How begging a magazine editor taught me a lesson about life.

It was 2012. I was lying on my living room floor, flicking through a copy of Women's Running Magazine when I saw the feature. "Going to miss your long runs now your marathon training is done? Then maybe, just maybe, ultra marathoning should be your next goal." I didn't even really know what an ultra marathon was. A quick Google search delivered pages and pages of 50 and 100 mile adventures over mountains and along rivers and in exotic locations all over the world. There was no maybe about it. In that moment, with only 1 full marathon under my belt, I [...]

By |2016-12-29T13:32:02+01:0031 July 2015|

A tale of an ultra-marathon, a trampoline and my f*cked up ankle

"It'll take me about 8-hours, I reckon". That's what I told my friends, Katie and Simon, as we tucked into giant bowls of pasta in a cosy, if a little over-priced pub in Clifden, a tiny town on the West Coast of Ireland, and a few miles from the starting point of the 40-mile ultra-marathon we'd run the very next day. There were hills. A lot of them. I'd read the reports of people who'd run the race in previous years. 'The Hell of The West', that's what they called the climb at the 22-mile mark. I was nervous. The [...]

By |2016-12-29T13:32:04+01:0011 June 2015|

Good-bye

I’ve never really been good at good-byes. I’ve also never really figured out what is so good about byes. I know deep in my heart that the reason I don’t like saying good-bye is because I didn’t get the chance to say good-bye to my mum before she died. And since then, I’ve avoided them. Even at parties, especially the really busy ones, I just up and leave. I hate the rigmarole of going round the room, making gestures over the loud music that I’m going. I don’t like making a fuss. I prefer to just go, to slip away. Leaving like this is easy. [...]

By |2016-12-29T13:32:05+01:0028 January 2015|

Meaning

You were born free, you know. You just arrived in the world one day - all naked and raw-minded - slowly growing, day-by-day, in size and height and opinions and thoughts and beliefs and desires. Remember when you were 2 and just said what you thought? I wonder what life would be like if we were all a little more honest and real with each other? And with ourselves. Being honest and real with yourself is so fucking important. Do you feel like you’re always looking for something, waiting for something to make sense in your life? Do you often wonder, “Why am [...]

By |2016-12-29T13:32:05+01:0025 December 2014|

Should, should, should

With the close of the year bounding towards us in a blur of twinkling lights and too many glasses of red wine, it's easy to start looking back over 2014 and doing a whole load of 'shoulding'. You know, "I should have left my job", or "I should have told him", or "I should have said no", or "I should have started going to the gym way back in February when I said I would". Sigh. I feel you. I've been doing some shoulding over the last few days too. We all do it. Sometimes a lot. Sometimes a little bit. Sometimes so [...]

By |2014-12-04T17:23:17+01:004 December 2014|

How to have a better day when you’re feeling a bit shit

We all have shit days. We do. They sneak up on us without warning - sometimes without any solid rhyme or reason - knocking us sideways into the funk of all funks. We suddenly lose all motivation for ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING, we sulk, we judge others (and ourselves), and we let our feelings lead us, by the scruff of our necks, when making decisions - which, in my experience - never amounts to anything good. You know that feeling when you really wish you could turn back time, to that moment when you said that really stupid, dramatic thing to [...]

By |2016-12-29T13:32:05+01:0027 November 2014|

An audio interview with Susie Chan

Firstly: I think I am a little bit in love with Susie Chan. Secondly: You probably are too, right? (It's ok, you can admit it). Last week, I interviewed Susie and let me tell you, she's every bit as lovely in person (ok, over Skype) as she is on Twitter. I haven’t really interviewed anyone before, but as soon as I followed the tweets on her timeline as she ran - and finished - the Thames Path 100 mile trail race back in May, I realised that I just had to talk to her and find out more. I am so intrigued [...]

By |2016-12-29T13:32:06+01:0010 June 2014|

Doubt

I cried in a CrossFit class last Friday. I pulled my grey hat over my eyes to hide the tears. We were supposed to be squatting with a medicine ball, and I just couldn't do it. Stupid really. I felt frustrated and embarrassed. The coach asked me if I was ok. I nodded. But I wasn't. It feels like I've spent the last few weeks really doubting myself. My word for 2014, 'dare', clung loosely to my legs as I slowly meandered through January. I kept looking at the word on my blackboard, and yet I didn't know what 'dare' [...]

By |2016-12-29T13:32:07+01:007 February 2014|

The Greater Manchester Marathon: My story

At mile 2, my right hip started to feel a little tight. I chose to ignore it and told myself that this kind of thing is normal and would most likely ease as the miles increased. At mile 3, I couldn't work out how to drink from the water pouch that was handed to me at an aid station. I didn't dare slow my pace to figure it out. I ended up biting a hole in the side of the plastic. Water spurted out of the side and soaked my t-shirt. Fuck it. I laughed. At mile 9, I figured [...]

By |2016-12-29T13:32:08+01:002 May 2013|

Is it emotionally healthy to “Go hard, or go home”?

"Go hard, or go home". I see this quote bandied around quite a lot on Twitter, especially amongst our running community. I get it. We say it to motivate. It provides a hulk-smash surge of, "You can fucking do this", just when we need it, perhaps before a race. The one we're aiming to PB. But what happens when we don't go hard? Are we expected to retreat home feeling like a failure? Are we somehow thought less of amongst our peers? And what happens when, "Go hard, or go home", comes from our own internal voice? When we're staring down [...]

By |2016-12-29T13:32:08+01:0011 April 2013|
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