HARP 24 - The 2025 Edition - The Numbers Heavy Conclusion

 Thanks for having stuck with me through the three HARP 24 blogs covering my 2025 journey to 65 miles in 24 hours.  In this final blog I want to dig a little deeper into the numbers and try and look at how we get from there to the ultimate goal, 100 miles in a day.

I don't have perfect information on this, but from the data I have from my Garmin plus the official splits I think we can piece it together pretty well.  If we look at what I did across the 24 hours it looks something like this:

Running - 2 hours 40 minutes at 11:15 min miles covering 14 miles.

Walking - 15 hours at 17:30 min mules covering 51 miles.

Still - 30 minutes.

Off course - 4 hours 40 minutes.

Early finish - 1 hour 10 minutes.

Total time 24 hours.

Put into km's that is 11 min/km walking pace and 7min/km running.  The walking I am happy with, the running looks a little slow but it is in the ball park of what I would have been doing.  Maybe 6:40's when fresh and a little slower as I tired.  My short runs as the race progressed will have been hard for the Garmin to pick up accurately. 

The 30 minutes of still would have included some of the off course stuff in those early laps when I went for supplies etc, and would also include brief pauses at water stops for a refill.  Later on I had some unscheduled rest stops as I pulled off the course to allow horse riders or faster runners to pass.

Off the course was in the main my two sleep stops.  I have lap 8 at nearly 3 hours 10 minutes and lap 9 at 4 hours 20.  7 and a half hours for 2 laps, which would probably have been 3 hours on course so you've got something like 4.5 hours off course during the night.

I then bunked off early at 10:52 in the morning and so lost over an hour of move time there.

If we are looking for easy wins in our quest for greater distance than the 4 hours 40 minutes off course and 1 hour 10 minute early finish would be the first to go, throw in 10 minutes less still time and we have a nice even 6 hours.  Even if I just walked all 6 of those hours we are covering an additional 20 miles as a minimum, taking our distance up to 85 miles.

85 miles feels pretty close to that 100 mile target, but 15 miles, over a half marathon is still a sizeable gap.  The thing working in our favour is just how little time I spent running.  Even with some generous rounding and bringing in some slow undetected shuffling we are struggling to get up to three hours.

As I said in my previous blogs I'm just not endurance ready at the minute.  If I can change my marathon shape from 5 hours to 4 hours or even something better, that makes life so much easier, and would allow me to stretch out that run time further.  But it needs to go out a decent amount.  Changing sleeping to walking has a big impact, shifting 17:30 minute miles walking to 11:15 minute running much less so.

We are effectively adding 2 miles an hour for each hour of walking upgraded to an hour of running.

Just to show that 85 miles again, our new look 24 hours would look something like this:

2 hours 40 minutes at 11:15 min/miles - 14 miles

21 hours 50 minutes at 17:30 min/miles - 71 miles

30 minutes still/off course.

Total 85 miles.

At 2 miles an hour extra we are going to need to convert 7 hours of walking into 7 hours of running and our final 24 hour split to get to 100 would shake out like so:

10 hours running at 11:15 min/miles - 54 miles

13.5 hours walking at 17:30 min/miles - 46 miles

30 mins still/off course.

That final push to get over the top is a significant one.  I can see a way to get to 16 laps and 80 miles just by losing the sleep completely and really being super efficient, it is that last 20% which is going to require me to get myself fit enough to be a runner, not a hiker/adventurer/explorer.

I'm struggling to wait a year to put this right, and have silly ideas of creating my own 24 hour event later this summer.  I must be patient and wait to do it where it counts at HARP 24 in 2026.  

HARP 24 - The 2025 Edition - Part 3

 Now 20 hours into the challenge and with the end in sight I had the time to think and contemplate the size of it all.  I had been on my own for almost the entirety of the event, there were occasional interactions with the volunteers at the aid stations. or with fellow runners/walkers, but these were fleeting.  I enjoyed the time and didn't use my headphones for the first 10 hours, chosing to listen to the sounds of the wood  and in an effort to preserve my phone battery.  With the challenge of the night loops I decided to bring in some assistance and so listened to lots of Parenting Hell podcasts, my motivational playlist and some Nelly throughout much of the rest of the event.

