Challenge completed! When I first started thinking about running longer than a 5k, after graduating Couch to 5k, I signed up to run the London Landmarks Half Marathon that would have been happening today.

Back then I'd started running a couple of 10ks and decided to put a challenge in my diary on an important weekend.

Reaching 42 having just run 10 half marathons in as many weeks when last year at 41 I could barely run a few metres without needing to stop feels like a huge accomplishment today.

The race was called off, but I was impressed that the organisers pivoted to offering a local "run where you live" challenge instead.

So I went out today and ran around near some of my favourite local places. The William Blake mural (which is an amazingly ugly thing, but celebrates a wonderful local hero), the Horniman Museum, Dulwich Picture Gallery, Peckham Rye, the cemetery and a few other places.

It was blustery, so not my fastest pace by any means. Plus I think when you're doing an actual race, you have a bit of extra boost in the legs! Thankfully folks were generally being sensible - they must have mostly got the message by now about the 2 metre rule. And I ran in the road to get around folks, so not even the slightest chance of contact with anyone.

It feels good to be celebrating another year having made such a big change to my life. I'm fitter, lighter, stronger, more focused, and even if the world has some horrible things going on in it at the moment, all of those self-improvements will hopefully enable me to make a useful contribution to fixing some of them.

To top it off, I've now run 500km since the start of the year, and completed the Strava monthly running distance challenge for the first time!

Thanks for your encouragement everyone. I really appreciate it. Even if it's just the occasional thumbs-up on one of my posts it helps me know that folks are following along and keeps me sticking to the running regime.

Cheers to all of you!

Emily and I have been talking a fair bit about the virus being airborne when you’re in close proximity to runners. All that deep breathing and rapid exhalation when someone passes close by seems like a recipe for getting ill.

So rather than hitting the park I did some road running. I think I only saw a handful of cars on the way, and hardly anyone else out and about. Well done London!

Assembly of the treadmill starts today now that we have wrangled it into the basement.

So “2 metres” seems to be a lot shorter than I thought it was!

Either that or there are some covidiot runners about who are running too close to everyone.

I’m getting used to running round folks giving them a wide berth, stopping when there’s no clear way through, going out into the road, running on the grass. It’s a bit of a faff, but the right thing to do.

I can’t help thinking at some point we’ll be prevented from going out because of the general level of muppetry here, so making the most of it while I can!

I tried my usual route at a slightly unusual time, so it was a little quieter. I seem to be in Zoom all day long most days at the moment, so it’s a welcome break to get out into a little bit of nature.

Folks seem to have got the message about keeping distance between each other whilst walking, but it’s not perfect.

A few suggestions -

* Run on the right hand side pavement. At least then we’re not running at each other.
* If you need to move out into the road to get past someone you can see the cars coming.
* Avoid crowded parts or narrow paths.
* Just come to a stop and look exasperated if you can’t see a 4m gap between people or a 2m gap between a person and an obstacle.
* In the park, run on the grass where you can. So many folks were still only running

I was finding I had to lift my legs more than usual to get through some grassy bits, which is probably good for me.

Hello Spring! 🎉

The watch was stuck on pause for 4.5km of this, but no matter. It’s gorgeous out today, so I went out for my ninth half marathon. Emily is being very supportive in helping me keep up the training, so this afternoon it will be all about making sure she can get her work done.

These long runs are feeling more and more natural. No pain, I’m allowing myself to stop and enjoy the scenery, take a photo, have some water. So not killing my self!

Some of the other folks out there today were worrying me a bit. Letting their kids on the climbing frames seems like a really bad idea. And then there were the grown ups all using the outdoor gym equipment!

The streets were really quiet, but the parks were busier than I’ve seen them in ages. Running on the paths was hard if I wanted to keep distance between me and everyone, which I did, so I ended up doing a lot on the grass. Odd that so many runners weren’t doing the same.

Hopefully we won’t have a full lock-down that stops us getting out for exercise, but I’d be surprised if there’s not another government announcement about non-essential trips outside. So perhaps this will be the last long run outside in a while - who knows. Making the most of it and we have a treadmill arriving any day now in case it’s indoors only from now on. Stay safe everyone!

No photo today - mainly because the park was so busy! The roads may be quiet but if it weren’t for the virus, I’d be saying how lovely it was to see so many folks out and enjoying the place. Anyway, keeping up the training while I can!

We’ve bought a basic treadmill as a backup for when the lockdown happens. On one level I’m glad it wasn’t today so I can still do a long outdoor run in the sun on Sunday. But on another, it seems like the government are steadily moving up through the gears and a France/Italy style lockdown is only a week or two away now.

Stay safe everyone and enjoy the outdoors while we can I guess!

My job at the moment seems to be mainly to be stuck on Zoom calls from 8-5 each day. So I took a few minutes out to stretch my legs while I still can. Assuming within a couple of weeks we’ll be in lockdown. Spoke to a woman in France today - they have to have a permit to go out of the house so that when police stop them they don’t get in legal trouble. Keep those legs going while you can! Might have to invest in a cheapo Peloton knock-off or something. 🤷‍♂️

Two of the family have mild coughs. While I’m writing this, my boy is playing with his football outside! But rules are rules, and we are all now self-isolating for 14 days. Who knows if any of us have it - a test would be helpful!

Anyway, the rules do allow you to get out for a run as long as you don’t come into contact with anyone. So I thought I’d try an intervals session. Wasn’t feeling particularly fast, but it felt like I was working much more than Strava is telling me!

