon.

Three 5k races in a week

After being a lone wolf runner since the start of my 'running career' I have now embraced the world of club running in joining the Pegasus Running Club here in Cardiff. This combined with helping out my wife at an aquathlon led to three 5k race events in a smudge over one week (!!), which is almost unheard of in my running.

In the end I ran these 3 events (in reverse order) :

29-6-2017 Parc Bryn Bach Aquathlon event 2 (run leg) - 00:26:06   [GPS watch time]
Event website http://www.newporttri.co.uk/parc-bryn-bach-aquathlon-series/

The Parc Bryn Bach Aquathlon series provides fast flat racing as well as an introduction to open water and multi-discipline events, in a fun and friendly environment. Our values are to provide a local, friendly race mid-week for people to use as good training and race practice.

Description 'borrowed. from the organisers Newport East Wales Triathlon (NEWT) 

28-6-2017 'The Chase' 5k Cardiff - 00:25:20  * new PB *  
Event website http://www.cardiffrunningevents.org/the-chase-5k.php

The event is a type of Handicap with 2 start times. All the Ladies will start at 7.30pm and all the Men starting at approx 7.32pm with the intention of the first Lady and first Man finishing at approximately the same time. 

Put on by Cardiff Running Events

Photo credit - Luke Heslop (Cardiff running event photographer extraordinaire, and fine runner)   

21-6-2017 SSAFA Road Race Series 2, Cardiff - 00:26:01
Event Website http://www.ssafa5kcardiff.org/

SSAFA is a charity that was formerly (or perhaps is more fully) known as the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association, is a UK charity that provides lifelong support to serving men and women and veterans from the British Armed Forces and their families or dependents [credit - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SSAFA].

It has to be said I am extremely pleased with how the sequence turned out, with a event timed run PB (I have run very slightly faster within Parkruns timed on my own watch) and two strong times either side of it. It has to be pointed out that the heat at the SSAFA event was high (in the middle of the UKs June mini heat wave) and that without the temperature I reckon that would have been the quickest of the three.

Life as a Pegasus Running Club member is proving to be brilliant, in the two club events I ran with two different Pegs as a pacing strategy and thoroughly enjoyed the support / banter / camaraderie. The single issue I have with it is getting beyond my lone wolf runner mentality of 'turn up, run, go home' and get used to taking extra kit along so that I can make a habit of attending the post race socials. So far, because I am unfortunately a very sweaty runner, the thought of hanging about stinking the pub out with my perspiration has put me off of having a slow pint of cold beer with the club posse.

Balancing the balance

Every website, and their subscriber, on lifestyle / fitness will at some point start to describe how to can achieve balance. I, however, can't provide a definition of my own, or a formula, or a roadmap 10 point list, to achieving balance. I can however point out some observations from my experience that might, or indeed might not, illuminate a small corner of the subject.

The first and most important observation is to me an obvious one, and one that is often overlooked in the name of compelling content or salesperson-ship... we are all different. And with that said though we can put ourselves into associations or groups that can provide direction in how best to achieve some balance... the early risers, the late night work fiends, the long slow eaters, the grazing snackers, the all day I dreamers, the all day I doers. So the art of balance starts first in identifying, well, you. What is it that makes you move and gets you started? There is little point subscribing to a fitness regimen that expounds "get your workout done before breakfast!" if you have never ever functioned well before 11am. Similarly there is perhaps little point joining a club in the evenings if you get up before everyone else and have pretty much completed your day by mid-afternoon.

So behind my punchy little blogpost title is this message... in identifying a way of balancing your life look at systems, training groups, session timetables, meal plans, team sports, etc. that fit your own physical / psychological balance, your basic make-up. Going against your own innate tendencies will only make you unhappy with your efforts, much less likely to stick with them, and ultimately further out of balance than when you started.

One final caveat is to look at your balance over time and reassess now and then. I had a whole different balance and pattern to my days during my University degree than I do now as a working, married, father of two busy kids. Balance is fluid through life's path, but try to identify patterns in order to work with them rather than in opposition to them. I absolutely can not claim to have found a perfect Zen like balance (and frankly who but a full time Zen practitioner genuinely can), but I have found things that work for me over different periods of time.

