10 Things I Think About Running

1. Return to Running

I think that when you are returning to running after a significant ankle injury it is very important to follow a carefully monitored return to run program. The one I use is run for 15 minutes, then take a day off, run for 20 minutes, take a day off run for 25 minutes, take a day off, run for 30 minutes, take a day off then drive on. Ain’t nobody got no time for that walk run stuff.

2. Running Streak

I think that once you can run every day for about a week you are good to go. There isn’t much to be worried about if it was an injury where something tore or broke. Once it is healed it is healed and it probably won’t go again. Fear is an awful thing, fear should be gotten rid of as quickly as possible. If it doesn’t hurt it’s fine, drive on.

3. Sessions = Races

I think that if you can do a session, you can do a race. There is no point waiting for months to get back in shape, a race is better than any session. I probably would have waited ages to do a race due to my enlarged ego but a half trail half road race in Font Romeu where the only person I would have to suffer a bad beating from would be John Meade provided the perfect opportunity for a race without any significant ego damage.

4. Ageless

I think that I have done the Cursa D’Age more times than most of the locals, I’ve been doing it since 2016. It is a wonderful race, a small gem of a race with no fuss and no stress. Unfortunately, while the race has remained the same I have not and have gotten significantly older and more injured, the only consolation is that I am now eligible for the masters prize so there is a reasonable chance of a podium every time I run.

5. Speed Doesn’t Go Away

I think that it is fascinating that after nearly 11 weeks of almost no running I was able to run close enough to a five-minute mile for the first mile of the race. It kind of shows that the only thing training does is allow the pace to be maintained. The five-minute mile was no good in this case as Age had been invaded by elite athletes from the Asics house in Font Romeu which meant that I was miles off the front even after 500m. Even John Meade found himself trailing the leading lady who I recognized as Julien Melody who led the Women’s Marathon in Paris until halfway.

6. Fitness Does Go Away

I think that while speed doesn’t disappear, fitness does not hang around. After the first mile I soon ran out of oxygen, the five-minute mile reduced to closer to six and John Meade disappeared up the road at a rate that I have thankfully become unfamiliar with. I was left in a small group who I calculated I would have to beat if I wanted to stand on the podium in the masters category. I didn’t fancy my chances.

7. Masters Battle

I think that I should have fought harder when a local runner about the same age and height came past me after about three miles as the route entered the dirt road section before the deadly rock section. Try as I might I just got slower, the sessions on Zwift did nothing. He disappeared up the trail in his Vaporfly 3s taking my podium ambitions with him.

8. Deadly Rocks

I think that you could not pick a better race to test a dodgy ankle than this race, three miles in the route turns into a trail containing a section of deadly rocks for about a mile. As my podium ambitions were over I took it handy and gently and carefully picked my way through the rocks in my battered 6 year old Vaporfly 1s. Soon I became aware of footsteps behind me. I got to the top of the hill still in front but knew there would be a battle to the finish.

9. The Sprint That Cured Me

I think the thing that I missed most while injured was having a race with someone. It was great to have a battle with local hero Alvaro Rance over the last mile. With about 400m of the 8100m left to go he was right on my shoulder. I forgot that I was ever injured and launched the most vicious sprint which miraculously resulted in me going faster and maintaining my 11th position, 4th moderately old man and more importantly uninjured runner.

10. No Podium but Well Done John Meade

I think that while it was terribly disappointing not to make the podium it was good to be able to shout well done John Meade at John Meade when he was called up to stand on the top of the moderately old man podium. It was also good to find out that 11 weeks of almost no running results in a decrease in performance of two minutes which isn’t too bad. After the race I was happy to find that my ankle was no worse than it was before which is a key metric when returning from injury, once it doesn’t get worse it’s fine, hopefully it stays that way.

10 Things I Think About The Seville Half Marathon 2025

1. Escaping Éowyn

I think that Ryanair have a great can do attitude. Only Ryanair will get you to Seville no matter the weather. Going to bed Thursday night I was pretty sure that a flight to Seville scheduled to take off in the midst of a red weather warning was both unwise and unlikely. Luckily there was some winter fat in the Ryanair schedule so the only impact of the storm was a welcome lie in and a three hour delay in departure.

