March 2026

 

        Spring had arrived and along came more daylight and less rain. The head torch, put back in the cupboard. I’d even done a few runs without my jacket, hat and gloves! My mood was improving too. It felt like a long, hard winter despite it not really being a cold one. Way too many wet dark mornings and nights.

I did a slow Southampton parkrun on the 7^th of March, due to the Solent half the following day. Solent half had been moved to March but was usually in October. Because of all the rainfall, the field we had to run on was very wet and quite boggy. I didn’t care too much as I knew I wasn’t really PB fit and that today would be a hard effort but more controlled hopefully. Basically I didn’t want to spend too much time in the “Hurt Locker”.

 

        I managed to get a lift with Toni and Kev. It was really nice to see so many friendly faces, including my friend Helen who had already run 10 miles to the race! This will probably be my last Hampshire league race for a while and probably my last for Lordshill Road Runners as I have no intention of renewing my membership. I will be repping the Vegan Running Club vest full time :)

         I would have been happy to run a sub 90 for the half. The field wasn’t too bad at the start, I just had to be cautious as to not fall over. I started quite slow but settled in after the first couple of miles. My hamstrings were a bit tight after only 4 miles. It didn’t bother me too much though. What did bother me, that there was an annoying noise coming from my shoe. I had snapped a carbon rod on one of my Adidas Pro 4’s. There was now a clicking sound that would last for the rest of the race. The shoes were old and I had them when they were first released, so I had no problem throwing them away afterwards. I still had two unworn pairs at home as well. I am a bit of a hoarder of shoes.

 

The pace felt ok. Even after 10 miles when I am usually suffering on this course, it wasn’t as bad as times past. Saying that, I wasn’t on for a course PB either of 84 minutes. The final field (same as the start) was very boggy and I tried to navigate the best way to the finish line but seemed to pick out the deepest pools of mud and water to the amusement of two spectators. I was happy enough with my time of 87.15 with my current fitness. I knew I wasn’t in the best shape, so couldn’t really expect much more. It was a great day over all and I really enjoyed racing.

         Almost a week later, I was getting another lift with Toni and Kev. This time to Fordingbridge rec parkrun. It was the only Hampshire parkrun I hadn’t completed. I was hoping for nearer 18.30 as part of my 10k training but ended up scrapping a sub 19 with 18.54. Maybe not the quickest course but I was expecting a quicker time all the same. P10 for me. It was nice to see Neil Sexton from the Vegan running club too who ran an 18.20.

P1 who ran sub 17 was also a Vegan, so I gave him one of my Vegan running club cards. Hopefully he’ll join us ;)

I actually found the course quite mentally challenging for a 3 lapper. It was not inspiring to me all at. I found the course quite dull despite people saying it was a nice course. The marshals were brilliant and very encouraging though. Thank you :)

         I finished the parkrun with a tight hamstring/glute and had acquired a limp now. I was hoping to jog it off as Toni and Kev dropped be off at Woodlands, near Ashurst. I jogged a lovely 10k back but there was a pain in my glute still which was a bit uncomfortable. This glute and hamstring pain would go on to trouble me for the remainder of the month. It seems to restrict my natural running form and flow. It feels more like Sciatic nerve pain but we’ll see what happens. I may take a couple of weeks off running in April.

         I’ve been clearing out some stuff in my room and preparing to move house. I sent some of my favourite books to my friend Kerry in Wales who runs an Airbnb called “The reading Room”. You should check it out. It looks stunning. I’ve been meaning to stay there but haven’t gotten around to it yet. I did try cycling there once but got as far as Pontypridd after 3 days and decided to turn back as the heatwave and tempetures were zapping all my energy. Excuses eh? Oh yeah, it is Vegan too <3

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/1175967895367698301?source_impression_id=p3_1774426981_P3744o7hFgyjE66_

         I only had two Wednesdays left (free) before I go back to work full-time. I have really been enjoying a year of 4 day weeks but I will need more money to pay the mortgage I suppose. Adult stuff!

It was a good chance to catch up with my old mate Damo.

