Hello & welcome

Picture by Eryn Vorn

Hello, and welcome to my new health and fitness blog! I'll be offering training tips, giving my take on news coverage and logging a diary of my running story so far.

After years of running slowly taking over my life, I decided to trade the office job for a life outdoors as a full time personal fitness instructor.  I am now on a mission to gain entry into one of the toughest mountain races in Europe. But life hasn't always been this way. There was a time when I could barely mount an escalator. So whatever level you are at, hopefully I can help.

I'm returning to racing after a year out following a skiing accident that left me with a plate on my tibia and my insurance company with a rather large bill (I cannot emphasise enough how important insurance and an E111 are if you are going skiing! But that is for another day).  So following a nine-month break from running I am back and loving it more than ever.  I managed to hobble round a first run in October and am in the final stages of preparation for the Thames Path 100 in a few weeks time (100 miles from Richmond to Oxford).  The first of three ultras this year if all goes to plan, on the way to get enough entry points for Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc 2014 - a 166km trek across the Alps and my toughest challenge to date.

I haven’t always been an avid runner, and spent a number of years leading a very unhealthy life avoiding any form of physical exertion.  I turned my back on all things sporty at around the age of 16 in favour of a life of smoking, drinking and eating junk in front of the TV.

It was an unpleasant surprise when eight years later I found I couldn’t walk up an escalator, was told I had high blood pressure and that my resting heart rate was sky-high.  My GP wanted to put me on beta blockers to deal with the problem.  I always assumed these were things that happened when you were old – not to someone in their mid-twenties. 

Something needed to change, so I decided to start doing something about it.  I found some old trainers, dug out some shorts and a T-shirt and went for a run around the block.  Sticking with it was tough to start, and there have been some stumbles along the way, but my love of running has only grown over the years.  I have also benefited from the help and advice of others.

So, I thought I would start to share what I know and have learnt along the way.  Thank you for joining me, feel free to say hello and let me know if there are any burning issues you would like me to look at.