June 2025

 

       It was an exciting start to June as Clare and myself woke up in a hotel in Yeovil. My mate Kev from the Vegan running club came and collected us along with his mate Richard and off we headed to Crewkerne, for the Crewkerne 10k.

After my success of first V50 at the Yeovilton 10k, I was hopeful of another first V50 finish. It was quite a warm day but I was ready and keen to get started. The race started at the bottom of a hill in a dip. So a big uphill start and when I say big, I mean BIG! It sure was a big climb out. I didn’t rush off, just paced well and kept my breathing as relaxed as I could. It was all on country lanes and away from civilisation as I knew it. There were some nice downhills too but when I got to 5k, I couldn’t help but burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of this course. It was proper brutal. And heading back, I knew there were some tough climbs to come as well, due to its “Out and Back” nature.

As always though I had the wonderful support of Clare and there were also 5k runners to pass and I would shout encouraging comments and their support was very much welcome as well.

No sub 40 on this course for me but I was very happy with my efforts of 40.40 on this course and it was enough to get me a trophy for the first V50 today and 13^th place overall.

 Unlike last time, we stayed around for the ceremony and I collected my trophy as the crowd cheered. We went for a coffee and then Kev made us lunch before we got the train back to Southampton. What a great start to June.

   The Saturday after, Clare and I went to Bartley parkrun where we knew there would be some other Vegan running buddies. It was also John P’s birthday and there would be some yummy food! It was a disappointing run for me with a P6 and a time of 20.11. The body wwas telling me that it was tired.

It was great to see Clare return to running though after her tough time out. It was lovely to catch up with everyone including the Bakers, Matt S, Andy Mc, Mike H, Anja, Louise etc..

The food was so good but it didn’t stop us from going for more at Lemon and Jinja on the Belbins estate near Romsey.

On the 15^th of June, another 10k soon came around. It was the Alresford 10k. Now, this race had been in the Hampshire Road Race League for many years but I had never done it. Everyone always describes it as “Hot and Hilly”, which I guess, puts some runners off.

Anyway, it was busy and sold out. It was definitely hot that day. When I looked at the elevation though, it had about 200ft less climbing than Crewkerne 10k, so I felt well prepared and was hoping for a sub 40 today at least. I knew I wouldn’t achieve first V50 in a Hampshire league race but I was hopeful of third V50. Surely the faster runners only do flat courses right?

From the off, I was struggling. My breathing felt shallow in the heat. I got to 5k and I knew I was starting to slow but decided to try and hang on. I would be a long time in the hurt locker today. Even Clare said I looked F*^ked. It was nice to see her and that 9k marker though.

I finished in a time of 39.40. It was a tough day and was fifth V50, so not quite there but happy enough with the sub 40 on a challenging course. I was quite excited about the free watercress..lol. It was a great race and a good course. Marshals were very friendly too. I’d probably do it again and feel I could get a much better time… It was a great day all the same and nice to see some familiar faces, although there were very few of them at this race. Think I knew more Hardley runners than Lordshillers! Bit of a weak turnout in the league from our club this season for some reason. Hopefully next year will be better.

 

After all the racing, my body was starting to feel destroyed and abused. I needed some time out. My resting heart rate was as low as 32bpm for a week. Which is dangerously low as a heart specialist once told me. Rather than try and get a doctors appointment, I just took the advice of last time. Less mileage and slower efforts.

I suppose I should explain better.. during Covid I had an enlarged heart and lungs which can affect heartrate and breathing. I had to have a heart MRI and consultations with a heart specialist as my heart rate was as low as 30bpm at which the heart can stop as it thinks it has nothing to do explained the specialist. A bit of a scary moment for me Four years ago. God knows why the low heartrate has returned though.

I met up with my old friend Damo and we caught the train to Swannick to walk around Swannick lakes. Neither of us had been before. It was quite comical as we walked around in circles only finding one lake and struggling to find the other three. We found a couple more eventually. It was a great catch up and a really nice day. We walked to Parkgate for lunch and then decided to walk to Warsash, then to Bursledon along the shoreline and then to the Jolly Sailor pub for a drink and a train home. I had clocked up 17 miles of walking. I was so tired. Walking seems so much harder than running..lol.

