Or a “running” commentary *snigger*
2013 has been quite a significant year for me. Most notably as it was this year that I finally decided to make a proper go at this “running” thing; as in actually start “entering” some events, instead of just running 100’s of miles all around the Peak District with nothing to show for it.
Let’s see, how can I sum the year up? …. 10 marathons, 2 ultras, a couple of 10k’s and a half marathon. That’s about the size of it.
Who says that trail running is a summer only sport? I can’t think of a better way to ease into the Christmas period than entering a double marathon weekend and apparently, there are plenty of people who agree with me.
I’ve only considered myself to have been running properly from this year (2013), as in entering regular events, but such is the community at these trail events, you start recognising people very quickly and making new mates with every one of them.
This was definitely no exception, with unbelievable hospitality and welcoming from the race organisers at Broadmeadow Runs, and surrounded by a wealth of people that run marathons for fun.
Fun times at Bradford University.
A glass of wine every day is meant to be good for you; that’s what medical experts agree isn’t it? But how big is this glass? Can I use a MASSIVE glass? And can I have BEER instead of wine? And instead of having that same massive glass all evening, can I separate it out into 9 or 10 different receptacle containers (let’s call them pints), to be consumed at my own convenience over the evening? It all sounds quite silly, but this is exactly the kind of thing that my brain is very good at doing; giving me arguments, ludicrous or pertinent, to have a drink too many. All the time.
Clifbar.co.uk
Clifbar.co.uk
Thanks to Clifbar for the much needed sustenance and fuel!
Lands End to John O’ Groats in aid of Sport Relief, Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and East Cheshire Hospice!
The Spooky Halloween Challenge & Pumpkin Marathon
As part of my training for LEJOG next spring, I wanted to make sure I was comfortable in running for 50 miles+ in a day. These marathons came up, and I thought “perfect!”, a simple course with the emphasis on running steady and consistently.
I’d weighed it up pretty quickly, exactly how to play this one; the course wasn’t completely flat, it had a couple a couple of vague hills within the 1km laps. It didn’t take a genius to work out that if I played it right, and worked on 9 minute miles, I could finish both of them in around 4 hours (hopefully) relatively comfortably… Good plan Daniel; you’ve really excelled yourself once again in both sensibility, and maths.
My 1,000 mile mission from one end of the country to the other next spring is building up momentum.
Target of £2,000 in Corporate sponsorship. Raising money for Sport Relief, Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and East Cheshire Hospice.
This was to be my 2nd ever half marathon, as I don’t really do this distance very often. I had a great deal of fun winding people up; particularly non-runners, talking about this as short distance training or a light sprint. In truth, I find half marathons really difficult. You can’t settle into a pace like you can in a marathon; a gentle plod with very little stress. With a half marathon, I’m well out of my comfort zone from the starting gun.
The Route.
Recently, I bit the bullet and finally caved to the allure of GPS technology. Maybe it was the 3rd or 4th time being utterly lost during endurance events, maybe it was seeing how easy it was for those runners with these ‘magic watches’ that told them which direction to head in every time the signs were not clear, or perhaps it was just the childlike craving for anything ‘James Bond’ and gadget like…
Like many others my age, I am a man fast approaching 30 years old! I’ve done the maths and checked it twice; that’s definitely right. Next summer I will have been alive on this planet for 3 whole decades…
Now I’m not one of those people that is ‘overly’ concerned with age; it’s just a number really. To illustrate how little my age concerns me: Here is a frankly terrifying image of me from 2007, followed by a photograph from the finish line of a 40 mile ultra-marathon last month.
These are both me, surprisingly. But one is old and over the hill…
