Well this is what they say ! Have to say I agree, loving my transition period from the 400m back to distance running. The freedom I get from just going out for a run is great. Discovering my old routes and new ones 😊 but have to say though, sick of winter now, cold every time I lace up my shoes ❄️🙄 but not letting that put me off , getting it done no matter what 😁.

Having more a sensible build up this time, slowly building up mileage, but still getting some speed sessions in every week. A lot of those reps ie my 800m, 400m, and 200m sessions are done on grass, more kidder to the joints 😊. Listening to your body is key, so I am stretching more , and foam rolling more, trying to keep as lose as possible. Came down with a virus this week, felt awful on the Thursday, so switched my rest day from Friday to Thursday, normally I would run through it if it was just all in my head, but body was aching all over. It was a good call though, Fridays session was good, and I had time to get over this virus, also managed an early night ( which is rare 😆) 

As many family athletes would testify to, fitting training around there lives can be challenging. With building my long runs up slowly, I’m dropping my son off at his sports club, and getting my run done, just in time for him to finish. Having a protein shake in my bag ready for me when I’m done, and make sure I keep hydrated through out the day.

Race wise haven’t focused on a single race yet, just wanna make sure I get a good base built up. Think I will know when I’m race fit. But I can easily test my fitness over a parkrun if I fancy it . I do have a sort of plan lol , I would like to complete a marathon in autumn 2019(before I’m 40) but a base mark down, then in 2020 I would love to go and do a Masters Championship marathon either the Worlds or Europeans.  But have to say seeing friends racing and getting great times does inspire me, and I do hope I can get myself back into the shape I was, maybe even better , who knows. A friend of mine Sophie Cowper ran this weekend in Spain 🇪🇸 representing England athletes  over the Half Marathon distance, came third with a time of 1:16, I mean if that’s not a inspiration, what is, simply amazing, she’s a prime example of hard work paying off👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Well only the 3rd week into the new year and already a massive change of direction for my athletics! Changing coaching, clubs, and discipline. I feel excited about the journey I’m about to go on, and a little scared I have to admit. If I don’t do this now , I don’t think I’ll ever will. I’ve spent the last 6 years at Lincoln, I feel I need to re -fresh my athletics. Not yet decided on club and coaching, but in no hurry, I’m enjoying the freedom at the moment , but still keeping my eyes set on goals.

The sprinting I just felt not good enough, not being able to complete at the level I wanted to, it was hard to admit to myself, that I wouldn’t be able to compete with the big boys , 😊.

Moving up again to middle to long distance again, and doing it right this time, not over training and racking up silly mileage to soon are mistakes I’ve learned from. Going down this route opens up windows to do different Champs in the Masters from the mile , 5k,10k , 10m, XC. With a long term go of having a good crack at the marathon! Marathon I will be coming for you !

I think as I’ve gotten older I’ve learned that Sports and especially running in my eyes, isn’t the end of the world if things don’t go your way. Early years of my running life , it is what I lived for, and if I got injured or not hit specific goals , it would get me down. Nowadays , I don’t let it get to me, don’t get me wrong I still train hard, but if things are quite working out, I’ll ask myself why, maybe Change it up, and let’s face it, tomorrow’s another day 😊 My family, my Wife and Children are my world 🌍. Now doing training, and full time job, and child with autism, gets tricky but doable 👍🏻 you just plan.

Training on my new journey so far has been enjoyable. Building slowly , but I will keep you informed 😊

Ok 2018 hasn’t got Of to a great start ( race wise), I was in Sheffield at the EIS on Saturday for the Northern Champs. I had the 400m to contend with. Now I knew I wasn’t going through to the semis , so had to focus on my heat and a good performance. Getting there an 1 hour and a half before my race left me time to warm up and chill out for a bit before the call up. During the warm up I felt fine, pretty sharp I thought! Leaving the block practice until last , just so I’ve got that feeling fresh in my mine. Call up came and I got put into my heat, I was hoping to get put into the heat with the other Master I knew, Kevin Pie, but was not to be, and I was stuck in with the young wiper snappers 😆. Felt relaxed, no pressure on me. The heat got called up, we were on next, got chatting to the official lady for a while, ( a Masters lady ) she smiled and got taking to me about her place in the London Marathon this year, she said “ you’ve got the build for a marathon, surprised your not a distance runner ! I smiled and said “ I was “ 😊

Onto the Track I went, set my blocks up, had 1 practice start, felt good, so I’m ready… Starter calls for it, gun goes , and we’re off ! Good out of the blocks, powering round the first 2 corners, but at the back coming to the break on the home straight, tucked into lane 1 and with 1 lap to go on my own and trying to keep strong round the last 2 bends. Last turn and I’ve got the home straight to myself 🙄. Crossed to line in 61.84,☹️ Gutted. Thinking I was in better shape, but what’s happened has happened.