I nearly managed a week off running! I think it was 4-5 days and then I only did a slow 5k into work. My resting heart rate had returned to 36-37bpm. Not ideal, but better.

We had a busy weekend ahead of us. Clare would drive me and her Mum to Gloucestershire where we were staying in a lovely lodge.

Clare grew up in Gloucestershire with her Mum as a child. So it would be a lovely trip down memory lane for them both.. and me? I just loved Gloucestershire anyway. It was a long day on the Friday and we were ready for a parkrun meet up with my Vegan Running Club on the 21^st of June at Mallards Pike.

I have done this parkrun before. In fact, it was exactly two years ago and I had about 200 miles of cycling in my legs. I was in between jobs and had cycled from Southampton to Pontypridd. I was originally heading for Pembrokshire but the 30 degree heat at the time was killing me, so decided to head homewards via Gloucester.

So, it should be a easy course pb right? It’s a lovely one lapped course. A circular route but the first 3k is uphill but you get a very fast finish. I was super pleased with P2 and a course pb of 19.07. I barely saw anyone for the parkrun after the first half a mile. P1 with his headphones and backpack on was off like a rocket and I couldn’t even see anyone behind me. It’s a easy course to follow though, so there wasn’t much fear of taking a wrong turn or getting lost.

It was a very hot day, so my main concern was for Clare. I had to check on Clare’s mum first as she was alone by the lake in her wheelchair. She was fine, so I bought some drinks and headed back onto the parkrun course in reverse to cheer on the runners and see Clare. I was expecting her to look tired and knackered but she looked pretty fresh and happy. After a brief few words, I headed back to Clare’s mum via a quick photo for the Vegan running club. My legs were very tired now! Clare’s return to running was going well with a time of 38.41. Well done Clare! :)

  We had a wonderful picnic with the club as I spoke to friends old and new. Some I only knew from Starva, so it was lovely to chat to them. The food was amazing and I gave a load of old books away to share. Another wonderful day with great people.

  It wasn’t over though as we dropped Clare’s mum off at a friend’s while we walked high up to a place called “Blaise Bailey” along some nice forest trails. So much greenery in Gloucestershire. We even talked about possibly moving there one day!

 On the Sunday Clare and I ran up to May Hill from where we were staying. It sure was a hill too, but the views from the top were amazing although a little overcast. Later that day we also did a walk around the beautiful Soudley ponds with Clare’s mum too. What a wonderful weekend. The weather was very kind to us again.

  On my Wednesday off, I had that urge to run a marathon to Salisbury. I get these weird impulses sometimes to run quite far. Despite very little training for endurance, I made it but it sure was an effort. It was quite humid and I felt tired after only 12 miles. I only took a bottle of Lucozade Sport and two gels with me. I definitely got there dehydrated. I managed to run to North Baddesley, Braishfield, Michelmersh, Mottisfont, Dunbridge, Lockerley, Dean, East Grinstead and Alderbury. Nice quiet country lanes. I had to do a loop of the Cathedral grounds to make up my marathon distance. It sure was a challenge and only my third marathon of the year. Then it was off to Boston Tea Party for a massive Vegan breakfast :)

  Lastly I decided to return to Great Salterns parkrun on the 28^th of June. My last visit was in April of 2022. So it was to be an easy course PB as I knew to wear road shoes this time around with the dry weather. It’s 3 laps around a nature reserve. I was hoping for my first P1 at parkrun with 6 P2’s, 3 of them achieved this year. Sometimes the times are quite slow here but on my warm up I spotted Julian Manning who seems to follow me around the East Hampshire parkruns and beat me by about two minutes! Today was no exception. In fact, I didn’t even hold Second place. It was my Eighth time finishing in Third place. Happy enough with my 19.06 on this course though. I went off to Off Beet for amazing food in Portsmouth afterwards and caught the train home.

