Finding My Inner Runner

I've always had an awe of long distance runners and I never thought I’d ever be one myself. In part, this was down to the fact that in my early 20s, I suffered a bad knee injury that brought my rugby playing career to an early end and the fact that, while I admire marathon runners’ ability, I had absolutely no desire to be one myself. Skip forward about a quarter of a century to June 2018. Through the miracles of physiotherapy, and my own stubbornness, I’d managed to get my knee to the point where I could stop/start cover 5km over the course of an 80 minute rugby match as a referee. The problem was that, especially as I got older, I looked forward to the start of each new season with a sense of increasing dread. The fitness I’d achieved over the length of the previous season had, despite best intentions, fallen away, and every season it seemed to take longer to build it back up. At the end of the 2017/18 season, I had the inspiration to try Couch to 5k to see if I could maybe...

Well, it would seem that I've only gone and crossed another bridge; this time taking me to half-marathon distance. It wasn't really my plan to run this far when I set out after work this evening, but the conditions were pretty much perfect; dry and not a breath of wind (it was -2°C, but we can't have everything), and my legs were up for the challenge. I had been generally aiming to complete another 10 mile run, but when I got to that mark I found I still had some running left in my legs, so I carried on. 38+ minutes later, I'd added the extra 5k that I needed to clock up the half marathon distance and I'd completed it in a few seconds over 2 hours 48. It's not the fastest time in the world by any means, but that doesn't matter at all. I've hit a distance that until recently was well beyond what I could possibly ever have imagined myself achieving and I won't lie when I say I'm feeling pretty impressed with what I've done. I'm not ...

According to Google, the distance between Edinburgh and London, if you take the A1/A1(M) is 396.1 miles/637.5 km. It's a journey I do quite regularly for work purposes. Last night, about half way through my run, I passed that particular milestone in terms of distance run this year. So, I guess the question is, where to next...?

Not quite sure where I found that one, especially after knocking over 3 minutes off my 10k  PB on Sunday. I have been on a bit of a low these past few days, in part a come down after my recent holiday in Japan for the Rugby World Cup, but also because my thyroid is playing silly sods and I'm having to tweak my medication levels to find a new balance. Anyway, I decided a change of scene and some wind in my face would do me some good and headed down to the shores of the Forth and, lo and behold, chopped just over a minute and a half off my 5k, bringing my PB down to 28:09, with a first kilometre of 4:41 (which is just nuts really). It is very flat, being right along the coast, so that helped considering I usually have a few climbs on my regular routes, but even still... So, um, yeah, thanks thyroid, but you can really settle down now...

I don't do Movember . I tried it once and even if the itch hadn't driven me nuts, 1970s male adult entertainer is really not a good look on me. So, instead, I decided to run 10k  through the streets of Edinburgh   for Cancer Research UK as an alternative; figuring the most I'd have to suffer for was about 90 minutes rather than a whole month. Woke up to torrential rain, but thankfully it had cleared up by the time I took my place in the tarting pen. The first 3k were mostly downhill as we made our way from the Royal Mile, just below Edinburgh Castle, down the Mound, through Princes Street Garden, along Market Street and then out until the far end of Holyrood Park. The next 2k through the park are fairly flat, but then things change. From there, it's almost  a constant climb for 2 k up through the Cow Gate, through the Grassmarket (which offered a brief respite, then uphill to Lothian Road. After that, the final 3k down Lothian Road, along the Western Approach ...