Given that I was walking I was able to be on my phone alot, messaging friends and family, keeping my spirits up and letting them know how I was getting on.  My brothers Luke and Joe in particular were checking in on me and geeing me up.  Having completed lap 12 they both messaged within 10 minutes of each other to urge me out for one more lap to get the distance over 100km.  Given the exhaustion and me concentrating on miles I hadn't quite put that together and so it was good to give me that final nudge out of the tent to complete that 13th and final loop.  

I was now taking over an hour and a half for each lap and could see that a 14th lap wasn't possible.  Joe did ask if I could squeeze one in but I completed lap 13 at 10:52 and there was no way I was churning out a 1:07 lap to get in before the cut-off.  At some 24 hour events they allow you to complete the lap you are on as long as you start it before the end of the 24 hours.  That is tough on the organisers who are almost as tired as the competitors and rightly want to get themselves home, and so HARP say all laps need to be finished by 12 midday.  Rocking up at 12:02 thinking you've bagged another lap must be brutal.

I also had places to be and so immediately set about getting myself packed up ready to depart.  The girls had a show at half 2 and I needed to get myself home and showered asap.  That was easier said than done.  My body which seemed able to churn out 11 minute kms walking seemingly indefinitely, decided to creak on that last lap and there were 12:31 and 12:07 km's on the run in.  

The body shutting down continued after I crossed the line, the only way I could get myself on the ground was to get as close as I could to the target area and then just drop.  A quick crawl around and I could empty the tent of it's contents before a big effort to get myself vertical again.  I managed to find a Mark One Hire provided wheelbarrow to transport the food and clothing back to my car, before returning to deconstruct the tent.  Taking the tent down proved even more challenging than putting it up, but I finally managed to do it without it blowing away or breaking.

Another slow trudge back to the car and my HARP 24 experience was over for another year.  A final total of 65 miles spread over 13 idyllic loops of Cherry Orchard Country Park.  10 miles more than last year, 10 miles less than I was probably capable of, given my current level of fitness.  But a warm satisfied glow all the same.  I don't know why I do ultras, they aren't really my thing, but there is something that really hooks me about the 24 hour format, how far can you transport yourself under your own steam in the course of a day? 

The support from my wife, and friends and family was incredible and so appreciated, it made the whole thing so much better .  As was the support of my fellow runners and walkers taking on this crazy challenge, the ultra vibe is just so different from any other race you will do.  I was keeping an eye on my catagory, but I wasn't really in a race.  We were just 300 or so people that decided to battle against the course and the elements in a shared challenge.  A final thanks to all the volunteers at HARP who make the whole thing tick, those on the course helping us through it, and those back at base and behind the scenes.  It is such a slick operation for what is a small, local charity event.  I will look to keep coming back, I have challenges left unmet as a solo runner, but maybe in a few years I will explore the team aspect as well.

That completes my HARP 24 2025 story, but there will be a 4th blog with a nerdy stats deep dive on this year, and my future 24 hour plans for those who have the stamina for it.

HARP 24 - The 2025 Edition - Part 2

Having completed lap one I went to grab some supplies from the tent and had a quick stop at the loo then back to the start for lap two.  I hadn't mucked about and yet I found myself looking at my watch and seeing that I had lost four or five minutes.  I knew I had to cut back on those stops, and so over the course of the 24 hours I did a number of back to back laps.  Through the finish line arch, round the corner and through the start line arch.  It perked me up to know I had saved myself that time.  At 11 minutes a kilometre I could be 500 metres up the road in the time I was spending back at base.

Lap two was 1:13 on the official splits, lose 5 minutes for the stop it was more a 1:08.  It is difficult to differentiate each lap, they all merge into one long summery walk.  I was still running for good amounts of those first laps.  The time off the course makes proper split comparisons difficult but they do show that the running was becoming less frequent.

Lap 1 - 56:28

Lap 2 - 01:13:44

Lap 3 - 01:17:14

Lap 4 - 01:26.08

That gradual slowing had to be halted and I managed to do so on lap 5 with a 01:13:56.

I have managed to piece this all together with the official split timings which were great, and almost instanteous in getting updated, along with my Garmin Forerunner 255 that i got for Christmas.  It is a lovely looking thing and capable of triathlon if that is your bag.  The thing that attracted me to it was the long battery life, 24 hours as advertised if used as a running watch.  It can last a week as a conventional watch and step counter.  I wasn't totally convinced it would last the entire event and prior to the race Roman and I were trying to turn off the phone alerts that appear on the watch in an effort to save battery.  Alas, we failed and so that along with me wanting to have splits every km meant that at some stage we were going to need to have a recharge plan.