       It sure has been a busy month for me. Thanks for reading. Hoping for a quiet July ;)   Stay strong and healthy.

  July sees me running the Lordshill 10k, Lakeside 5k series and we have the opening of the new climbing gym, the climbing hangar. 

           We’ve had a few challenges lately. When I say we, I mean mostly poor CC, my other half. Two cataract operations and then a fall on the way to volunteering at parkrun. She twisted her ankle quite badly and was out of action for a little while. Which means she hasn’t run for quite a while now. However, she was determined not to let it get the best of her. We walked Itchen Valley parkrun at the start of the month as we wanted to make sure that she would complete her 50^th parkrun at a special location. It made me realise how long it takes to complete a 5k when not running. It seems like a very long way! It was a lovely day though and great to chat and see the sights in detail.

            

             On the 9^th of May, CC drove us to Haverhill in Suffolk. It’s right on the Essex border if you didn’t know. I had never been to Suffolk before and when I ask people if they’ve been, the majority say they don’t think they have either. It’s very green with lots of motorbikes and flies. It’s a been worrying when you get to the A1307 when the sign mentions the high fatality rate. The road is known as “The road of death” or “Death road”.

Luckily we made it there alive and CC surprised me that evening with a lovely Vegan meal in Sudbury at a place called “Cradle”. I would highly recommend this place. The food was out of this world.

            The next day happened to be very special. It was CC’s birthday and we were in Suffolk to complete Clare castle parkrun. CC would still be walking with the swollen and bruised ankle but it would be her 50^th parkrun nonetheless. Well done CC, I know how hard it was for you.

Last year we did Blaise castle in Bristol for CC’s birthday. I wonder where we’ll end up next year? Another Castle location I guess!

 We had a lovely long weekend in Suffolk with a great walk from Melford to Sudbury where we ended up back to “Cradle” for some delicious pastries and coffee. Of course we got lost a few times and didn’t take the right paths but we got there eventually. The weather was so good! On the way home we stopped off at my favourite Vegan food place too. “The Greenhouse” in Fleet.

     The weekend after would see me running the Netley 10k. There was to be a new course too, which got me excited. I had been running laps around the country park on this race since 2011.

It definitely wasn’t a fast course but very much improved. A couple of nice climbs but some great downhill too. It was great to get the support of the locals and to see them outside of their houses cheering us on. I absolutely loved it. I was also happy with my time of 38.37 on this course. Another A-team placing for me at Lordshill this year. To be fair, the turn out of the faster runners has been pretty lame this year in the league for our club, which is a bit disappointing. Anyway, I won’t go in that one…

 

A week later on the 24^th of May saw me turn up at Whitely parkrun. I hadn’t done it for a few years, so was hopeful of a course PB at least. CC was there to support me as always as I ran 3-4 laps around the course. I was aiming for around 18.30 but finished in a time of 18.40. Happy enough and my first sub 19 there.

  The day before I went skateboarding after work with a fellow workmate. We are now both 50 and neither of us had skated in about a year. We were both pleasantly surprised how well we both performed. And we didn’t do too much damage to ourselves either, which is always a bonus.

     27^th of May marked mine and CC’s 2 year anniversary. We didn’t do much on the actual day but the next day we went climbing together for the first time in ages. I was again surprised how well CC climbed considering her time out. It made me so happy to see. It was such a great session together. I look forward to more of those in the future. I have been climbing most Wednesdays now on my day off. I love it and hope to climb more but marathon training isn't too far off now I guess! 

   That’s almost it for May. On the 31^st we headed to Yeovil via train where I took CC to Ninesprings country park to show her the wonderful sights. We were here because of my up and coming race, the Crewkerne 10k. I won’t write about that now though as it happened in June. Thanks for reading if you got this far.

