The Walker With Heart

At some point in every training plan there comes a point where you look at the plan, and go "Oh Shit! I'm doing what this weekend???" Intellectually you've seen it for weeks and months, you've known about it... But that's different from feeling it, and very different from doing it. When I was training for halfs, it was the 10 miles run... When I was training for Marathons, it was the 18 miler... This weekend its the 2 x 13 milers... Yup... 2 of them... Saturday morning... and... then... again...  Sunday morning... I'm not bothered about pace, it's just about doing it and then doing it again. The obvious question is why? Most of the endurance training I do is about two things - time on my feet so my body is used to the pounding  and running the second half of any event. Tomorrow and Sunday are about that second half... I've done 38km (23 miles) from Last Sunday, and I can feel most of them...  Sunday will hurt, but that ...

My heart raced... I breathed heavily... I got hot under the collar... I smiled a lot... I now ache in strange places... This weekend was the BigRunWeekend... A weekend of running, with added talks, cake and beer... It was already on to a winner with that list - through in a running expo with lots of new toys to fondle and I'm a happy boy indeed:-) The talks were from people who had been there and done it, and done it big.. Running the alps in 34 days, taking on the Marathon De Sable (a year after an ablation) or setting and breaking the records for the lakeland peaks, the bob graham round and much else in between whilst dealing with breast cancer and needing a hysterectomy. What came through was their love of running, whether it was a good day or a bad day at the end of the day there was something to be taken from it... Those doing the Peak District Ultra set off at 8 - 60 miles, bar a smidgeon... I watched them go... And then set about my prep... Porridge, a sneaky...

Putting one foot in front of the other, day after day, week after week can I have to admit get a little stale... Scrap that, it can bore the pants off anyone. Some of my friends run the same route, the same way every time they go out... I'd be gibbering in a week... I hate laps... I need change, variety... So I pepper any years worth of running with the exotic, the unusual and the new. When I get really lucky I combine all three... Which is what Sunday night was... Trail running... At night... Up, along, around, down and up Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh... while wearing a radio-controlled suit of LEDs... and performing in a live show for the punters on the opposite hill. Madness?  Yes, but my kind of madness:-D The trailer gives you an idea... The walkers with their self powered light staves watching from the hill as the runners do a range of things... Walk... Run... while trying to keep 10m apart... Then high 5 to the runners either side... Then zombie.....

A blog about running, surely not... I don't think this is deep psychology, I suspect I have more places in my heart and my head to go before I hang up my trainers, but introspection is sometimes a good thing. I run because I enjoy it. My personality type draws its energy from the external environment, so being in the that environment; feeling the wind across my chest, the sun making me squint, the rhythm of my legs and feet impacting on the ground, even the trickle of sweat down my face and the hiss of the local geese make me smile, and makes me feel good. Being one of these extrovert-activist types means I naturally spend a lot of time with people, so the time on my feet is time in my own head.  It may seem an extreme way to develop my reflective style, but after a couple of hours of talking to myself I do tend to start focusing on the important stuff.  It sure as hell beats the sound of my own singing! There's some reasons why I enjoy running, rather than run itsel...

Ok, as ever my life has been a little bit hectic, so apologies this is going to be a rapid fire rattle through a couple of good weeks... The Dane's did us proud - From around Europe we converged on Ishoj, to learn and to share.  Yes there were excellent lectures, and a cardiologist whose approach to everything was so refreshingly fresh that I suspect he's considered a bit of a maverick.. One tip though don't let him navigate if he's on a bike ride with you... a 70km bike ride will turn into 80km... Oh, the cycling team - all young adults with congenital heart conditions... A lot of them quite complex... As I said a bit of a maverick, but my sort of maverick. However, as well as the lectures there was the learning from each other.  How we've grouped together, helped each other, planned and delivered events and most especially supported our growing community.  I've seen new groups in far flung countries build and an expand in the years I've been going,...