Race Reports

The question of why..

2018 seems to have been a bit of a funny year so far. If I dig into how I feel about it then I come up with the feeling that it has been  pretty awesome in some respects but so damn tough and sad in others. Digging into any sort of quantifiable race results, it [...]

Racing to train.

You might not believe me, but I don’t see myself as a good racer. Like a lot of people, I started doing this because I enjoyed it, not because I thought I could win stuff. I’m not motivated by winning (although it is really nice!) and I often don’t enjoy the pressure that racing can […]

Return to roots

The Lakeland 100 in July last year seems like a distant memory in some regards, however the lessons learned from the build up and whole training year still sit firmly in my mind, albeit still a little uncomfortably to be honest. 8 months further on I feel like a very different runner now, and with […]

Know when to walk away, know when to run.

The day before the South Downs Way 50, some random radio station was on in the kitchen and The Gambler by Kenny Rogers came on. I remember my mum playing it when I was younger and I’ve always liked it but more for the jangliness than the sentiment. Listening to it a few days ago […]

Things are getting stressy…

To me, running is about enjoyment. Getting away from stuff that I don’t want to think about, into nature, moving forward under my own power, and being peaceful and relaxed. So why am I doing it to the extent that it’s making me really tired? Why am I finding that I want to stay in […]

Close your eyes; clear your heart. Cut the cord.

I have, in the past, been called intimidating. I don't think it was an insult, rather a suggestion that I'm a confident person who knows their own mind and won't take any nonsense. So why, in the past few weeks, have I found myself quaking with fear, overcome with an anxiety so deep that I [...]

Nail your New Year

How was your 2017? I’m willing to bet that some things went really well and other things that you wanted to happen just didn’t. Life happened instead. Surprises probably popped up that meant having to put things off; injuries may have put paid to plans or your feelings about earlier targets may have changed. Personally, […]

Exit light, enter night…

My name is Kim and I like enclosed spaces. Now, I’m not saying I’m agoraphobic, but if you gave me the choice between sitting in a busy room surrounded by people, or sitting in a cupboard with a book and head-torch, there would be no contest. There’s something incredibly comforting about being in a small […]

Better, faster, stronger.

‘Why do I get injured?’ ‘Why am I not improving?’ ‘Why am I not losing weight?’ ‘Why am I so tired?’ As runners –  beginners or seasoned amateurs – we may ask ourselves these questions regularly. In my last post, I talked about how challenging it is to not run all the time, but if […]