How to write a running blog - Inverness half marathon

I was at a race a couple of months back where somebody mentioned to me that my blog, which is supposed to be a running blog, seemed to feature an awful lot of socialising and eating and drinking and random stuff…but very little running. So I thought that this time I would do a real proper runner’s real proper running blog post and write about THE RUNNING. However this, I felt, would require a little research. My research involved trawling the internet for running blogs and there are a lot, an awful lot, and many seem to be rather different to my blog.

 Quite a few blogs seem to include details of daily training and most seem to have such a thing as a “training plan” against which to monitor progress and a race plan against which to monitor the mile by mile happenings in the race. Clearly this is where I’m going wrong. Most disconcertingly none of them weigh up the relative merits of the post race beer or whisky, it’s all about THE RUNNING. There is, however, a lot of rather dull chat about race nutrition and kit. This is perhaps forgivable when writing about an ultra but for a half marathon?. 

Anyway for the purposes of this blog posting I’ve come to the following conclusions – for it to be a real proper running blog the primary focus needs to be THE RUNNING and not the socialising and eating and drinking and, at the very least, a real proper running blog should feature a mile by mile account of the race and all the competitors thoughts and experiences of the race. So for the purposes of this posting I have done the same….

(In case anyone needs subtitles they are in brackets underneath).

                                     We stocked up on vital pre-race nutritional products

                                                            (Pass me the corkscrew)

 And we spent the evening focusing on carbohydrate loading and our hydration levels

(we got stuck in to the wine, whisky and amazing food that Joanie had prepared for us)

The evening was spend in deep concentration visualising the race and focusing on the task ahead

(I was introduced to “The Voice”. Apparently I’m the only person in the world who has never seen it before. Now I know why)

 Next morning we each focused on our intensive pre-race warm up routine

(we sat around nervously talking rubbish and guzzling coffee whilst trying to give each other an earworm with annoying Kylie and Katy Perry songs, an earworm that would hopefully last the entire race BUWWWAHAHAHAHA!!!….)

Mile 1 -I set off at a good positive pace that should take me under my pb

(Shit! Man, this is way too fast…!)

Mile 2- I adjusted my pace according to my race schedule

(Gotta slow down – I’m knackered already)

Mile 3- I kept a keen an eye out for the competition, easy to lose sight of them in the crowd

(Wonder where John is, if he goes past me in the last mile I’ll never speak to him again)

Mile 4 – Here’s a hill. I’ve been practising those in training especially

(I like Saturday morning hill training ‘coz you get tea and cake afterwards)

Mile 5 - I must concentrate on my nutrition and hydration strategy

(I wonder if there’s anything on that water station table that looks remotely tasty? Those carbo shot gels give me the dry boak)

Mile 6 – I’ve trained hard for this so I am expecting a good time

(on my 25 mile a week? Who am I trying to kid?)

Mile 7- I think my nutrition strategy is slightly flawed I wonder if the next water station has gels

(I’m hungry. I wonder if there is any sponge cake left back at Joanie’s?)

Mile 8- I’ve slowed, I must work to maintain this pace

(Wonder where John is, if he goes past me in the last mile I’ll never speak to him again)

Mile 9- I’m definitely feeling depleted

(I’m very hungry. I wonder if there is any sponge cake left back at Joanie’s?)

Mile 10 –Only 3 miles to go and I'm still on target

(Hope I make it inside 2 hours)

Mile 11 – I wonder how far behind the race leaders I am

(I bet Bert has finished by now – smug git)

Mile 12 – this is getting difficult now, must focus on the finish

(I wonder if there’s any sponge cake AND whisky back at Joanie’s?)

Mile 13 – I glance at the clock and all the detailed race prep and focus has been rewarded with a pb as expected

(HTF did that happen? - try not to wobble, fall over or puke…)

It doesn’t really work does it? In future think I’ll stick to writing about the socialising and eating and drinking…I haven't even got any pictures of anyone actually running...

                                         The race warm down followed a predictable pattern