fitness

Valencia Marathon 2023

If I wanted to run sub 2:20 for the first time, I’d have to do something different. At my age, I also faced the law of diminishing returns. Time is not some made up construct in our heads. I’m older than I was. I don’t feel like I used to. I can’t run as smoothly, jump as high, recover as quickly.

So if you have to train harder just to stay the same, what do you have to do to improve?

10k

Winter Paddy Buckley FKT

I reach Rhosydd quarry, fifty miles and sixteen hours in, it is the dead of night. A scary enough place in daylight, where young men worked and died, deep in the hillside tunnels. Slate ruins loom silently around me. The moon shadows play tricks on my eyes, ghosts are closing in from all around.

I’ve reached a crossroads. If I turn right, down the hill, towards my home town of Blaenau Ffestiniog, I could get in my warm, safe bed, and make all this end.

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10k

London Marathon Load Up – Weeks 2 to 8

This week I set myself the challenge of nailing my long run. When you’re training for the marathon, the long run is the most important session of the week. Zooming round the track or parkrun is fine, but if you are too tired to get in a solid long run, your training is not as relevant as it could be. I got out of the habit of prioritising the long run the last few months. I needed to get back on it.

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10k

Snowdon Twilight Race

Snowdon Twilight is an uphill only race on Snowdon. It starts on a Friday night to avoid the crowds. When I arrived, more than a few people talked to me like I had already won. I wasn’t so sure. Gavin Roberts was on the start line, he has been running very well recently and is a member of the current Welsh team. I knew he would be my main competition.
I was not feeling confident in my mountain ascent. It is a tricky skill to get the hang of, where the line between fine and f**ked is very thin. I let Gavin lead the way with the game plan of kicking on when we entered the final km…

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