"London Marathon 2025: Getting in Shape Again for the Ultimate Running Challenge!"

 Another day, another bagel. As tapering continues, today was all about taking things slow — and, crucially, horizontal when possible. I even managed what I’d call a "decent night’s sleep," which in tapering terms is the gold standard just below "slept like a teenager during half term." The day began with a pilgrimage to Asda before work. The mission: acquire bagels. The outcome: success. The carb-rich spoils now await their glorious role in fuelling the engine over the coming days. A Standing Teacher Takes a Seat Most of my professional life involves standing — whether it’s in front of a whiteboard, beside a student’s desk, or pacing with a purpose that says, "Yes, I’m absolutely headed somewhere specific, not just stretching my legs." But today, I consciously chose to sit down whenever I could. My long-term back and shoulder issues have made a standing desk a necessity over the years, but today the goal was simple: preserve the legs. My students — wo...

Birthday Bliss Being a Bank Holiday Monday, I enjoyed that rarest of treasures: a birthday that didn’t involve a staffroom, emails, or muttering “thanks” to a Year 10 who says “happy birthday” like it’s a diagnosis. Instead, I woke up to the gleeful noise of children bouncing off the walls and Kelly wielding a pile of presents like the world’s most cheerful postie. Among them, the absolute gem: tickets to see the Gladiators live tour in November. Yes, actual Gladiators . There was a moment I thought about challenging my family to “Duel” over who loved me the most, but then I remembered the cake. Just a Little Trundle Now, you might imagine that being both my birthday and taper week would result in me doing what any rational person would do: sit down, stay there and perhaps eat more cake. But alas, the schedule called for a 30-minute recovery run, and as every runner knows, taper doesn’t mean stop , it means “run a bit, but feel smug about how little you're doing.” So I set off...

  The Final Countdown Begins It’s Easter Sunday and the calendar has become rather smug about the fact that there’s only one week to go. Just seven days now until the London Marathon. Every run feels more significant, not because of the distance, but because of its place in the story. There’s a definite shift now from training to preparing . It’s a bit like tidying your house before guests arrive—you’re not really doing much, but everything feels more important than it probably is. Today’s run was a measured 48 minutes, designed to keep the legs turning without tipping them into rebellion. I took the familiar route that I’ve now almost worn into the earth: down through the Highsted valley, where the world briefly feels flat and forgiving, and then, once again—as mentioned in more than one previous blog post—I ran up the absolutely no-nonsense incline that is Stockers Hill. That hill and I have history now. It’s the kind of climb that makes you question your choices, your fitness...