The image is not of some rudimentary instruction for a plastic surgeon, but a reminder to myself:

Cut your toe nails

I’m running the London Marathon on Sunday and part of my pre-marathon routine is to always cut my toe nails on the last Thursday before the race. I wouldn’t go so far as to call this a superstition, though I’ll be the first to admit that there I don’t have a particularly scientific reason for doing so. After All, what difference would it make to cut my toe nails on the Wednesday or the Friday before a marathon? Maybe there is a sports science PhD student who would like to take on that research?

Nonetheless, Thursday it was for the first one, and Thursday it has been for every marathon since. It has now become such an important part of my routine that I felt compelled to write a reminder on my foot (where I new I would see it) in permanent marker.

This is not the only “pre-flight check” I have before a marathon, but it is the first. Friday is a day off running. Saturday is about food. And Sunday is full of unashamed neurotic fussing over tiny details. But it all starts with cutting my toenails on the Thursday…

Ten points to whoever can tell me where this picture was taken.

I know the answer because I took the picture and was well aware of where I was. I was on one of my favourite routes and it includes this square concrete tunnel under one of the busiest road junctions in the South of England. Other than the noise, you would have no obvious indication of the cars roaring overhead, and with a few minutes running in either direction, you would then be back in the relative solitude of the woods.

I like finding these hidden areas, frequented by only a few people each day. Even in a city it doesn’t take mucho exploring to find somewhere special, albeit a little stark and functionalist design.

Running is like that. Every day I explore my own capabilities and find something that special. I only wish more people chose to experience this…

This is a picture of “Pub Hill” at Southampton Sports Centre. The picture doesn’t do it justice, but it is actually quite steep. Hence why my training group uses it in training.

The other morning when I ran down Pub Hill on a long run, someone had put a barrier across the bottom. So I jumped it. I was a little ungainly, but I definitely hurdled the barrier. This got me thinking: maybe we should put a barrier across all our hills? It wouldn’t make us fast, necessarily, but we’d become bloody good steeplechasers.

There’s a metaphor for life in there somewhere…

I woke up the other day and felt tired before I had even set foot outside the door. This is the hard part of marathon training when you have been doing it for months and the early mornings are taking their toll, and the repetition of routes is dulling the excitement.

However, once I’ve got going I almost always get into it and start to enjoy myself. They key is to embrace it. Rain and mud? Embrace it. Run through the puddles. Not only is this ecologically sound (it is better to make a puddle deeper than wider), but it is really good fun. It awakens the inner child in all of us.

Mud is the mark of a good run.

Why do I run outdoors? Because running indoors is so dull that gyms have massive TVs to distract you from the monotony! I spend far too much of my day looking at screens, running ensures that I spend a fair chunk of my day breathing real air and looking at and listening to the real world.

Admittedly some runs are more interesting than others. Marathon training in be winter can be a little dull, especially when it is cold and wet, you’re tired, and covering the same route as the day before.

However, occasionally you get to experience small, unexpected delights. Take this picture for example. In the middle of a period of crap weather we had one sunny morning. There was hardly anyone around, and I saw the sun shining through the buildings and low trees and picking out the colours of the blossom.

You wouldn’t see that in a gym.

It’s always important to have another race on the horizon after a marathon, so you’ve got something to aim for.

I was well aware that my fitness had taken a step back in time after my injury issues, but I was quite surprised when the weather did too!

This photo was taken on Monday, during my recovery run after the Salisbury 10 (report coming soon). Though it was a little annoying to have to wrap up warm and have snow get in my eyes, the light dusting that settled did make everything look pretty.

It’s seeing views like this, just a few miles from the city centre, that remind me why I love running out doors and proudly don’t have a gym membership.

Here are two race numbers that I received in the post over the past few days. One is for this Sunday’s Salisbury 10 Mile race. The other is for next Sunday’s Fleet Half Marathon. When I entered these were going to be two key races as part of my London Marathon preparations. Given my recent injury troubles I think these races are going to indicate whether I can even take the start in London.

I’m not entirely certain that I will be able to race these two events…

I couldn’t run and it was horrible. I didn’t know what was wrong and gym hypochondriac Googling didn’t help matters. Before long I was convinced I had either a stress fracture of the hip or bursitis requiring surgery.

After a week of no running I was able to see a physio, Peter Lindsell near Southampton, who reassured me that I had overworked my body and developed a repetitive strain injury (RSI) in my Tensor Fascie Latae (TFL). He gave me some exercises to do to strengthen that part of the body and retrain my pelvic structure to reduce the load on my hips. I have been able to gradually build up my running so I can now run without hip pain and I even completed most of last night’s track session (albeit slower than usual).

I’m still far from 100% and not certain I will start the Salisbury 10 miler this weekend as planned, let alone the London Marathon at the end of next month. It has been a struggle to remain positive, but as my body heals, so my mindset has improved.

The hardest thing is knowing that it was all my fault. I pushed my body too hard and didn’t stop when my hip was screaming at me to do so. In doing so I may have wrecked months of training and greatly reduced my chances of breaking three hours at London.

