running, reading, nonsense.
In the heat of this particularly sweltering summer my writing habits have melted away. Thankfully, my running habits have mostly survived. My Strava progress chart is a steady mountain climb interspersed with brief, sometimes steep downhill drops indicating, probably, a heavy-ish weekend. I wanted to have a fun summer, and I have had one. I've been… Continue reading Summer of Run
2016, written by Charlie Engle Listened to on Audible Being a good storyteller, and having good stories, are separate matters. The same can be said for being a good runner, and being a good writer. Charlie Engle, for my money, is all four. It was at Engle’s description of his first ever drink that I… Continue reading Running Man
Photo by Mathew Schwartz on Unsplash For my last three big races I have written out a full running regimen and with resounding consistency I have failed to stick to it. Life didn’t cause me to come unstuck from my plans...I just didn't really like them. I am currently training for a trail half in… Continue reading Packing on (running) Meat
The runners crashed by me, skidding on the loose rock trail, exhibiting tremendous speed and technical ability. I also ran. Just, not like that. Part of my interest in trail running is that it is beyond my comfort zone. I do not possess tremendous speed and technical ability, particularly not on steep downhills. Think less… Continue reading Downhills are Supposed to be Fun
Time changes when you run somewhere new. I can’t say for sure whether it speeds up, or slows down, but it feels different. The explanation is probably as simple as: you don’t look at your watch as much; or you aren’t making calculations in your head based on landmarks because you have yet to commit… Continue reading Holidaying, Running, and Falling Out of the Stream of Linear Time.
With the price of everything on the up, and the planet burning, freezing, and falling over, I’ve been trying to reduce the amount of travelling I do for my running. I have everything I need within foot-powered travelling distance of my bed. And sure, there aren’t exactly mountains in my back garden but I do… Continue reading A Nice Spot
The idea of running with music has always been more appealing to me than the reality of it. In reality I find the music detracts from my ability to focus on the run, and I tend to not really be able concentrate on either thing, meaning I’m not really having fun running, or listening to… Continue reading Talking tunes again
Why walk when you can run? Running covers more ground, quicker, so more miles can be put in the bank, and miles in the bank is what we like. Usually. I went for a good long walk in place of a run for the first time because I was horribly hungover and the slower motion… Continue reading A Change of Pace
And so, slightly belatedly, I find myself reflecting on last year. Because of this wonderful thing called recency bias we tend to pick songs, films, tv shows, games, races, from the latter part of the year as our favourite thing of the year. This is how I find myself, as I reflect, thinking of the… Continue reading Backwards, Forwards.
Image by Matt Seymour, from Unsplash.com The North Midlands Cross Country league is sort of the premier event for endurance runners at my athletics club, but I’ve never actually been involved before. The combination of recurring lockdowns and my previous job consistently eating up my Saturdays has prevented me from ever being able to turn… Continue reading MUD
run into words 