My Garmin and I made it through 7 laps, 35 miles and a little over 9 hours when I opted to have a break.  I had really hoped I could grab some free laps by not sleeping at all but after working hard through the heat of the day I started to crave a stop.  I had made it through till 11pm last year and did a lap with the headtorch before hitting the hay.  This time it was 9pm and I had completed 7 laps in the daylight.

I had been so adament that I wouldn't sleep that I hadn't bothered to pack a sleeping bag, so I lay in my touch too small tent, fully clothed, socks and shoes remaining on with my head on my bag attempting to sleep.  Why did you keep your shoes and socks on I hear you ask? I was really fortunate not to suffer with blisters the entire event and so I didn't want to upset the applecart by changing anything.  My three pairs of spare trainers remained untouched, as did my post race flip flops.

I got some sleep I think, then spoke to the girls and Lauren after they had finished their show.  Sending them off to bed, I crawled out of my tent with headtorch on ready for my first night lap.  The garmin has me starting it at a little before 11pm and taking 1:27 for my five mile loop.  My tent was calling me again and so I headed back after the one lap.

It all gets a little fuzzy at this point.  40 miles into a race, in the middle of the night, with the heat, my brain is far from it's best.  I set my alarm for 3am and attempted a second block of sleep.  My alarm went off, or what I thought was my alarm at 1:40, I think it must have been someone in a neighbouring tent.  I was all ready to head out when I saw the time and decided to grab a little more shut eye.  I eventually roused myself a little before 3am and was on the trails ready to move on through to the end.

The night laps were very much walked.  Even at that pace I managed to give a tree root a good kick.  But once the sun came up about 5am I was able to run parts of the course.  My garmin has me doing 15 miles and 3 loops in 4 1/2 hours between 3 and 7:30 in the morning.  Getting me up to 11 laps and equalling last years total.  That was a really nice boost to reach breakfast time having matched last year.  4.5 hours to go, 1 lap to beat it, 2 laps to go over 100km and 3 laps looking just out of reach.

Come back for the final instalment to find out how many I did.

HARP 24 - The 2025 Edition - Part 1

This sunny weekend I opted to spend it running, but mainly walking around Cherry Orchard Country Park when I took part in the HARP 24 event.  Each of the very picturesque loops is 8km or 5 miles long.  The challenge to do as many laps as you can from 12 midday on Saturday until 12 midday on Sunday.  There are a range of different options, solo, duo and teams of up to 12 runners in each.  I opted to enter as a solo runner, as I did last year. 

This race had been on my radar for some time, without me ever really focusing my training on it.  I have slowly been getting some regularity into my training, running three or four times a week with total mileage of something like 16-20 miles.  Lots of short runs 5km, 5 miles, the occasional 10km, a rare 10 mile long run on a week when time allows.  I completed the Shakespeare Half Marathon in 2 hours 14 minutes at the end of April but I faded badly in the second half of that and so realistically I was only in 5 hour marathon shape.

I wasn't too concerned, this was a nice scenic walk last time out and I thought it would be much the same this year, with hopefully a little more running given my improved fitness, all be it over the shorter distances.  I achieved 11 laps and 55 miles in 2024 and so needed at least 12 laps and 60 miles to be satisfied, 75 miles was the stretch goal, my long-term target being 100 miles and we can then retire from the 24 hour game.

My biggest concern for the race as it had been last year was putting up and taking down the tent.  I had managed to break the poles from last year's tent as I took the tent down on my own with the wind blowing. That had been a rather fetching turquoise number with space and a certain style to it, in its place was a £25 rather feeble looking offering from Amazon.  I managed to put it up, the only issue being the rock hard ground bending the tent pegs at a terrifying rate.  I managed to get two pegs in perfectly, more through luck than judgement.  The other two, the less said the better.  Guide ropes? I don't have enough straight pegs or patience to deal with those.  I just had to hope it wasn't a windy one.

