A long overdue update and exciting news

Well it's been a while since my last post, so what's been happening? 

Running has kind of taken a back seat or at least had to just squeeze in here an there. The demands of an increasingly busy job, an energetic 16 month old and moving house 6 months ago have meant that I have not been so free and easy to run whenever I wanted. 

I have still been running though, Chelmsford marathon in October and I had runs planned for December but ended up not doing any due to bad weather and ill health. 

Moving to Colchester last August has affected my running in a number of ways. Firstly I'm more limited with my running options as my days start at 5am to get to work for 8, so no more pre-work runs. And getting back later in the evening means it's tougher to get out in after work. However on the plus side Colchester has a really vibrant and active running community in the form of running group Running Colchester. They are a group not a club, and are really just a way of local runners to come together both virtually via the Facebook page and physically through a number of organised runs through the week. Both these factors were instrumental in my decision to kick off 2018 with 100 miles in January challenge. A great way to get some mileage in at the start of the year and as many members of running Colchester were doing it as well it was a great way to stay motivated. I even madly volunteered to help manage the spreadsheet for tracking everyone's miles! So a busy start to the year, all being well I will finish nicely just over 100 miles. 

But all this intro and catch up on the last few months pales in significance to my real reason for writing this post. ***I AM RUNNING THE LONDON MARATHON***

Yes that's right! How I hear you ask? Well about two weeks ago I saw a post on Facebook I think in the running Colchester group looking for runners to fill some last minute marathon spots for a local charity. So I got in touch to find out more, expecting the places to have all gone but no a few days later my place was confirmed! So here we go, yesterday was day one of my twelve week training plan building up to London. (I have been training for a half marathon this weekend so I'm in decent shape)

To be honest it hasn't even began to sink in, I have always wanted to run London but after several ballot rejections and sky high fundraising targets I could never see myself ever getting the chance. But here I am planning to run one of the greatest marathons in the world, I will be running through the crowds around the Cutty Sark and will be part of the iconic scene of runners passing over tower bridge. I think I'm going to need twelve weeks to get my head around it, so stay tuned for following my training and my journey to the London marathon start line.I am fundraising for PARC Essex, who provide support to families who have a child or children with special needs. All donations gratefully received: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/gareth-davies109 Thanks!!!

Enjoying life and enjoying running

Yesterday was a classic day, a day to make you feel good, great actually. 

I didn't do anything mind blowingly amazing just had a good time doing things I love. Unfortunately it was a work day so that took up a large proportion of my day and I can't see I really enjoyed that bit of the day.

It was an early start to the day, the early bird catches the worm and all that. I was up at 5.30 and out the door soon after 6 braving -2 temperatures as winter finally seems to have hit the UK. 

A train and a tube into central London brought me to Regents Park and meeting up with running buddy Tony.

An early morning track session was planned, as we jogged to the running track we both marveled at the wintry scene we were running through. 

Once at the track the hard work began, we had scheduled a 800m interval session, 4x 800m @ 5K pace sandwiched with 400m recovery laps. Physically it was tough but mentally it was OK as 4 sets of effort is a nice number to deal with, after lap one you know you are already a quarter done and before you know it your finished. 

It was a great session that left me buzzing through the day. I was showered and changed and ready for work before 9. I love achieving things before work, I like getting up with a focus in mind rather than the drudgery of just another day of work in prospect. 

After a pretty stressful and busy day at work it was time to enjoy the evening with an overdue birthday trip to Yo Sushi with the wife. 

I know it's not the most amazing restaurant and certainly not the best sushi venue and can have quite a marmite affect on sushi lovers and haters alike, but I like it, it's a fun place to eat out. 

Pretty soon we had wracked up an impressive tower of plates. 

It was soon time to head home and get an early night and time to reflect on an enjoyable day. 

It's always good to be thankful for the good things in life and to remember to enjoy life. 

The day was very much my kind of day; running, being busy and enjoying large amounts of food.

I also wanted to capture that day as it summarised what my blog is all about quite nicely, pretty easy going, understated ramblings including some running and some food. If you like this then check out my blog here, follow me on Twitter, like my Facebook page, or check me out on bloglovin. 

Happy running! 

The not so wonderful world of blogging

So today I came across a top 100 list of running blogsi that has recently been published by feedspot. 