He suggested we do a circular walk from Brockenhurst. I met him at the train station just before 9am, where we got the train to Brockenhurst. We then discovered that we had downloaded two different maps. Mine was a 10k loop, his was a 10 mile loop. I was pretty pleased that I managed download a gpx file to my watch but nevermind. The loop went circular to Lyndhurst and back. We went clockwise and the route was quite easy to navigate. We saw plenty of New Forest Ponies and Brimstones.  We had lunch at the Greenwood tree cafe where I am pretty regular. I love their “Scrambled chickpeas” but they told me that their supplier had folded and were having a hard time sourcing anymore. They have tried to replicate it but said that they couldn’t quite get it right. Such a shame. They still had enough for my Vegan breakfast that day though :)

        While we were there, we bumped into my old friend Rich. Now Rich is slightly crazy but there isn’t much, if anything that he doesn’t know about the New Forest. I believe he was once on a T.V program being questioned by Bill Bailey. He asked us if we wanted to see some Adders. We said yes and after eating, off we went. We walked past Bolton’s bench and back into the inclosure. It wasn’t too long before he pointed out a Black Adder to us. I tried to take a photo but somehow messed it up as I couldn’t see what I was photographing with the bright sunshine beaming down on my phone. Anyway, he also showed us a route that we didn’t know and along the way found two song thrush nests and a long tailed-tit nest. There were more Brimstones and we also saw a few Peacocks and a Comma. The butterflies were loving the sunshine. I still had my coat on though as it still felt cold in the wind.

We didn’t see many people but those we did, Rich seemed to know and he would say “Show em the picture of the eggs”. This happened about 4 times..lol.

It was a lovely adventure but I was shattered after walking about 14 miles. My body isn’t used to it! My calf muscles were screaming and bulging with veins. I could quite happy run 14 miles but the walking kills me. I sure went back to work tired. It was such a nice catch up with Damo though <3

        On the morning of the 21^st of March, I couldn’t decide what parkrun to do. I finally decided on Netley as I hadn’t been there for over a year. The parkrun app told me that it would be my 20^th time, but it didn’t state that it would be my 17^th run as I had volunteered there 3 times before.

I got a bus into town and ran a 10k there to warm up my crappy glutes and hamstrings. It was a nice morning and lovely to be back at Netley. I didn’t recognise many people but had a nice chat with regular tailwalker and old Lordshill companion Aurelio.

        Again, I was hoping for a sub 19. The first mile went well and I was in P4 but the guys in front looked so relaxed. I think they were even chatting! Mile 2 was run in about 6.20. I’d be lucky to get sub 20 at this rate. I was struggling and finding the hills tough, especially being 3 laps. I don’t remember the course being so tough. I may have been just having another off day of course. I managed to get into P3 position but the guy I overtook looked like he was just out for a jog anyway. The first two runners were nowhere to be seen. We were now overtaking people. The numbers were pretty low with 277, so it wasn’t too bad really. My last mile was even slower. I got P3 with a time of 19.34 on my watch. My course pb was 19.34, so I was hoping the official result would be under. Nobody really wants to equal their course PB do they?

         I spoke to a few random runners and then jogged a 5k back to Woolston for coffee at Coffee.Woolston. I knew they did some Vegan treats too. All the cakes and pastries were Vegan. I chose the Oreo Doughnut but when I saw the Pain Au Raisin, I kind of regretted my decision. Should I ask to swap it? I ate the doughnut and it was delicious. I had made the right decision. The staff were very friendly. They also sell books and Vinyl and were playing some great music :)

 

                        (Samba the missing Capybara was spotted at work apparently!)

        Doughnuts for breakfast though? I need to sort out my eating habits. Something I have been trying to do for ages but just haven’t got that discipline. I’ll keep trying though and have been quite good the last couple of weeks really. I really could do with losing a few kgs, especially from the tummy!

Anyway, I got the bus into town to get some of my favourite soap from Waitrose that they didn’t have but found another great Vegan one instead, then my official parkrun time came through of 19.33. I had a new course PB and when I checked later that day, I also was top on the Age grading at the event despite in only being 76.04%.