One thing I did remember was a mallet, and this proved a useful aid in making new friends.  My next door neighbour was struggling with his tent even more than I was.  The smart move would have been to assist him making his, and he would then return the favour in making mine, but we're men and we're men that do ultras, we don't ask for help we just struggle alone and get it done.  I did offer him the use of the mallet, and he happily accepted and things seemed to get better from there.

We got chatting about various races we had done and we introduced ourselves.  It turns out he is called Roman and I told him he shared a name with my new nephew.  He was a lovely guy and we would catch up at various points throughout the weekend.  My other neighbour was another nice guy called Stuart who was also a solo runner.  He had done the Outlaw Iron distance triathlon at a similar time to me, and was on the running comeback trail after dialling it back as his seven year old was taking up his time.  Sounds familiar. 

Enough of the background, you came here for the running.  Having arrived at 9am the wait till noon was a long one.  It eventually came and on the stroke of 12 the mayor sent us on our way.  That first lap is so different from all the others.  All the solo runners and one member from each team are out on the course and all starting at the same point, it is bustling and at parts of the course it narrows and you start to approach crowded.  This soon thins out and people scatter around the course.  

The first lap included a number of runners popping out of bushes and trees or else running through fields.  I initially thought they had gone to water the plants but they were saying they had gone the wrong way and got lost etc.  I can't quite understand how, as the course is pretty straight forward and the organisers have done a great job in marking the course.  

I was running well, looking to take it as easy as possible, I didn't walk at all for the first couple of miles, but then decided to do so up the hill just before the aid station at half way.  I remembered this from last year and would walk it each lap.  It's a decent climb and the extra energy and effort required to run it just didn't make sense.  Once I had refilled my water bottle at the top I ran most of the remainder of the lap and finished the lap in 56 minutes, a minute or so faster than my time from a year ago.

I think I will leave part one there.  24 hours is a long time and I reckon I can eek it out over at least three blogs.  Come back soon for the next instalment.  Thanks for reading.

My 5 Stupidest Athletic Challenges

After my last blog was inspired by Pete, for this one I have to credit Luke. We were talking all things running over the Easter break and he commented how many stupid races I did, and that I should write a blog on my top five, and so that is what I am going to do here. 

It wasn't so much the races that were stupid, but my less than perfect training and preparation, the on the day nutrition, so many less than perfect pieces, that unsurprisingly led to less than perfect results. But as Luke said, you found a way to get it done. 

My running journey began over 16 years ago, on 2nd May 2009 when I got out for a 3 mile run in my Nike Air Zoom Vomero's, it was so long ago that I used an Apple Ipod to track the run. Now 146 races (if you count the 62 parkruns) and over 9,000 miles later, I have a lot of choice in deciding my top 5 stupidest races and challenges.  

Before I get into the top five, first some honourable mentions. Edinburgh Marathon May 2012, a hot one with Luke and Pete, where none of us covered ourselves in glory. We all managed to finish, with me being the slowest in 4 hours 39 minutes, the only reason I completed it was because I was the one with the passports and it was an out and back and so I had no choice. 

 A mistake by me or Travelodge meant that we had three in the bed, rather than the double and single bed family room I thought I had booked. A solero breakfast completed my less than ideal race prep. 

There was my first attempt at a 24 hour race at the Thunder Run in 2013, but real life thunder, lightning and rain put pay to that one. I only had the stomach for 12 hours and 70kms before I pulled the plug on this one.  

Apologies, I digress, onto the top five, in reverse order.     

Number 5 - Washington Marine Corp Marathon - October 2014 

This is the massively undercooked marathon. Looking back at my training log I ran just short of a mile on the 10th August 2014, stopping the run limping and in discomfort with pain in my shin and ankle. I was able to cycle but my running was severely curtailed over the next few months. 

I make it 5 runs in the following 9 weeks totalling 17 miles, then a 10k on the Monday two weeks out from race day and a 12 mile test run in 1 hour 54 a week out. For a total of 7 runs and 35 miles in the 11 weeks leading up to my 9th Marathon. 

It was a destination marathon in America's capital and so I was really reluctant to not run it. I'm sure Lauren and I could have enjoyed a perfectly nice break without it, but I had signed up and was keen to do it. The 12 mile run had been a success, even though I was flagging quite badly towards the end.

