Finding My Inner Runner

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...

Having given last week a miss on account of the fact that my legs were still feeling a bit sorry for themselves after taking on the Yorkshire 3 Peaks the day before, today it was back to my familiar stomping ground of Vogrie Country Park for the second time since Parkrun returned to Scotland a fortnight ago. Last time out, I set an all-time Parkrun PB of 25:58; this week I was a wee bit slower at 26:49 but, actually, I was happier with this run. It felt better, my pacing was much more consistent, and I wasn't dead on my feet in the finishing funnel. Maybe it's something to do with running in a group (which I almost never do) but it's funny that I can comfortably pace 10k - HM, but 5k often catches me out. It possibly also has a lot to do with the fact I seldom run less than 10k and today was only my fifth run below that distance this year. Anyway, I digress. It was a lovely day. The early autumn sunshine was pleasantly warm, the track was generally dry underfoot and, all in...

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 ...

My run today was my 100 th run of 2021. It brought my total distance for the year to date to 1,192.9km (741.25 miles), making my average running distance this year 11.9km (7.4 miles).  My pace today was nothing especially noteworthy at 6:46/km, but that is pretty standard for my long, easy paced runs. The point for me being that, as a rule, I don't pay any attention to my pace until after I'm finished. Unless I'm taking part in an event or actually pushing myself for a PB, mostly I'm running on the basis of what just "feels right" In the current temperatures, the pace I set felt OK and allowed me to get a good distance in my legs. It is strange, in a way that, while I can (and sometimes do) run faster than I could this time last year, by and large, a lot of the time I'm actually running at around the same pace. The difference is that it running at that pace means I'm left with much more in the tank at the end of a run and I am averaging 2.5 - 3km/run ...

  Yesterday, I completed my third "Miles For Mind" challenge. My first, in 2019, was the month that I completed Couch to 5K and my total of 66.75 km/41.5 miles, while modest by the distances I cover today was, not surprisingly, the most I had ever run cumulatively in a single month at that point. It was a month that, not only did I graduate the C25K programme, I also ran my first 5k and my first Parkrun. Skip forward to 2020. Lockdown was upon us and the distances I was covering during my 3/4 weekly runs was increasing. My target was an achievable 50 miles for the month. I started strongly, bringing my half-marathon time under 2 hours 15 and, over the course of the month, I totaled 122.75 km/76.25 miles. In October, runr also set the "Leave Nothing But Footprints" challenge. That month was also the month that I turned 50, so I had a fairly obvious target to aim at. Another half-marathon brought my time below 2 hours 10. A 10 mile run later in the month took my time...

Two years ago, having finally shaken of the tendonitis that had put paid to my first attempt at the Couch to 5k plan, I finally put all the excuses behind me, laced up my shoes that had been gathering dust since I unboxed them at Christmas, and started my running journey in earnest. There were a couple of "training runs" along the way, but I completed the programme in May 2019 and quickly moved on to JuJu's 10k plan which got me to 10k on 1 July that year. Before 2019 was finished, I'd get to 10 miles in October and my first HM in November and, by the time the bells rang in 2020, I'd clocked up over 500 miles. Then, 2020... Well, actually, from a running perspective, it turned out better than anticipated. Yes, OK, so the final parkrun was a year ago this weekend just past, and all the organised events I'd entered were cancelled or postponed until some indeterminate point in the future, but running, it seemed, was an escape and helped my cope with the whole...

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 ...

They've been through a lot. Since I first laced them up on 11 March 2019 and set out on my Couch to 5k adventure, to their final 10k tonight; covering every distance from that first one minute "jog" all the way through to a half-marathon. In total we've shared a shade over 500 miles/800km together, but now their race is run. We've had a lot of good times up to this point, and a few not so good ones, but they've always got me safely to the end of whatever run I've been on with them. The cushioning may be a distant memory and my big toe has rather assertively made its presence known through the top of the tight toe-box but I think it's fair to say that they owe me absolutely nothing and can now enjoy what time they have left as those trainers I use for pottering around in the garden. Enjoy your retirement...

Tonight's run was one of those unremarkable in every way runs. It wasn't especially fast, or slow, the weather wasn't in any way notable, good or bad; everything about it screamed average in every way (obviously it didn't actually scream as that would have been notable, it was more of polite volume, but you get my drift). Runs like this are sort of bread and butter. Not every run needs to be, or even can be a personal best; the majority of runs are just about getting out there and enjoying (if that's the right word) the feeling of just getting out there and putting some time and distance into the legs. Trouble is, I am a bit of a stat fiend. So when I logged tonight's effort I couldn't help notice that this otherwise unremarkable run was the run that took my 2020 distance to date over 1,000km. Given my average monthly distance, I knew I was likely to get there at some point, but I was pleasantly surprised that I did it tonight. So, it turns out that tonight...

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.

