Staying fit and well in mid-life

I used to run. I used to run far. All that stopped almost 6 years ago. I'm starting again, and I'm going to have fun while doing it. Join me.

I didn’t start running until I was 40. 

Before that, my relationship with running was one of avoidance. Not as bad as some kids at my secondary school who took the bus and pretended to complete the cross-country run, but not too far off. 

The old Routemaster’s open platform with no doors was perfect to hop on and off and avoid running most of the cross-country route. This was the actual bus route too. Picture taken in 1979, though this kind of mischief was happening in my year group between 1980-82

Wide load approaching

Once upon a time, I couldn’t run over 30 seconds without shin pain or stopping, bent over gasping for air. Actually, for most of my life, I couldn’t run without either of those two things happening. But with my life clock ticking and my girth expanding, I needed to do something radical. Although I love cricket and played as an all-rounder (batting #5-8 and first change outswing / nagging line and length depending on conditions), it just wasn’t cutting it anymore as an adequate form of exercise.

At age 40, I learned to run doing the Couch-to-5k programme and joined a running club. Before too long, I figured out I could actually run for 40 minutes at a time.

This was a complete mind-blower.

Running was now a joyful experience.

Over the next 7 years, I tackled 5Ks, 10Ks and even half-marathons before completing 8 marathons (including Berlin, London and one for a research project around the streets of SW London).

Berlin Marathon 2010, with split times. A very, very rainy day. Even I’m impressed with my discipline here.

That 2011 London Marathon had a very hot and tricky second half. A story for another time …

I also did two ultra-marathons, 1 x 50K and 1 x 60K, running the final 52K with what turned out to be a serious concussion. Again, a story for another time.

I discovered I’m quite a stubborn runner. 

Time sponges

My last marathon was in 2016 - the awful downhill that makes up the latter half of the Hanmer Alpine Marathon, and my slowest marathon time ever in over 5 hours. And how my legs ached. 

Then, two more kids / time + attention sponges arrived, joining our older daughter, and I stopped running. 

Six years later, and the eldest of those two is about to start school. And I’m starting running again. 

Join me in my journey into joyful running again as I try to retrain my older body (and mind) to the point of being able to run a half-marathon again. At 53 and picking up from scratch again, it might take a year, but I’m determined to get there without hurting myself too badly. I’ll share stories of previous running adventures, as well as some of my thoughts and training as I get myself back into running again. 

I hope you’ll join me both here and out there, somewhere in the middle of life and in the middle of the pack where we can belong.