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Showing posts from July, 2014

A Gorge-ous run

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Last week my wife and I went to Cheddar for five days. The main reason was to visit my mother-in-law who is staying there before moving into her new house. However it was also a good opportunity for some R'n'R. Of course I couldn't resist a couple of runs while I was there. The first was an early morning run to the south of Cheddar. I was aiming for the local reservoir at Axbridge. Apparently there was a disused railway line that led there. It was called the Strawberry Line as it had been used in the past to transport the bountiful supply of local strawberries to the coast. However I managed to take a wrong turn and ended up following a road towards the village of Clewer instead. The traffic wasn't heavy but there were enough speeding cars and blind corners for me to want to find an alternative route and when I spotted a dirt track on my left I took it. Having looked on a map I see that this was one of many droves in the area that are used by local farmers. I fol

Improve your running with the 3 S's

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I've learnt a lot about jogging since I started a couple of years ago. The information has come from a wide variety of sources including my running group coach, other members of the group, the internet, magazines, books and my own experiences and mistakes. I've learnt about the right clothing and equipment, how to pace my runs, how to eat right, where to apply Vaseline, how to fix a number to my top with safety pins, how to use a Garmin, where to find the best places to run, the importance of staying hydrated, and how to bore a non-runner to tears with my running talk. I've learnt to like the taste of energy gels and drinks, to enjoy the feeling of sweat dripping down my face, to relish that euphoric feeling of having finished a particularly good run, to not care what people think when they see me in meggins, to appreciate the freedom jogging brings and to ignore the voice that tempts me to stay in rather than put my trainers on and go out for a run. But

Life Lessons from an Ultra Marathon

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Marathon running is often used as an allegory for life. While it serves this purpose well I find that another distance is even more appropriate – the Ultra Marathon. This year I ran my first Ultra, in fact I ran three in a month. The first was the 35 mile Shires and Spires followed a few weeks later by the Round the Isle of Wight race which consisted of 40 and 32 miles back to back over a weekend. During the hours I was jogging and the many more hours I spent recovering I reflected on what I had learnt through my experiences. I realised that there are a number of elements that I could apply to my life and learn from. I'll be sharing them here over the next few weeks. Here is the first. 1. We are not alone. The ultra marathon field is made up of a large number of individuals each bringing their own unique abilities, experiences and perspectives to the event. While everyone runs independently they all share the same goal, which is to reach the end and complete the c

Oops I did it again

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For the second time this year I am injured. After five healthy and successful months of pushing my body to its limits I am back on the sidelines. Earlier in the year I managed to inflame my patella during a particularly brutal cross country event but this time it isn't my knee that's hurt and it wasn't running that caused it. Somehow I managed to run for 107 miles in three days without so much as a twinge but six points into a game of squash a part of my anatomy decided that enough was enough. As I lunged for the ball I felt something give and a sharp pain at the top of my right thigh. I straightened up but quickly realised that I couldn't lift my right leg without the stabbing pain returning. A particularly nasty squash injury At the moment I can walk but only by dragging my leg behind me and I have to take stairs one at a time. I'm not sure exactly what the injury is but some form of groin or upper thigh strain seems likely. I did a quick Google searc

The year so far.

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It's July and the half way point of my year of running. What a six months it has been and what fun I have had in the process! At 38 years old I am now fitter than I have ever been and have found a new passion I couldn't imagine living without. Running has taken me all over the country from London to Milton Keynes, Coventry, Portsmouth, Warwick, Isle of Wight and numerous villages and fields around Northampton. But the best thing has been the support and encouragement of my running club, Parklands Jog and Run, who have inspired me through their words and their own achievements to go further than I had thought possible. Between January and July this year I have.... Sprinted for 5km,  slogged for 40 miles,  encountered the wall,   squelched through mud,  sliced open a buttock,  had acupuncture for a patella injury,  celebrated at an awards dinner,  cried with exhaustion and relief,  laughed a lot,  helped people to beat their PB,  waded through s

Feeling blue

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The last week has been tough. Since the Ultra I have been experiencing the post run blues I have come to expect after the high of a big event. Having emptied myself physically, mentally and emotionally my body seems to have shut down in order to regroup and start to build up its reserves again. On Monday morning I was surprised to find that I could quite comfortably walk down the stairs. Given how I had felt 12 hours previously that was a minor miracle. My legs didn't ache and, although I didn't have the best night's sleep due to our new kitten, I felt rested. Tuesday was a different story as a splitting headache kept me in bed all day. This eventually subsided leaving me feeling drained and tired. I also had a strange numbness in my upper thigh interspersed with pins and needles sensations that seemed to move around under the skin. Something that I have never experienced before. A trawl of the internet brought up all sorts of scary possibilities so I chose to igno