Hello! Welcome to my blog! I am not very fast nor very great, and so if you are seeking insight into the workings of the mind of a winning runner, this will likely be quite disappointing, and you'd probably be better to look elsewhere. But! I love running, and if experience is measured by miles and years running, rather than medals won, then I would consider myself an experienced runner, and therefore qualified enough to have a blog about it.
My running career started in 1995 at the age of 11, when I sort of fell into it. Not literally, I didn't fall from the sky into a pair of trainers and set off jogging, but I fell into it because I wasn't good at anything else. I was quite chubby as a child (someone once told me my legs looked like sausages), and compared to my sister who is tall and graceful like a swan (no sausage legs), when I got to nearly being a teenager I started to feel angry about this. So when I joined high school, I resolved to become a sporting legend. I joined the netball team, but that dream was crushed (I did actually fall about in netball, quite a lot) and the pinnacle of glory I reached was being a reserve for the 3rd team (the last reserve). Then one day in November, our PE teacher shouted at us it was cross country season. Immediately, my competition was obliterated as half of the class brought in sick notes; I had no idea that so many of my classmate had bad ankles, or bad periods (even some of the boys I think, on cross country days), or parents willing to provide sick notes. Needless to say, my parents hadn't given me a sick note. I remember being quite underwhelmed by the thought of doing long bouts of exercise outside in the winter time. My parents had had us out walking every weekend since I could walk (before that, in fact), in the rain and shine, in fact if it was raining it was even more likely we would go (but in a good way). So I didn't get what all the fuss was about.
My running career started in 1995 at the age of 11, when I sort of fell into it. Not literally, I didn't fall from the sky into a pair of trainers and set off jogging, but I fell into it because I wasn't good at anything else. I was quite chubby as a child (someone once told me my legs looked like sausages), and compared to my sister who is tall and graceful like a swan (no sausage legs), when I got to nearly being a teenager I started to feel angry about this. So when I joined high school, I resolved to become a sporting legend. I joined the netball team, but that dream was crushed (I did actually fall about in netball, quite a lot) and the pinnacle of glory I reached was being a reserve for the 3rd team (the last reserve). Then one day in November, our PE teacher shouted at us it was cross country season. Immediately, my competition was obliterated as half of the class brought in sick notes; I had no idea that so many of my classmate had bad ankles, or bad periods (even some of the boys I think, on cross country days), or parents willing to provide sick notes. Needless to say, my parents hadn't given me a sick note. I remember being quite underwhelmed by the thought of doing long bouts of exercise outside in the winter time. My parents had had us out walking every weekend since I could walk (before that, in fact), in the rain and shine, in fact if it was raining it was even more likely we would go (but in a good way). So I didn't get what all the fuss was about.
So there I was, in gym knickers, a t-shirt, and some holey plimsolls in mid-November at the start line. Where I learnt quickly the first rule of cross country running - the faster you run, the faster you're done (and if you were at high school in 1995, that meant if you finished before everyone else, you got to have a shower first, and before everyone else used all the hot water). Without ever running before, I finished the 3rd girl in my class, and the rest is history. When you've never been good at sports before, coming 3rd is quite addictive.
Around that same time, I was also diagnosed with depression. That was a really difficult period in my life, but as I worked through it, I found that running became one of the tools that I used to help deal with it. I find the action of running itself quite therapeutic, and a time when I can clear my mind of the thoughts that sometimes cloud it. And afterwards, the 'runners high' is a feeling I've become familiar with, and one that can help to balance my mind, back to a better place than it was before. My depression comes and goes, but my running always stays, and helps me to deal with those times.
I've gradually built up in distance over the years. I ran 800 m, 1500 m and cross country at high school, 5 km at college, and my first 10 km in my second year at university. I did my first half marathon in 2007, my first full marathon in 2009, and my first ultra-marathon in 2014. Since then, I've focussed mostly on marathon distance and above, and found that I love longer distances (up to 100 miles, but 50 miles is my favourite) and multi-day events. I joined the 100 Marathon Club in 2019, so it was a fairly long journey to get there, but it's a marathon not a sprint, as they say.
I've met tons of brilliant people through running, made some great friends, and it's also a great way to spend time with my partner and parents who are all active. I've got to travel to some great places through running, and I think you get to see a different side of places if you explore them on your feet.
So that's me. Thanks for reading!
Around that same time, I was also diagnosed with depression. That was a really difficult period in my life, but as I worked through it, I found that running became one of the tools that I used to help deal with it. I find the action of running itself quite therapeutic, and a time when I can clear my mind of the thoughts that sometimes cloud it. And afterwards, the 'runners high' is a feeling I've become familiar with, and one that can help to balance my mind, back to a better place than it was before. My depression comes and goes, but my running always stays, and helps me to deal with those times.
I've gradually built up in distance over the years. I ran 800 m, 1500 m and cross country at high school, 5 km at college, and my first 10 km in my second year at university. I did my first half marathon in 2007, my first full marathon in 2009, and my first ultra-marathon in 2014. Since then, I've focussed mostly on marathon distance and above, and found that I love longer distances (up to 100 miles, but 50 miles is my favourite) and multi-day events. I joined the 100 Marathon Club in 2019, so it was a fairly long journey to get there, but it's a marathon not a sprint, as they say.
I've met tons of brilliant people through running, made some great friends, and it's also a great way to spend time with my partner and parents who are all active. I've got to travel to some great places through running, and I think you get to see a different side of places if you explore them on your feet.
So that's me. Thanks for reading!
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