Running

Races, training, trails, and the long road forward.

An ordinary runner dreaming of extraordinary things.

I started running in 2010 after a few years of inactivity — the Wellington Round the Bays 7km was the race that got me back out there. Before that, I'd run track at school in Sri Lanka (400m and 800m), but that was a few decades earlier. Since 2010 I've run marathons, trail ultras, and everything in between — the Kepler, Tarawera, Vienna City Marathon, A Coruña Half, Budapest Marathon. I'm also an Athletics New Zealand accredited running coach, working with a group of Wellington-based athletes.

This is where I documented the journey.

GeneralRacesRunningTraining

Goal Re-Setting

Well.. Hello here we are again and after a lengthy absence I have decided to (re)set some goals for this year (2018). It has been four years since I had run ...

General

Cigna Wellington Round the Bays 2017

Hello Everyone, Thought I’d share something that I had written a few years ago leading upto the 2013 Round the Bays. If you are aiming to run a PB for the 21...

GeneralMarathonRacesRunningTrail RunningTraining

Running by the numbers and setting goals

Running by the numbers and setting goals – was the title of the talk I did at our local running event RunFest held in Wellington, New Zealand over the last w...

GeneralMarathonRacesRunningTrail RunningTraining

Speaking at RunFest in Wellington

Now this is really exciting stuff! On the last weekend of February (27th and 28th) a group of runners in Wellington have organised this great running event w...

GeneralRunning

Reflections and New Goals

With this year coming to an end I’ve been contemplating on goals for next year. When I look back on the last 12 months of 2015, I’ve not achieved as many per...

MarathonRunningTraining

More of Running Less of Goals

Since running the Vienna marathon back in April 2015, and the subsequent disappointment of not achieving my goal time (3:15) I’ve been somewhat subdued in te...

MarathonRunning

Road to Vienna and two winters

After the Berlin marathon in September 2014, I have been in Europe for the most part. This meant that I left the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphe...

GeneralRunningTrail Running

Costa Trail de Oleiros

Originally posted on whatrunnersdo: Last Sunday 22nd of March the whatrunnersdo team was in Oleiros – a small coastal town in the municipality of A Coruña, G...

GeneralRacesRunning

Galician Running Adventure

Last September (2014) I left to Europe for a change of scenery. My first stop was Germany for the Berlin marathon which I had been preparing for over the New...

RacesRunningTrail Running

63.3 Challenge Update

Wow, seems like its ages since I wrote anything about anything here. And it’s exactly two weeks to the Berlin Marathon on the 28th September! Since the last ...

Trail Running

Tauhara Trail Half Marathon recap

Bit of a delayed recap of the Tauhara trail half marathon which was held on 6th of July 2014 in Taupo. I ran this race once in 2011 just as I was starting to...

GeneralRacesRunning

Wellington Half Marathon 2014 recap

If you are looking for an entertaining recap of this race STOP right now and head over here to see what my yellow fancy pants wearing friend has to say. If y...

MarathonRacesRunning

Rotorua Marathon 2014 – recap

Saturday 3rd May was the 50th running of the Rotorua Marathon. The Rotorua Marathon is one of New Zealand’s longest running marathons with a legendary status...

MarathonRunningTrail RunningTraining

Rotorua marathon and a long overdue update

It’s been quite a while since I last updated what I’ve been up to since running the Wellington Round the Bays half marathon in February. So here is a quick s...

RacesRunning

2014 Round the Bays Half Marathon recap

This is somewhat of a delayed post about my last half marathon I ran on 23rd of February. Last year I ran the same half marathon in 1:33:55. Since then I had...

GeneralRunningTrail Running

The Skyline 160 – Post Event Update

160kms (100mile) relay on one of Wellington’s iconic trails – don’t mind if I help myself to a lap or two of that awesomeness with an even awesomer group of ...

GeneralTraining

5km Races and Running Improvements

A while back I wrote that I was struggling to break the 20min mark in my 5km races. Fast track to exactly a year and I am now quite comfortably running sub 2...

