Finding My Inner Runner

At the start of the month I set myself a #MilesForMind target of 75 miles. Having started my assault on that total on Saturday 2 May with a half marathon, twelve runs later, I completed the task tonight with a 5k in glorious sunshine to bring my total to 75.59 miles. It's not impossible that I might squeeze one more run in over the weekend to stretch my total further, but those will be bonus miles; the target I set myself has been achieved, and I'm feeling decidedly chuffed with myself. To anyone reading this who still has to reach their own target, good luck over the next few days. Happy running and stay safe. If you feel like "congratulating" me, please do visit my Just Giving page and give whatever you can.

Following my last run , I had 9 miles left to run to reach the 75 mile target I set myself for #MilesForMind . Tonight, I crossed off another 7 miles leaving me only 2 left to do. Tonight's run followed the route that I'd originally planned to do as my last run, but the high winds that I found myself running head first into on Friday evening necessitated a change of plan. The weather this evening was much more clement and what wind there was served to stop it from becoming uncomfortably warm, which made things that much easier. My pace was fairly relaxed as my hip, it seems, still isn't 100%. The result is I'm going to give myself an extra day off before attempting to close out my 75 mile target on Friday evening; a run that I suspect will be the final outing for my trusty Brooks Ghost 12s as, after 730 km+, they are beginning to show definite signs that they need to be retired. The end is very definitely in sight, and I'm going to get myself over that virtu...

At the beginning of the month I set myself the fairly arbitrary target of running 75 miles on behalf of Mind UK as part of the #MilesForMind challenge. The logic, such as there was, behind this target is that this year I have been typically running in the region of 120 km each month so, as long as I remained injury free and the UK lock-down response to COVID-19 didn't become any stricter, 75 miles seemed achievable. Ten runs and 24 days later, I've chalked up a shade over 66 miles so far, meaning I have just under 9 miles left to go to complete the target I set myself. Now, in theory, I could potentially do that in one run and, traditionally, Mondays are my long (10-12km plus) runs. There is of course a slight snag; I currently have a niggling strain in my left thigh. It's not debilitating, it's not even especially painful but I am aware of it, so rather than going for broke on my next run, I'm going to give myself another couple of days to recover and break...

There was almost nothing notable about today's run. The distance, 10k, was fairly average in terms of recent runs. The time was pretty relaxed, the weather was fine, the route was a mix of paths that I've run many times before. It was all about just getting some miles in the legs. At one point I noticed I was being watched rather closely by the deer in the field that I was running along side. They seemed quite interested and totally unfazed by my lack of grace and elegance, and didn't bat an eyelid when I stopped briefly to take their photo. That was the only thing that stood out in any way; the rest of the run passed without anything further to comment on. Sometimes it's the uneventful runs that are the best runs. Today brings my totals to: Runs - 4 Miles - 27.8

If you were to ask me what the weather was on any given day last year then for 364/365 of them I'd be guessing. The exception was 7 May 2019. To narrow it down, it was about 5:30pm on that date. It was raining. Why is this fact etched so firmly in my mind? Quite simply, 7 May was the day I'd been building up to for two and a bit months. I'd been psyching myself up to it over the last few runs. May 7 was the day I was going to graduate from Couch to 5k; and it was raining! Not heavily, but it was definitely wet. Having been building myself up for as long as I had, I wasn't going to let some trifling precipitation dampen my spirits so I so off. I got to 30 minutes having covered 3.8km and, of course, I kept on running; running until I got to the fabled 5k mark . It took me 39:20. Yes, I broke the rules. The 10% rule was never going to hold me back that night. I'd graduated and I'd run 5k and I was supremely chuffed with myself (it would take another 40 ...

After the efforts of Saturday , today's run wasn't going to be fast, nor was it likely to be  particularly far. As it turned out, I managed just over 8 km/5 miles in a shade over 56 minutes. Another plus is that this run actually shows up on my Just Giving page , so that's good too. One thing I've noticed is that you know there hasn't been a lot of rain recently when you are running through a forest and you wish you'd chosen your road shoes for the extra comfort of their additional cushioning over the surefootedness of your trail shoes. Still, it's a nice problem to have under the circumstances. So my #MilesForMind  campaign is now well and truly under way. Runs: 2 Miles: 18.5

The month of May is upon us and that, of course means that once again it is time for " Miles For Mind " in association with RUNR . With that in mind, what better way was there to open my account for the month than with a half marathon? My route of choice this morning was the full length, in each direction, of the Pencaitland Railway Path. The route is well maintained, hard-packed earth and quite smooth. There aren't too many hills, but the few that there are can prove quite challenging to tired legs. That aside, the conditions were pretty much perfect and I set off with a spring in my step. The kilometres clicked by as they do. I reached the western end of the path after 8k, turned around, and the 10k point was reached in 1:01:43 (which is my second fastest 10k). The 10 mile mark was reached just as I passed my original starting point heading towards the eastern end of the path. The time at this point was 1:40:48; a new PB with an improvement of just over four min...