London Marathon for the Children’s Society

The 2021 London Marathon isn’t for another 6 months and two weeks, but that doesn’t mean it’s too soon to start building a decent base fitness: gradually upping the mileage, strengthening all the parts of me that I know will hurt the most ¾ into the longer training runs (I’m looking at you hips!) and…

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Monday Photos 2021 #04

It took me three weeks since my last LR, but I finally went out again for a lovely run in and about Bradgate Park on Saturday. The mud was especially wet and squashy, and the wind of the kind that builds waves in puddles! My least favourite bit was the sideways hale, but occasionally the…

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Monday Photos 2021 #03

No Long Run this weekend (booo!), but we did make it to the park for Philip’s first kite flying experience (hurray!) There was hardly any wind, but he got the hang of it much faster than I expected him to; and the look of pride on his face after his first succesful flight was almost…

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Monday Photos 2021 #02

Where I turn into a middle-aged hippie and embrace barefoot running. On a #DateRun. Yep!

Monday photographs 2021 #01

With my running life back on track, I thought I’d turn my attention back to my blog: And what better way to start than to re-instate the Monday photo post: There is a scent of spring in the air today, so today’s “photos of the week that was” are an early fairwell to the winter….

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The Year To Come

To say that we are all preparing to breathe a collective sigh of relief at the end of 2020 is probably an understatement! So as 2021 is about to dawn, full with promises of vaccines to end the pandemic, a release from the lockdown that has kept us away from our loved ones (and I…

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Date Runs

There was a stage in the first lockdown (although most of Leicestershire has been under some form of lockdown since March, so we don’t really distinguish between them), when restrictions began to lift, yet pubs and restaurants remained closed. In other words, we could ask our babysitter to come round but we had nowhere do…

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Run to Ancient Karthea

When I first walked to the ancient city of Karthea in my 20s I felt transported in an Indiana Jones film! 20-odd years later, I run down the same trail.

Not Running

It is Sunday afternoon and I am lying in the new hammock, next to our quiet canal. I can feel the warm sunlight on my skin; there is still a whiff of charcoal and grilled meat in the air. The only sensation close to discomfort is from Philip’s long lockdown hair rubbing on my bare…

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What is your measure of success?

What do runners talk about when running? Occasionally about how much better they could be “if only…” but are such thoughts helpful? Are they even valid?

Or are they missing something?