MarathonRunningTrail RunningTraining

My first 120km week

Yes, that’s 120 kilometers (75miles) of running, not in one go of course but a full week with no rest days. This is the first time I have ever attempted to r...

GeneralMarathonRacesRunning

Road to Rotorua Marathon

Happy 2014 everyone! With a new year come new running plans, well actually not really ‘new’ but goals for the year nonetheless and events that I am looking f...

GeneralRunningTraining

2013 running review

Since it’s end of the year I thought I will do a recap of my running adventures for 2013. I started my running blog in January 2013. If you didn’t read my fi...

Trail Running

Abel Tasman – the run that didnt go to plan

I’ve been a bit quite for a while after the Abel Tasman Coastal Classic 40km trail run that was held on 28th September. Usually I am quick to update the blog...

RacesTraining

September update and a Half marathon PB

Haven’t been able to update on what’s been happening so here is a bit of a recap on August and September. August was about maintaining a steady base with som...

GeneralRunningTrail Running

My favourite runs in Wellington

I’ve mentioned before that Wellington has so many options for running on and off road. Also if you haven’t got a copy of “Runners Guide to Wellington” you sh...

RacesRunning

Lessons from Running and PB week

No matter how good you are at something, there’s always a million people better than you – Homer Simpson Saturday 17th August was a good day, I ran a PB in a...

GeneralRacesRunningTraining

Taupo Half Marathon 2013 Recap

This was my 8th half marathon since starting my running reboot in 2011. Just to recap the previous halves that I have completed are: 2011 Wellington Round th...

GeneralRacesTraining

Revisiting Goals for the Year

When I started this blog in January (start of this year), I had a few running related goals in mind. These were: Run a PB in a 5km race (Sub 20) Run a PB in ...

GeneralTrail Running

Running Scared

There are times when you just want to give up, you feel empty, desperate because the balance in your life was broken, you are scared. You start running scare...

MarathonRunning

I’ve completed a Marathon – now what?

Some say that immediately after you finish your first Marathon that it’s normal to say “Never doing this again!!” as you slowly crawl out of bed the next day...

MarathonRunningTraining

Making adjustments and staying positive

It’s exactly another 8 sleeps to my first Marathon on 23rd of June (in case you didn’t know that already since most of my previous posts have been on that su...

MarathonRunningTraining

Wellington Marathon Training Update

Been a while since I last made an update of my Marathon training progress which was in April after finishing the 34km Makara loop. Since then I’ve done two m...

RacesTrail Running

Xterra Event 2 – The Orongorongos

Last weekend Sunday was the second of the Xterra trail running events in Wellington. The second race was held over in the Catchpool valley and Oronogorongo r...

MarathonTraining

What I learned from the Rotorua Half Marathon

At the Rotorua half marathon on Saturday May 04th I had a goal of running close to 1:35 which I figured was a good target given my previous half marathon tim...

GeneralMarathonRacesRunningTraining

Guess my Marathon finish time – Giveaway

This is my first attempt at running a Marathon and I thought it would be fun to run a little competition. The rules are relatively very simple. All you have ...

MarathonTraining

8 weeks to the Wellington Marathon

It’s been 8 weeks since I started my 16 week training plan aiming to complete the Wellington Marathon on 23rd of June 2013. So I’m exactly half way in my tra...

RacesTrail Running

Xterra Beautiful Mad Muddy Makara Race 1 recap

It’s a beautiful day – Sky falls, you feel like It’s a beautiful day – Don’t let it get away You’re on the road – But you’ve got no destination You’re in the...

General

Nutrition

Originally posted on Sole to Soul Rhythm: I started to explore what I put in my body as I was studying massage therapy in 2009. We had a naturopathic doctor ...

MarathonTraining

The Week in London & Energizer Night Run 10k

Last Friday (12th April) I left NZ for a work trip to London. This was a very short trip (5 actual days in London) and I made sure that I packed my Running g...

