September lasted for what felt like five seconds, it was over in a flash. Summer is over, the nights are drawing in and the pavements are covered in natural hazards. Wet leaves, hidden conkers and Brooks trainers are not a great combination! Anyway, moving on from the conker incident… As you know, I’ve been producing monthly summaries of my training since the start of 2016. I’ve also shared some of my experiences as a running blogger currently based outside of London, the blogging capital of the United Kingdom.

What worked well? What – if there were any – were my running related achievements? What would I do differently given the opportunity? I then like to loom ahead to the new month.

Running in the dark

Training for the Great Birmingham Run has been going really, really well. I’m not used to successful training cycles, and as a result I’m living in almost constant fear that something is about to go wrong. It could be an injury, it could be an unexpected illness, I don’t know. I’m already eyeing up a couple of spring half marathons. I don’t want to give up my early morning runs so need a new target event.

The month hasn’t all, however, been positive. At the start of September I completed the Lichfield 10k. Although my race was a bit of a disaster, I finally achieved my goal of running a 10k race in a sub 60-minute time. While I enjoyed the Lichfield 10k, I was reminded of the importance of running my own race at my own pace.

According to my Strava statistics I completed 18 training runs during September covering a distance of approximately 130 km – a huge increase from the previous month. I successfully completed weeks 11 to 14 of my half marathon training plan, and rediscovered my love (?) of foam rolling.

Running costs

Although I spent £45.00 on running related purchases during September, for the second consecutive month I avoided buying running gear I don’t need. If I give in to temptation and enter the inaugural Birmingham International Marathon then I’ll update this post.

I spent £45.00 on a pair of customised inserts. The inserts I’m using at the moment are almost two years old and are starting to fall to pieces. I definitely needed a replacement pair.

I also listed loads more of my unwanted running gear and competition prizes on eBay. Everything sold and I caused some long Monday morning queues in the local Post Office. Sorry!

Blogging experiences

Throughout September, my blogging mojo was intermittent. Although I continued to write my weekly half marathon training updates, it took me ages to write what should have been a simple race review. I’m seriously considering taking a break from blogging and will see how I feel when I’ve completed the Great Birmingham Run. I guess I might feel more positive if I felt that I actually had something interesting to blog about.

Looking forward to October

Last month I confessed that I was slightly nervous about the prospect of running continuously for over an hour. In the end, last Sunday I found running for almost two hours enjoyable and relatively easy. Tomorrow morning I’ll complete my final long run and then its taper madness time.

I’m now really looking forward to the Great Birmingham Run. For once I’ve been sensible, have listened to my niggles and have trained consistently. Hopefully I won’t let myself down on October 16th!

I’m already looking at potential spring half marathons. Can you recommend any flat and fast spring half marathons? At the moment I’ve only got Stafford and Cambridge on my short-list.

Should I enter the Birmingham International Marathon? Entry costs £55 and I’ve got over a year to train. I’m rubbish at making decisions so please help!