Wednesday 21 January 2015

It'll hurt upto a certain point and then it won't get worse.


P.S. Just looked in my inbox to find an email from The Running Bug, titled 'How your first run is like losing your virginity...' Ermmm, is anyone else under the impression that a lot of running publications spout silly gobbledygook to entice/ confuse new readers/ runners and make running way more complicated than it needs to be? I think the worst thing you can do in running is overthink it. Admittedly, I think we all have the tendency to sometimes overthink things, but overthinking running takes away the carefree and exhilarating nature of it. One of the reasons it's so great is because it's so simple. If I'd read a gazillion silly articles like this when I first started running, I may never have entered my first marathon, which I entered without complicating the matter. I simply Google searched 'Marathon + Lake District', ran it, loved it and got hooked. Now I've run 150 assorted marathons/ ultras and lost and kept off over 4 stone, for 7 years. If I can do it, anyone can do it. Anyone can do it. If you want it. 


So, why do we make it so complicated? If you can aspire to it, if you can walk, if you believe you can do it, you will do it. Ok, ok, I know that magazines etc. have to come up with eye-catching titles. After all, that's how they get people to read their articles. It makes sense. It's just that sometimes when I really stop and think, it becomes apparent that we 'dress things up' quite a lot. Perhaps I'm being pedantic.  If I had to describe starting out running, I'd say that it hurts, to a certain point and then it won't get worse. It can only get better (as long as your don't injure yourself). You're unfit and out of practice and you have to reach that hurdle and jump over it. But, it'll be worth it.

Wednesday 7 January 2015

New Year, new adventures.

So here we are in a new year. And I get to thinking about new adventures more than ever...despite the fact that I’m always looking for them anyway. Where will I travel this year? Where will I live and where will I work? I’m still working on these three questions and they all need answers. This is the year for stability. I need to find a place of my own to live and forge a proper career. However, I also really want to run new and more exciting things. This is quite hard without a stable income and car at the moment. I miss all of those obscure ‘out in the middle of nowhere’ marathons. I know I will get there, but I keep asking myself, ‘Are we there yet?’ Nope.


In the meantime I have occupied myself by still running home from work a lot. I never feel like doing it when I set off, but when I get into it, it always turns in to a great training run. As much as I miss having a car right now, I appreciate those moments. I appreciate the self-sufficiency of getting myself home using my own two legs and determination Yesterday I even picked up two pints of milk from the shop on my way back home. Adding a bit of weight to my rucksack varied the training and it was useful, because I needed that milk for my protein shakes ;-)