Sticking with my plan of continuing to do long Sunday runs, assuming that’ll be possible for a little while yet, I went out on tired legs. Feeling pleased about yesterday’s 10k PB and I’m sure I could go faster than that in a race. Tom challenged me to get an under 45m time, and 46.45 isn’t that far off. Maybe that’s something to aim for now the marathon is on pause.

My weakest part of running now seems to be hills. So I thought I’d tackle the Crystal Palace climb, but from the other side. Discovered a lovely riverside route that was quiet, and felt much safer that running along the Thames with all the potential for bumping into pedestrians.

I very nearly had a tumble at one point, and rather embarrassingly swore at high volume next to an older couple. Ha!

So, took it slow from there, walked a bit but generally enjoyed getting out and sticking to the routine.

Amazing that running a half marathon at the weekend is now “routine” TBH.

So, the London Marathon is postponed. As are lots of other races, and I’m sure I’m feeling similar emotions to many folks who were looking forward to racing.

To be honest, today I’m actually feeling some sense of relief. I’ve been waking up at 2am and checking the feeds to see if other races were being cancelled. And each time another major city announced, it made me feel more and more certain this news was coming.

So I’m feeling stoic. The greater certainty is better than not knowing whether to push on with the training and fundraising or not.

There are more important and, frankly frightening, things going on in the world right now. It’s a luxurious position to be in to even be able to have the time in our weekly schedules to be able to take on these running challenges. And right now, the risks involved in these events just don’t weigh up against the benefits.

I’ve been weighing up whether to keep training and do a “virtual” run like Jon B is going to do, or whether to pause and aim for October instead.

I’ve decided on the latter. I started running in August/September last year, and it’s been quite a shift to where I am now. I feel fitter and stronger than I think I ever have. So by October I’ll be even stronger and feel even more ready for the marathon. I know that I could do it now, because of how I felt after my recent 30km run.

But why am I running? Would continuing and running the distance anyway be a good ending to this challenge? I don’t think so - it feels like a bit of an anticlimax, especially because I’ve been raising funds for charity around my “couch to marathon” story and how it relates to our neurodiverse family.

My wife Emily said something a few weeks ago that stuck with me and has helped me to have a stoic attitude to all of this.

“The goal isn’t to run the marathon, it’s to become the kind of person who runs marathons”.

I’ve found that really helpful, so I’m going to continue running long, but shorter-than-marathon distances through the summer and then aim for London in October.

This evening, to mark the end of my marathon training programme (thank you Run With Hal) I went out to set a benchmark.

10k, round the park, as fast as I could manage. That’s 3 minutes off my personal best!

A good way to start the next phase.

Thanks for following along everyone and I hope you’re adapting too!

Not exactly smashing it on speed but the point continues to be getting the distance in each week.

So today I phoned my parents to help them think about how to isolate themselves for the coming viral onslaught. It looks bleak - Germany is predicting 70% of the population getting sick, and around a 2% mortality rate. If you have older folks in your life, time to phone them and get them to understand what’s about to happen in my opinion.

I’m hoping that even with all that going on we’ll all still be able to get outside to run, so to lift the spirits I bought myself a nice new Fractel cap in pink, navy and polkadot. As you do.

Stay strong folks.

I gave it a couple of days rest after that long weekend run, but even so my legs were a little sluggish!

Phew! That was my biggest effort yet. My training plan has three of these 30k-ers, so that’s number one done! It was a strange feeling going past the half marathon point and realising that was now the two thirds point and not near the end.

We’re staying in London while Emily does some university work, so I took advantage of that and ran around the Royal Parks. The pedestrians were definitely out in force today, but no bumps or anything to report. Well, except I did get a bit grumpy when one of those massive bubbles that they blow on the south bank burst all over my face! Ha!

I was slightly faster than the plan. I was aiming for 6.12, but it said to try for the last third being faster than the first two. I tried that but there were too many people around to get into a rhythm. I think I managed to be slightly faster in the finish though.

I’m feeling really pleased that this worked out, my knee continues to be okay, and I’m writing this from Wagamama where I’m now devouring ramen and squid to celebrate.

Got to celebrate every little win along the way, right?!

I’ve been back to back with video calls so had to make a call - lunch or run? Last night I skipped my first run - the tube was broken and it was tipping it down anyway, so track wasn’t the best idea. Late, soaked and far from home sounded like a bad idea. So run it was, and no lunch :/

Anyway, stuck to the plan and challenged myself with a bunch of uphill running. I can feel my legs getting stronger and I’m learning it helps to lift up the knees!

Tomorrow, the longest run yet looms...

A bit of a mega day today with a couple of positive presentations, some great results on an important experiment and a new team member joining. So I kind of ran out of time to get home and also run.

So, luckily I had some kit so I changed, left all my stuff there and ran home.

Not the most fascinating of routes but good to know it’s possible!

That was awesome! My first running event other than Parkrun, and it was brilliant. The weather was perfect - clear blue skies, not much wind, not too hot.

Thanks to everyone who’s been sharing advice and tips - it’s been really helpful to make sure I’m prepared for this.

And I’m really pleased with the time too! I took it easy for the first few km and then ramped it up. By the end I wasn’t completely wiped out and could have gone on longer, which was what I was aiming for feeling.

My knee is a little but niggly, but nowhere near how painful it’s been.

Lovely to see friends from school after the event to celebrate their fundraising for a new computer room, and to devour some much needed calories at Honest Burger afterwards.

All in all, that totally went to plan! Next one at the end of March...