Lloyd Biddell

Today was the first time I’ve done a ‘proper’ race since I stopped running in 2008, except for the one off race I did in 2012 when I thought a few months of running on a treadmill would suffice.   As I said in my last post something around 38mins would be great, 39 a bit disappointing but not unexpected and anything near 40 would be very disappointing. I know the importance of a good breakfast so 3 hours before I had a bowl of cereal but as it was near the end of the packet I kept pouring until there was a huge bowl full which I then proceeded to eat.   Frankly I was stuffed and even right up to the race I still felt quite full so I was quite worried that I was going to get stitch – lesson learned for next time!   The race itself is only a few miles from home so I knew the area and the route well – pretty much flat as a pancake with just a few tiny inclines which were barely noticeable and a small chunk of the route being run on the canal.   The race started in the Castle Grounds

After a 7 year hiatus my blog is back!   Shortly after my last blog post I pretty much gave up running altogether and led a fair sedentary lifestyle.   Bit by bit I was putting on weight and over the course of the last few years I had put on around 26 pounds.   Hardly earth shattering but it was a slippery slope that was only going to get worse. In 2012 I joined a gym and my fitness gradually improved although any running I did was on a treadmill but it is no substitute to ‘proper’ outdoors running.   This I found to my cost at the end of 2012 when I decided to run the Wheaton Aston 10k.   In the gym I could do 10k in around 40mins (bearing in mind my PB in 2008 was 34.30 outdoors), but in the actual race I thought I might be able to do around 38 mins.   In reality it was a painful slog after only a few km with people passing me all over the place and ended up finishing in 40.50 – my slowest ever 10km by some margin, including when I began to take up running for the first time in