So I did the Town & Gown 10k this morning in 54:44 -- it felt like I was pushing myself a lot harder than usual so it was disappointing to end up with a slower time than last year (though admittedly only 24 seconds slower). I think I probably ran faster than usual for the first half, and peaked too soon -- I certainly didn't feel like I had much ( Read more... )

This Sunday I'm running in the Town & Gown 10k again, in aid of Muscular Dystrophy. About 5 of my colleagues are running too, and I don't think any of them are trying to raise sponsorship at all -- for them it's purely about the running. I found this surprising, but perhaps I'm just naive and lots of people take that attitude -- if so, how do these ( Read more... )

On Sunday I will be running the Oxford Town & Gown 10K, again. This lunchtime we did a trial run of the different-but-still-a-bit-silly route round town, minus about a quarter of a kilometre because we wanted to end up back at work, and managed it in 55 minutes without trying particularly hard and while fighting our way round the zombie hordes ( Read more... )

Tomorrow (Friday) is Red Nose Day, which means it's the day of the Record-breaking Red Nose Day Run. (We're probably not actually breaking any records, largely because as far as we know nobody's ever set any relevant ones, but alliteration totally beats facts, every time.) Lots of you lovely people have sponsored me (if you haven't and still want ( Read more... )

I ran this route at lunchtime and then spent the afternoon feeling all sleepy. We'd planned a 3-and-a-bit mile run, but our running guru changed the route really near the beginning (to avoid flooded paths, apparently) and from that point on nobody had a clue exactly how far we were running. I think that was deliberate on his part, actually, because ( Read more... )

I suppose it's like a peculiarly Oxford kind of triathlon: 2 miles' cycle from suburb to town; a 10K run around town; 3 hours' singing in chapel; 2 miles' cycle home...

Yesterday's Town & Gown 10K Fun Run was, as the Oxford Mail says, a big success. It certainly was for me: I raised nearly £300 in sponsorship money (or will have done when I've ( Read more... )

3 miles in 29 minutes, not far or fast but fairly respectable given a) not being used to running at night, b) new insoles which still feel a bit weird, and c) persistent stomach cramps which I was kinda hoping the running would cure, but eh, never mind. At the end I was still thinking "hmmm, actually, I could happily run a bit further" and decided ( Read more... )