Milton Keynes Half marathon 2016 - my race review

Crickey, I just found this lurking in my drafts folder. Given that Milton Keynes 2017 is not far away I thought I had better fling this out there before I end up over a year out of date...

My race review (Monday 2nd May 2016)

General impressions -
Course: 8/10 - simple, quick, well sign-posted and marshalled. Couple of sections where the footing was a bit rough moving between road and park land paths.
Marshalling: 9/10 - great, cheery and friendly team. Though not particularly evident around the start area which seemed a little odd given the congestion.
Facilities: 8/10 - The stadium facilities are great. Though I did have to play hunt the shortest bathroom queue a couple of times, which is tricky when they are spread around the perimeter of the stands.
Organisation: 9/10 - I didn't enjoy the lack of marshalling in the start zones, but the overall experience from sign up to finish line is very well done. The team clearly benefit from the experience of becoming a calendar regular.
Crowd / support: 8/10 - always an enthusiastic and supportive crowd in Milton Keynes. Even the car drivers put out by road closures were relatively jolly, or at least that was what I told myself as I smiled and waved a "thank you" to them.
My effort: 10/10 - I could not fault my effort on the day (I could fault my pre-race training), my pacing was spot on and I was realistic about my target.

Half-marathon #11

How my run went: 

"It went really well, curbed my enthusiasm at the start, enjoyed the middle, and only really entered the hurt locker for the last 2km. Time not stellar but a good improvement on four weeks ago. The half marathon course at least was definitely an improvement on past years - only two major underpasses that I remember, and no gradients that went on long enough or were steep enough to cause much discomfort."

Small steps = many steps

Small steps are required to build anything and in my case the small increments towards getting back to running a 'good' marathon really are small. I am walking and moving a lot more than I was and feeling the benefit. In getting my day to day activity back on track I have had to make sure that I don't cram on top of it a mass of run (or any other) training sessions. It is very much that case that in the past I started a running training programme at the same time as massively increasing my daily activity levels - walking every staircase, walking to work, doing extra bits and pieces every which way leading to 'burn out'. So for now I am laying lots of small steps down in order to ensure that a training plan will have a better chance of injury free success, and it is taking patience.

Instagram photos from the last couple of productive weeks

So what are the many steps? Well in a quick list they are:

1. shedding some timber - losing unnecessary fat mass, which is going well having lost 7 lb in the last two weeks - there is no point training hard and losing weight at the same time it is too much stress on the body and in my experience that way deep fatigue and illness lie. Giving up chocolate and cheese for lent has certainly helped hugely (!).
2. walking in lieu of run sessions - building time on my feet to strengthen my musculoskeletal system gradually. Over time I will convert some to runs and mix them up.
3. joining a running group / club - I have tried out one (Maindy Harriers Running Club) and try another one tonight (Pegasus Running Club) . It looks like I'm being choosy but there are several good groups nearby and each have different pros and cons, both groups have been incredibly kind when I have approached them. This time next week I hope to have settled upon one and 'signed up'.
4. laying off my marathon ambitions to next year - I will still run one or two this year but for the fun and not for goals.
5. finding variety - backing up recent swimming classes with some semi-regular swims.
6. enjoying and not 'racing' parkrun 5k runs.
7. relaxing - giving myself permission to be flexible and not tied to a fixed programme for the time being.

Running slow... really slow

I have run a lot and I have hurt a lot this year, I started the year with some monumental ideas and a training plan that took an age to craft but then I got injured. And so goes the story for so many runners, and moreover so goes the story for me on a pretty regular basis (you won't have to click too far back in this blog for proof of that).

So 2016 sucked, it sucked real bad! No, I am not about to launch into how many idols died, or start on about geo-political shifts... it was for me at a fundamental level awful. I now weigh more than I have in years, so much so that my body is hurting from the burden, and any life / work / activity balance has gone up in smoke. Hence a New Year uber-plan that went so spectacularly wrong, and looking at it in the cool light of reflection I know exactly why - I did not go slow, so now I have to go really slow.