I didn't for one second think I would be on (cue lack of suspense) and I'm not and that's fine.

For the record a few blogs that feature in the top 100 that I follow and highly recommend include; 

http://www.dreamingoffootpaths.co.uk/ 

http://www.therunnerbeans.com/

http://eatprayrundc.com/

http://bensrunningblog.com/ 

There are also more than a few great sounding blogs I want to check out and that's not to say there so many great running blogs out there not on the list as well. 

It has however led me to once again reevaluate my blog goals, which is all I ever do rather than actually write any decent content! 

I started my blog about 18 months ago now and my aims were loosely as follows:

• To write about, express my passion for and generally share my love and passion for running.
• To interact and engage more with other runners
• To do something more productive with my dead time while sat on the train etc
• To have some kind of outlet and place to express myself
• To perhaps improve my writing skills and make the most of the good writing style I supposedly had during my College and Uni years

Looking back I have mixed feelings about whether I have acheieved these goals or not. In many ways Twitter has filled many of the holes I had sought to fill through writing a blog and I enjoy the interactions with other runners and the relentless  constant flow of content available that keeps me occupied but maintaining a Twitter account is not quite the same as keeping a blog.

Also my life has changed since I started out blogging, originally my job left me feeling unfulfilled and so I needed the outlet blogging provided. Now my job is much more mentally demanding and time consuming so finding the time and energy for blogging is much more difficult. 

I have lost count of the times I have thought about what my blog is for or what I think I ought to do with it.

I keep coming back to two conclusions, one my blog is for me and I will write what I want to write whether its successful or not. Although the motivation for writing great content and good posts are there as I really get a buzz from having a well received post and receiving comments and feedback from others. 

Secondly I need to stop procrastinating, the amount of times I have decided I am going to invest more time and effort into my blog our endless. And if I had a pound for every great blog idea I drafted in my mind or half wrote but never published I would be a really wealthy blogger! I'm sure most bloggers and writers have this trouble though!

So once again I find myself giving myself a kick up the arse (surely a great plyometric warm up if it was possible?!), time will tell if it develops into any real change ......

I feel I have plenty to share with the world and with plenty of running adventures on the horizon including four marathons there will be plenty to blog about!

Another overdue blog update

My running continues as ever even if my blog posts continue to remain scarce into 2015.

I am eagerly training for my next two events, the Vanguard Way Marathon on 2 August and Spitfire Scramble on 15 August. 

My marathon training has really upped a gear from previous campaigns. Every session has an aim and every kilometre a specific desired pace.

Whether concentrating on going slow or being determined to run fast I am focusing each time I got out to run.

My long runs have been very slow and steady, I have being aiming for around 30seconds per km slower than my desired sub 4 marathon pace and I have found this very comfortable to sustain for longer period and have completed back to back 16 and 17 mile runs in the last two weekends.

My most recent run on Sunday was 27.6K in 2 hours 50 with all but the first few hundred metres completed in heavy summers rain which made for a sodden and soaking running experience.

In the last two weeks as my training has really peaked I have covered 120K in just 14 days.

I feel like I have cracked the idea of marathon training, I have sussed it, it's not that hard! 

A weekly long run at slower pace, a good amount of speed work midweek, plenty of stretching and conditioning and the more miles you can cover every week the nearer you will get to your goal or the easier your run will be.

A pretty simple formula to follow! Following my three marathons in three months last year and then being involved in the Asics Target 26.2 competition I feel like my marathon training has now clicked into place. 

I am enjoying my running as much as ever and feeling fitter and stronger and am really looking forward to my up coming events! Hopefully I can maintain some blog writing motivation to post some regular updates on how I get on...

Overdue blog update!

Right it time to get back to blogging! 

The last few months has seen a new job and a new flat, a few trips away and injury niggles which has meant a downturn in both my running and blogging activities. 

But now things are starting to simmer down and settle back into some sort of routine.

This week I have been inspired and motivated by two runners to get back to my blogging and to throw myself back into training. 

The first inspiration was finishing Angry Jogger by Angry Jogger, a great read I would recommend to any runner who doesn't take themselves too seriously and wants to make the most of their running. I am planning a full review of the book in due course, watch this space! 

