Historical fiction for beginners
Until fairly recently, I wouldn’t touch historical fiction with a bargepole. The covers looked boring and I imagined the stories inside to be boring too, not to mention rather heavy. I’ve read a lot of books set in World War II and a few set in World War I, but nothing set earlier than that. I still love a thriller, psychological or otherwise, but there’s only so many stories about missing children or women abused by...
The marathon paranoia (maranoia)
When you’re training for a marathon, it’s never far from your mind. I’m pretty sure I’m not just speaking for myself here, when I say it’s always there. It colours every thought. For me, I’m always thinking ahead to the next run and the one after that. How far, how fast? Do I need to eat more the day before? Will I have to start work late? Putting appointments into my calendar, I realised they...
My husband, my running buddy
It was my husband who first started me running, way back in 1994. We started running just before my 21st birthday. He was working and felt he was losing fitness and gaining weight, so wanted to do some exercise – and he wanted me to join him. I remember how hard those first few runs were. We ran a little lap around the River Trent in Nottingham, where we lived. I had to walk twice on our first run, and I’d be surprised if...
Return to marathon training: Weeks 7 to 10
As I approached the middle of my training for Newport marathon 2021, I’d reached the point where my legs felt stiff and aching pretty much all the time. This is normal (well certainly normal for me) and not an indication of injury – just an indication of all the hard work I’m putting in to get stronger. Week 7 of marathon training started with a 45 minute ‘intense run’, as it is described on my plan. That...
1000 hours outside: Summer update
At the start of the year, I set out to spend 1000 hours outside – or at least to see if I can spend around that amount of time outside. I am a person that always spends a lot of time outside. I’m a bit like a dog – if I’m not let out three times a day, I’m a real nightmare. But spending 1000 hours outside in a year means spending an average of 2 hours and 45 minutes outside every day. Even in winter. Even...
Cheltenham half marathon 2021
Cheltenham half marathon 2021 was my 20th half marathon (or 21st if you count the virtual Cheltenham Challenge) and my seventh Cheltenham half marathon. On 5th September 2021, there were five members of my family running Cheltenham half marathon. There were the usuals (my husband, brother-in-law and I), plus my sister running her first half marathon and my eldest running his second. I hadn’t trained for a half marathon, as...
