Adam in Runderland

Many years ago I signed up to the Run Britain rankings. These log all your runs and show you how you compare against others. You can choose the demographic by location, age, or gender. At the time I only included my parkrun events and so it gives me a good indication of my progress at the 5k distance over seven years. This is best illustrated by the handicap graph above. A handicap ranking is assigned, like in golf,  based on your performance. These range from 1 to 36. Mine currently stands at 4.1. These are then plotted to reveal a trend. You can see from the picture above where I started back in 2012 and the rapid improvement that occurred in the first few months. Most people will find a similar sharp increase at the beginning when there are rapid gains and many PBs before you find your limit. There was a period of consolidation followed by another steep rise when I joined a running group. After the start of 2014 there was a gradual advance into 2015 and then a small but signif...

20 days gone and approaching half way through the deck of cards. The last 10 days involved a good mix of high and low numbers. I had a couple of rest days but otherwise feel good and have actually done less miles this month than normal.  Many of the runs have also been at tempo pace, usually progressive. I have tried to do some fartleks too and there have been a couple of hilly days. I am finding it quite motivating as each day I want to turn another card and then have to go out and run. Also managed 4 crowns on Strava and enjoyed this motivation as a way of helping me to do speedwork. It seems to be working so far. Day 11 - 7 ♦- ran 7 miles Day 12 - 10 ♥ - ran 12 miles Day 13 - 4 ♥ - ran 5.5 miles Day 14 - Ace ♠ - 1.4 miles Day 15 - 8 ♥ - 9 miles Day 16 - 2♠ - 2 miles Day 17 - Q♥ - 13.1 miles Day 18 - 10♣ - 11.1  miles Day 19 - 4♦ - 4 miles Day 20 - 5♦ - 5.8 miles A total of 70.9 miles.

The second of my 20 parkruns in under 20 minutes in 2020 took place at my home parkrun of Folkestone. I ran 18:55. I was confident of managing sub 20 but felt good and went hard. By the end I felt like I was closer to an 18:30 but this was probably due to heavy legs from high mileage during the week and the onset of a cold. I was helped by a runner from South Kent Harriers who I had managed to catch on the second mile. It gave me an incentive to maintain and increase my pace to get past him when sometimes I tend to slow at that point in the run. After that it was a case of keeping him behind me. I was helped by being familiar with the course and able to pace it well, although I find that with the 5K it is more a case of flat out for the whole distance and hold on best you can through the lactic acid at the finish. The route is a simple one. From the Leas Hall Pavillion you run up the hill to the top of The Leas above the coastline with a beautiful view of the sea. At the top a marsha...

The first of my 20 parkruns in under 20 minutes in 2020 took place on January 4th in Ashford when I managed a course PB of 18:33. I had felt lousy before the run, even retching, but once we were under way I hammered out the first mile and then it was simply (!!) a case of hanging on. Prakash is recovering from injury but was still ahead of me on the final mile. He can go sub 17 on a good day and he was nowhere near that, I knew this was my chance to beat him and that helped push me on. I managed to pass him and hold on. He was running well within himself but it was the like the old days when I used to beat him before he got too fast! The course is a good one for a fast time. It is relatively flat and sheltered from the wind. Starting at the top of Victoria Park the path heads down towards the elaborate Hubert fountain. Apparently this was made in Paris and spent time in London and Wye before making it's home in the park in 1912. Running around the fountain, the cour...

I'm now 10 days into my challenge and let's just say I don't think I shuffled the cards very well... The challenge started with so many low cards that people began to question whether I had removed the picture cards. However, this was remedied from day 7 when I hit a run of four picture cards! Day 1 - 3♣ - ran 4.6 miles Day 2 - 3♥ - ran 5 miles Day 3 - 7♣ - ran 7 miles Day 4 - 7♥ - ran 7.1 miles Day 5 - 3♦ - ran 3 miles Day 6 - 2♦ - ran 2.1 miles Day 7 - King ♣ - ran 14 miles Day 8 - Jack ♦- ran 13 (11.5 + 1.5 not recorded) Day 9 - Queen ♣ - ran 12.9 Day 10 King ♦ - ran 13.1 A total of 81.8 miles. 

My latest challenge begins on January 4th. During this time I will be playing Running Roulette! The idea is that my runs are decided by drawing playing cards from a deck. Each day I will take a card from the top of a shuffled pack and run the number of miles shown on the card: 1 for Aces, 2-10, 11 for Jacks, 12 for Queens and 13.1 for Kings. No Jokers. This will be a minimum amount as I am entered into a marathon on the 18th and will therefore be running 26.2 on that day. Why am I doing this? I have no idea but it should be fun. How long will it last? I'm aiming to complete the whole pack but I will be taking one day off each week. Twist!

Having completed the 12 in 12 challenge last year and also Run Folkestone and the Run The Date Challenge, people have been asking what I have planned for 2020. The main challenge this year is the 'parkrun 20 Challenge' which I am doing with John. This involves running 20 parkruns in 20 different locations in under 20 minutes during 2020. Can you spot the theme?! I'm looking forward to experiencing some parkrun tourism, focussing on speed and pushing myself on different courses, while encouraging one another all the way. There are a handful of parkruns locally but we will have to head to London at some point and it would be nice to venture a little further afield if possible too. Obviously it isn't all about how close they are; some that are nearby will be hilly and off road and therefore tough to go sub 20. Being me I have also set some other goals... 1. In June the charity I work for is holding a 75th anniversary event. I have offered to be sponsored to ...

When the year began, I was excited by the challenge ahead. John and I had set ourselves the goal of running 12 marathons in 12 months. However, I had no idea what I would end up achieving in addition to this by the end of December. The year began as I meant to go on with a marathon on New Years Day. I remember it being a beautifully sunny, clear morning as we ran up and down the beach in Dymchurch. In February we entered the Lenham Cross Winter Marathon . This time opting for hills and stunning views over the Kent countryside. March and another 26.2 miles with thousands of feet in elevation at the Medway Monolith Marathon . Unfortunately, no monoliths, but a great group of people. We also entered the Lydd 20 mile event which turned into an obstacle course in the midst of a hurricane with falling trees littering the route. April was a highlight as I took part in the Paris Marathon . Although it wasn’t the PB I hoped for I still managed to break 3:30 despite bonking at mile 17...