Constantly thinking about my next run. 

Working towards another race. 

Low-level anxiety that my body can’t cope with how I want to run. 

Yep – life has definitely got back to ‘normal’ this week. 

Nearly three weeks after the Berlin Marathon, I feel a lot more recovered as I allow myself to gently start pursuing new goals. 

In the meantime, there’s been a couple of parkruns, some ‘how you feel’ runs when there’s no fixating on pace, and some good eating. 

But hopefully I’m ready to go back to my normal running routine with the aim of injecting a bit of speed into some sessions, working towards the Norwich Half Marathon at the end of next month. 

Saturday’s parkrun at Brandon demonstrated that there is work to do on the speed front. 

It’s a beautiful two-lapper but there is a hill in the middle that felt like it was damaging my soul. I loved and hated it in equal measure. 

I started in around 10th place and ended up finishing fifth, although it should have been sixth given the runner in front of me missed the finisher’s funnel and went in the wrong direction. ‘He should have paid more attention,’ was my son, Logan’s, verdict. Harsh, but fair... 

My time of 20:57 showed that I need to work on my speed endurance. It’s not where I want to be but ‘you are where you are’ as Neil Featherby has told me on a couple of occasions. Stop mourning the fitness I’ve lost and get on with building it. 

I’ve spent the last few months in marathon training and the grind that entails. I find it extremely hard to build volume and maintain a decent level of intensity to my running without getting injured so my ‘top-end’ speed, such that it is, suffers as a result. 

Balancing that with the aches and pains of a 42-year-old body that played far too much football for his knees as a youngster, is my life for the next five weeks or so. 

I'll keep the running volume relatively low for me with the intention of including a touch more quality (speed) in the plan. If I have to maintain a bit of easy cardio fitness on the bike then that’s the way it’s going to have to be. 

I managed to get along to a club session at Wymondham AC on Monday and loved every minute of it. I ran too hard in the 8x750m session but I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one. If there is one thing I’ve learned since joining a running club is that if you tell a runner to set off at their ‘10K pace’ then they will set off at their ‘dream 10K pace’... I’m no exception to that. 

Most importantly, it was fun - a concept that can sometimes get a little lost with this running business. 

I know from earlier this year that running with people that are a lot quicker than I am is a shortcut to improving my quicker pace. 

Then one day that ‘dream pace’ might become a reality.