Two days to go

Did my last pre-10K run today.... a couple of laps of Greenwich. A cool, showery day, ideal for running, even more so since the rain (and the bank holiday weekend) seemed to have scared a lot of people away leaving the park much quieter than usual. Shame it looks like it's going to warm up for Monday's race but at 20 degrees it shouldn't be too bad to run in.

This is the uphill section of the lap around Greenwich. At one time running up it once was a struggle but these days three or four laps is pretty routine and it's a good workout which makes running faster on the level a lot easier.

Having a nice park to run in like Greenwich makes a big difference - a lot easier to get motivated to go out running, and keep running, than if I was pounding the pavements, having to dodge pedestrians, cross roads and breathe vehicle fumes.

So... the BUPA 10000 on Monday. As usual my first two goals are 1) to complete the course and

2) run all the way around. Assuming I can manage both of those, goal 3 is to beat my previous best 10k time (59:59 at Hampton Court Palace in 2008) and goal 4 is to beat 55 minutes, which means 8:53 miles or better. Let's see...

Total miles in May is now 74.1 miles and, for 2010, 364.8, so the 6.1 miles to come on Monday will take me almost to the halfway mark of the challenge, a whole month ahead of schedule.

Another marathon weekend

Back in Edinburgh for the weekend and it's marathon time here - Sunday morning echoing to the sound of starters guns going off for the various races which make up the Edinburgh Marathon festival. The marathon kicked off at 08:50 this morning so the "proper" runners will already have finished and the majority of the rest of the field are probably at the painful 20 mile mark.



The weather is absolutely glorious at the moment - 25 degrees yesterday and forecast for 22 or so today. Nice for a barbie in the park but not so good for distance running though and I imagine the first aid people at the marathon will be busy. Hopefully there's enough water to go round and people are sensible about their pace.





Anyway, my training for the BUPA 10000 next Monday has gone pretty well and I did my last "long" run today - just under 7 miles at a good pace of 9:07 per mile. I need to up that to 8:51 per mile if I'm going to reach my 55 minute target but I'm hoping the race day adrenalin will achieve that. Also I've been eating too much junk over the last few weeks so hopefully keeping an eye on my diet over the next week will help. And hopefully the weather will cool off a bit before then !



As for the 750 mile challenge, well, also going well. 64.45 miles so far in May, and a total of 355 miles for the year so far, so looks like I'll have reached half way by the end of May, which is great news. June is likely to be a lower mileage month however as I'm off on holiday for a couple of weeks - volcanic ash, forest fires and political instability permitting !

More sunshine on Inverleith

A very sunny weekend in Edinburgh and very nice conditions for running.

6.5 miles yesterday and 3.5 miles today, together with 11 miles in lunchtime runs at Dulwich, add up to 21 miles for the week, taking me comfortably past 300 miles for the year so far. At the current rate of progress I'll cruise past my 750 mile target and get to 900 miles by the end of the year.

Only 3 weeks until the BUPA 10000 now... this week I ran 6 laps of Dulwich in 55:33, so if I keep up the training I should have a good chance of beating 55 minutes on the day.

Marathon inspiration

Last Sunday I went to support my sister-in-law run in the London Marathon - she had a great run and went around in 4:26, a really excellent time, even better given it was her first attempt at the full distance.

I've been thinking of doing "the big one" for a while and I think watching all the thousands of weekend joggers like me last Sunday was probably enough to convince me to give it a shot. Not sure I'll sign up for London, since the crowds make it difficult to get a clear run a lot of the time. But on the other hand the atmosphere and the crowd's support were fantastic. I took several hundred photos...

Anyway, back in the here and now I had some good runs this week in Dulwich to finish April with a total of nearly 74 miles, including a very quick 5km on Thursday which I completed in 26:06, which bodes well for beating 55 minutes in the BUPA 10000 at the end of May.

And today to get May off to a positive start I did two-and-a-bit laps of Greenwich plus an extra bit for a total of 4.75 miles. It was nice to go back there after a week off (because of the marathon closing a few roads).

It's a great park to run in, some nice long, flat straights, together with a steepish hill to make you work a bit for your mileage. And it's a big enough park that even when it's busy it doesn't seem crowded. And today, maybe due to the bank holiday weekend, it was nice and quiet. Oh, and the views are great too !

Some hard yards at Crystal Palace

First trip of the year to Crystal Palace today - lots of roads closed at Greenwich due to tomorrow's London Marathon. I'd forgotten about the hills at Crystal Palace and went out a bit fast - so ended up doing 3 laps rather than 4, for a total of 5.5 miles. An hour long swimming lesson before my run probably didn't help. But the good news is my ankle's now pain-free.

And I've had a good week - 5 runs since Monday for a total of 21.5 miles at 9min 16 pace. Total for April is nearly 63 miles and for the year 279 miles.

Tomorrow: a day off running to go and watch the London Marathon and support my sister-in-law who is running for World Emergency Relief.

Sore ankle

Apparently the UK is covered by a cloud of ash from an erupting Icelandic volcano. It's causing a lot of worry for airlines and their passengers...

Ash cloud or no, the weather these last few days has been fantastic - warm spring sunshine, very little wind, and very comfortable temperatures. Very nice conditions for running.

Unfortunately I seem to have picked up some kind of ankle injury. Don't think it was caused by running since it doesn't hurt when I'm running or walking - but it is sore when I stretch or turn the wrong way.

Maybe it's just old age.

Anyway, injuries and ash clouds aside, I've had a good week's running - nearly 18 miles this week, including some intervals (8x400metres) on Wednesday. Oh and a swimming lesson as well.

Total distance for April is 41 miles so far, and for 2010, 258 miles - so I've now completed 1/3 of the challenge, ahead of time.

Spring sunshine

After a very long cold, winter it looks like spring might really be here... three days of bright sunshine, warm enough for t-shirts and shorts, well for running anyway.

Had a great Easter in Edinburgh - very relaxing - and didn't do a lot of running for various reasons. But this week has been more productive and I've clocked up 19 miles this week - 8 in Hyde Park during the week, 7 and a bit at Greenwich yesterday, and 4 laps of Dulwich today.

And I'll be working from home for the next week or two so will hopefully be able to get out more regularly at lunchtimes.

240 miles completed in the year to date - 510 to go. So still nicely on schedule.

Looking forward to the BUPA 10000 next month - I've got a plan together and will be trying to do a bit of speedwork to make sure I beat my target of 55 minutes.