      More fun times ahead hopefully. We have had some tough times lately. Hopefully things will improve for us. Always staying positive and loving <3 Stay rad people :) 

April 25

  

     It seemed like an age for Spring to arrive but finally it did. It had felt like a long and enduring Winter for myself. I was glad to see the back of it. I sure had done a lot of comfort eating and put on a few Kgs as well as a cut back of my weekly running mileage. Only natural for me over the Winter months. Something I have come accustomed to over the last 14 years of running. My aim for now, is to take more control and focus on getting fitter and faster again.

 

First off would be Winchester parkrun with Clare though. We jogged around at her pace and she did really well and surprised me as she has been out of action for a while with two cataract operations over the last couple of months. Things have been really hard for her, so I was really happy to see her parkrunning again.

 

The next day I ran in the Salisbury 10 mile race. I had done this race many times and had more than once, come away with a PB and an injury. The thing was that I used to panic that I wasn’t fast enough or I hadn’t done enough training. So, I would run a hard 10 miler say on the Thursday before the race and then race on the Sunday and then wonder why I had shin splints or a calf strain afterwards. It took me a few years to figure this out though.

Anyway, I went into this race well rested and knew that I was on for a PB at least. 65.21 was my current PB from Bideford 10 in North Devon.

    I was confident that I could run sub 65 for the first time, but how much by? The answer is 63.46. I had run a good race! A big thanks to my girlfriend CC and Malcolm Price out on the course for cheering me on and supporting. Also made a new friend named Dan from Hardley Runners who I was chatting with on the way round for a bit. It was lovely to meet up with some of the other Lordshillers later for food too and chat about running for ages..lol. Especially lovely to see Di Mattingly and Mark Glanville, both former Lordshillers.

 

A week later was legendary runner and Vegan running club Chair person’s 600^th parkrun, Mike Harper. Fareham was the destination and cakes had been made, thanks to John and Jess Pelligrini. It was a bit early for cake for me, so I opted for the Vegan sausage rolls instead.

I ran pretty well and snuck in my second sub 19 of the year and a P2  with a time of 18.56. P1 was nowhere to be seen though but it was a lovely sunny day as we sat, chatted and basked in the rare sunshine. CC ticked off another parkrun too despite not being able to see without her contact lenses in due to an upcoming cataract op.

     Easter weekend came around and it pretty much rained all day on Good Friday. CC and I decided to skip a rainy parkrun on the Saturday morning and decided to do a 10k walk of the Testway from Mottisfont to Romsey, via Kimbridge and Awbridge. It was a lovely sunny afternoon in contrast to the morning and we managed to keep our feet clean and dry. The only bit I didn’t like were the cows in Squabb wood. Luckily CC chatted away to the cows as I tried to sneak through stealthily.

 

Easter Sunday saw me catch a bus to Romsey and then a train to Salisbury and then another train to Yeovil Junction. I was off to do the Easter Bunny 10k in Yeovilton organised by my mate Kevin Doherty’s running club.. Yeovil Town Road running club.

Kev picked me up from the station and drove me into town where I ran a lovely 5 miler around a beautiful country park with quite a few hills.

I stayed at Kev’s who had made me a lovely Vegan roast dinner and it was so delicious. 

The next day we were off to pick up other runners/supporters and get to start which didn’t start until 11am. Kev drove me around the whole course to show me some hills..lol. It didn’t start until about 11.15 in the end, so that the adults from the kids race could make it to the main event. We spoke to many runners that Kev knows, including a speedy V70 who only needed a sub 50 for his masters qualifier. His words, not mine ;) He ran a 44 minute 10k!

   In my head, I had a time in mind. I wanted to run a sub 38 at least but it didn’t happen. Not surprising really as I’m still carrying a few extra kgs and have not really done the speedwork. At least the healthy eating had improved a lot though and the weight was starting to come off.

I ran a 38.21. It was a great event and the marshals were fantastic all the way around. I would definitely do this one again. Despite my time, it is a fast course. I was later shocked to discover that I was the 1^st V50 which was surprising looking at previous year’s results as the course record is 32 mins and a few seconds for the V50!