I have done a complete blog on the race in October 2014 if you care to read it. The highlights were a 2:03 first half and a 2:37 second half which tells you all you need to know. I ran a strong half marathon, was fading over the next 10k and then promptly exploded and dragged myself round the final 10k in something like 90 minutes. 

Number 4 - Two Ocean's Marathon - April 2012 

I ran my first ultramarathon, in South Africa at the Two Ocean's Marathon. This is marketed as the world's most beautiful marathon, but when I ran it in 2012 it chucked it down with rain for what must have been at least three of the six plus hours I was out there running it. It is 56km long with some decent hills in there, particularly at the back end. 

What is the first rule of running? Don't wear new kit on race day, a rule I broke to my detriment at this race. I opted to use a bun bag, something I have never used before or since, to hold my gels and other assorted bits. The constant rain had me soaked through and that combined with the bun bag left me with some pretty extreme chaffing on my stomach, it lasted for weeks after the event. 

I managed to get it done, running a pretty decent marathon, before a tough final 10km full of hills and walking, which saw me slip out of contention for a sub 6 hour bronze medal, and was instead given the thanks for turning up blue medal. But I got it done, and then had to walk backwards downstairs for the remainder of the holiday, so badly destroyed were my legs. 

Number 3 - Land's End to John O'Groats (LEJOG) - July 2011 

What a 13 days this was. 1,000 miles of cycling with Luke, Joe, Dad and Pete. A support crew of Mum, Amber and Becky. It was such fun and something I will definitely return to at some point when I get over my fear of bike maintenance. 

There are at least 13 blogs covering our exploits if you care to read them. The aerobic base I created over this two weeks was a huge reason for my half Marathon PB at the Great North Run in September 2011 and my Marathon PB in October. 

Eat, cycle, sleep, repeat and keep your head up and enjoy the views. I was in great running shape in the build up to LEJOG, but my cycling had predominantly just been an 8 mile cycle to work and an 8 mile cycle back at the end of the day. I had done the occasional 40 mile cycle of a weekend, but nothing that really prepares you for 70 - 100 miles in the saddle for two weeks straight. 

Number 2 - HARP 24 - July 2024 

After the disappointment of the Thunder Run way back in 2013 I still had unfinished business with the 24 hour race. I tried to remedy that in July last year with the HARP 24 race, a really nice local event raising funds for a homeless charity. 

I succeeded in completing 11 laps of the 5 mile loop in what was essentially a walking holiday after the first few run/walk laps. I also enjoyed something like 6 hours of sleep in a tent. I started to tire about 10pm and thought better of trudging around in the dark and so grabbed some shut eye. 

The whole race had a lovely vibe, as so many ultras do and I had a very pleasant few laps chatting with a guy called Huw. I am running this race again in about six weeks and hope to skip the sleep this time and complete something like 15 laps, with perhaps a little more running. The long-term target being 100 miles in 24 hours and then I can retire from this frankly ridiculous race format. 

Number 1 - Outlaw Triathlon - Ironman Distance - July 2012 

The other entries in this blog really are the warm-up act for this final entry. If you are going to read any of my previous blogs, then read the five blogs on the Outlaw Triathlon. 

For those who aren't aware of what an Ironman involves it is a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile cycle and finishing with a marathon. There were so many stories to come out of this one, but here are the highlights. 

- My longest swim prior to race day was half the race distance in a nice warm pool. 

- Raceday was my first time in a wetsuit, watching me get that on with Lauren's assistance is something magical. 

- The race was my first ever open water swim. 

- During the swim I would check my watch and in doing so my head would go down and give Lauren the impression I was drowning. 

-The joys of being a slow swimmer are that it is very easy to find your bike in a near empty bike park. 

- Cycled 112 miles, squeaked in inside the time limit, the guy after me, apparently a marine got timed out. Phew. 

- The run, well I say run, there was a lot of walking. I only made it because of Luke's support and encouragement. 

- Just dipped under 6 hours for the marathon which is slow, but with people broken all over the shop it meant I took over 20 or so people through the course of the run. 

- Finished in just over 16 hours and a little under 1 hour within the cut-off. 

- I was sufficiently slow that I got my 5 seconds of fame, caught on camera on the run in, and was cheered on wildly by my supporters. 