On Saturday, a twitter friend was celebrating having got up early and smashing her 10k PB. as it was nearly lunchtime when I read her post, I congratulated her on her achievement and commented that given the temperature, there was no chance of any PBs happening on the run I was about to head off on. It turns out, I lied. I ran only my second ever sub-60 minute 10k, setting a new PB of 58:19. To say I was pleasantly surprised would be the understatement of the year. Tonight, I went out for another run; 10k again. There was less elevation, I was deliberately taking it slow, but dearie me it was a tough one.  I was well rested, well hydrated; it was actually cooler than Saturday, but I was obviously still experiencing some sort of hangover from my weekend exertions. Not to worry though, it's still another run in the legs and under the belt, taking me to 55k so far for the month.

After a little over 8 months and a little under 740 km, it is time for me, sadly, to send my trusty old Brooks Ghosts off to the great retirement home for running shoes in the sky... Fair thee well, faithful companions, your watch is ended... Tonight, in recognition of it being Global Running Day, it is time to take their successors out for their maiden lollop. It's fair to say they have a tough act to follow... The Ghosts are dead! Long live the Ghosts!

So, April... The month of lock-down and Zoom. The month of social distancing and solitary running. The month (for me) where I set a whole pile of personal records. I came into April with the following PBs: 5k - 28:38 10k - 1:03:49 10 miles - 1:49:29 HM - 2:30:23 Monthly Distance - 123.41 Km I ended the month having bettered them all. The first to fall was my 5k time. I set out to do some speed intervals  and, by the time I finished, I'd brought my time down to 28:01. My 10 mile and HM records fell on the same run . My goal for this year had been to get my 10 mile time below one hour 45. as the distance ticked along, I realised there was a possibility that it might just be on, so I went for it, plotting out my route in my head as I went, trying to avoid having to run up hills as much as was possible. As my watch ticked past 16.1k, I scraped by with seconds to spare: 1:44:56; but I wasn't quite finished. At that point, even if I'd slowed to my usual walking pa...

English can be a bewildering language at times, but when it comes to mixed metaphors, the world of sport and language have provided us with some classic examples. Now, I'm not a golfer, but I am a frequent walker.  There is much debate as to whether or not Mark Twain was responsible for the following quotation: Golf is a good walk spoiled . But regardless of who actually provided us with this gem, I'm firmly in agreement with it.  To me, it just seems like groups of people going for long walks through stupendously manicured parks, pausing occasionally to hit a small white ball with a metal stick.  The fact that if you're particularly good at it (the hitting the small white ball part that is, you don't actually have to be particularly good at the walking part), you can earn staggering amounts of money does, I suppose, explain some of its appeal. The one thing I do know about golf is that under par is good, whereas over par is not so good.  In fact, the whole ...

Stay safe everyone, in these difficult times.

On 11 March 2019. I laced up my shiny new running shoes for the first time and set off to restart Couch to 5k. Having only got two weeks into it on my previous attempt before my knees forced me to take an extended rest break, I wasn't entirely filled with optimism, but I was determined to see if I could get there. Get there, I did. I graduated on 7 May 2019 and kept on running. Today's run, which was an easy paced 12.k lollop around the village and surrounding countryside took me to beyond 1,000k since taking those first tentative steps 51 weeks and 167 runs ago. I don't like using words like "transformative" because they always sound a bit trite; but in this case I think it's entirely accurate. Up until this time last year I would probably manage up to 5-6k on a Saturday during the rugby season and that was as far as running went. I'm still doing those 5-6k " Saturday Scribbles " but they are now run as part of the typical 25-30k that I ...

The ancient Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu, reputedly once said: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step". Well, today, at my twelfth park run, I passed the 500 mile mark for 2019. It's 500 miles that includes: 1 x half marathon 3 x 10 miles 17 x 10k 57 x 5k numerous other shorter runs.  While I may only have reached half of Lao Tzu's 1,000 miles, the principle still remains the same, it all began with me choosing to take that first step when I embarked on Couch to 5k at the start of the year. Being a bit of a stat fanatic, for me it's been fascinating watching the distances covered and the time spent running increase as the year has progressed; from running my first 5k in June , all the way up to my first (and to date, only) Half Marathon in November and all the landmarks in between such as: My first Parkrun The Edinburgh Race For Life My first 10k My first sub-30 minute 5k My first 10 miles The Edinburgh Men's 10k None...

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...

So, this this time last week, my PBs were: 5k - 31:55 10k - 73:53 I went out on Saturday and bought myself a new pair of Brooks Ghost 12s and three runs later, my PBs now stand at: 5k - 30:41 10k - 67:00 I am beginning to think theses shoes have some sort of special quality/magical power. I'm also beginning to believe that the sub 30 minute 5k might actually be a possibility. All in all, not bad for someone whose first 5k at the start of May was 39:22 and first 10k in July was 79:36. For anyone who doubts the life changing powers of Couch to 5k and Bridge to 10k plans, the proof is in this post. I still can't believe just how far I've come, and run, since I started back in March.