Running archive

The wettest 10k of my life

I recently entered the Shropshire Shufflers’ Severn Bridges 10k in Shrewsbury (after a little bit of a kerfuffle where it wouldn’t accept my affiliated club name) and ran with Gaz to celebrate his birthday. Never expected Gaz to choose a 10k to as a birthday celebration and yet here we are; I like to think of it as my good influence as a long time runner ๐Ÿ˜Ž

Katie, at lifeofamissfit, has some good tips for getting into running if you ever feel equally inspired by my awesomeness (hahahaha). Don’t ask me for tips, I haven’t figured it out myself yet.

Anyway – the 10k. The weather forecast on the day was optimistic – wet first thing but drying out in time for the race start – but it ended up being absolutely awful; I think it might have been the wettest race I’ve ever done, definitely the wettest 10k (and I’ve done a few). There were parts of the course where water was flowing down the roads and paths like a river and puddles so deep they were shin-level. Not a single inch of me was dry by the finish and I think it shows in my face in this photo taken near the end. ๐Ÿ˜‚

Jem, in dark grey and black shorts, with a blue branded Broseley Joggers running club vest on. It's raining heavily and Jem is clearly very, very wet. Her eyes are looking downwards, it almost looks like they're closed in despair.
Me, questioning my life choices up until this point

Still, weather woes aside, it was a fun course and I’d like to do it again.

Before that though… the next race I have my sights set on is Newport Marathon. If I can complete that in April 2025, that will be a marathon completed in England, Scotland and Wales and one step closer to my “marathon in every major UK city” 40TBIF goal. Although I still haven’t actually defined what a “major city” is, and what to do if one of these so-called major cities doesn’t have a marathon; maybe I should do that first. ๐Ÿค”

The Three Challenges of Zone 2 Training

I recently started reading 80/20 Running by Matt Fitzgerald. The general gist of the book (so far) is that most people too fast in their training runs, and should slow down: 80% of training runs should be done at a low intensity level. At the same time, I’ve been reading more and more about zone… read full entry »


Lockdown Goals: Week 4 check in

This is the next post in a series I started after realising recently that my apathy and laziness was causing weight gain and a relapse of my more severe PMDD symptoms. You can read the rest of the posts here, from oldest to newest: Lockdown Weight Woes Lockdown Goals: Week 1 check in Lockdown Goals:… read full entry »

Having Fun at Shrewsbury Half Marathon 2019

As it’s a local race, and Shrewsbury Half Marathon was a personal best setter for me in 2018 (even with its hills!) I felt obliged to enter this year’s race as soon as entries were opened. Despite promising myself I’d remain marathon fit after completing Edinburgh marathon back in May, I had let my long… read full entry »


General Training Update

I currently have several posts in the works about specific aspects of my training — my macro counting, my latest runs, my weights progress — but I don’t quite have enough time or energy to give each their due, and so have fixed that by writing nothing. D’oh. To prevent an extended writers block I’ve… read full entry »

Juneathon (Week 1)

I first tried to take part in Juneathon in 2015, and managed to just about drag myself to day 7 before pitifully failing and never mentioning it again. (You can see how it went over on my other blog, but it’s not inspiring.) Of course, I’m a tad more active these days, so it seemed… read full entry »

I ran a marathon

If you’d have asked me this time last year whether I’d ever be able to run a marathon, I’d have probably laughed in your face. Not because I didn’t think I was potentially capable of running 26.2 miles, but because I knew that to do that sort of distance I’d have to train, and my… read full entry »


Running Barefoot

I run in barefoot shoes. Vivobarefoot, to be precise. Now, to describe a shoe as “barefoot” seems somewhat of an oxymoron, but barefoot shoes — shoes with a flexible, minimal sole with generally a zero drop between the heel and toe — are designed to give you that barefoot feeling but with added protection for… read full entry »

Always Another Goal

I am now about 2 weeks out from Edinburgh Marathon, with my last long run programmed for this weekend (20 friggin’ miles?!). I’m dreading this last long one, although I’m not sure why. As usual, I have full support of my running club who’re pacing me around different segments. Despite not having run the marathon… read full entry »

When Life Gets In The Way

I’m less than 4 weeks out from Edinburgh and I’m currently sitting here having a bit of a mini breakdown. I knew that training for a marathon — and doing so while working, keeping on top of my strength goals, raising kids, volunteering etc — would be hard. I knew it would take up lots… read full entry »