Hogweed Hilly Half Marathon

Saturday 21st March
Body pump as usual, I continued with my policy of doing my core exercises in lieu of squats and lunges. Did some more core exercises after the class.

Sunday 22nd March
Competed today in the Hogweed Hilly Half Marathon, at Horton, Gloucestershire. This was the fifth running of the event and my third time there. I chose it as a training run for London in 2007, and was so impressed I vowed to come back every year. It is what it says on the tin - a very tough, hilly half marathon but is also remarkably well organised and boasts some of the most glorious scenery I have seen in a race.

I started well enough, knocking out the first mile in about 8 minutes, but then reminded myself to relax and enjoy the run as much as possible. It was perfect weather for running, a beautiful spring morning.

The hills were hard as always, and I was going well until I got to the 8-mile marker. The hill in the ninth mile put paid to any hopes I had of a 1:50-ish finish. What's more, after that point my legs started to feel very tired (as I expected they would) and so it was just a case of trying to get round in under two hours.

I did it comfortably in the end, aided perhaps by some of the friendly young marshals handing out jelly babies to us! I was more than happy with a 1:56 finish, but wish I could improve my downhill running - the last section is a steep downhill stretch and there was nothing I could do to stop my fellow runners sprinting past me.

A nice touch was I got chatting to the treasurer of the Samaritans in Bristol (I was wearing my vest in preparation) after the race, talking at length about the charity and races overseas.

I had contemplated another run in the day but decided after the race that my legs could really do with an easier Sunday than they've had lately. So I made my way to the gym for a stretch and a shower. As I left I felt slightly sad, knowing that I wouldn't be taking part in such a lovely event for another year. Yes, I really do like it that much.

Monday 23rd March
Tonight there was a two hour "Spin-a-thon" at the gym to raise money for the British Heart Foundation. To tell the truth, it was quite a disappointment.

For a start, the entry fee was to raise a minimum of £50 in sponsorship which was always going to be a tall order in the current climate. I told someone a couple of weeks ago that I wouldn't be able to raise any sponsorship as I am already committed to raising money for the London marathon. I said I was quite happy to donate £5 of my own money to attend the class.

Even so, I was still surprised by how quiet the class was. The room was less than half full, and of the people there, most seemed to be staff members. The class itself was enjoyable enough, but I was careful not to go crazy with the resistance as my legs were still tired from yesterday so I never really got a sweat on.

Oh well, it's calories burned I suppose.

Tuesday 24th March
Steady run tonight, about 1 hour 10 mins. Up the railway path, through Old Town, down Drove Road and through town back to the gym. Just needed some thinking time tonight.

Wednesday 25th March
Body pump tonight, did 2k on the treadmill beforehand as a warm-up. Used my heaviest weight yet on the squats track, 42.5kg (or four reds and a yellow on each end). Might not sound a lot, but when you consider I'm doing squats for about 5 minutes, it's not bad at all. I usually use 40kg and it's amazing how much heavier that 2.5kg made it feel.

No RPM or other cardio as I needed to do some shopping and hate getting home too late.

Thursday 26th March
Interval session at the lake. Managed to knock out 5 laps, but they probably weren't as fast as they should have been due to my legs feeling sore from yesterday. That was probably to be expected to be fair. Good session nonetheless, need to do more speed and hill work to get good times in races this summer.