Lloyd Biddell

Since my return from New Zealand I've just been focussed on keeping things ticking over and I haven't really done any sessions of note since late September.  For me this is as close as I get to having an 'off season' and it's the one time of the year where I can slot in some 'fun' events and the Lee Mill Fell Race Relay was exactly that.  The course was approximately 10km and included around 370 metres of climb. At the event centre it was a pretty chilly 2 degrees and the ground was pretty soft, but on the hills it was clear there would be some snow to contend with.  I was second leg for Mercia Fell Runners and whilst waiting for the start of my leg the finish times of the leaders were much much slower than in 2016.  I started in 8th, about 4-5 minutes from the leader and then around 30 seconds - 3 minutes behind those between 2nd - 7th. Handover at the start. Quite early on it was difficult to gauge who was racing and who was just warming up on th...

Since the Chester Marathon the plan was to have a rest and I had booked a trip to New Zealand for some R&R.  Me being me I couldn't help to see whether there was any races and I stumbled across the Auckland Marathon which coincidentally is the largest marathon in New Zealand.  Upon contacting the organisers I was duly offered a free entry and that was that.  In my mind I knew it was a mad idea, but I could just trot round and enjoy it all for a change. Since Chester the legs initially recovered well but a combination of jet lag, walking around 10 miles a day plus some runs in Queenstown that included around 6km of hills resulted in them feeling pretty dead.  In fact I was even thinking of pulling out; it felt like trying to hit a moving target at times by attempting to juggle recovery whilst keeping the legs moving.  As the days got closer I was contacted by the organisers who wanted to profile me as a 'contender' for the race.  Ok, so no backing out...

Today was the big one that I've been working towards for several months.  The build up has not been without its mishaps; mainly an injury I sustained to the back of my knee a couple of months ago resulting in my weekly mileage actually being less than in the run up to the Greater Manchester Marathon.  On the back of Manchester I was selected to represent England in the V35-39 category at Chester in a match against the Celtic nations so the race was a step up in importance to me.  Before the race I was hoping for sub 2.26 (2.27.59 PB), maybe even sub 2.25 if everything fell into place.  The plan was to play to my strengths and go through half way in 73 mins, and try to increase the pace in the second half.  Easier said than done, but I also gave myself a get out clause that if I started to get into the mix then I would then focus on my race position rather than time - there is no point in just going purely for time if the race conditions dictate different tactics...

As part of my build up to the Chester Marathon in three weeks time I entered the Great Bristol Half Marathon so I could see where my fitness is at and give me an idea of what sort of pace I should be aiming for.  My last Half Marathon was the Ramathon back in June where I finished in 71.00, but today was I hoping for sub 70 mins, if not a touch quicker but easier said than done. I was accepted for an elite entry and was 'seeded' 9th out of 9 elites, but knowing my current form and peeking at everyone elses recent race results I thought somewhere between 5th and 7th was on, assuming there were no other non-elites that could run faster.  As it later turned out I think only 6 or 7 elites actually started. I tried not to set off like a lunatic and I was in around 12th after the first few hundred metres before quickly settling into 10th.  After the first km two groups of four had formed, the first group pulling away into a decent lead of about 30 metres, followed by the se...

I had my breakthrough moment at this race last year coming a very unexpected 2nd but in very tough gale force conditions.  At the time I felt it was a near miss as I badly twisted my ankle as I was on my way to closing down the leader.  I wanted to try the race again and give it a go in better conditions and hopefully not twist my ankle this time. Lining up at the start I just felt very sluggish for some reason.  Sometimes it amounts to something and other times it doesn't.  However within the first km something just didn't feel right.  None the less I was reasonably well positioned, just behind a leading group of six and a few others just behind including myself.  After the first km I was in 10th.  After 2km we departed from the road and in the meantime I had picked off a couple more runners and I was consciously trying to keep off the gas as you can easily pay for too much effort in the latter part of the course.  The first thing that struck m...

The last couple of months of training have been a bit up and down.  I was starting to hit some good form in early July but then I started to develop some pain at the back of the knee and various other niggles which I've struggled to shake off.  As a result I've done very little focused sessions and have been trying to just get out and do some miles to keep ticking over.  Today's race was therefore a bit of an unknown. I knew that the Burton 10k course was very undulating and most definitely not a pb course.  The plan was to take the first couple of km easy as the climb was best part of 50 metres.  Over the undulating next 6km I then planned to gradually make a move and throw everything left into the sharp downhill in the last 2km to the finish. Course Profile As we set off I felt pretty reasonable and was happy to slot into 3rd with two runners about 5-10 metres ahead of me.  This continued for the first km and into a very sharp 30m hill where I pu...