RacesRunningTrail Running

Porirua Grand Traverse Mountain Run recap

The Porirua Grand Traverse is a multi discipline event consisting of Multi sport triathlon (Kayak, Mountain Bike and Run) Duathlon (Mountain Bike and Run) & ...

MarathonRunningTraining

Marathon training update weeks 2 to 5

I posted about my first week update on the 16 week Marathon training plan that I am currently following a few weeks back! Now I’m well into the program and i...

GeneralTrail RunningTraining

Tongariro Trail Running Camp Easter weekend recap

Last weekend (Easter break of 4 days) I signed up to be part of an organised weekend of running in Tongariro National Park. The event was organised by one ou...

RacesTrail Running

Mt Lowry Extreme Challenge event recap

Today was not my day, today I got owned by the trail, nevertheless it was a great experience. Onwards and upwards! The Mount Lowry challenge consists of two ...

MarathonRunningTraining

16 week Marathon plan update – week 1

So I am now 1 week into my 16 week Marathon training plan! This was a good week and I was able to complete a 7 days of running from Monday to Sunday with a n...

RacesTraining

Chasing an elusive 5km personal best

Since the (second) start of my running endeavors I have been able to improve my 5km racing (well pedestrian when compared to elites) time from 27mins to a cu...

GeneralRunningTraining

Running in groups

As a runner you sometimes prefer the solitude of running alone with the ability of going on your own routes & running at your own pace. There are times where...

RunningTraining

Marathon Training starts – next week..

After three years of running I think I am ready for the next step and that is to complete a Marathon. I know that some people do marathons within a year or e...

RacesRunning

Wellington RTB Half Marathon recap

As I sit here and write this I am pretty stoked on how today went! Most importantly I am pleased that my training (self coaching) was just right to get me to...

RacesTraining

Pacing – Negative, Positive or Equal splits?

Based on my previous running experience I am looking at the possibility of running close to 1:35 for my half marathon this weekend on Sunday 17th. Taking a c...

GeneralRunningTraining

Keeping yourself motivated for the long run

So you have done the training – you’re ready to run “THE” event you have been training for – but have you thought about what’s next? For me I’ve always had a...

GeneralRaces

Keep running and you’ll be winning!

I mentioned on twitter a few days ago that I’ll be posting a competition to giveaway a pair of ‘yurbuds’ sports earphones. Needless to say these are engineer...

GeneralRunning

Wellington Round the Bays Training Hotspots

Originally posted on A Runner's Guide: So you’re one of the 13,000 entrants in this year’s AMI Round the Bays. By now, two weeks out from the event, you shou...

RacesRunningTraining

3 Weeks to RTB – Recap of week 2

I posted my 5 week plan that I made for leading up to Wellington Round the Bays half marathon and the update on the first week on how things went. This is my...

RacesRunningTraining

5km Races are good for you..

One of the best pieces of advice I ever got early when I started running went along like this. Person X: So what what race are you training for? Me: I’m hopi...

RacesRunningTraining

4 Weeks to RTB – Recap of last week

I posted my 5 week plan that I made for leading up to Wellington Round the Bays half marathon. This is a recap of how the first week went. It was a big week ...

GeneralRunningTrail Running

Barefoot Running for the masses?

If you have read Christopher McDougall’s Born to Run (great book and a good read for any runner) – you may already know of the arguments for and against runn...

RunningTraining

How much do you run?

This is a typical question I get asked from my non running friends and people and even from social runners. When I started running back in 2010 I just ran an...

RunningTrail Running

Running the Rakiura Track

The Rakiura Track is located on Stewart Island which is an Island on the bottom of South Island of New Zealand. For most of you who live in NZ you can get to...

RacesRunning

Why you should run at Parkrun

If you are just a beginner runner or someone who is looking to improve your fitness or competitive time over a 10k or half marathon Parkrun is a great motiva...

GeneralRunning

Just Keep Running

So here is my first post on why I’m choosing to talk about running and what got me here.. if you’ve read the “About” section of the site this post sets the ‘...