I started out on the plan as if I had been running decent miles already (which I hadn't), it presumed fitness would return overnight (which it didn't), it assumed that I would see issues coming and fix them before any damage was done (which I didn't). Seeing as I have read so many running books and magazines which explain frequently about returning to running, the importance of incremental adaptation, the crucial need to take accurate stock of where you are in life before you start a running program of any kind, you'd think I might have avoided this phenomenon? No!

Looking at my 'running' now I have to slow done, so much so, in fact I have to... walk. I am trying to steadily increase my very basic fitness, upping my day to day walking, stairs climbed, and better food volume choices. Happily I am enjoying walking and have taken several 'power' walks in the last week or so. The other part of this approach is not running fast, I have now completed two parkruns staying deliberately within zone 2 aerobic heart rate, reasoning that if I run fast this heavy I it won't be a case of if I get injured but when.

All of this means that this years late spring marathon will now be a stepping stone to 2018, when I hope to be firmly back on track with running and a whole lot of other things.

A toe in the water - wherein I learn to swim (again)

Four weeks ago I literally took the plunge and took up an adult swimming class after quite some period of hmm'ing and haw'ing. Now at this early point my vanity feels the need to point out that I can swim, I was blessed to have had the opportunity to learn in school and even spent what felt like an age treading water in a pair of pyjamas as a test of the ability to 'survive' falling in water fully clothed! My swimming, then and since, consists of breast-stroke and not a great deal else. Front-crawl, or freestyle swimming, was always a mystery to me and I never completed any more than 25m without having to stop have a coughing fit, put large volumes of the pool back in its proper place, and catch my breath.

So my reasons for joining a class were more about improvement, and essentially so that I could keep up with my children and wife who are all 'regulars'. My notion was that if I learned to know what I was talking about with the different strokes then I would be able to engage with and encourage the kids even more than I already do. My wife is not perhaps entirely keen as it might look like I am trying to cross into something that is very much her thing, but I have promised that once I deem myself proficient I will stop classes and use it only as an aid to my running training (my friendly neighbourhood physiotherapist keeps insisting swimming will do me the power of good - and to be fair so far it looks like he knows his stuff).

So I have been going along on Thursday evenings to the Cardiff International Pool adult swimming lessons and experiencing into a whole new exercise world. It has been hard from a point of view of base fitness particularly was in the first week I swam easily more front crawl than I have in the whole rest of my life previously. The atmosphere is great, we are all newbies together, and the coaching team are super experienced and moreover good fun. After four weeks I can't say that I love front crawl yet, but I am getting there. My biggest challenge has been explaining why I am pretty proficient at all the other strokes, though this now is a source of humour as I get gently teased about it each week.

As a new challenge it is fantastic, and I certainly see the sport from a whole new angle. Even though I have sat on the side watching my kids classes for the past three years or so it isn't the same as getting in the water and experiencing the process. Six more weeks to go in this block of lessons, and I think I will need perhaps one more block to get to where I want to be... but I guess we'll just see.

The marathon that is coming back, though not just yet...

So there was a lot of noise around the return of the Cardiff marathon next spring with an announcement by Run 4 Wales on the day of the recent Cardiff Half marathon. Over the days after there was a call for a register of interested runner which I duly signed up to, and anticipation built. Groups of runners were getting their teeth into the idea, parkrunners feverishly chatting about the route on facebook, and charity runners getting excited about a marathon on their doorstep after London marathon rejection letters began hitting postboxes.

2015 Cardiff half - Gareth James

For me it sounded brilliant as I was one of those turned down by the London marathon ballot (I am losing count of my 10+ rejections), and hoped it would be a 'no-brainer' replacement as a spring marathon... and then the news broke... not the new route, not date of the race... an announcement that unfortunately they couldn't square away the organisation of the event for 2017, but hoped to get the permissions in place for 2018. 2018 sounded all the sweeter for the suggestion that the great run series team may be involved in creating a Cardiff and Vale marathon.

I ripped up my rapidly forming plans, and I am now looking for that spring 2017 target. Beyond 13.1 miles would be great, but at the moment it is looking like more of the 'short' stuff going into 2017.