Kev wanted to leave early so I didn’t get to bask in my glory but it turns out that I had won a bottle of wine anyway… not good for a recovering alcoholic..lol. It was a wonderful day and great to see where my fitness is. Not far off my best to be fair…

     The last parkrun of the month and I thought I’d head to Southampton for the 115^th time. I know Southampton is a fast course but I hate the congested start for the fear of being tripped. 1100+ runners on the start line. I always start at the front and go out fast, trying to keep my stride shorter than normal and looking around for space. It scares the hell out of me. Anyway, every now and then I will go there to try and run a fast time. In my head I wanted an 18.30 as I had only just scraped two sub 19’s this year so far. How would I get on?

    A lifetime PB of 18.00! Bang on 18.00 minutes. A bittersweet PB really. 1 second from sub 18 but a PB by 8 seconds. How can I not be happy with this! Over the moon I am and I feel like I could run a Sub 18 now although it’s gonna be painful, so I might just try and get fitter first.

All good training for Netley 10k and CrewKerne 10k in May and June.

Stay rad people, thanks for reading. Get strong and smash your goals. xx

March 2025

          St David’s Day saw me getting up very early to catch a bus at 6am, to get a train for 6.30am where I would change at Woking and then get off at Walton-on-Thames. I would then walk 2.5 miles to the start of the Dragon Run, a 7 hour timed event put on by Phoenix Runners.

I kind of knew where to go as I did one of their events in the past with my friend Helen a couple of years back.

You run out and back along the Thames path which comes to around 3.2 miles. I was hoping for a 50k PB. Sub 4 would have been ideal but it wasn’t to be…

          I turned up an hour after the start but it doesn’t matter as you can start when you want. You just put your stuff down and put your chip timing device around your ankle and it starts when you run over the timing mat. Simple. I said hello to the volunteers and they gave me a number and a cup to put in my cup holder at the food/drink station. It was nice to see plenty of Vegan options including my favourite, the peanut butter pretzel. After the event last time, Helen went to Costco and bought me a huge jar of them and I just sat there eating them for a week. I told her never to buy me them again..lol.

 

Off I went. My first lap out. I kept my jacket on to warm up as it was bloody cold and very foggy out there. Obviously there were other runners out there already. None of them looked too happy or very friendly to be honest. I was super excited about this event and just smiled away to myself. I tried chatting to one guy for some company but he had earphones in. I saw a sign for the turnaround point. Was that the actual turnaround point though? I saw another guy run past it and followed him but the guy with the earphones shouted out for me to turn around.

Ok, I ran past it once but it shouldn’t happen again right? This would happen a few times. I would sometimes switch off and follow other runners who weren’t even part of the event. My brain did kick in eventually though.

 

For some reason it was getting hard at 12 miles already. My legs felt heavy but my breathing was nice and relaxed. I was thinking about quitting. I told myself that I may as well run the marathon at least.

I stopped at the food station to eat some pretzels and take on a gel and some cola. I did feel a bit better after this and the fog was clearing but one of my arms was very cold and numb. Which got me thinking about arm sleeves. Are they any good? Would I ever wear them if I bought some from work? Isn’t a long sleeve T-shirt just a better option?

Please enlighten me people.

       The other runners didn’t seem so miserable now or was I imagining it? Many runners passed and said “well done” and smiled and I happily returned their encouragement. Not everyone was happy on the course though. The Greylag, Canada and Egyptian geese ruled part of the course and we often had to run in between them without trying to startle them too much. It was a skill that you got good at but it got harder as the mileage went on and the concentration levels started to wane. Also it was getting busier on the course now with families out for walks and dogs darting about and kids on bikes.

 I don’t think I was smiling as much as the previous miles and was concentrating more now. The tough bit being the foot bridge. I could feel my hamstrings tightening up in the cold weather, although the sun was starting to come through now. I was definitely stopping at the marathon of 8 laps. And boy was I glad to get there! I rang the bell to confirm the end of my run. The volunteers gave me more food and drinks and I cheered others on and spoke to the other finishers.

