There's something about December and January that prompt an upswing in silly challenges doing the rounds. Already this month I've seen a 500 kettlebell swing challenge, a running every day from Thanks Giving to Christmas challenge, and a 5 minute plank challenge. And they all make me do a big sigh. I don't want any [...]
I've been meaning to round-up some books I've been reading this year for a while. And as the end of the year is fast approaching, there's no time like now. They're not all new books, some of them have been out a while but I've only just got round to reading them (I'm a quicker [...]
How to take better running selfies I enjoy taking a nicely framed photo of myself running, and I'm not apologetic about it. I like running and snapping some pics of myself doing that in nice locations is a fun add-on to my hobby. The other day somebody asked me on Instagram how I take my [...]
Adrian Brooks/Imagewise A few weeks ago I spent the morning with a group of women who are speaking up about their incontinence in the hope that other who are experiencing it will feel less ashamed of their symptoms and seek help. The event was put on Depend and I want to thank them [...]
Running cross country: what you need to know When I talk to runners about cross country, their reaction is often one of fear. A lot of us were put off running altogether by memories of doing cross country at school, and often runners really don't want to go back to that place. Remember, though, that [...]
Since The Iron Person, I've viewed my bike as a mode of transport. The long hours spent in the saddle training for triathlons took the fun out of it for me, so I haven't done any long rides in the past couple of years. I clock up 50 miles on the bike some weeks but [...]
When should you start training for your marathon? Well there's no hard and fast answer to this that applies to everyone. In the back of my mind, that first time I got on a treadmill nearly nine years ago I was training for a marathon. I didn't know when or where it would be, and [...]
As runners, we’re more comfortable than most talking about our bodily functions. I chat openly with friends about whether or not we’ve had our pre-race poo yet. We bemoan the long queue for the loos and discuss the best places on runs to go for a mid-run wee. I've even written about my periods in [...]
I've always written. When I was young I used to write stories. I had notebooks full of stories and a typewriter I used to bash out scenes on. Then when I left university I started getting paid to write. I wrote for newspapers and magazines, some more exciting than others. I worked for many years [...]
Great Eastern Run 2016 My mum held out her arms. I stopped running and she gave me a hug. "I'm ok. It's just hard." I'd stopped running at 7.4 miles into the half marathon. The past 50 minutes had been a mental battle. I'd had lots of lovely messages in the week before telling me [...]
