Welcome to My Training Diary

Leicester Half Marathon

Welcome to my training diary/running blog. I have set this up to document my training for the 2024 London Marathon, on Sunday April 21st. Also, my second official Ultra race on Saturday October 12, 2024, the Ladybower Reservoir 50k Ultra, I ran this race in October 2023, I was not well prepared!

I’ve always enjoyed running. As a teen I was a middle distance runner, 800m being my absolute favourite distance, competing in National competitions. As I got older I found I was drawn towards longer distances. I always said I would do at least one Marathon and that would be London.

It took me many, many years until I finally secured a place in the 2017 race. Since then I have ran the distance on a few occasions and on one occasion a little further. A 50k in 2019 in just over 5 hours (there wasn’t much elevation) and as previously mentioned the Ladybower 50k Ultra. I’m now trying to get back to those sort of fitness levels and then better them. I hoping that documenting this journey will hold me accountable and also give me somewhere to vent my injury frustrations. Those god-damn calves!

Please feel free to get in touch with me, either via Instagram or using the form on the Contact page on this site, with any of your words or wisdom, encouragement or light-hearted teasing, should you wish.

Oh, and if you can spare a couple of quid you can sponsor me by clicking on this link.

All the best, Rich.

Latest News
5 March 2024Read Time:1 Minute, 10 Second On Sunday 3rd March I ran half of a marathon, as my partner likes to put it. The Cambridge Half Marathon to be precise. I ran it with one of my longest serving friends, Alex, who had not been able to run for about two years, due to some knee and back problems. With not a great deal of training (I think he would agree) he managed to get round without doing too much damage to himself. I ran the first ten miles with him but I felt I needed to stretch my legs towards the end, so I put in a bit of effort for the final 2 or 3 miles, running just above 8 mins/mile pace, which I was pleased with. I was a little bit apprehensive about the run because since running the Keyworth Turkey Trot on the 10th December I only managed to get about 40 miles of running in due to calf niggles (again) and various winter bugs. With the London Marathon now 6 and a bit weeks away I was pleased to get the distance comfortably under my belt, without any adverse affects, and I now feel like I can get a few good weeks of training in. Perhaps, if everything goes well, I’ll even manage to break the 4 hour barrier at London. I will be very, very happy if I manage to do that. Happy 0 0 % Sad 0 0 % Excited 0 0 % Sleepy 0 0 % Angry 0 0 % Surprise 0 0 % [...] Read more...
6 February 2023Read Time:1 Minute, 46 Second One of the things that I have learnt over the past few weeks is how important protein is and how I needed to check how much I am actually consuming. Turns out that it isn’t enough. According to various sources somebody of my size and age, who exercises regularly needs to consume between 1.6 – 2 grams of protein per KG of body weight. I currently weigh 96kg, so taking the mid-ground of 1.8 and multiplying it by 96 I should be consuming 172.8 grams of protein a day. I pretty much don’t eat meat, I haven’t done so for over 4 years, apart from the odd occasion (maybe 4 or 5 times a year) when I will have a beef steak or stew, it’s the only meat I have the stomach for, Laura’s beef stew is amazing! Of course this makes it harder to get the protein in, I still eat fish, but good fish is expensive (well isn’t all food, good or bad) and tinned tuna is not something I want to be eating everyday, even though I do like it. After making a list of the food I currently eat, and it’s volume of protein, it became apparent I needed to up my levels a little bit. As I don’t really want to start consuming more calories, I’m trying to lose a few kilos, at least 6 would be great, I decided to look into protein powders. I decided I would just go for raw powder rather than a shake and add it to either food or drink. As I mentioned in my previous post I decided to go with Sevenhills Wholefoods Organic Raw Hemp Protein Powder. This was delivered to me yesterday and I decided I would try just mixing 33g into water which gives me 16 grams of protein (pro) and nothing else. Okay, it doesn’t taste nice, but it also doesn’t taste awful and I’m able to swig it down in 3 or 4 gulps (pro). I’m happy with that. The cons. More flatulence. It’s only day 2, nothing to report in this area, yet! Happy 0 0 % Sad 0 0 % Excited 0 0 % Sleepy 0 0 % Angry 0 0 % Surprise 0 0 % [...] Read more...
3 February 2023Read Time:2 Minute, 29 Second I thought things were on track, I had not felt any pain in my calf for about a week. I had been able to cycle, perform weighted calf raises, squats, dead lifts and more, and not so much as a teeny, tiny, twinge had occurred. I even did a 1km run on the treadmill after my upper body work out on Tuesday lunchtime and everything was feeling great. So I decided, that night, whilst Lilou was at football training, I would take a gentle run down the Trent and back. About a mile and a half in, I could feel my right calf beginning to tighten, very slightly, so I stopped. I walked over the suspension bridge, stopped for a selfie (see shit picture above), then decided I would try running again. It became apparent, very quickly, I was going to have to stop. Fuming! I walked steadily back to the football training where I stood with some of the other parents and I had bit of a moan to anyone who would listen. By the time I made it back I couldn’t feel any pain. I thought that maybe I was being over cautious. But then when I was at home later, I felt a sharp pain, not intense, as I began to walk up the stairs, almost like a pin prick, or a small electric shock. Since then, there has been a slight soreness and tightness. I decided that I needed to see a sports physio about this, so after having some text chat with an old work colleague of mine who lives nearby, and is a keen and very good runner, I got in touch with a guy who is about a 10 minute drive away. He is an ex pro footballer and also a keen runner, signed for Forest at one point, I won’t hold that against him. We spoke on the phone for about 20 minutes and it sounds