I was apparently the first to receive the new Saucony Kinvara 3, according to the note I received in the very well presented box, that opened like a drawer, and had a t-shirt and a USB stick in there with information about the shoes. The t-shirt was too...

My plan for my first long run in Kenya was to do 90mins to 2 hours and I had 2 options: run with Kenyans on the Saturday or the UKa group on the Sunday. There were pros and cons for each but myself and Ben Hope opted for the Kenyan run, expecting that...

The news about Martin Fagan this week was at first glance another story of elite runners with more money than sense showing utter disrespect for their fellow competitors in a pursuit for glory (more cash). Yet reading a little more into his situation...

So I did the Berlin Silvesterlauf 10km on New Years Eve. I was in Berlin anyway for New ears Eve with some friends and they had found this race and so wanted to do it in fancy dress. This gave me ideas about running it instead of my tempo run and also...

Hi all, I had some great news last week in that Experian (the parent company of Techlightenment, who I work far too hard for) agreed to sponsor me! They will give me some money each year to spend on training camps and physio/healthcare as well as race...

Hi all, Some may call this lazy but I have gone to the Twitter World (follow me here if you like) to ask the questions of the people and will publish those questions here. They may be a little haphazard as the questions came from all over the place...

These relays are 4 x 5km around a wooded park in Mansfield. I've run them a few times in the past and when the conditions are good, have managed about 15.05. As I realised after my 6 stage run, I was fitter than I expected to be and after my best...

This was a great day for AFD, taking both the mens and womens titles. The women always win so that wasn't such big news but it's amazing that Aldershot hadn't won the men's title since 1981. I remember being on last leg in 2009 and having...

Hi all, Sorry about no updates recently. I must admit I lose a bit of enthusiasm for it all when I'm not training properly or in the running zone. I think I'm getting there though, but am still very nervous about a recurrence. Even though I'm...

I've not run for nearly 2 weeks now and am awaiting a cortisone injectione for my hip, which should make things much better, but it could take another week to recover from that itself. However, I've decided that I shouldn't risk further injury...

Hi all, Sorry for the lack of blogs recently - I've been super busy at work and my weekends have been taken up with running and life things. Very annoying! I'm really happy with my running right now, but I've got two injury niggles which...

I've done some good sessions recently and so felt like I was running well, but still I'd not actually laid down a great time in any race since London marathon last year! Granted this was due to marathons in tough conditions and not having the...

This race is like the Cup Winners Cup of Cross-country running and as AFD won the Nationals last year and then beat the representatives from the rest of the UK at Liverpool, then we were the UK's team. Looking at past winners, it's gone to Spain...

What is a tempo run? How fast should it be? How long should it be? How often should I do them?These are all questions that get asked all of the time by the running fraternity about an aspect of training that is fairly modern in its inclusion in the training...

So I've not spoken much about my specific training, so I'll start posting my training on here with the odd comment about certain sessions to give some context. My steady runs are at a pace where I can easily chat and I'm not one of those runners...

Well, the Olympic 'A' standard is 2.12, and the 'B' standard is 2.16. And a B standard can only go if no-one with the 'A' standard is on the plane, well, tube. These standards are 3 mins harder than for Beijing 2008, which I found...

Hi all, I thought I'd write a little note about my jaunt to Brighton at the weekend. I was asked to attend as Saucony are the Brighton Marathon sponsors and apparently 'I add value'. Hardly... I also feel guilty about choosing London over...

Hi all, so now the recovery period is over and I'm focussed on my plans for running PBs in 2011! this week was my first 100 mile week since September and Nick and I have sat down and planned the races up until London marathon. Seeing as last year...

I like stats, and I just discovered the Reports section of Garmin Connect and so thought I'd have a look. Now, it's not the whole story as I sometimes don't turn my Garmin on for warm-ups, or now and then it crashes and I have to use a stopwatch...

Hi All! So: it's freezing cold. Literally. We all have our own preferences as to what kit we wear when the temperature reaches Arctic levels and I'm not going to use this as a sales pitch for Saucony gear but I'll mention my preferences...

Hi all, I have finally met up with my coach (Nick Anderson) and sorted out (loosely at least) what I am doing in 2011. I still have no idea of the selection criteria for those little Games in 2012 but whatever the scenario, I'll probably have to...

I've read in various forums recently people asking how on earth do people like me manage to work full time and train for a marathon; and also the other school of thought along the lines of 'they all managed in the old days - all runners are soft...

Hi all! First of all, apologies for not having updated sooner. I always tend to take 10-14 days completely off running after a marathon and sort of forget about running completely. This ensures I'm completely recovered and it's also a time...

This race capped off a great 2010 for me - I would scarcely have believed I would be competing at my 2nd major championship of the year if you'd told me in January! My build-up had been good, although was more of a fitness top-up as I had to balance...

Well I'm bored out of my skull here so I'm going to inflict my boredom on all of you lot and tell you what a typical day is like at the holding camp in Doha. The hotel is excellent with good food and (thankfully) free internet. Outside is stiflingly...