Finding My Inner Runner

Miles for Mind has always been important to me, so having 4 seasonal challenges this year instead of just the traditional May version has given me even more reason to flex my running muscles. Across the 4 challenges, I clocked up 757km (470 miles) which has been a huge contribution to my target of running 2021km this year (only 16km left to do it at the time of posting). While the physical health benefits of running are obvious, for me, it is the boost to my mental health that is by far the biggest motivator to get me lacing up and heading out in all weathers and just going for however long/far feels right at whatever pace suits the run. 2021 may not have been the easiest of years, but it has definitely had its highs as well as its lows. Let's all celebrate the victories, big, small, and in between that we've achieved this year. If you feel like supporting my efforts by donating to Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH) , you can do so by visiting my JustGiving  page .

I've been having something of a hectic time, so haven't had time to share this one. Last year, I clocked up the 1,000 mile mark on 30 December. This year, I hit that particular landmark on Saturday. I'm not running more often this year, still typically heading out 3-4 times a week; the difference is the distances. Last year I was averaging around 30km each week with one run being 10km or longer, but the rest being much shorter. This year, I'm averaging around 40km each week, with 10km being my starting distance. My average run distance this year is just over 12km compared with 9.5km last year. My goal is to run 2021km this year and I currently have a wee bit over 350km left to go. As an "after work" runner, I'm now moving into the night run season, which brings its own challenges. The Hi-Viz vest and headlamp have been dug out of the drawer (haven't been needed yet, but I suspect by next week they will) and the merino base layers have already ma...

So, given that as recently as Tuesday, I wasn't sure if I'd be fit to even start the event, my goal was really just to try and ease myself round without aggravating my back which had, thankfully, pretty much settled. The "easing" bit, of course, went out the window as soon as I passed the start line, and I quickly settled into my familiar internal shouting match where I kept telling myself to slow down and get a grip of my pace. It had been predicted to rain, but thankfully that held off and the conditions were almost perfect, about 15°C, dry and only a light head wind for part of the second half of the run. The event bills itself as "Fast, flat & picturesque". Despite that, there are a few gentle inclines. The "picturesque" I can't argue with as it's the part of the world I live in and the start is less than 3 miles from my front door, but, to be honest, I wasn't really taking the scenery in as it all went past in a bit of a ...

Back in March last year, when parkruns got cancelled and lock down started, I was a year on from starting C25K and my average distance per run was around 8.75k. Skip forward to today and my average over May, June and July (so far) is now about 12.5k/run. It has, in fact, now been over 6 months since any run has been under 10k. I don't say the above to brag, simply a recognition of the fact that for someone who just wanted to keep his fitness up between rugby seasons so that I didn't dread August rolling around each year on account of increasing age and it getting harder to pick up again each season, I really am amazed at how far (literally and figuratively) I've come since deciding to give Couch to 5K a try back in March 2019. I have had the good fortune to be active and have a reasonable degree of fitness all my life, but it's fair to say that now, in my 50s, I'm probably in the best physical shape I've been in my entire adult life, and it's all down to me ...

I realise that there are still a few days left, and I need to squeeze in a 30 minute challenge run before the year is out, so my total will probably edge up a little further, but yesterday I hit the 1,000 mile mark for running in 2020. It has, for all of us, been a very different year from the one we were probably looking forward to at this point last year. For me, I suspect running is one of the things that has helped most in getting me through it. Back at the start of 2020, I set myself some goals: See how much lower I could take my 5k PB below 28:38 Get my 10k PB below one hour from 1:03:49 Get my 10 mile PB below 1:45:00 from 1:49:29 Get my Half Marathon PB below 2:30:00 from 2:30:23 Complete the equivalent of John o' Groats to Land's End (874 miles) by the end of the year. As the year passed, my runs increased in length and duration, and I ticked the goals off one by one so that they now stand at: 5k - 26:36 10k - 58:19 10 miles - 1:34:29 HM - 2:05:46 John o' Groats -...

I opened my 2020 running account on 2 January with a fairly leisurely 10k. It was only 10 months after I'd started my Couch to 5k Journey but, having already completed my first Half Marathon distance  and getting my 5k PB below 30 minutes in November, I was pretty chuffed with the progress I'd made so far. My plans for 2020 didn't really come to much at that point. This was before many of us would discover just how important running would become over the course of the year, but I had some vague goals; keep chipping away at my 5k time, get my 10k under an hour, bring my Half Marathon time under 2 hours 15 and, in addition to Parkrun, take part in a number of the organised events locally. The  distance/time goals would be achieved, but sadly every event (including Parkrun) would be cancelled. The one thing that was becoming obvious was that both my pace and stamina were definitely increasing. I had set a very vague goal of averaging around 100k per month, but I was exceeding ...

So, with the cancellation of just about every event possibly this year on account of the "C-Word", the organisers of the Edinburgh Marathon Festival decided to go virtual . All you had to do was pick a distance, 5/10/HM/M, send them evidence of your time along with the entry fee and they would send you a finisher's pack (bib number, medal, t-shirt).  I sent them my 2 hour 14 HM from May when I was doing Miles For Mind, and I duly received my goody-bag.  Much as I do love a "freebie" t-shirt, I can't help shake the nagging feeling that, with this year being the way it is, actually we aring this any time before 1 January next year is possibly being slightly presumptive.

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...

It's been that kind of week. At the start of the year I set myself the following goals for 2020: See how much lower I could take my 5k PB below 28:38 Get my 10k PB below one hour from 1:03:49 Get my 10 mile PB below 1:45:00 from 1:49:29 Get my Half Marathon PB below 2:30:00 from 2:30:23 I haven't really been doing anything specific towards reducing them, although on Monday , I did a sprint interval session and brought my 5k time down to 28:04. I was meant to be running the Edinburgh Kilomathon tomorrow, which is a 13.1k run through the city, stating at Ocean Terminal and ending in Murrayfield Stadium. Alas, due to CORVID-19, this event, like so many others is currently on hold. Since I wasn't going to be able to do that run, I decided to do my own thing today. Rather than run 13.1k, I decided to push on and go for 13.1 miles. The result; two more of my goals achieved. My 10 mile PB now stands at 1:44:54, and my Half Marathon PB is down to 2:21:21. My 10k PB...

This running lark can't half mess with your head sometimes... Monday night - long run night. Conditions were pretty much perfect; cool but not too cold, dry and almost no wind worth mentioning. Headed out, got into my stride and the ks just ticked along nicely. Got to the 10 mile mark and I was feeling good; the legs seemed to have plenty left in them, so I pushed on. Onwards... 17k... 18k... 19k... 20k... it was still going well, I even managed what for me resembles a sprint finish to bring it home and complete HM distance. In doing so, I set a new PB, knocking just shy of 18 minutes off my previous best time. Was I delighted? Of course I was. There was, however, a "but". Not a big "but" by any means, but a "but" nonetheless. My new time (according to Strava ) was 2 hours 30 minutes and 23 seconds. Was I trying to go under 2:30? No. If I'd known there was a possibility that I might have gone under 2:30, could I have run any of it any fast...

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 ...