Hopfully things will get better 😊

Well it’s 2018 and I’m sure this year is gonna be full of challenges, but 1st I’m tell you a little about myself , and how I got into athletics .

As a school boy I always loved running, loved the freedom of just running fast ! I was one of those kids who loved sports days especially when it came to the running events 👍 I often ran the 100m and often won 😉😊 . I used to love hear people cheering my name, it felt great.

Life changed when I left school tho, I gave up athletics and got a job as a printer and started a family. Had a little boy ( Ben) who has autism , which has its own challenges , but love him to bits.

I did however make a return to running back in 2009, just to get myself back into shape.  It was hard at first, running a mile was a task in its self, but ever so slowly gained my fitness back and starting running on more a regular bases, 3-4 times a week. As time went on Millage creeped up and started getting more competitive, I decided to join a running club ( Sleaford Striders ) meet some fantastic people and started training for my first Half Marathon , the Sleaford Half 2011, I had a time in mind ( sub 2 hours ) . Training went very well and I even convinced 2 work colleagues to do the race to. Race day arrived and I had one of my fellow Striders to pace the race for me ( Terry Grant ) he did an amazing job, encouraged me all the way, giving me kicks up the backside when I needed it. I was on course for the time I wanted up till mile 10ish , I remember that hill , cardiac hill it was called, that just zapped my energy , had to really rally myself, Terry gave me a lot of encouragement at this point. I remember seeing that finish line and coming onto the grass section, I was working so hard at this point giving everything I’ve got, and crossed the line in 2hrs an 2min. Gutted, so close , but I knew I gave it everything . But I did let that put me off, the same year I entered my 2nd Half and smashed my PB 1h 53min in Newark.

Piture above taken at my first 10mile road race ( Heckington Show 10)

In 2012 I ran a few more races for Sleaford before changing clubs.

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Above you’ll see the Sheffield Half, this race i loved, it’s one that sticks out in my mind , the atmos was awesome and I got to finish in Don Valley stadium , it was amazing. Also you’ll see the Sleaford Half , Lincoln 10k, and Woodhall Spa 10k.

A new challenge came that year with joining Lincoln Wellington , I knew my training was going to get taken up a notch. I got coached by Gary Warhurst , who played a Hugh part in my development over the next few years. New training group and new friends made 😊 In this group I met Sophie Cowper who really inspired me, her grit and determination was amazing, oh and she was quick, but I used to let her beat me on a few occasions lol 😆😆 ( who am I kidding )  nah, couldn’t get nowhere near her, but I knew she would be going places, and she has, she’s now mixing it up with the best of them. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

You’ll see above a few random shots of my 1st and 2nd seasons in a Lincoln vest, road and XC. I actually enjoyed my 1st season of XC, suppose can’t know what to expect.. Training was going great tho and progress was there. Gary had faith in me and that helped 👍 Suppose what I lacked was self believe , never was a confident person, but i knew how to give things 100% and always worked so hard in trading and races.

Ok well that’s a little bit more about me, I’ll dive into my sprinting times in my next blog, and pick up where i left off her about my distance time, and trying to take on the marathon, and more XC.

Ok I’ve decided to ditch my old site due to a few complications . So welcome to my new site, hopefully be able to blog a lot more regularly now and keep you posted with training and race updates, and maybe an insight into my hectic family life 😉

I’ll start off by introducing myself, my name is Brian, I’m 37 years old and I’m a 400m sprinter. I run for Lincoln Wellington

Ive been a member here since 2012. I took up sprinting 2 years ago , the training is completely different to the distance running I was use to ! Weight training, ploy metrics plays a big part of my weekly training 

track and grass session makes the rest of my hectic week 😊. So let’s start where I am as of January 2018 . Got an easy week this week due to the Northern Indoor Champs on Saturday, my first 400m of the year, fingers crossed I’ll put in a good performance 🤞. So this week has consisted of a light track session with a few block starts and a light gym session, core work and stretching .

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