like he knows his stuff, so I’m booked in to see him next Thursday. In the meantime he said it was okay to continue cycling and weight training if there is no pain during or after doing the exercise. He also suggested swimming, so I might do a couple of early morning sessions next week, it’s been a few months. This lunchtime I went to the gym. I did a 1km warm up on the rowing machine. Dead lifts, squats and leg extension, I left the calves alone, then I did 10 minutes on the bike to cool down. I also spent some time working out how to get the required amount of protein in me without starting to eat meat again. Basing it on 1.8 grams of protein per kg of body weight I need about 173 grams of protein a day. I ordered some of Sevenhills Wholefoods Organic Raw Hemp Protein Powder to help. I should probably lose some weight. Might help with the calf problems as well. Happy 0 0 % Sad 0 0 % Excited 0 0 % Sleepy 0 0 % Angry 0 0 % Surprise 0 0 % [...] Read more...
30 January 2023Read Time:1 Minute, 13 Second It has taken almost four days for my legs to recover from my leg work out last Thursday. The steady cycle on the Wattbike yesterday, I think, aided my recovery. An hour or so after I had finished I could feel a big reduction in the soreness that was still lingering. My glutes were the last to recover. I sat on the bike for an hour and watched an episode of The Office (American version) and then half an hour or so of the film Sleepers, a gritty, dark film set in New York in the late 60s and 80s. It’s a great film but, with some great actors in it, but it isn’t a happy film. Anyway back to the training. I planned on doing something today, I wasn’t sure what, but all I managed was some weighted, bent knee, calf raises to help strengthen my soleus. My legs felt tired. Maybe because they genuinely were, or maybe because I was just tired from getting up in the middle of the night to see Laura off. She left for a week in New York at 2AM. I don’t think I got back to sleep until about 3 and then I was up again at 7. Early to bed tonight. I’m going to do an all round upper body work out at lunchtime tomorrow and in the evening I am going to run/walk 5km. Hopefully my calves will behave themselves. Wish me luck. Happy 0 0 % Sad 0 0 % Excited 0 0 % Sleepy 0 0 % Angry 0 0 % Surprise 0 0 % [...] Read more...
26 January 2023Read Time:2 Minute, 3 Second On Tuesday this week I meet someone, over Zoom, that I have followed on Instagram for a few years. Gary House, an ultra runner and running coach. I decided I needed to seek his expertise on all things running. I booked a “House Call” with him. Just like his social media content, it did not disappoint. We spoke for over an hour about racing, training, injury, recovery, stretching, mobility, strength, nutrition and more. Gary was very informative and I came away feeling well equipped with knowledge to help me through my calf injury and adapt my training leading up to the Manchester Marathon in April and then the Ladybower Ultra in October. Gary is a really nice guy. Down to earth, no bullshit and he explains things clearly and with no waffle. There is no hard sell on trying to get you to join his coaching programme, he comes across as genuine and eager to help. It was a pleasure to spend time speaking with him. Like most people brought up catholic I harbour some guilt for almost anything. Not making the most of my gym membership is just one example. So today I took Gary’s advice and took myself down there to train my legs. Bless me fellow gym goers, it has been months since my last leg day. Since then I have not trained hard enough, I have drank too much beer and wine and eaten waaay to many cakes and biscuits. I took Gary’s advice and increased the weight and lowered the reps. Not too much, I wasn’t sure what level I was going to be at, due to it being a few months since I last did these exercises. I started off with a 500m warm up on the rowing machine. I then did a few light reps on the leg press machine. Then I moved onto squats, doing 4 sets of between 6 and 8 reps. I followed this with the same for dead lift. Next it was weighted bent knee calf raises, as prescribed by Gary, to help target the Soleus, the possible cause of my regular injuries. Finally 3 sets of 6 reps of leg extensions, followed by 5 minutes cool down on the exercise bike. My legs know they have been down the gym and I’m pretty confident that the first steps out of bed tomorrow morning are going to be baby ones, and the stairs will not be my friend. Happy 1 100 % Sad 0 0 % Excited 0 0 % Sleepy 0 0 % Angry 0 0 % Surprise 0 0 % [...] Read more...
24 January 2023Read Time:1 Minute, 32 Second Due to the calf niggle in my right leg I’m not able to run at the moment which means some cross training needs to be done. So fuelled by various inspirational runners and coaches at the National Running Show the previous day I set off down to the gym to cycle, row and step for about an hour. For one reason or another (Christmas, Covid, injury, laziness) I had not been down to the gym for about a month. It was busy. Some new faces. I suspected people that had not given up on their New Years resolution, just yet. Then I remembered, I rarely went to the gym on Sundays, perhaps this group of people were more dedicated to weekend workouts than I ever have been. I stopped judging them and got on the bike. I cycled for about 30 mins, keeping my heart rate at a steady 135ish for most of it. Sweating a lot and, according to the read out, covering nearly 18km and burning about 400cals. Not bad. Next it was onto the rowing machine. 10 mins on this, rowing 2324m with an average heart rate of 144 and burning in the region of 160cals. Even more sweating. But I was still feeling good and there was no problem with my calf. Next I moved onto the Stair Master. It had been a few years since I’d stepped onto one of these and I felt a little un-easy to begin with, but once I got the settings right and a rhythm going, I was fine. 10mins on this, burning 200 cals, with an average heart rate of 154bpm and much more sweating. I was done. I went home feeling pleased with my work out and baked a vegan chocolate cake with my daughter. It tasted good and was guilt free. Happy 0 0 % Sad 0 0 % Excited 0 0 % Sleepy 0 0 % Angry 0 0 % Surprise 0 0 % [...] Read more...
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