Day 13 – the ‘danger of magical thinking during a run’ day Stats at the bottom, such as they are. Magical thinking – many of us are guilty of it. In one of those serendipities that can seem miraculous, I was writing about the process of magical thinking in alcoholics for a client today and […]

Posted by on Jan 12, 2011 in #janathon | One Comment

Day 12 – the ‘run misty for me’ day Stats at bottom for checkers There’s something really magical about running through mist. Or is it fog? I never know which is which. Anyway, I ran early today and enjoyed the muffling, mysterious experience of having the sound of my footsteps softened, the streetlights haloed by […]

Posted by on Jan 11, 2011 in Uncategorised | One Comment

Janathon Day 11 – the keeping company day Stats at the bottom for the lovely Janathon checkers. Today I ran with @janathon_ – a shortish loop from Jew Street (where we left our non-running kid with the excellent folks from New Writing South: you know you belong to a really good membership organisation when they […]

Posted by on Jan 10, 2011 in #janathon, fear, mental health, running shoes | 2 Comments

Janathon Day 10 – the ‘don’t bloody ask’ day! This is how bad it was – I’m giving you a choice of my janathon misery or a good laugh and I’d strongly recommend the laugh. Stats: • Distance – 1.45k• Mood – frustration turning to fear, becoming fury and veering hysteria-wards later• Backstory – complicated. […]

Day 9 – Landscape with runners (after Brueghel) So much I want to write about today! The picture, and the fact that I am lucky enough to have four windmills within running distance of my home; the joy of running on a crisp morning; the horror of piriformis syndrome, and why Iain M Banks is […]

Day 8 – the Mickey Rourke of runs Why Mickey Rourke? Because it was quick, short and rather dirty. The details: • 1.03 k• Very early in the morning• Orchestrated by Aphex Twin (Outside Kick Ass Violin Solo to be precise) and The Commitments (Mustang Sally) So here’s the reason. I have to be in […]

Janathon Day 7 – the demotivation Dalek strikes Motivation was a problem today. This couldn’t get me out of the door, even though I wasn’t going to let myself eat it until I got home – it’s a Hotel Chocolat 5-second Chilli and it was delicious although, if I’m being totally honest, I think the […]

Janathon Day 6 – chocolate is my fuel of choice Today’s blog is brought to you by Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Milk Chocolate Costa Rica Coffee, all 100 grams of it! Yes, I eat therefore I run. It’s always been that way for me. Not necessarily running, but something aerobic. And I’ve never, ever, been […]

Posted by on Jan 5, 2011 in #janathon, bad karma, chocolate, sadism | One Comment

Janathon Day 5 – the bad karma day An old running friend rings me. Her: I saw your blog about runners and masochism. Me: Good. The point of writing is for somebody else to read it. Silence Her: Oh. Right … So … I liked it a lot. Me, graciously: Thank you. Her, apprehensively: But… […]

Older, Colder, Slower, Tireder (or not as the case may be) Janathon Day 4 Today’s run is brought to you by: • Solo Gamalat (Gamal Goma)• Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Daft Punk)• Weapon of Choice (Fatboy Slim) I didn’t expect today’s run to be any fun at all, for the reasons in the title plus: […]