I reckon that getting chased by a swarm of wasps would be a good way of more or less guaranteeing a PB. A bloke got stung by a wasp during the Lichfield 10k, apparently it flew inside one of his nostrils. Ouch! I went to the pub again and got joined by a slightly strange and very talkative bloke. He didn’t seem to understand the concept of someone wanting to have a quiet drink. After 45 minutes I knew his life history and was far from feeling relaxed! I’d definitely be up for a beer run soon before I inevitably get an injury that stops me running again!

Thanks Maria, my legs are so tired I’m not quite so confident I’ll get a sub-60 time. I’ll do my best on Sunday. I’ve studied the training plan and don’t think swapping sessions will cause any issues in October. Hopefully if I complete all of my longer training runs I’ll be ready for the half marathon. This wasp seemed to attach itself to my hand, I had to remove it and the sting it had kindly left behind using my t-shirt. They are horrible and aren’t useful like bees.

I’ve been noticing loads more wasps while I’m out running since the wasp sting incident. With my new wasp phobia and already existing fear of stepping on snails – I can’t stand the noise – running is getting quite stressful. I’m hoping that wasps will leave me alone now for another 10 years. I did think about combining my long runs with parkrun, but I’m not sure my current fitness levels could cope. If I ever decide to enter another marathon I might have to think combining more races with training runs. I like the idea of getting a medal for completing a training run. Slightly sad I know.

Love that you sat outside the pub with a pint, that’s what I would do. Come down here and do a beer run with me!

It’s definitely ok to swap runs around and can’t wait to see you smash that 10k.