There is a lot of running advice out there and most of it can be ignored. The one thing you can’t ignore is your body. By all means train on when you’re ached, stiff and tired because it will only make you stronger – Jens Voigt’s “shut up legs” is a favourite mantra for mine – but never ignore real pain.

Stop running. Stop the pain. And take it easy as you build up to full fitness.

Always listen to your body.

I would love to say that this photo is all about remembering to take a hard earned rest after a tough training session.  Instead, it represents what happens when you don’t take enough rest and end up injuring yourself.  You have no choice but to put your feet up.

My coach gave me two training options last weekend:

1. Hard session Saturday; easy session Sunday
2. Easy session Saturday; hard session Sunday

Foolishly I did the un-presecribed option 3. Hard session Saturday; hard session Sunday.  The result was a painful hip that has put me out of action for the last couple of days while I rest up and let the inflamation subside.  So remember:

Rest is a weapon.

So how can you get your mojo back?  Try something new.  It’s so simple it barely needs talking about, but it’s interesting to see the pros try it too.

Here’s a few examples from this year (some done, some to come):

Galen Rupp smashing out the indoor miles at a stupidly quick pace.

Mo Farah going long at New Orleans (and half of the London Marathon).

Bernard Lagat going long too.  New York Half fresh from breaking indoor records.

Helen Clitheroe giving the marathon a bash.

Nick Symmonds giving the mile a go (and 600m).

Usain Bolt’s traditional 400m season opener.

There’s a sound training principle behind mixing in a bit of variety in the off-season, but from the point of view of the athletics fan in me – it’s just exciting to see athletes step out of their comfort zones.

I gave the 800 a go last year, and I’m already pondering what I will try after this year’s marathon.  Steeplechase anyone?

Not a great picture, but this is a view I probably see once a week at the moment, as it is one of the climb’s on my regular Saturday ten miler.  I never get bored of this route as it takes me into the woods and out of the city after only twenty minutes of urban running.

There’s a nifty metaphor hidden within this somewhere.  There is always a path to be run.  Whatever your goals, you can always run further, faster, smoother, or whatever.  What is crucial is that whilst in pursuit of your goals you remember to look at what is around you and appreciate how far you’ve already come.

There you go.  A pseudo-intellectual bit of amateur motivation for you.  Now go for a run!

It is always cold, windy, sometimes rainy.  The course repeatedly climbs and descends hills.  And there are no frills.  But because it’s a Hampshire Road Race League it tends to attract a fairly quick crowd (yet is perfectly beginner friendly).  It’s all about the running.

This was one of the first races I did, a few years ago now, and I always try and squeeze it in every year.  I didn’t last year, so I was pleased that I was able to do it again, especially as a couple of friends of mine were doing it too.  My race went fairly well.  I actually ran it in a 10 Mile Personal Best, which is pleasing considering the nature of the course.  It makes me feel confident that when I next attempt a flat 10 miler I should be able to go even quicker, which shows I’m on track for my London Marathon goals.

Race number with rip showing where the timing chip was

The race starts at sea level and before long heads up the first hill.  This is one of the toughest, and then the course levels out for a bit before a long downhill followed by a series of rolling hills.  Just after the second water station the course drops back down to sea level and this is a great opportunity to make up places and time, provided you’re willing to throw caution to the wind and go for it.  Once at sea level there is a flat section that is usually run into the wind.  And then the last big climb.  This is a slog, and my advice is to let others do the pacing and push on past them once you reach the top.  At this stage you will have just over a mile left, so push as hard as you can on the long downhill section and try and hold it all together for the finish.  Cross the line.  Smile.  Come back next year.

The race also offers an interesting contrast to my previous race, the Romsey 5.  Almost all the areas of criticism I had with Romsey, were covered by Ryde.  For the first time Ryde had chip timing, but the cost of the race had not increased dramatically.  This was true chip timing as there was a starting mat, and despite being attached to the race numbers, the organisers intend to reuse them as they asked for them back at the finish.  As mentioned, Ryde is a reasonably priced race, especially when you consider they had chip timing and it was run entirely on public roads.

My other grumble with Romsey was with the baggage facilities (there weren’t any).  Ryde had safe bag storage, which meant that everyone travelling to the race didn’t have to worry about where they were going to leave their kit.  Being on the Isle of Wight, getting to Ryde is not as straightforward as getting to Romsey, but the 1100 start allowed plenty of time for runners to make their way via public transport (something that doesn’t always happen for Sunday races).  I don’t know the statistics, but I would bet there were very few runners who made the trip by car.  As it happened, I walked the few hundred metres from my father in law and his fiancee’s house.

One small gripe is my usual one.  Plastic cups at the water stations.  These do end up going astray, but the problem can be solved easily.  Either use biodegradable cups, or have a couple of bins placed strategically after each water station and disqualify any runner who doesn’t use one.  Simples.

All in all, a good race.  You should do it.