Not 10 Miles

The first sign that not all was right was when the first mile arrived before the first mile should have arrived. GPS is an unreliable friend at best however, so I disregarded this and trundled on. When the 4 mile sign drifted past as the watch stuck 3.25 miles I thought perhaps, yes, something has… Continue reading Not 10 Miles

Alone on Parkhouse Hill

It is a relatively small, but notably unique and remarkably challenging, rise in the Peak District, just outside the sleepy village of East Sterndale. The clouds were low, but they didn’t obscure the view so much as to make it all the more dramatic; crowning every hill top, farmhouse, and tumulus, in eerie grey wreaths.… Continue reading Alone on Parkhouse Hill

The Well, The Water.

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.

A Sheringham Circular (and, what we don’t know we need).

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).

Fourth of July Creek

This is a book about living hard. About trying. About how trying sometimes isn’t enough. In this his novel from 2014 author Smith Henderson pulls no punches as he paints a portrait of America as a hive of contradictions. In it he explores concepts of freedom and of anarchy and of social responsibility. It is… Continue reading Fourth of July Creek

Night Boat to Tangier

There are all manner of Best of 2019 and Best of the Decade lists to sift through to find out what has been missed, and that’s how I came to read Kevin Barry’s Night Boat to Tangier. Getting to art through the medium of someone else telling you that is Very Good creates unfairly high… Continue reading Night Boat to Tangier

Sunday Morning Stuff 24/11

The news is a bit grim at the minute. I don’t think we should ignore it, but we don’t need to carry the weight that the tumultuous world throws on our shoulders all of the time. Sometimes we need to shrug it off and delve down deep into a blanket of stuff. So as we… Continue reading Sunday Morning Stuff 24/11

Sunday Morning Stuff 13/10

Chances are if you’re reading this I’m running the Great Eastern Run, so you best be giving me your best wishes or else there’ll be trouble. Whilst I’m out dying, how about you take a look at all the stuff that’s been keeping my sanity in check this week, or should I say the last… Continue reading Sunday Morning Stuff 13/10