Adam in Runderland

After almost a year of trying I finally managed to break my 5K PB this weekend. I thought that at the age of 38 I would never beat the 19:21 I set last December. Had I peaked? Was that the fastest I would ever be able to run the distance? This weekend I didn't expect to be running particularly well. Only six days after my half marathon PB I wanted to set another good time but wasn't looking for anything special. Funny how things turn out. There are weeks when I try and plan my preparation down to the last detail and when the day comes I don't run well. Others, like this time, everything happens to fall in to place just right - no rhyme or reason. It just happens that I had a good carb rich dinner on Friday night, I slept well and managed to get up early enough to have a good breakfast with plenty of time to spare before leaving the house. Instead of driving to the park I jogged down meaning that I was warmed up and ready to go on the start line. The weather too was pe...

Six weeks after taking part in the BUPA Great North Run I arrived at the start line of the BUPA Great Birmingham Run. This is the second largest UK half marathon after the one in Newcastle with 25,000 people running. A group of us from Parklands Jog & Run made the trip up the M1 and M6 in a minibus hired for the occasion. It was a beautiful clear day and unseasonably warm. We arrived in the centre of Birmingham, dropped our bags off and found the starting enclosures we had been allocated. I was in Orange just behind the Elite and Fastest Club runners. The event was live on Channel 5 and a helicopter hovered above filming the hoards of people warming up before the start. Our wave set off at 10:20 with 13.1 miles ahead of us. The first part of the course was fast. I find that everyone tends to go off quickly at the beginning as you are full of energy, anticipation and adrenaline but we were helped by the fact that it was all downhill. Having felt out of sorts for a week...