run note 2026

Run note for September 2026

Simon Morgan-Wilson

• 3 min read
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What is this?

My monthly look back on my running – and my general health. Reflection helps me with the now, the next and the further future. It's all good.

Previous run note: April 2026. None for May to August, so this one picks up from there.

Since April

  • May: ran 135 km in the month. Lots of London runs. A few days off late in the month to rest right leg tendinitis.
  • June: fine. Ran about 150 km in the month, including a half marathon distance along the canal.
  • July: increasing pain on the left side of the hip, a tensor fasciae latae (TFL) injury. Stopped on 21 July to rest it. Ran 72 km in the month.
  • August: a presumptive restart in Rome, which ended with me at a physio. Then into two months of rest and recovery. Ran 9 km in the month.
A still stretch of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal on an early autumn morning. Tall trees, mostly green with the first yellow and orange leaves, line the far bank and are mirrored in the calm green water. A pale lilac sky shows through the branches. In the foreground on the right is the bow of a navy blue narrowboat named Skye, with two knitted dolls sitting in the front window, one with dark hair and one with ginger hair.
Morning canal views on a recent run.

September summary

A running rehab month, not a mileage month.

  • 30 days: 13 days running, 17 days off.
  • 63.41 km, no distance target. 6h 44m of running, average of 31 minutes per run, every run between 22 and 35 minutes.
  • Average of 4.88 km per run.
  • Average pace 6:22/km, deliberately slow and steady.
  • 42 walks, 62.63 km, 12h 40m. Nearly twice as much time walking as running.
  • Year to date: 980.51 km of running.

How September went

By week

  • Tuesday 1 to Sunday 6 September: 5.21 km, 1 day ran, 31m.
  • w/c Monday 7 September: 22.70 km, 5 days ran, 2h 25m.
  • w/c Monday 14 September: 15.73 km, 3 days ran, 1h 39m.
  • w/c Monday 21 September: 9.55 km, 2 days ran, 1h 01m.
  • Monday 28 to Wednesday 30 September: 10.21 km, 2 days ran, 1h 05m.

Through the month

  • 2 and 8 September: two careful 5 km runs, six days apart.
  • 9 September: physio gave the OK to run every couple of days, after eight weeks of not running.
  • 10 to 14 September: five days in a row anyway, London, Birmingham, then home. Testing it out. It held.
  • 16 September: slowest pace of the month (6:35/km) and longest time (34m 56s). Slow on purpose.
  • 16 to 30 September: settled into every other day, mostly 5.2 km.
  • Hard going though. Half an hour at 6:20/km, every other day, when June was 50 km weeks.
  • Ran in Saltaire, plus three trips away:
  • Gym: none yet.
  • 28 September: four week rehab plan started, written up with the physio, running to Sunday 25 October.

Setting up October

October is a health push, not just a running one, focusing on outcomes and targets. Outcomes are changes in behaviour that add value, and that stick. Targets are time bound metrics, there to measure whether those changes are happening and to keep me honest. The targets aren't the point. The outcomes are. Very product-y, I know.

Finished at NHS England this week, after months of long days tied to a desk. Not a healthy way to work, and not one to repeat.

The rehab plan runs from 28 September to Sunday 25 October, with a physio review on Monday 19 October. From run to run, effort and speed change, not time.

Starting Wegovy in the coming days. Weight is just over 89 kg, up from 87 kg in April, and has been too high for too long. Running alone hasn't shifted it. Being off running and desk bound hasn't helped. And I've got tired of seeing pics of me looking so so round.

Four IBS attacks in the last couple of months. Shoulder still sore. What a wreck.

Sleep, control over crap-scrolling on things like Instagram and water intake have all slipped.

Lots of DIY on the cards too.

Outcomes for October

  • Run to the plan, not the numbers. Easy when it says easy.
  • Physio exercises as a daily habit, morning and evening.
  • Strength work as routine, not an afterthought.
  • Move through the day, not tied to a desk.
  • Eat to fuel the running and the gym: protein first, fewer carbs and less fat, with bread the number one enemy.
  • Drink sensibly.
  • Sleep properly, with an early night as the norm.
  • Put the phone down. Less scrolling.
  • Keep hydrated.

Targets for October

  • Complete the rehab plan by 25 October: 14 runs, 14 gym sessions, 56 physio sessions.
  • About 15 runs in October, at least 5 km and 30 to 40 minutes each. 75 km minimum, 7.5 to 10 hours in total.
  • Three sets in the gym from mid October.
  • Pass 1,000 km of running for the year. It feels a long time coming. I'll take that.
  • Lights out by 10pm at least four nights a week.
  • Eight hours of sleep six nights a week.
  • Alcohol: five drinks max in any seven day period.
  • Weight: about 2 kg off by the end of October, from a starting weight of just over 89 kg. A steady start, then see what comes.

My 2026 running spreadsheet (which needs an update)
Me on Strava, inevitably