These are great events and quite tough mentally. My watch said 3.22.56 for the marathon but I stopped at the food station a couple of times, so my official time was 3.25.49. My 2^nd quickest marathon. Not too bad with hardly any training. I’ll have to come back for that 50k target another time. These events are run most weekends.

     The legs were obviously a bit battered after this, so I took it easy and went climbing the next week at Parthian with another co-worker who had never been climbing before. We had a fun time but it made me realise how weak I had become with such little climbing this year.

I also heard that the Climbing Hangar are opening a climbing centre in the summer on Millbrook road near Go Outdoors. The climbing Hangar in Exeter is my favourite climbing gym with the best route setting ever! Did you know that they only use female route setters? They say this makes the routes more technical and less physical when I asked one of the employees about it. Really looking forward to that.

       On the following Saturday I decided to get a bus into town and run to Netley Parkrun with Disgo Dan where I got a time of 19.34, a P2 and a course PB for Netley. P1 Chris Catt had nothing to worry about with a time of 18.52 though.

Ed was run director and already playing Xmas tunes..lol. Had a great catch up with Dan and we ran to the Coffee.Woolston place in Woolston. My first choice would have been Mettricks but that has sadly now closed. Coffee.Woolston is fantastic by the way. Lots of yummy vegan options and a book shop too. You must go and visit if you’re out that way. You won’t be disappointed. The pastries are huge!

    I had a good catch up climbing with my friend Clayton at Parthian and then we went for food in Portswood for my mate Damo’s birthday. All three of us are now in our 50’s with me being the youngest. It was a great catch up talking about old times together. Some wonderful and very funny memories were shared as we sat there sipping our teas..lol

I also spent over an hour on the phone to my mate Seana in Australia.

My best mate says he is coming back to the U.K in September. Haven’t seen him for about 10 years. Very much looking forward to that get together <3

       The day before Eastleigh 10k saw me marshalling again at Itchen Valley parkrun with CC. We had different marshal points of course. I get so nervous about these but it was great fun as always and I got a shout out for reaching my 25^th volunteer credit. I may order a lovely purple vest for climbing now.

        Eastleigh 10k came around and I was a bit more anxious than usual. I knew I had been eating poorly, way too much junk food. Crisps and chocolate most nights. It is a hard habit to break sometimes and I have been struggling with my comfort eating since the end of the summer and it really gets me down, so something has got to change!

I hadn’t done much speedwork either and not forgetting that I ran a marathon only 3 weeks previously. Excuses eh!

 

         Anyway, off we went and I felt ok crossing 5k in about 18.48. My first unofficial sub 19 of the year. Not long after though, it went bad. I was slowing and starting to struggle. Runners were starting to pass me. I was well and truly in the hurt locker. I dug in though and perservered through the pain. A time of 38.16 was not so bad after all. My slowest 10k in over a year but one I took a lot from in the way of what needs to change going forward. It was a lovely day all the same and CC was the best support as always and took some great photos.

           The last parkrun of the month saw me going solo at Ganger Farm. I needed to get some speed back in my legs and was very happy to get myself a course pb and a sub 19 with a time of 18.58. I was still 4^th place though as Matt Bennett fought it out with James Baker at the front. Matt setting a new course record and James only 3 seconds behind. James Baker has got P1 at parkrun a whopping 408 times! That’s 408 times more than me..lol. I do have 4x P2’s though :D

Really happy to get my first sub 19 of the year and on a grass course too in the Boston 12’s.

 

Anyway, that’s it’s for March. I’m still reading a lot of books. A great one is: “Running life” by Dame Kelly Holmes.

I quite enjoyed “A year of living simply” by Kate Humble as well.

Other than that it’s been a few Charles Bukowski books and now a book on the history of the London Marathon. It’s been 10 years since I did London. The book is bringing back some great memories. Maybe I’ll do it again one day if I can run a “Good for age” time.

Thanks for reading and my biggest thanks goes to CC for her continued support and love as always. Hopefully she can return to running and climbing soon as well. xx