running, reading, nonsense.
I don’t know if any of the designers behind The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild are trail runners, but they certainly managed to capture some essence of what makes travelling on foot, off the beaten path, so beautiful. This is old news, of course, Breath of the Wild was received as one of… Continue reading Breath of the Wild, and the Joy of the Trail.
Back in 2019 I was feeling aimless so, in a grasp for purpose, I decided to go whole hog on running. The sport has been in my life for a long time but I had never really given it full commitment. It had always been a passing, but familiar, acquaintance. I imagine quite a few… Continue reading The Half Marathon and I
I started out in the drizzle. The light grey skies were not burdened with the weight of heavy rain, just a constant, mist like, precipitation. It was a bit like running constantly through one of those fan/spray contraptions they put out in theme park queues on intensely hot days. The route was new to me,… Continue reading Back to the Long Run
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).
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 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.
This is the memoir of William Finnegan, a detailed and lovingly retold account of a life. Love, drugs, travel, apartheid, war reporting. Between it all, between every facet of his life, like a spider web which returns each time it is brushed away, is waves. Surfing, in all weathers, all lands, thick, thin, overhead, glass… Continue reading Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life
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.
When running feels good, it feels really good. When it feels bad, it feels really bad. The order of things in running, the reason behind these good and bad feelings, can be difficult to fathom. Why did that run feel good? How can I capture that feeling every time I go out the door? You… Continue reading Brick Walls
I found myself thinking when out for a run the other day that it was quite strange that, with all the extra trail I’ve been on recently, I haven’t fallen over. Stacking it is surely as much a part of running trails as getting muddy and wet is and yet, as of that exact moment… Continue reading Stacked It
run into words 