Four weeks until my first race of 2025

I can’t remember when I last took part in a running race. I think it was probably the Smugglers’ Scuttler last summer. Towards the end of 2024, I signed up for a half marathon in Southampton. I had received a hefty discount code, so it was only £5 to enter. The race is now just four weeks away, so I need to step up my running.

Southampton parkrun

Last Saturday, I took part in Southampton parkrun. I was expecting to run with M, but she injured her shoulder on a scramble net on Friday night. Also, M is keen to earn her V50 t-shirt this year, so we agreed that she could volunteer. Stu has injured his calf, so he wanted to take it easy and decided to run with me.

It was the first parkrun that I’ve been able to wear my new 500 hoodie to… but by the time the photographer got their camera out, Laura and I were both down to our t-shirts.

It wasn’t my best run, but I enjoyed running with Stu and didn’t feel like I pushed myself too hard. I finished 15/53 in my age group, and 159/464 women. My time was 30:08. Hopefully, I’ll regularly run 5km in under 30 minutes this year.

10km training run

On Sunday, I wanted to do a long run. As it’s been a while since I’ve run more than 5km, I thought I should just aim for 10km. I ran towards Riverside Park and then ran the full length of the park, before heading towards Bitterne Station. After that, I turned back and ran towards the end of junior parkrun. I saw Stu, M and our friends, but couldn’t stop as I needed to run another 400m before finishing.

Afterwards, I was tired, but glad that I had done it.

YMCA Monday night run

On Monday night, I was feeling tired. Stu’s leg was hurting, so he didn’t come out for a run. That left Ian, Shane and I to go for a longer run whilst Mark ran with a newer runner. Shane and I started slowly to wait for Ian who was fiddling with his tech. As soon as Ian had sorted stuff out, he ran off without us.

I was conscious that Shane was meant to be running at a 10 minute/mile pace as part of his marathon training (6:13/km), but I’m not quite that speedy these days. We did a simple route out towards the airport and back as it’s virtually all on tarmac paths.

I completed exactly 5km in 33:23. I know I can run quicker than that, but after the previous day’s 10km run, I was pleased to get back in one piece!

What else have I been up to?

The weather has been really changeable recently, which has led to some beautiful sunrises.

I’ve signed up for an asthma research project. I need to record data from a peak flow meter a couple of times a week and record myself speaking for ~1 minute, so it’s not arduous. The researchers are investigating whether there’s a link between how someone’s voice sounds and the likelihood that they will have an asthma attack. I know how hard to can be to recruit participants for research, so if I ever see a project that I can contribute to, I try to help.

I’m always happy to try new fruit and vegetables, so I was delighted when Stu brought home some red kiwi fruits.

The fruit was beautifully sweet, but not as red as I had expected from pictures.

Southampton parkrun

This morning I ran 7km before doing parkrun. I had a few routes in mind, but thought that I ought to try to fit some hills in, so I ran down Bassett Green Road (~2km) and then back up Burgess Road to the Common, which was another couple of kilometres. Then I ran around the Common for 3 kilometres before the start of parkrun. The temperature was quite low, but by the time I got to parkrun, I was ready to remove my headband, buff, arm warmers and gloves.

I started in about my usual position and found the start quite congested. By the time I got to the crossroads, I could easily see the 31-minute pacer, so I decided to try to catch them. I also had a nice chat with Adam who is recovering from some injuries.

By the time I got back to the Flats, I had caught up with the 30-minute pacer. My intention was to stay ahead of the 30-minute pacer for as long as possible, as I knew they would pass me on the 3rd kilometre which is uphill. I then managed to pass the pacer again on the downhill.

Pacers always wear pale blue vests with their time on them. There seemed to be a lot of men wearing pale blue t-shirts this morning. Every time I saw one from the corner of my eye, I sped up as I thought they were the pacer. I kept going across the Flats and towards the finish.

How did I do?

In the funnel, I asked the person in front of me roughly what time we had done. I was pleased when he said it was ~29:40. I had expected to be much slower as it was part of my long run. Increased endurance improves speed, but I didn’t expect it to happen as part of my long run!

After parkrun, I was talking to Peter when someone came over with their two children. It was one of my former students, Lucy. I have not seen her since ~2004, but she was still recognisable. She told me that my media studies lessons influenced her career choice as she is now a graphic designer, so she wanted to thank me. I stopped teaching back in 2009, but it’s really lovely to hear that my former career had an impact on someone.

My official result from parkrun today was 29:37. I ran quicker than that back in November, but it’s my fastest time in 2025, so I’m pleased with that. I’m also happy that I’m making progress towards being able to run a half marathon again.

I was surprised to see that Strava is adding some new AI features for subscribers. My workout analysis for today’s 12km run says that it was a ‘Sold long run with warm-up, pushing beyond typical distance and maintaining a faster-than-average pace with consistent heart rate effort’. There was also some AI feedback on my pace: “Varied pace with faster final kilometres, hitting 5:47/km in late stages and maintaining overall quicker-than-average speed.” Finally there was AI feedback on my heart rate: “Average 151 bpm with max of 169 bpm showingsolid effort and some high-intensity moments. Mostly in tempo zone (68%), with good moderate zone coverage (26%), indicating a structured workout.” My choice to include some hills paid off, with the AI feedback stating, “Significant elevation gain of 155m, nearly 4.5x your typical 30-day elevation, suggesting a challenging route.”

What I’ve been reading/watching

• Lucy Gossage’s blog: The Spine Take 2. A race for closure. Lucy Gossage is an inspirational woman who has won so many Ironman races. She shares an honest account of being cheated on by her partner and how that motivated her to get back out racing.
• Ed Pratt’s adventure: Source to Sea down the River Thames WITHOUT Leaving it. This is a video series created by Ed Pratt who is known for unicycling around the world after finishing his A-levels in 2015. I’ve not seen all of the series yet, but am enjoying what I’ve watched so far.
• https://parkrace.net/map – If you’re missing parkrun data and statistics, this is the website for you!
• https://parkrace.net/uk/southampton/diehards – This is a list of people who have completed the most parkruns at Southampton. (It also shows what percentage of their parkruns they’ve run there).
• Can probiotics treat obesity and diabetes? The conclusion? “You cannot effectively treat obesity and type 2 diabetes without a healthy diet and active lifestyle. There’s no evidence that probiotics have a beneficial effect if your diet is poor. The takeaway? You may want to try probiotics to support your health, as long as they are an addition to – and not a replacement for – the healthy lifestyle tactics recommended by your doctor.”
• Finally, this image made me smile…

How’s 2025 been for you so far? Have you read any new books about running?