I love half marathons. I think they're the perfect distance. Whether you're looking to run hard and get a new PB or completing the 13.1 miles for the first time, a half marathon is a challenging race. Back in January I decided to withdraw from a 50 miler that I was training for. Life and [...]
This morning another group of my beginner runners finished their 10 weeks of training with a 5k run around Hampstead Heath. It's always the best run of my week when I get to run 5k with those who are completing the distance for the first time. After 10 weeks of training I know that they [...]
In my old job I once made an exercise DVD. It was ironic, given that back then I'd only just started to get into running, that I was involved in the project. I wasn't involved in setting the exercises or anything like that, I project managed the production and enlisted experts in exercise rehabilitation. I [...]
Over the past couple of months I've been sent a few bits of running kit to try out. Here's a round-up of a few pieces. Music on the go Sometimes, heading out for a run can feel like you're a mobile branch of Dixons: phone, watch, iPod, heart rate monitor. The idea this TomTom music [...]
The benefits of running slowly After Cambridge Half Marathon I tweeted: "To anyone scared to run slow, I do a lot of my miles at 10:00+ min/mile pace and today ran 7:44/mile for 13.1. Don't be afraid to slow down." While I did a weekly threshold run and some shorter intervals, much of my training [...]
Since withdrawing from South Downs Way 50 back in January, I've focuses my training on Cambridge Half. I was excited to race a half again and it was the right distance to juggle training miles with running with my clients. I did four training runs a week and topped out at 40 miles for a [...]
The human body is pretty fascinating. I still marvel at the things that it allows us to do and bad races have to always be put into perspective with a bit of 'I ran 10 miles on my own two feet - that's still pretty awesome'. As I've learnt more about how the body adapts [...]
Back in January I made it one of my goals for the year to 'find stillness'. Going from working full-time with coaching and writing on the side to just doing the coaching and writing bits, I thought this goal would pretty much take care of itself. So I did nothing to make it happen beyond [...]
Guest blog by Phil. Running downhill is fun. Even after 25 miles. Splish splosh I go down the wet slide of a hill towards Llanberris and the finish line of the Snowdonia marathon. Running downhill is fun. Even when two people in front of me slip over into what appears to be a peat [...]
This weekend, the fastest women runners in the USA will line up to race for a spot on their nations marathon squad for Rio 2016. 259 women* will race it out, only 3 will make it to Rio. It's going to be a great race. A lot of people are excited about this race, I'm excited [...]