There you have it my five silliest physical challenges. I hope the worst of these are behind me. I would quite enjoy a new serious, business like me, who does the preparation, nails the executions and gets the results. That might not happen immediately but that is the plan over the next few years as I continue my road to LA 2028 adventures.

My parkrun Journey and a New Side Mission

 Apologies for my lack of blogs on project Road to LA 2028, an update on that will be incoming in the next week or so.  In the meantime I bring you a blog inspired by a message I got off Pete, this blog will take a look at my parkrun journey so far and my next stupid idea.  Trying to win a parkrun.

Before we get into the parkrun victory blueprint, lets run through some of my parkrun numbers.

• parkruns run - 61
• Different parkruns attended - 11
• Fastest parkrun - 19:21 - Albert parkrun Middlesbrough - 19th March 2011.
• Highest parkrun placing - 5th - Southend parkrun - 30th March 2013 

Here is a summary of those 11 different parkruns and my best finishes and times at each:

Event	Runs	Best Pos	Best Time
Southend parkrun	31	5	20:13
Albert parkrun Middlesbrough	16	17	19:21
Basildon parkrun	5	10	21:55
Brighton & Hove parkrun	2	21	20:14
Bromley parkrun	1	24	19:58
Milton Country parkrun	1	53	21:13
Parramatta parkrun	1	19	20:57
Clare Castle parkrun	1	53	24:31
Alness parkrun	1	20	26:17
Lowestoft parkrun	1	109	24:12
Chalkwell Beach parkrun	1	80	24:38
	61

I have enjoyed running with various friends and family throughout my 61 parkruns.  I don't want to miss anyone but here is the list as far as I recall.  Pete, Luke, Joe, Dad, Becky, Amber, Gareth, Amy, Graeme, Ross and Matty P.  I have made parkrun part of birthday celebrations, a weekend away with Lauren, trips to see friends and holidays abroad.

I ran my first parkrun at Albert Park in Middlesbrough on 31st October 2009 through to my 61st parkrun today at Basildon.  I have enjoyed all of them despite the suffering you endure during a full effort 5km.

As I said at the top my new goal is to win a parkrun, this is something both Pete (18:18 23/02/13) and Luke (18:58 30/03/13)  have achieved with me in attendance, and which Ross has also done elsewhere while flying solo.

Parkrun has really developed over the near 16 years I have been running them.  This is illustrated by the fact that Luke and I had to head to Bromley in October 2011 for our parkrun fix.  A journey of an hour each way on a good day.  Now you are spoilt for choice for parkruns to do locally to us, with 10 or so parkruns within half an hour of home.

Luke and I managed to duck under 20 minutes that day, as was our target.  I have only achieved that on three other occasions and all of those were at Albert Park in Middlesbrough.  

• 19:42 - 12/02/2011
• 19:21 - 19/03/2011
• 19:59 - 24/03/2012

Now to the victory blueprint.  If I am to win a parkrun I fear that PB from March 2011 of 19:21 will have to go, and in all likelihood I will need to go sub 19 minutes.  Where abouts will I target victory? Here are the local contenders;

• Hockley Woods - Most local to me, hilly, off road, slow going and tough.  I really should get to it, to tick it off the list, but it's too tough for me to make it a regular.
• South Woodham Ferrers - Another one I need to check out.  Has been known to be boggy.
• Hadleigh - A hilly painfest.  Tick it off and move on.
• Wickford - Don't know much about this one.  Add it to the list.
• Basildon - Will be my regular as I look to take time off my current 24:15-24:45 range of finish times.  It is very convenient, right down the road from my weekly weigh in, and a good flat course, just the one little bump, will be tougher in winter when the grass section gets muddy and so may need to look for a new home at that point.
• Chalkwell Beach - Expensive parking but along the seafront and pancake flat.  Would be very fast on a windfree day.  I have only done it once, when not very fit.

I will need to do some in-depth research into the results history for the dozen or so local events as well as some on the ground course exploration.  Looking at the times of recent winners I can tell you one place I won't be winning, Chelmsford Central 915 entrants and a winning time of 15:33.

My best chance of victory may require some driving on my part.  Last weekend I went to  Clare Country Park, it took me an hour to get there, but it is near my parents house and we were up there for Easter.  Another one close to them is Haverhill and that had 64 runners last weekend and a winning time of 19:12.  Reading the course details  it is round fields and gets a bit cross country in winter, but there were just 20 runners in attendance as recently as 22nd February, so has sneaky win potential.