 

The day after, Clare and myself got up early and did a nice loop of Romsey. It was a lovely circular loop and we discovered a few new paths, but had to break out of “World of Water” which is now a derelict site. We had to clamber over some rocks and walk on a sketchy fallen fence to cross a river but we survived and headed to Hillier’s garden centre for breakfast, which wasn’t too bad at all. £6.50 for a Vegan sausage bloomer and a weak coffee. Clare wisely chose the pot of tea, which she managed to squeeze 3 cups out of.  

        I was supposed to go Skateboarding on my last Wednesday off. Steve from work was going to pick me up and we were going over to my mate’s Greg’s ramp. He has his own ramps and was once on the Paul O’Grady show. I also saw him skate on a T.V program called “Not for girls” once on Channel 5, where he pretty much fell off on his first trick. Poor guy. He is a legend in the skateboarding world though and a really good friend.

Anyway, it was windy and crap outside and I felt crap, so just decided on a total chill day and would take a couple of days off running as my body was feeling battered and broken. I think it takes me a while to realise what I have been putting it through.  

The rest days did me wonders. I felt so much better for it.

                                       (Quite enjoyed this book along with many of his others)

         On the last Sunday of March I was to run the Yeovil 10k. The day before I thought I would do a slow parkrun but didn’t want to run too many miles. I decided on Bartley park as I preferred it over Ganger farm and it had been raining, so Bartley would probably be a bit drier. I walked a mile to Millbrook roundabout and caught the bus to Rushington roundabout. I did a 2 mile warm up and was then needing the toilet. There were 4 cubicles. The Men’s was locked and out of order, the disabled, was also locked. There was a urinal but I needed a poo!!!

 A lovely marshal came over and could see my predicament. “Just use the ladies” he said kindly. I went in and tried to hurry it. There was a pull on the door from the outside not long after. Now I could picture a queue of woman outside waiting for me to finish. I wasn’t too long in there but the next problem I had, was that the toilet wouldn’t flush. I tried it about 8 times. What now? I paused for a bit and then tried again and finally it flushed. There were only 2 woman waiting for the toilet. Panic over.

         The Crumpler’s were there. They are a lovely Vegan family and you will probably know of them if you do Bartley parkrun. Amy is RD a lot of the time. Mike (her husband) asked me if I’d run and pace little Corey, one of their sons. Corey is only 10 years old and is getting pretty speedy already! “What time does he want?” I asked. “22 minutes” Mike replied. Corey quietly whispered “21 minutes”.

Ok, I’ll run around 7.05 pace for each mile I thought. Mike then says, Corey does his own thing so just stick with him. Obviously he can’t run on his own being under 11.

Off we went. It was so inspiring to see his little legs turning over like that. It is 4 laps, so quite tough mentally. He was doing ok. I told him to try and slow his breathing a bit by taking in a couple of slow deep breaths through his nose. Hopefully it worked. I said “Well done Corey” a lot and kept trying to encourage him. Glancing at my watch, we seemed to be slowing a bit. I also realised that I didn’t save my warm up so had started my watch from there. I wouldn’t know our time until the results came through. We weren’t on for sub 22 though, so I felt I was failing Corey and the Crumpler gang. Just when I thought he was getting tired, he would put in a burst again. His resilience is incredible. We finished with a good time though. Not that I knew what it was at that point.

 I ran back to Totton for a coffee, but got the bus back to Millbrook roundabout. 6.5 miles was plenty before race day.

I results came through and I discovered that Corey got a course pb of 22.34. Pretty happy with that as his overall pb is 22.16 at Southampton. He’s definitely in pb shape and probably needs to go back to a faster course :) Well done Corey.

        Later that day, Clare and I went to my friend Darren’s 60^th birthday party at a church hall in Romsey. It was lovely with John Pellegrini making all the vegan food. I love the quiche soooo much. I also took 4 more sausage rolls for the train to Yeovil.

