Stupid Things On My Birthday

I ran a half marathon on my birthday for the second year in a row and nobody in my family was surprised. They are used to it by now, and me doing something stupid to mark the day has become a bit of a running joke in our extended family.

Buying Speed

You can buy a faster bike. Deep section wheels, a tri bar, a helmet shaped like an egg, and you will go quicker on the same legs. You can buy carbon plated shoes and take minutes off a run. Even fitness is something you can buy, in a sense. Put

Base Is Boring

Next week my two weeks 'off' come to an end and base training starts. Three months of zone 2 running, long slow Sundays building up to three hours, and a whole winter sat on the Zwift Ride, all to get me ready for the six 70.3s I

The Bloke Who Is Tired

I am one week into two weeks off and I am bored out of my mind. I wrote in Never Satisfied that I don't know how to be a person who isn't in training, that I am just a bloke who is tired and I don&

Old Man Personal Best

I called my Robin Hood time an OPB and didn't really explain it. It stands for Old Man Personal Best. When I turned 40 I deleted every personal best I had, wiped everything off Strava, and started counting again from zero. I've not regretted it once.

Ready Is A Decision

Harsh Patel, writing on Medium about waiting to feel ready: Readiness is not a feeling at all. It is a decision. The rest of the post is the usual self-help stuff, put a hand on your chest, feel your heartbeat, you are allowed to begin scared. I very nearly

Never Satisfied

I wrote last week that my post-race blues after the 70.3 came from not being pushed to my limit. I have been thinking about it since and I don't think that's true. I am never satisfied. I have never celebrated a single thing I

Delivering On A Promise

To round off the season I took part in the Robin Hood Half Marathon, an event I enjoyed last year and one that happened to fall on my birthday this time around, so it was only fair I gave it a good crack. My family are used to me doing

Seasons End

It has been a weird season this year, starting really well and ending really well with despair in the middle. I put together a really good winter block aiming for a marathon somewhere around 3:25, and the sessions were going so well I started to believe the number on