Another back door route to victory is waiting for a snowy day, bad enough to mean only the hardiest of souls make it to the start line, but not so bad that they decide to call the event off.  I have no shame, a win is a win, even if parkrun isn't a race, it's just a nice community run, etc etc.  It is whatever you decide it is, and it goes on my Fetcheveryone as a race.

I do understand that talk of victory when you are north of 40 years old and bobbing around the 24 minute mark is crazy talk, but that is what you came here for.  Wildly unrealistic targets and fighting talk.  I'm really going to focus my running over the rest of 2025 on getting myself faster over the 5k.  I have the occasional race outside of that (24 hour and 10km within a week of each other at the end of June) but those aside I really want to get the interval sessions in, and will be attending parkrun most weeks.  Look out for more parkrun updates soon.

Road to LA2028 - Update One - It's a Start

 Apologies for the delay in getting this first update to you.  I am now eight weeks into this latest reset.  It hasn't gone brilliantly, I would give it 4.5 out of 10, but we are moving.  22 runs completed in 53 days, so just shy of 3 runs a week.  It isn't the four I originally planned but there is some consistency.  I am struggling to find the gaps in my life to run.  I generally have three, Thursday evening while the girls are at performance team, Saturday lunchtime with the girls at dance and Sunday morning when they have gymnastics.  I just need to find myself that fourth spot, and that will be my aim in October.

In addition to finding gaps, the gaps I do have are a little on the short side.  Each of them are about an hour in length, which limits me on the long run.  Lauren and I appear to have engineered a bigger space for me.  So 8am - 11am Saturday morning should be the long run slot but not this weekend as that is the girls 7th birthday.

In those 22 runs I have travelled for approaching 15 hours and covered 92.1 miles, averaging just over 4 miles a run.  I say run, each of my runs still contains some element of walking.  I am making a real conscious effort to regulate the walk breaks and am stopping my Garmin each time, and so I have really good data on my run speed and walk speed as well as the time I am spending doing each of them.

My longest run came this Sunday when I ran for 90 minutes and covered nearly 9 miles.  The majority of the run was 4 minutes running and 1 minute walking, but that turned into more 3 minutes run / 2 minutes walk for the last 20 minutes or so.  Most of my runs I am aiming to run 80% and walk 20% but on my longer runs that is lower.  This Sunday it was 75% run, and in my only other hour plus run, I ran as little as 60% of it.

In addition to monitoring the run/walk split and paces, I have also been looking at my heart-rate.  Given the readings, I am happy that I do still require the walk breaks.  I recently did a 5 mile time trial, and despite having some short walk breaks my average HR was 166.  The majority of my runs average in the 150-159 HR zone, with the remaining runs in the more intense 160-169 range.  Given my estimated maximum heart rate of 180, every run has been 80% plus, and so far too intense.

I am rather bumbling around at the minute with the heart rate data, it isn't a tool I have used previously.  I am currently just monitoring it, but when I get fitter I will use it to ensure that the intensity of each session is where I want it to be.  My current fitness level means I just don't have the range of efforts, everything is just hard work.

I am signed up for the Yorkshire Marathon on the 20th October, I don't think I will be attending it.  I fear it will be another Milton Keynes slugfest, and by completing Milton Keynes I have proven I can do it.   This race is a 4 hour drive each way, potentially an overnight stay, it is just lots more effort.  I may be inspired and do it, but I think the most likely outcome is a DNS.  

I have just signed up to the Stratford-upon-Avon marathon next April.  It is the same day as the London marathon.  It is a race I have done before, both the full and half marathon and is one I enjoy.  I will look to start a proper 17 week training plan beginning 1st January, and until then I am just trying to lay down a base from which to build on in 2025.

Despite the 4.5/10 rating I gave myself I am still pleased with the start I have made.  I have now run 289 miles in 2024, the most of any year since 2017.  I have also beaten my monthly totals.  54 miles in September was the most in September since 2019, the same with August.  If I can manage to run just 50 miles a month for the remaining three months of 2024, I will finish with something like 450 miles which would be more than the combined miles I have run in the last 4 years.  The bar is obviously incredibly low given how little I have run since having the girls, but a win's a win.  I will look to provide you with another update at the end of October.