The food was all Vegan and totally amazing from John as always and he caters for a lot of Weddings and other events. Check him out: www.hampshirevegancatering.co.uk

         I stayed at Mike Harper’s place in Yeovil and off we jogged to the start of the Yeovil half and 10k. The race was described as “fast and flat” but Mike and I were skeptical. This was Yeovil after all. We met up with fellow Vegan running club member Kevin Doherty and got to the start line of the 10k. I didn’t really know where my fitness was, so I nestled in between the 38 and 40 minute pacer. I knew I wasn’t in shape to run sub 38 yet. That didn’t stop me from haring off ahead of the 38 minute pacer though. There was a nice downhill start. He caught me up after a kilometre though. The first mile went well and I was happy with my pace. Although hitting the 2^nd mile, I knew the pace was off. It was a nice undulating route. I caught up with some of the slower half marathon runners as the half started at 9am and the 10k started at 9.30am. It was lovely to see Vegan running club member Carla in the country park. She was full of energy, jumping up and down and cheering me on. This sure gave me a lift in spirits. Thank you Carla.

         It was busy with half marathon runners after this. I had to weave in and out of them for a bit. I knew I was struggling by mile 3 and ran through the 5k in around 19.38 I think. Now I would be trying to hang on to a sub 40 time. It was hard, but I battled on. There weren’t many 10k runners around as the half and 10k routes split. I then noticed that I was on the otherside of the road with the half marathoners as the 10k route was about to turn right. I crossed back over and tried to keep the runner ahead in sight. He was quite far ahead. More hills and a housing estate followed. I got to 5 miles and started to feel an improvement in my mental state. Only 2k to go! I think there was more downhill now. I passed a couple of runners and nagivated a winding subway. The support at the finish was great, which made me put in a burst at the end. I just about got the sub 40 with a time of 39.53 (39.51 chip time).

This was also fast enough to make me first V50. My third 10k in somerset and my 3^rd V50 win. Kev calls me a “County Hopper” as I’m not fast enough to get any V50 wins in Hampshire..lol. (with the exception of Totton 10k but they didn’t have age cat awards on the first year of it running to my disappointment).

I was 16^th out of 480 runners. Not too bad.

I shook hands with the mayor of Yeovil and collected a nice printed slate and a bottle of cider that I gave to Mike (The cider, not the slate). It was a lovely day and I was happy to get first V50 despite not really being a quick time.

Hopefully I will get fitter and faster but we’ll see as I still have a few niggles with the glutes and hamstrings.

        Thanks for reading. Stay rad. xx

February 2026

         

        After a miserable January departed, a miserable February arrived. More rain and more dark days. I still wasn’t feeling well. I had missed a 7 hour running event at the end of January and was then absent from work with what I believe to have been Covid. I was sweating and shivering through the nights with hot and cold temperatures. Headaches, fatigue etc..

 

        I did manage to catch up with my friends Jimbo and Scott. We went to Parthian to climb. It had probably been a year since I last went there. I really enjoyed it, but still wasn’t 100% as I was wheezing and out of breath after each climb. The following day, the fatigue hit me again.

 

        Valentine’s day fell on a Saturday, so what better way to spend it, than with my lovely girlfriend CC. We volunteered to marshall at Itchen Valley parkrun. I said I’d get at least 10 volunteering credits at adult parkrun this year, so I am a bit behind already. I really do enjoy cheering on the runners and walkers. I love seeing their smiles and determination and am very grateful for their “Thank yous” too. We have a lovely get together and a chat afterwards in the cafe while I enjoy lots of coffees :)

         The following weekend was quite an exciting one, despite having to get up at 5am! My mate Stacey from Wimborne is running the London marathon for AGE UK. A charity I can get behind as they do not test on animals like many charities do, especially the research ones. He and his partner Ash had organised a coach trip from Moors Valley (Stacey’s local parkrun) to Bushy Park parkrun. The home and start of parkrun. They were stopping at Rownhams services to pick up CC, myself, Toni and Kev too. Clare and I just about made the 6.25am pick up with a 2 mile walk there in the dark trying not to trip up over things on route. Everyone was really nice on the coach and it was a great outing.

