Kevin's Royal Parks Half Marathon

Royal Parks half? Completed it, mate. 🤣

Though it was a bit warm. And I did go off very fast. And I felt terrible.

Sounds like a normal race to me...

Finished in 1:58:38, which was within the envelope of what I was hoping. Some 12 minutes slower than my PB. But I've worked to reframe this - my victory was getting to the start line, after the year I've had.

To everyone who has supported me, I'm very grateful.
If you think you've missed the window of opportunity to donate, this will stay open a little longer, so please consider making a contribution to Providence Row via my page. ❤️

Thursday. 3 days to race day.

Got the traditional pre-race chesty cough and sore throat, following an office earlier in the week. Hopefully it will completely clear before the race.

Unless there's an unexpected plot twist, I'll be at the start line on Sunday. My start time is 09:09. I'm not expecting a PB, but I will get round.

There's still time to donate to Providence Row, if you'd like to support them in their efforts to help people out of homelessness. I'd appreciate your support too.

4 weeks to the Royal Parks half marathon

I won't lie, training is not where I'd like it to be. Three weeks ago, I ran 15km (great!) and two weeks ago 10km, but then experienced a massive long covid crash, that lasted over a week. I was completely wiped out (understatement), so no training for 10 days, other than my daily walks.

This week has been exceptionally hot. I've returned to training with cycling and running, with a 10km treadmill run in my garage today, which was cooler than the conditions outdoors.

I'm feeling anxious about another LC rebound, but I'm hoping that I've not overdone it too much this week. Fingers crossed. 🤞

Task #1 is to get to the start line. I think that's probable now. If you'd like to help me get to that, please do consider making a donation, it would help my motivation greatly, and it makes a huge difference to Providence Row.

Thank you for your support.

13km this morning. My longest run in quite some time. It feels like I'm making some progress at last, and with 8 weeks to the half marathon, that's welcome news.

What I've not said much about is my journey through long covid. It's taken a good while to be referred to the Hertfordshire Long Covid rehabilitation team, and I finally had a session with them a couple of weeks ago. I was quite anxious about this, but I was met with understanding, kindness and compassion. And I left with a few specific pieces of advice and suggestions - some of which are already appearing to make a difference to my physical fitness.

Though, after today's run, I'm expecting a fatigue rebound for a few days, and I'm ready for that. It's a slow recovery, but it seems to be improving. 🤞🏻