Four years ago I was beginning to train for my first marathon. I'd printed off my schedule and, largely, stuck to it for the next 16 weeks. One of the runs I was supposed to do fell on Christmas Day. So I diligently laced up my trainers and headed out the door to run the [...]
Last year I was sat on a curb by the side of the road waiting for the Olympic torch to go past. While I waited I sent a tweet, texted my mum and checked my email. There was a new email in my inbox, so I opened it and read it. And then I burst [...]
It seemed like a good idea at the time – make your own energy bars, include the things you like, cut out the crap you don’t like and save money. Win, win all round. Yes, it might take a bit of time to prepare and a visit to three shops to acquire all the ingredients, [...]
Sometimes I don't want to run. I know I like running, but sometimes the idea of heading out into the cold or wet or windy night doesn't excite me. Sometimes I plod out the door anyway, other times I'll sit on the sofa with a cup of tea and a feeling of guilt that I'm not [...]
When we lined up for the start of Manchester marathon back in April I told my friend Liz that if she didn’t make her goal of running in four hours, I’d run any marathon anywhere in the world with her. Liz had to pull out of that race due to injury, but undeterred she hatched [...]
April The good (for age) one Manchester marathon was the first race penciled and then penned and then highlighted and circled and underlined in my diary for 2013. It's fair to say I was on a bit of a mission to secure my good for age time for London. Despite some setbacks it all went [...]
When I was about seven, my mum took me into town to buy a new outfit. We chose green shorts and a matching t-shirt bought in John Lewis that were to be worn for a 5k fun run. The shorts and t-shirt were made of cotton, but this was long before the world knew about [...]
Last week me and three friends, Jen, Katie and Liz, headed to Germany to take on the Frankfurt marathon and generally have a good time. If you think marathons are painful and something to be endured, watch this. It IS possible to have fun running 26.2 miles.
Last week I caught myself telling my running group - a group of women new to running - that I can't run in the mornings. I stopped myself. There's a lot of things I thought I couldn't do: swimming, cycling 100 miles, a half-ironman and have proved myself wrong. But because of a couple of [...]
Flinging myself down a muddy hill for the second time on Saturday morning, the £25 pair of spikes I’d bought just days before were proving a sound investment. The marshal at the bottom of the hill shouted out ‘Sharp right turn’ as my legs struggled to go any direction other than forwards. The metal spikes [...]
