It’s been some time since I last posted anything to do with my own running on this blog. This is largely because there’s not been much to report on, other than a steady block of consistent running, interrupted only by a positive COVID test on Christmas Eve. Staggeringly, we are already a quarter of the way through 2021, and though the frosts of that particularly difficult winter are yet to fully thaw, there are signs that spring is on the way.

In the past few weeks, I’ve peaked and begun to taper for the South Downs Way 50 on April 17th, the first race in Centurion’s 50 miler Grand Slam. Though I ran fewer overall miles in my final training block for this than my last (and first) 50 miler, I managed to pull off a decidedly more structured block of training, with at least one hard workout each week. I only peaked at around 50 miles a week, but my legs feel stronger than ever as a result of multiple hilly tempo sessions around South London’s Norwood Ridge. I feel quietly confident going into the SDW 50 that things will go well, so long as I focus on going slow and steady.

What worries me a little more is the North Downs Way 50, which, due to the SDW 50 being postponed by a week in the wake of COVID-19 restrictions, is now separated from its southerly twin by just five short weeks. This steeper, altogether more gnarly event is going to be a big ask, on tired legs and in likely warm weather.

There is realistically no chance of cramming in any bonus fitness between the races – it will simply be a matter of not buggering things up. My plan, which is of course subject to change, is to take two weeks of focused rest after the SDW 50, running only gentle miles, followed by a week of more steady running (circa 70k) before ‘tapering’. We’ll see how that pans out.

Once these twin events are out of the way, I’ll have a relatively open-ended summer of adventure awaiting me. The Serpent Trail 50k is sure to be a highlight – I’ve heard so much about how beautiful the trail is, and, if I’m feeling fresh enough, I would love to try and race it for a 50k PB.

August is wide open at the moment, and I am thinking of trying to get in a solid bikepacking/bicycle touring trip, as well as taking on my first fastpacking overnighter, which I might use as a chance to scout the course for the third event in the Centurion Grand Slam, the Chiltern Wonderland 50. I know very little about this event, but come September I’m hopeful that will have changed. After (fingers crossed) securing a finish there, I’ll have a month and a bit to recover (with an urban overnight 50k adventure race thrown in for good measure) before the last race in the series, and by far the scariest – the Wendover Woods 50.

I’m genuinely a little terrified of this race. Though Wendover Woods is arguably my favourite place to run, at least in the South East, it’s also an intimidating prospect to imagine completing five loops of Centurion’s famously testing course. It’s going to be my longest run ever in terms of time on feet, and will likely involve more than a few hours of night-time running, in November cold. But, on the upshot – and this is definitely deliberate on Centurion’s part – it’s the final race in the Grand Slam, meaning every step I take on the course will be one step closer to completing this lofty goal I’ve set for myself. Plus, it’s the day before my 28th birthday, which will lend the completion of the Grand Slam a smattering of poetic je ne sais quoi.

All of which is to say – I’m in for a heck of a year. No doubt many things will not go to plan, but after a year like 2020, I think I can handle a little failure here and there, if it means having the opportunity to get out there and share in an adventure with like-minded folk.

My last big long run before the SDW 50 – from Box Hill to Caterham along the North Downs Way.