Running blog: how was your weekend running?

How are your legs this morning? Mine aren’t too bad. I ran the Adidas Silverstone half marathon yesterday as part of my preparations for the London marathon next month, but I didn’t run as fast as I was hoping.

It was a cold, windy day and while it’s novel to be running around the fabled motor-racing circuit, it’s very exposed, with long open stretches that seem to go on for ever. But these things were the least of my problems. Right from the start I was hampered by a stitch that wouldn’t go away. I tried all the tricks I know, but still had to stop three times. If it hadn’t been so cold I would have probably dropped out.

Still, I soldiered on to the end and finished in a fairly decent time, only two and a bit minutes outside my best.

I’ve had stitches in races before and I need to get to the bottom of it before London. Has anyone got any pointers as to what I’m doing wrong? My suspicion, looking back at other races where it has happened, is that it was because I didn’t warm up properly, but instead just did a few last-second stretches on the start line. Could that be it?

Anyway, enough of my toils, how did you get on this weekend? There were lots of half-marathons up and down the country as people gear up for London. Did you race one? Is your training on track?

Or perhaps you just stepped outside for your first run in years? Or trudged 50 miles across the Scottish uplands? Or perhaps you were running along a beach in Brazil? It’s the running blog Monday debrief, so do tell us all.

Finally, a quick shout out to my brother, Jiva, who despite a bruised coccyx which meant he could hardly walk before the race, and the wind and cold, ploughed on around the Silverstone course just behind me in a three-minute PB. Tough guy.

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