More About Paddington It was quiet in the physio room this morning, and a little subdued in the 10in10 meeting room. Perhaps people had things to worry about? Maybe it was the ominous shadow? Routine becomes established quite quickly, breakfast, treatment, briefing, run, treatment, prep fuel and hydration for the next day, dinner, blog, sleep, rinse and repeat. Personal admin they call it in the services, it's where we have to organise our electrolyte bottles and food we t

A Bear Called Paddington Abandoned, alone and scared. A little aging loner, low on energy, short on strength, limited in training and terribly, terribly worried about embarrassing himself. Excuses at the ready, not enough training, tweaked hamstring, a pulled achilles. What is blatantly clear is that out of the few Brathay 10in10s I've done, this is the most terrified I've been. Just like Paddington I feel alone, scared and looking for a 'family' to own, or rather want me

Deliberate, definite, focussed. Except I'm not. For years I've tried to work out how to be more consistent, more on the level, less fluctuating in my efforts. It's still not something I've worked out, not for the lack of trying. Happy times, when I felt like I was part of something special, static moments of grateful existence, family holidays, special places of work (when everyone is with you), special efforts and rewards and, the Brathay 10in10. Looking back, each of tho

Someone once said, that if you stop challenging yourself you stop growing? Who knows? Two years ago, enticed by the advertising as the 'World's Toughest Mountain Race', I thought I'd throw my hat into the ring. I deferred last year as it was giving me sleepless nights. Like a year is going to make any difference? I've had more than a few sleepless nights. Anxiety levels have been through the roof. For the last 12 months, there's been a genuine fear that I simply couldn

What's that phrase, poor preparation leads to p.p. performance? I know myself too well. Earlier in the week, I'd cleared my diary so I...

Doesn't everybody have an Aunty Dot or at the very least know an Aunty Dot? I bet she got invited to the wedding? Most month's on waking...

Many years ago, when running became a ‘thing’ for me, I decided to try and raise funds for Brathay Trust through (in part) writing this...

Three days to go. Three sleeps. 72 hours. Over a year to wait. Over a year to train. Except for the fact that I sort of didn’t, haven’t,...

Diary Day 10 of the Brathay 10in10 (ten marathons in 10 days).