Wandering the World

Another year, another rocket. This time though there was another difference. Since the pandemic there have been changes in the route, and again this year there was another change - it was completely different! No longer would it be a net downhill race, but instead it'd be one that goes downhill steadily for the first half and then back up in the second half with what they say is around 30 metres o …

April 30, 2023

Today was a (mostly) downhill run in Milton Keynes - the Rocket 5K. I wasn't really sure what to expect going into it after how the last two years have gone, but felt it would be a good indicator of whether what I'm doing now is working.

May 1, 2022

Six months into the year, and 416 days into my run streak, it was time to return to racing once more.

June 26, 2021

The fourth and final race in a 4 race series over the winter. It was one I really didn't want to go outside for; but eventually forced myself out. Hopefully I wouldn't regret it…

February 6, 2020

The third race in a 4 race series over the winter. Maybe times don't change, but results can.

January 9, 2020

The second race in a 4 race series over the winter. The last race was a bit slow, would this be any better?

December 5, 2019

It's been a while since I last ran 5K, and I could tell from how it felt and from my time. However I finished 6th out of 112 runners with a time of 19:10.

November 7, 2019

My annual 5K PB attempt in Milton Keynes. After some bad performances from me lately, would this go the same way?

May 5, 2019

My third time doing this 5K. The first time had been a PB, but the second time it seemed I'd plateaued - I was no longer improving my times. So what would doing it a third time be like? Could I finally get that elusive sub-19 time?

May 6, 2018

Of my five goals for 2017 I’ve so far achieved two of them. This left me with three I’d not yet managed, and one of those was to get a sub-19 5K. I’ve been close to it, in fact I’ve been close to it a number of times now: twice at Milton Keynes for their Rocket 5K, and once at parkrun. I’ve always been just a few seconds from dipping under that milestone though. As the year sailed by I found my c …

December 3, 2017

I hadn’t planned on racing in between Race to the King and Race to the Stones. I didn’t know what recovery would be like so I didn’t want to commit to anything. When I was told about an early morning race on a Friday between them I was a little unsure at first – I’d need to get into town, park, get to the start, race, get back to my car, get home, and then get ready for work as normal. Even with a …

July 7, 2017

Marathons and 5Ks are very different events with very different strategies. With a marathon you hold back for most of the race in the knowledge that later in the race it will benefit you. I find when I run this distance that I plan different paces throughout the race as I know I’ll tire too much towards the end – it’s all about discipline. With a 5K it’s very different – you put everything you’ve …

April 30, 2017

My year started off working on improving my long distance running and for a while I considered entering the Milton Keynes Marathon for May. Eventually though I decided that many marathons in so short a space of time would be ridiculous and instead it’d be a good time to do some shorter, faster races again (I did change my mind and realise I should do it, but it was too late by this point). Due to …

May 1, 2016