running, reading, nonsense.
Last year it was the lockdown which restricted our running routes, this year - for me at least - it has been this little fuel crisis which we’ve been undergoing. Although, I suppose it’s not a fuel crisis at all, it’s a HGV driver crisis (which sounds considerably less dramatic, although clearly that’s unfair) -… Continue reading Close to Home
I firmly believe that most of the time during training your body should feel good. You do not have to be smashing it all of the time to make progress. Space and time to recover is just as important as the sessions themselves and, a lot of the time, you want to be going into… Continue reading The Well, The Water.
The pine trees at Thetford Forest stand soldier stiff, and stifle the sounds of the outside world. They provide a green peace, an overwhelming sense of tranquility. They also seem to capture the moisture of the air and generate a great amount of humidity, as one might suppose a forest does, but I discovered that… Continue reading Relaxed Racing
Is running therapy? Or is therapy, therapy? Exercise (and in particular running, I find) is good for clearing the head, for keeping an even keel, and staying generally healthy. Perhaps then, running on a regular basis will keep you mentally well but, then again, maybe it won’t. The brain is far too complicated to be… Continue reading A Sheringham Circular (and, what we don’t know we need).
and then when that thing changes, you immediately start complaining about the new status-quo. That describes the British and the weather. In fairness, we aren’t naturally blessed. April and May provided a grey and gloomy canvas, and then things flipped like a switch over the recent bank holiday. This, of course, was welcomed with righteous… Continue reading You spend all year complaining about one thing,
Photo by Jose Fontano on Unsplash I’m sure on that grim day there were thousands of runners who laced up and went out, but in the moment there was no denying the immense self satisfaction that came to me from running at an unsensible hour, in unsensible conditions. In that sodden moment I was the… Continue reading 6am, pouring rain.
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
