Lloyd Biddell

In the last week I had what is known as a 'Charley Horse', not that I knew it was called that until I did some googling.  To most people it is a cramp, but a cramp like no other you will ever experience. This week it was my fifth attack and I'd be lying if I said it is anything other than infrequent - the previous four attacks have been spaced over the last couple of years.  So what it is? Well it only ever happens whilst asleep and for me only ever affects my calf.  I get about a second or two warning, almost like an earthquake rippling with increasing intensity.  Then the most intense pain you could describe that lasts about 10 seconds.  I have cracked my head open some years ago in an accident that required multiple stitches, yet this does not even compare.  The only way I can describe it, is that my leg is moving in one direction but the muscle is trying to pull it the opposite way.  There is only ever going to be one loser in that battle and it is my calf. I s

My previous two posts looked at the journey so far and general approach to all things running.  This final post looks at what training typically looks like, plus an eye on the future… The question for me is whether my huge PB was despite my unconventional approach to training and all things running, or because of it?  Read on to find out. You would think that with me previously stating I’m running obsessed that I love running.  You couldn’t be further from the truth.  It is a real love / hate relationship for me. Love / Hate I love it on the odd occasion I race and it all works out coming away with a PB.  The days that follow are euphoric.  I also occasionally feel great in the hour or two after having a session that went better than expected.  Whilst I’m also out running I generally enjoy it, but the thought of going out for a run in the hours beforehand is something I mostly dread.  It is like some weird addiction, I cannot not have my running fix, but I feel like I have t

As mentioned in my previous post there is a dearth of other blogs that cover how others train to achieve a marathon time in the range of 2.18 – 2.23.  I occasionally see the odd blog here or there, but I always craved more.  This is my version of what it takes…  Part 2 focuses on everything other than training, whilst the final Part 3 (to come) will look at training and the future. The question for me is whether my huge PB was despite my unconventional approach to training and all things running, or because of it?  Read on to make your own conclusion. Valencia PB. Nutrition I will freely admit I have a problem with food.  I calorie count and I struggle to allow myself enough beyond the bare minimum.  I am usually hungry to a greater or lesser degree.  On the other hand, I don’t eat particular foods because of my running, just the sort of normal healthy diet one would expect.  If you work on the basis that you burn roughly 100 calories a mile my net calorie daily intake is usu

These days I don't normally write blog posts between races, mainly because there has never been an audience to read my musings.  I originally set up this blog so when I'm 60 and have grown up kids I can one day look back and remind myself that I was once reasonably active. That being said my last blog touched upon my unconventionality in my approach to training and racing.  Before I expand on that this blog post covers the journey so far.  Rewind to early 2015 and I was effectively a couch potato and had put on several stone and running was not even part of my thoughts.  That said I did do a 10k with a bit of training in 2013 and I ended up doing roughly 42.30.  The pounds continued to pile on and it eventually got to a stage where I decided to do a bit of jogging to lose some timber.  I still remember my first run in April 2015, I came back after 20 minutes wheezing and my legs felt like lead for days.  I stuck at it and eventually some of the weight started to fall off.  Be

I scheduled the Valencia Marathon back in June just as I was starting my comeback from injury.  At that point I had only been running again for a matter of weeks since all of the foot problems that put me out of action for the best part of 18 months.  I therefore decided to hedge my bets and enter the Bournemouth Marathon in October and Valencia in December.  I figured that way I would have a reasonable shot at being fit for one of the two races… as it turned out I was fit for both! Since Bournemouth I’ve been ticking over as there hasn’t been enough time for a fresh build up phase, plus I had a week away in Thailand 2-3 weeks out from this race.  Getting to Valencia was a bit of a journey that involved staying down at Heathrow on the Friday night, then flying to Valencia via Madrid so I didn’t land in the city until 5pm on Saturday.  By the time I got to the expo to collect my number it was gone 7pm and was then faced with trying to find somewhere open to eat, which for some reason

The Bournemouth Marathon was a long time coming, little did I know at the time that my last marathon would be at Auckland in 2017.  I had almost forgotten what running a marathon felt like, so today was going to be a fresh dose of pain. Coming into the race I did 68.11 at the Lake Vyrnwy Half last month so I knew my form was probably better than I had given myself credit for.  My plan was to aim for 2.24ish (or at least 1.12 at the half way point and then see what happens).  The conditions on the day were forecast to be dry and about 15 - 18 degrees, but windy - about 18 mph gusting to 30 mph.  As much of the Bournemouth Marathon involves running along the sea front I knew that this was likely to cause some issues, so in the end I thought that I'd just run to feel but also be conscious about what was happening in the race around me. 15 mins before the start.  In the same England kit from the 2017 Chester Marathon - hopefully a good omen! The off - pretty much straight int

Today was my last scheduled race prior to the Bournemouth Marathon in 3 weeks’ time.  Whilst only a 5 miler, part of the course goes within 20 metres of my front door so any opportunity to have a bit of a sharpener was not to be missed.  I purposely did not ease off during the week and made sure I did a reasonably decent Thursday session followed by my normal Friday run and then just eased back to a shorter run the day before.  As a result my legs were pretty fatigued going into the race, but frankly that was the whole point.  I also wanted to test out the Nike Vaporfly 4% racers I had bought about 18 months ago but due to injury have never worn.  These shoes were released to much fanfare as part of the Nike ‘Breaking 2’ project where it was claimed that due to the plate inside it could make you run up to 4% quicker – something not to be sniffed at if true.  The plan today was to break them in and see how my feet got on with them and if all went well to use them at Bournemouth. As th

Since the Burton 10k I've been on holiday to the deep south of the USA.  Any idea of doing any serious running was pretty much straight out of the window when in the heat of the day it was hitting anything up to 42c.  The heat itself was the smaller problem, what made it pretty much unbearable was the humidity - even first thing in the morning when it was c. 30c the only way to cool down post run was a cold shower.  It was also strange that often my trainers would not dry out during the heat of the day due to the humidity and quickly made them quite pongy!  The focus was therefore just to get some time on my feet and not indulge too much in the unavoidable junk food that prevails in the USA. Four weeks today I have the Bournemouth Marathon and frankly I had no idea what kind of pace I should be looking at.  I've done virtually no long run pace/tempo work which has concerned me for a while now.  Even the races I've done in the last few months were not very informative as e