Secondly I met up with my Asics262 boot camp buddy Anthony McNeil for a catch up chat on his training ahead of tackling the Paris marathon in four weeks. You can read up on my Asics262 boot camp experience here and follow Tony's journey on his forum thread here. 

So in terms of my running I completed the Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon a few weeks ago where I was soundly beaten by my brother in law Tom who had a blinding PB run. 

Not wanting a repeat performance at the Hampton Court Palace Half marathon we are both running in two weeks I have been training hard, but really just having a bit more time to train now after a busy few months will make all the difference with my performance. 

This morning I headed out for a long run from my mother in laws house in Dagenham and headed out along the the long, old, grim stretch of A13 to Rainham. 

From Rainham I marvelled at the new train station developments before following the new signage and heading out to Rainham marshes and then onwards to Purfleet.

The stretch along the Thames to Purfleet was cold and windy which made for tough going!

At the Purfleet RSPB nature reserve I stopped for a quick toilet break before turning to head home. 

On the route back I was interested to see how I felt especially after massively struggling on an 18Km run last weekend, after around 14Km I felt so good I decided to push it to see what I could achieve.

At the end of my run I reflected on running at least 23Km, around 12Km there and the same back. I ran the outward leg in around 1hour 8minutes and the return leg in about 1hour 3minutes. 

I was really pleased to run a negative split over a longer distance and my last 3 or 4 Kms must have all been a good 20-30seconds quicker than the first 3 or 4. 

I am so pleased to be back up and running well and enjoying it! Watch out Hampton Court Palace Half Marathon! 

I have plenty of ideas and articles to write up, so keep yours eyes out for lots from me to follow in the next few weeks. 

6 month anniversary

Wow! I realised it has been six months since I started my blog! As they say time flies when you are having fun! 

So I thought I would mark this milestone with a specific blog to mark where I am now, what the last six months has brought and where I am headed going forward. 

Over the last six months I have really enjoyed writing and sharing my experiences on my blog and through social media. My blog has developed quite quickly and I am suprised and impressed with what I have done with it in a short space of time on top of a full time job, all my training and many other commitments.

My blog kind of kicked off when I wrote this article for the website running junkies. Give it a read and let me know what you think! Running junkies is a brilliant website whether you are a fanatical regular runner or just starting out  on your running journey.

My blog quickly moved from its blogger domain to being self hosted in June I think and I have since branched out in several directions.

Google+

My main outlet is via Google+ where I have met loads of people and some really interesting runners and learnt so much about a wide range of stuff and have enjoyed being part of communities sharing tips, photos, ideas, quotes, facts and recipes. If you are on Google+ add me to your circle +Gareth Davies.

Twitter

Twitter has long been something I have wanted to get involved with as a way of interacting with people and as a way to follow the going on of my favourite sports star and teams. I set up a twitter account for my blog @beoutrunning in April and have greatly enjoyed following many fitness and running type resources, organisations and individuals.

Recently I have also started branching out onto Bloglovin and Pinterest. 

Bloglovin is a great way for you to keep up to date with your favourite blogs and Pinterest provides a opportunity to find and share ideas, pictures and quotes on your chosen subject or interest. If you are on these platforms and want to connect with me I am garethdavies31 on Pinterest and you can find me on Bloglovin as Gareth Davies or as be out running. 

Running wise again I have achieved a lot over the last six months and the two feed off each other. I want to run more to give myself something to write about and having a blog on the go motivates me to run to provide writing material.

My main highlights have been smashing my Half Marathon PB in March, a few parks runs and the Spitfire Scramble 24 hour team relay event. I am also smack bang in the middle of my three marathons in three months before I am 30 challenge (I really need to think of a snappier title!) trying to crack a sub 4 marathon. The first marathon was last month at the Vanguard Way and I have my next one up at the end of September with the Nottingham Marathon.

My blog is very much a work in progress and I will continue to add new posts and pages. I have so many posts drafted waiting to be finished and posted and have so many great ideas to write about!

A big thank you to anyone who has every read a post, wrote a comment, +1'd me, reshared, liked, favourited, retweeted, pinned or connected with me. And a special thanks goes to everyone who has wished me well for races or provided any kind of running or blogging advice I am genuinely grateful.