 

        I wasn’t 100% still, so decided to walk it with CC. It was a lovely dry morning as we walked and listening to the squawking parakeets and saw the red deer grazing in the distance. Then a double take… is that Nick Cotton? Aka Nasty Nick from Eastenders? It was! John Altman (his real name) was marshalling on course with some rock music playing and he was cheering us on. He was the most liveliest of the marshals. CC and myself are quite vocal when we marshal so we find it a bit disheartening when a marshal just stands there, says nothing and doesn’t even force a smile. Anyways, it was a fantastic day. We sure did a lot of walking and were both knackered by 2pm.

Here is a link to Stacey’s fundraising page:

https://2025tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/stacey-dickinson

 

He reached his fundraising target for London marathon in 2025 but has decided to keep the page open and run it again. At the time of writing he has raised £3.349. Great work Stacey, well done mate.

        I was supposed to run Winchester 10k the next day but didn’t see the point of going. It would be such an effort for such little or, if any reward.

The race is organised by the same people who organised the Romsey 5. Despite it being a great race and getting a 5 mile PB, it’s not a UKA race, which means it won’t appear on my Runbritian or Power of 10 page.

I have entered the Romsey Beer race though for June which is  5 mile race. Hopefully I will be in PB shape then.

 

        The days of running were unpredictable as some days I would be fine and did some great speedwork on the track, and other days I would feel flat and everything would ache. I was trying to eat healthier, cut back on my caffeine intake and sleep more for recovery.

          February sure had been a long month, despite only being 28 days. On that last day, I thought I would test myself at Southampton parkrun. It is a very fast course. I am still carrying a bit of weight but the speedwork was feeling good and progressive. Could I go sub 18 at last?

I started off at the front for fear of being tripped. I don’t do Southampton parkrun very often because of this reason. Not so long again my friend Lin got tripped and broke her elbow and had to have an operation. Another friend got tripped on the grass a while back and still broke some ribs. It sure makes me feel uncomfortable for the first 200 metres. So off I raced..

 

Within half a mile, I knew things were off. The form was going already and my breathing was laboured. I was off pace. First mile 5.58 which should have been at least 5.50. A terrible 6.17 on the second mile, although this mile does have the hill in there, I should be running at 6.05 pace for this mile. I was dead on my feet by now and just holding on. The last mile is lovely and flat though with quite a bit of downhill. I would usually aim to run it at 5.40 pace. I didn’t even run a sub 6 with 6.02.

My time was 18.41 with P25. First in my age category (V50) but who cares about age cat at parkrun right? I ain’t picking up a trophy. Haha. These things happen. I noticed straight away that my lungs were burning, they were so painful for a few hours afterwards too. Post covid effects I was thinking.

 

        I am nowhere near the fitness levels I wanted to be at, but I keep telling myself that things will improve with spring around the corner. More daylight and less rain (hopefully). Warmer weather on the way will inspire me to run more and lose weight. Hopefully I will hit peak fitness and running weight in the summer smashing out some good 5k and 10k times.

         CC and myself are still waiting on news regarding moving to our new house. So we are currently both decluttering. CC is stupidly busy at the moment with everything. Poor CC. Xx

        I have been reading lots of books still though. Just finished a great one by 400 metre runner David Gillick called “the race”, all about his career as a top athlete. Also a couple of Matt Haig books “Reasons to stay alive” which took me right back to my days of depression and anxiety. I sure have come a long way! And “Notes on a nervous planet”. A good look how technology is taking over our lives and not necessarily in a good way. Let’s all slow down in life :)

        Saying that though… Steve from work has introduced me to AI and it’s become a bit of fun at work when we get a spare couple of minutes. Here are some of our creations…

 

        I only have three Wednesdays left until I go back to full-time employment. It’s been a lovely year of 4 day weeks but they must come to an end with a big mortgage to pay off in the future. I had a nice time catching up with various friends and a lot of climbing and solo track sessions. I will miss these but will also get more holiday entitlement being full time again :)  See you soon hopefully. Thanks for reading. xx

January 2026

             

            Happy new year! 2026 is here and there’s no better way to kick it off than with a parkrun. It was a local one at Itchen Valley. Clare was volunteering as always and I ran around with John Peligrini and Mike Harper. Just an easy effort for me but a nice catch up with everyone all the same.