2. Unsevillean Weather

I think that I was probably overdue some rain in Spain. Seville to me means blue skies, no wind and air so light it makes running almost effortless. Unfortunately on this occasion Seville resembled Cork on a soft damp day in May. Wet, humid, almost warm and a little windy.

3. Sub Elite Cajón Rojo

I think I’d be better off if I had never experienced what it is like to be in the elite start. Somehow the last time I did the Seville Half they gave me an elite number so I didn’t have to queue up with everyone else. This time I had to make do with the first corral of sub 1:20 runners along with my great enemy, friend and rival John Meade who was terribly disappointed when I told him that he hadn’t a hope in the M45 category because of Reyes Estevez who has run 2:16 for the marathon at 48.

4. In the Trenches

I think that the only issue with having to line up with the masses is that you have to experience what it is like to stand huddled nervously for about 15 minutes with mainly other men. It is mildly unpleasant but would make you appreciate that you were born in 1986 rather than 1886. I will never understand why so many people have to sprint the first 400m of a 21 kilometer race. The pushing and shoving is totally unnecessary, at least the roads are good and wide so it only lasts for a minute or too before normality is resumed.

5. Woman + Man = Pacemaker

I think that the great thing about big city half marathons is that there are always pacemakers to run with. They aren’t actually advertised easily identifiable pacemakers but if you see a woman running side by side with a man in the same shoes and uniform you know that you have a professional steady pace to follow for the entire race. It took me about 3k to find my Asics pace group which was moving along at a relatively metronomic 3:25 per kilometer. I got myself comfortable and tried to turn off my brain which is very difficult if not impossible.

6. Inoperable Water

I think that it is amazing how much trouble water causes in races. The trouble in Seville was the bottles. The bottles were very unusual with a weird cap so hard to open that it would have been easier if the water was in Calpol bottles. Then to cap it all off the fella in front had a nasty habit of just dropping his bottle onto the ground without any consideration for the people behind. Luckily my agility and nimbleness of foot is at its peak it being cross country season.

7. Juan Meade

I think that I had a good fifty minutes of running without sight or sound of John Meade. I was expecting him to turn up at some stage as he had completed an impressively intense week of crash training the week before with nearly 30 miles at or below 6 minute mile pace which was two miles more than I had managed to do. As I passed the 13k marker I was convinced that I could hear him behind so without looking I said hello John Meade, to my surprise the man making the exact same foot and breathing sounds as John Meade was not John Meade but a Spanish runner of similar stature and stride. Phew I thought.

8. The Water Trick

I think that I should be better at resisting the spirit crushing tactics of John Meade. Three kilometers after my initial misdiagnosis of John Meade I was horrified to be greeted by actual John Meade just after the water station at the 10 mile mark. He could clearly see that I had managed to open the unopenable water bottle but being the astute racer that he is he offered me a drink from his bottle almost as if to say “you look terrible, here have my water which I don’t need as I am fine”. I declined the water and watched horrified as the St Finbarr’s singlet surged ahead making impossible inroads into the many groups scattered along the road by the unsevillean wind.

9. 100m, SOS

I think that there is no beating John Meade if he passes you late in a race. You are in big big trouble. It doesn’t matter who you are, if John Meade gets within a mile of the finish you are in trouble. I could see from his stride that he was delighted with himself having passed me out. I did my best to hold the gap but as we ran down Ryan Creech’s beloved cobblestone road past the giant mushroom the gap began to open to the length of at least six shops.

10. A Monk Swimming

I think that the last kilometre of the race was a little odd. It was like I was running in a race that I didn’t belong in. All of the men had been filtered out and I was left in a battle I didn’t want to fight with five women all but one of whom outsprinted me. Once across the line I said Well Done John Meade, collected my medal, before commencing a slow jog back to the apartment with the winner discussing the ridiculousness of going all the way to Seville to race only each other. Well Done John Meade.