James Bellward

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on July 25, 2014

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First outing for my new RAF Running kit at the Worcester Half Marathon. May 2014

Location: Worcester, uk

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Reflection on Wrexham Elite Marathon DNF and next steps

The Wrexham Elite Marathon was a race I had been targeting all winter and was a keenly anticipated race for a lot of runners as we come out of lockdown. It's a chance to see if people's training had paid off. I felt that I was in good shape. The training and build up had gone well. I had done lots of marathon pace runs, some long 22 mile runs and had practiced with my nutrition strategy. I was aiming to run a solid 2.20 and bank a new PB. So it was a bit puzzling to me when I dropped off the pace around 17 miles and dropped out of the race by 20 miles due to my pace dramatically slowing and essentially hitting the wall. Its been a few days post race and I have had a chance to reflect. Preparation Looking back at the last 16 weeks, I had done all the sessions I wanted to. The only room for improvement would have been to train with others and have had some 10km or half marathon races in the build up to assess where my current level of fitness was. I travelled up to...

Falkland Islands - 6 Months of Training

What does the Falkland Island offer for runners? After spending 6 months an island only 700 miles from Antarctica, I have more appreciation for the UK weather and multitude of country lanes, public footpaths and bridleways to run on. Out in the Falklands I was constantly battling the high winds and boredom of running through a mainly baron terrain day after day. The lack of any trees, hedgerows and buildings means that the only place to hide from the wind is the treadmill in the gym. I found about 5 decent routes along the gravel roads to run on. There are mountains, but most of the land is private farmland or is so rutted and rocky that walking alone is difficult. The conditions did help with my resilience and there was the odd day where the wind dropped and the sun shone as temperatures reached 20 degrees. However, later that same day the wind can change and bring snow! The positives are that I had plenty of time to run, swim and train in the gym. I put in some good mi...

What's the daily routine?

As a full time athlete it is easy to lose routine if you don't maintain focus and discipline. It would be easy to sleep in until 11am and then have a relaxing morning with daytime TV. However, this would be a wasted opportunity to capitalise on my unique situation. Lockdown and lack of races and training with groups has made it harder to motivate and set goals. Some days I have to grind out the training, but others are easier and I know I'm in a privileged position with a good opportunity. Sticking to a routine has made this easier. Certain habits ensure that I keep the focus. e.g. Starting the day off with a green smoothie or ended the day with stretches before bed. My activities change daily depending on the training, but below is what I try to follow: Morning 0645 : Usually wake up naturally or by a sunrise alarm clock. I may do a HR variability test. 0700: Coffee (at least 2 cups!). I will check the weather, the days training and update and social media. 0800: Mobilisatio...

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