Two days later, we had another parkrun on the 3^rd. Mike Harper picked me up and we went back to Moors Valley. We were a bit concerned that it would be cancelled as it was so icy. We did a warm up around the lake to see how slippery it was and it was indeed very slippery. The parkrun still went ahead though and I just managed to sneak under 19 minutes with 18.59 and a P10. I was actually hoping to get nearer to 18.30. I was putting in some effort for my up and coming Romsey 5 mile race in a couple of weeks time. A lovely morning though and I decided not to queue for the terrible coffee this time around :)

I have been frequenting the running track lately. Trying to get some speed back into my legs. Making the most of my Wednesdays off before I go back to a 5 day working week. The track was icy the other week and I had to do 200’s instead of my 800’s. I actually really enjoyed them and shocked myself how fast I could actually run them. I will do more in the future. It was lovely to see Helen and Paddy at the track too.

 I had a long weekend off,  CC and myself went to Carmarthen in Wales with my Dad for my Uncle’s birthday. I have quite a big Welsh family and poor CC was to meet quite a few of them. I gave CC a tour of my old childhood haunts. The Plume of Feathers (the smallest pub in Wales), the market, the castle and the river walk through Johnstown.

We were hoping to do the new Parc Dewi Sant (Saint David's Park) parkrun but when we got there, there wasn’t a soul to be seen. It had been cancelled at the last minute and we didn’t have time to go elsewhere. I was absolutely gutted as I was so looking forward to doing this one. 200 miles each way is a long way to go for a parkrun. Will I come back again in the summer? Probably not. CC did a wonderful job of consoling me in the cafe. We did a lovely but very cold walk instead.

            We also went climbing at a church in Carmarthen called Overhang and to our delight, they now had a few auto-belays fitted in the last few months. I wasn’t used to the height, so it was a bit scary for me the first few climbs. CC as always just flew up there!

When I got back to Southampton, I decided to look at a few races to enter for the year. One of them being the ballot for the Great North Run as I had never done it and it always falls around my birthday. Sadly, I didn’t get in. I did enter the Winchester 10k for Feb and Yeovil 10k for the end of March. I am thinking about Plymouth 10k in the first week of May as I loved that one when I lived there and probably the Two Tunnels 10k near Bath for our the Vegan Running Club annual get together in June. The aim is to get faster on the shorter stuff this year and avoid the marathons :D 

The 17^th of Jan saw me jog around Ganger Farm parkrun with a brief catch with Darren and John. The next day would see me running the Romsey 5 miler at the Broadlands estate. How would I do? What sort of shape was I in? I knew I still needed to lose a few kgs from all the junk food. 

No sub 30 but very close again with 30.08. A 5 mile PB of 6 seconds, so I can’t complain. It was a good course but there was one very muddy turn around a cone on the dogleg. 3^rd V50 in, so a bit of work to do still to get those age category wins. Pretty happy with my time though.

My hamstrings and glutes were a little sore after the race and I felt a bit rundown, so had an easy week with no track session. Got to listen to my body at my age ;) I made it to Highcliffe beach parkrun the following week to meet up with fellow club mates from VRC. Kev picked up Clare and myself on a very cold and windy morning. Clare walked around while I claimed my 8^th P2 and a time of 19.44. The conditions were certainly challenging! Sadly I was 19 seconds away from the V50 course record. We had a lovely breakfast at Highcliffe Castle afterwards too. It was quite expensive but enjoyable. 

No parkrun this week (31^st) as I have a 7 hour event in Winchester held by Phoenix running Hampshire. I am hoping to get in shape for Solent half in March. The goal is to run a sub 90 half marathon and meet CC for breakfast afterwards. We’ll see what happens. Thanks for reading. Looks like I have a few 10k’s to run this year if I can stay off the injury bench. Stay rad people <3 

I almost forgot to mention that I finally managed to do my first handstand over 10 seconds. I've not really been practising and only tried one. It just happened!

                                                   See video below:

We discovered a new coffee place in Romsey called Cult coffee. Great coffee, quirky place and nice vegan cake too.