running, reading, nonsense.
At some point in 2020 I briefly skirted around the start of the Pennine Way (or end, depending on your perspective) on a small hike with friends during our relatively unrestricted summer period. It was a beautiful day with glorious sunshine baking much of the country in 30 degree heat, although it was far fresher… Continue reading In It For the Long Run
The Chiltern Hills Area of Outstanding Beauty is the lumpiest training ground I have reasonably quick access to. As the sun has been creeping out, and the lockdown measures have been easing off, I’ve been plotting my return. There are a crazy number of runnable trails in the wide spread area, and a great number… Continue reading From Coombe Hill to Wendover Woods (A Run in Words)
This time hopefully it is here to stay. Hopefully, alongside the hairdressers and the pubs and the restaurants, alongside our good health and lower infection rates, hopefully. About two weeks out from a race is when I have my doubts, and after such a long time without racing they have been more pronounced. I know… Continue reading and so racing is back, again.
A large percentage of the running books that I have read in my life involve a journey to Africa, usually to Kenya. The basic idea is that Kenya produces a terrific amount of world class distance running athletes, and that any athlete worth their salt should go there to soak up the magic, pick up… Continue reading Out of Thin Air
This last week I’ve had plenty of time. I should have been away on holiday, but no one is going away anywhere so I’m just not at work. At first I was a little worried about having 2 weeks to do nothing, but there hasn’t been a whole lot of nothing going on. It’s April,… Continue reading Time Trail.
The 5K is seen as a beginners distance in running. It is often the first “proper” distance that runners will look to complete, firstly in their training, and then in racing, often in the form of the sorely missed parkrun format. It also offers up some neat time barriers for runners to break through. A… Continue reading Something about 5k.
Here is how my writing process goes: I have an idea about some subject that I’d like to broach via an experience, or perhaps something I’ve read, then I sit down to tackle that subject. From there a different thread will shake loose that I find to be more engaging than my original idea, and… Continue reading Of Badgers and Trails.
“Diane, 7:30 am, February twenty-fourth. Entering town of Twin Peaks. Five miles south of the Canadian border, twelve miles west of the state line. Never seen so many trees in my life.”- Dale Cooper (Kyle Maclachlan), Twin Peaks This is the first line from Detective Dale Cooper in the 1990 pilot episode of Twin Peaks… Continue reading Learning from Cooper.
I’m sure there are some benefits to running in the morning, but I just do it because I have always done it; in the first stage of my running life at the weekends; and now in my second. I’ve heard some things about how morning running improves the way your body metabolises fat for energy… Continue reading Have I ever seen a sheep sleeping?
How can we run faster? How can we run farther? How can we run farther, faster? These are the questions that runners of all calibres ask themselves, have asked themselves, and will ask themselves forever more. Throughout history there have been visionaries, athletes and coaches alike, who propose answers with evidence to these eternal queries.… Continue reading Running to the Edge, and Stories in Running.
