Lloyd Biddell

Training in the last few weeks has by and large been positive although I am very much still in tick over mode and am not doing any hard sessions of note.  I've entered the Bournemouth Marathon in October and Valencia Marathon in December so that gives me something to focus on. I entered the Gate Gallop some time ago as for the first time I've been available to do the race and is only 3 miles or so from home.  Its pretty much entirely off road and I the clue is in the title - a few gates / stiles that need to be navigated.  Therefore its not about the time but a case of just having a good solid run.  As this is not a key race I've pretty much been training as normal and in the 6 days preceding the race I had already accumulated 79 miles albeit I ensured there was nothing of intensity beyond Tuesday.  My legs were therefore fairly lethargic but then again they always seem to feel this way more often than not! Start. At the off I pretty much did my own th...

Since the Kingsbury Classic a week or so ago I managed to twist my ankle moving some furniture and ever since it has shown the same symptoms I had over a year ago i.e. runnable but back on the same slippery path I've been on in the past.  To be honest I think my ankle would have gradually ended up back this way anyway but obviously twisting it was never going to help.  I've since had another consultation at hospital and I think its basically a case of having to live with the condition and so may not be able to train in the same way as I've done in the past and perhaps even reassess my goals. Today was the Burton 10 miles; not only a race I've not done before but also a distance that I've not raced.  The build up was not fantastic as I went for a meal out with family on Friday for a 5-course Mediterranean Tasting Menu with a few alcoholic drinks.  The booze was never going to help but the shear quantity of food I ate meant that I was 4.5lbs heavier than normal come...

What a nightmare start to 2019 and for most of 2018 for that matter.  The issue with my right ankle joint first happened at the end of January 2018 that eventually got resolved around September.  I managed to get a couple of months of treadmill based training in with some gym work, only for my left Achilles to flare up during December.  I've then been pretty much out of action until March where I've started the long path of trying to get some fitness back. Such has been the issues there have been several times where I've come close to calling it a day, but am hopeful that I'm over the worst.  Nonetheless its a long road ahead and I'm very sensitive to any minor aches and pains coming from the ankle area.  Only in the last 3-4 weeks have I gradually progressed from the treadmill to road and it feels at times like I'm having to start everything from scratch i.e. learning paces, accrued muscle fatigue etc.  At the moment the priority has been time on the ...

In the week leading up to Christmas my left Achilles suddenly pulled and has been tender ever since.  Its been a bit of a shame as things were starting to look like they were back on the up but by all accounts I'm back to square one again.  It was therefore touch and go whether I could run the Wheaton Aston 10k which I had entered some time ago.  On the day of the race my ankle just felt 'weird' rather than painful so decided to run but it was very much a last minute decision. Whilst you don't lose fitness over night I hadn't been running for best park of a week before the race, so thought a bit of rust my be there and didn't think there was much prospect of a super fast time, but you never know.  In the first km I was quite some way back as seems pretty normal for me but I gradually picked off people one by one.  At the end of the first km I had moved into third and about 15 metres behind the leading pair.  What was surprising though was that my first ki...

Today was my fourth Petzl Grizedale Nightrunner event, having come second the first time I ran it and won it the last two years.  Last year there was significant snowfall during the event and each year I've done the event the conditions were very different and this time was no exception - drizzly rain and fairly poor visibility with occasional fog patches. As in previous editions of the race I set off pretty much in the lead straight away so was expecting to just tempo my way around the course.  It soon became clear though that one runner was on my shoulders and after about 500 metres we were side by side.  On the flat we were more or less even or he was pulling away a little and on the descent he would pull a couple of seconds ahead.  Even on the early ascents which are my strength, we were fairly evenly matched.  I was thinking "right, we have a race on here", although wasn't sure whether the runner was putting too much effort in early on as he was breathing...

Since the last post I've done pretty much no road running because of my foot but last Monday I had another hospital appointment following the results of my MRI to have a steroid injection in the ankle joint.  Its too early to tell what, if anything, it has done but I remain hopeful!  In the intervening period it has just been more gym work and some treadmill running, which is all well and good but not as beneficial as the real thing. Today was the Cheshire 10k; a bit far away for a 10k but I wanted a real fitness test on an accurately measured course (ahem Tamworth (almost) 10k!) that is flat and fast with some real competition.  Looking at previous results I knew that I wouldn't be at the thick end of the race so it was all about the time.  There is no hiding in these sorts of events, the time would be a true reflection of where I am at the moment.  I was hoping that I was in some sort of shape and certainly the Tamworth 10k and Birmingham Half both show that...

Since the Tamworth 10k I feel a little more motivated again although as my foot is constantly in discomfort I'm only doing gym work and some focused treadmill runs.  I had entered the Great Birmingham Half some time ago on the assumption that I would be well on the mend, but with all the recent setbacks I had no idea what to expect or whether my foot would be good enough to get round. I decided to just go out and enjoy it although there is always a little added pressure when you have an elite name on the front and number '2' on the back and being listed as one of the pre-race contenders!  On the day the weather was truly awful, about 10 degrees but pretty torrential rain throughout and significant ponding on the roads.  The worst is hanging around before the start and getting cold and soaked through so was glad to get going on time. Chatting with a work colleague at the start. I consciously made sure I didn't go too hard at the start as it is gradually uphill f...