Long Overdue Update

As Julie has mentioned to me several times, I haven't been updating my blog recently.  This hasn't been because of any falling-off-the-wagon or somesuch.  Nope, still proudly plant-powered, going as strong as ever.

Wales:  Hot, hilly, hard.

It also isn't because of a lack of athletic endeavours either.  I ran the Wales Marathon, finishing a respectable 21st place out of 287 finishers. I also ran did the 5 mile National Lottery Anniversary Run, getting a handy-dandy 413th out of 11,841 people.  Both were challenging events, Wales due to the heat and hills, the Anniversary Run due to the speed required and the fact it was a week after Wales.

So why haven't I rushed off to Blogger to write down a detailed blow by blow of my events?  I've thought about this a bit, and I think it is primarily because I didn't learn anything from my diet that I thought interesting enough to share with others.  No secrets to vegan fuelling (unless "enough Clif Shot Bloks over a 3 hour period to make you want to be ill" counts as advice) and no sage-like knowledge on how avocados can help you push through "the wall" and reach your goals.

Why this post at all then?  Well, in retrospect I did learn some non-foodie things that may be worth sharing, namely:

• 600 metres of elevation over 26.2 miles isn't much for some, but it was enough to destroy me completely. If the course description says "hilly" then do some proper damn training on hills beforehand you nonce.
• If you are entering a race with nearly 12,000 people, some of whom who have never run 5 miles before, get as far to the front as you can. Otherwise you will be stuck for over a mile trying to get past the agonisingly slow bastards who assume 10 minute miles is "pretty fast".
• Much of running a race, regardless of distance, that is run at your maximum effort is mental.  Not 10%, not even 50%, probably closer to 80% of it is in your head.  If you let the devil on your shoulder convince you for 1 second that you "don't have to do this you know" or that "maybe you could walk this bit" you are toast.  The little bugger won for a bit in Wales, but with the help of another runner I was able to block him out and salvage the performance I owed myself.
• High-5'ing Paula Radcliffe while running in the Olympic Stadium is awesome.  Highly recommended should the opportunity present itself to you.
• The quote "Living well is the best revenge" from George Herbert, English poet and orator, is quite applicable to vegans.  Most people find it difficult to be critical of my lifestyle when I'm clearly quite fit. Saves quite a lot of time and somewhat pointless discussion really.

What's next then?  I have a 10k race on Sunday, which I'm going to try and pace myself to a 41 to 42 minute finish (crowds permitting). I'd like to get under 40 minutes, but I'm not quite there yet I don't think. After that my next race is the Nike Run to the Beat half marathon, which I'll be angling for a PB at.

Let's see how it all goes.