2016 despite its rollercoaster of fitness and emotional lows has been the year when I managed to complete the most half marathons in a calendar year, so perhaps I shall just stick with those and build another year around them adding in some other events. Thus, my 2017 plan is still incubating and when it is hatched I shall share it.

Post-cardiff10k blues + my biggest post-race positive

I suppose it was inevitable after enjoying a race and setting aside the poor (for me*) time that I would get around to thinking about the time. So it was that a bout of the post-race "I could do better" blues set in. It could not have gone a lot better on the day of the cardiff10k but somehow I started with the "what if"s and it was all downhill from there really.

Yes I is my second slowest recorded time for 10k but given the year I have had and the weight that I am now carrying after so many comfort eating snacks could I really beat myself up about it? Well, yes, because my body and my brain knows how it feels to go quicker (for me*).

It took a couple of days for the blues to strike so I had a goodly while to enjoy the glow of enjoying the event. What I am left with is a fresh resolve, and the very real feeling that I should not expect miracle returns to old event times.

The truth of it is that I have tried to change my running form and the I am still in the transition period (or so I tell myself). That I completed the whole 10k in mass participation crowds of enforced pace changes and avoided the inevitable possible collisions of big group running without breaking form was perhaps the biggest single take away from the run.

I have now the half marathon in two weeks two to try and build into. The main aim there will be to come away with the same big achievement - will I be able to run 22+k without falling back into heal striking?

* I know all times are relative and that speedier and slower runners alike will be cross with me unless I try to set things as far as I can in proper context.

Time, meh! Complete, yeah!

In the end I completed my seventh Cardiff 10k in good shape, and even with a reasonable negative split. The time was not special and I am really not that bothered as it was just a huge buzz to get out there running in a crowd. A time of 01:00:59 represents my second slowest recorded 10k, but I simply am not bothered. I find myself wishing that I could bottle the post-race buzz and save it for the likely dark phases of the half-marathon in under three weeks time.

Post-race 'glow'

Five runs in a week while on holiday - well not quite!

I am well versed now in the ways of holiday running, packing the kit, making sure my running shoes are included along with run watch, hat (!!), bright clothes, and snood (mostly for carrying and wiping sweat away with rather than wearing as a warming device). So this holiday I was absolutely ready, and then it seemed so was the rest of the family which was an interesting twist. Our two kids wanted to join in and come for runs too.

Although I hadn't managed to Google Earth the place out fully to find routes, the area looked like it might produce some good loop runs and when we were driving in it certainly looked better than I'd hoped... so did I run five times in a week? Well yes, and no... I did three of my own (one longer, two shorter) and then there were two extra ones each with a different offspring along for the journey. The two accompanied runs were frankly just brilliant fun, non-stop chatterboxes all the way around a simple yet varied 2k loop. So varied was the loop it included pumpkins, sheep, goats, friendly sheep dogs, lovely ponds, and rather fabulously no cars.

Run on holiday - a change is as good as a rest!

That wasn't meant to be a fartlek - and other worries about changes

I went out on Tuesday night for a run that was supposed to be another heart rate running experiment. 7.3km later and I completed what could best be called a fartlek run, with some hefty pace variations and not a stick of heart rate running (except for looking at it occasionally on my watch and cringing). Actually I enjoyed myself, and finished the session with a smile on my face. During the past run sit down and run watch upload I reflected that I have some hard thinking to do before the Cardiff half marathon.

Basically having made a foot placement switch off of my heels, and changing shoes for once and for all, I am firmly in an in-between state where I could happily run a 5k or 10k this way but have no idea how a 21k would look. I would like to run the distance and find out but I know that that way madness lies. Whereas I was not patient with the heart rate running this week I am going to have to be with my half marathon progress - only finding out if I can do it in low profile shoes, on my midfoot, running with a different running form on the actual day. I am more than a little bit scared of the challenge, as realistically I need at least another 12 months or more to work through the changes and make them a comfortable 'default' setting.

The event in 6 weeks or so is rapidly looking like an day out running rather than an attempt at any sort of time.