With all this stormy weather I’ve not made it to Parkrun for a couple of weeks. Nice to be back. Didn’t manage to get under 22, but I’m pleased my knee didn’t hurt at all, so next week I’ll push it a bit harder.

Emily, my wife, came to watch and observed that I looked really unusual in my running style in comparison to the other runners. Stiff, upright and a very short stride length. It seems I should investigate having a little bit of coaching and get those strides to be a bit longer.

Thanks to everyone who’s been giving me advice about the marathon plan I’m on. I thought I’d try some intervals and also check out Track East at the same time. It’s an offshoot of Run Dem Crew - I’ve been following for a while but not yet managed to get involved.

So tonight, I went along for the first time. Taking it easy, I joined in with the 1h50 half marathon pace group and did 4x1 mile intervals with 90s break in between.

It was a nice bunch of folks, all very welcoming and my new knee strap kept my knee feeling good. I even managed a little sprint at the end.

So, feeling more confident I should put some speed sessions into the plan, which probably means dropping my current novice-level Run With Hal plan and going with the intermediate one. (Which is what Matt K said at the beginning...🙄)

Anyway, feeling stronger, more confident about the plan and met some nice folks. I shall be back! 👏

Oh, and I’ve been playing with the Strava API to make a little blog of these updates for non-Strava users. Prototype here: https://run.stef.io

Up early while I’m in Amsterdam and I discovered a nearby run using RunGo. The way the roads here are separated from the pedestrian routes always impresses me. It feels much safer and calmer than running in London!

It’s a lovely park too, apparently designed by Mecanoo, the same folks who were the architects on the Birmingham Library (!)

I’ve not tried to take many photos in the dark so far, but I stopped for a couple of long exposures and the new iPhone is really quite amazing. I’ll do more of that now I know.

I’ve been struggling with my knee since this weekend’s long run. Just on my patella and lots cracks and pops. It feels a lot better today, after lots of stretching and self-massage yesterday. Keeping an eye on that.

Right - off to work to talk about carbon impact data gathering methodologies 👍

Today I took the bus a few minutes in so I could go further along the Thames and explore some more. I popped past Brunel’s Engine House, up to the Cutty Sark, which I think I’ve only been to as a kid, through the pedestrian tunnel under the Thames and round to Tower Bridge and back.

This makes four half marathons in four weeks! I’m not sure I quite understood when I got my marathon place just how much distance I’d be covering in training each week. Maybe that’s a good thing because I might not have gone for it if I’d really thought it through.

Today, I kept it at the pace I’ve been mostly going at 5.45ish - thanks for the advice Matt W. So with a couple of stops for photos and getting lost (!) it felt pretty calm and I’m feeling good now. The only problem is my knee hurt quite a lot at the end, but I think i just need to keep doing my strength exercises and stretches and it’ll be okay.

Here’s to the next four, one of which will be my first actual organise half marathon event in a couple of weeks!