The little corner of southeast England I call home ground to a halt last week as the ‘Beast from the East’ blew in. The trains stopped running; the sprogs’ schools closed; the news was filled with warnings of how the Beast would eat alive anyone daft enough to go out driving in it. But for me the running continued. 4…
The miles are starting to take their toll. My calves are as tight as a piglet’s arse. It can take up to three miles before they start to loosen up on a run. Because last week was recovery week, most of my runs were no longer than five or so miles (the longest was nine). That means most of my…
There I was: sweaty forehead, still out of breath, nipples protruding through running shirt like cue tips. “Radio?” said the lady at the BBC Brighton studio reception. “No, I’m sure it’s television. Yes. You’re live on BBC World News. On the business slot.” It was like an anxiety dream where you realise you’re stark bollock naked at an important work…
It’s starting to worry me, the 15,000 plus feet I’ll be running uphill in June. That’s nearly three miles up. It’s bothering me more than the 186 mile distance of the Marathon des Cote (MdC) right now. Yes, I’ll be doing it over three days, and what goes up must come down – there’s more or less the same distance…
It’s getting difficult fitting it all in. Not the running – although I skipped my short run at the weekend, I managed to make up the miles in the other four outings of the week, totting up a weekly mileage just shy of 45. It’s the extra strength & conditioning stuff that’s suffering. I just can’t fit it all in.…
If the Man v Horse race is my most batshit mental run of the past year, this is my most serene. Me and some mates kayaked to a forested peninsula in the St Anna Archipelago, southern Sweden, and I spent the next three hours or so exploring the trails, coves and headlands of this beautiful place. Here’s what I found…
Four weeks in, 20 to go until I most likely break myself somewhere on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, trying to run its 186 mile length in three days. Training is going okay. My legs are standing up to the miles and, although I’ve skipped the odd gym session, I can feel my body changing for the better and there’s been…
This week I lost my left big toenail. After the Surrey Hills Ultra last September it went a deathly black (37 miles in trainers that have seen better days will do that, apparently). It then went a peculiar jaundice yellow, cracked and would catch on my socks every morning as I got dressed. The kids used to cry when they…
Last June, myself and 1,000 or so other runners legged it through 23 miles of bogs, mountains, rivers and moorland in mid Wales, whilst being chased by 60 horseback riders. It was the highlight of my running year! Here’s why…
Smiling doesn’t come easy for me at this time of year. The rain, the post Christmas bank balance, the measly eight hours of daylight we get at this latitude, etc… all this doesn’t make for a very happy bunny. Hence the Mrs’s nickname for me: Misery Guts. But last week – my first ‘intense’ week of training for June’s Marathon…
