It's true, your fellow runners will train faster than you. They chase the numbers...it looks good. Big miles...fast paces. But if they can't lift themselves on race day and they're staring at your backside going away, it means nothing.

Training 'your' way for you will harvest the best results...what others do is for them, not you. Their killer session is not yours...Their complicated effort session is not yours. You need to own your training and have faith in it. That's all that matters.

I did 2 hours today...Lots of hills... tired in patches...stronger in others. Just going with the flow, getting the time in. No drama...no twitching of head towards watch....just taking in the run. Natural, wholesome stuff.

I'm not interested in pace...as for me, that wasn't the run's purpose. The purpose was long duration at an easy effort. The heart worked harder on hills I'm sure...I kind of expect it...I don't need to know. It was 2 hours...TICK

I hate running with people who get fixated on their pace. My idea of a group Sunday run is, you meet up, you run as a group and you leave no one behind! That's how teams are made. It's an old adage these days. People have got too self absorbed in themselves. Chill. Enjoy it!

We used to meet up on a Sunday at Richmond Park and do loops in a big group...we just ran as a pack. Had a bit of a social for the first few miles and worked into it. To be fair the fast people often ran off the back. We just got the miles in...simple stuff.

I phoned up Barry the other day and discussed some ideas for 2021. He just said get out every day and get the mileage in. Again that's knowing your runner and you respecting your coach. Mutual understanding of what the directive is.

Indeed my best running was done when I used first met Barry in the early/mid 90s. I'd meet him for a 5 miler in the morning and I'd do an 8 or 10 in the evening. Sometimes a few of us would meet up in the morning.

Everyone knew what the morning run was. It was 2 1/2 miles along the canal bank and turn back. There were 30 min 10k runners...there were 36, 38 and 40+...we just trotted along. The goal was the same.

The differentiation came from what others added to it or not. For some, the morning run was their training. For others it was something that was added to. It's how clubs should come together. It was my experience.

I get the feeling that many run in isolation now...not always, but it appears more so. And not just because of present circumstances. Groups meeting and running together can be very powerful. Fast runners and slower runners running together is good too.

I think my main concern of our present time is the impact on young runners. I see a lot of hope taken away from youngsters. They have become more isolated than ever. More isolated than we would ever want them to be.

Some have entered school and have had all their activities and team sports taken away. Some have had to wear masks all day. We have created a very unnatural way for them. And what hope have we given them?

They already have to engage and endure in a world where their digital profiles define them. Sport and other interests give youngsters hopes, ambitions, dreams...they make friends, social contacts. They learn from each other.

My hope is that they get hope. They need it. The current situation is denying them opportunity. Engagement with different environments, people, experiences. They need life to contain these basic wholesome activities. They need 'real'