Stillness and Illness

Recently I've been making a conscious effort to practise 'stillness'. Not merely the act of being physically still, but more taking a step back; giving yourself a chance to stop and reflect. It might sound very simple but in the hectic and busy lives we lead we very rarely give ourselves the opportunity to be still. I read an interesting quote the other day from someone that quite rightly suggested we should call ourselves 'human doings' rather than human beings, because we tend to define ourselves by what we do, rather than who we are.

Warming up at Brockwell

"What do you fancy doing when you visit?", my friend asked.

"Well.. I'd quite like to check out your local parkrun.. but other than that.. anything!", I replied, hopefully.

She was dubious that I was only visiting so I could tick another parkrun off the list, and she wasn't sure about this 'getting up early' business on a Saturday morning either. When you spend most of your time with runners, triathletes, cyclists and other sporty types, it's easy to forget that there are other people out there with zero interest in your sporting endeavours. My old school friend is one of these people; she generally just rolls her eyes when I tell her what I'm up to and thoughtfully serves me up an extra portion of whatever tasty meal she's making.

A Year Off, A Year On

I was going to say that "I'm not making any resolutions this year", but Google states that the definition of resolution is "a firm decision to do or not do something". Therefore anyone who insists they are "not making any resolutions" is either a liar, or silly, or too scared to share! I was very nearly silly. Surely everybody has made some sort of decision about something they do or do not want to do this year?!

CTS 2013: Dorset

After waiting for a bus load of Dutch runners to arrive and then listening to the most thorough (read: longest) pre-run briefing I have ever listened to, we finally made our way to the start. I was itching to get going; it had taken me a long time to get here. It was over two years ago when I first heard about the Coastal Trail Series and this was the first time that I was both fit and available at the same time.

The Very Ominous OMM

The Original Mountain Marathon is a two day challenge that combines navigation, hiking, fell-running, generally being wet and muddy, camping and the ability to select and carry all the kit you require, but only the kit you require. Becca (my OMM partner and very tolerant girlfriend) and I had started off being very strict about all the stuff we wouldn't take. My one luxury item would be a camera,

Unfortunately this does not all fit in an 18l rucksack

nothing else non-essential. I tried several times over to ram all the essential kit into my trusty (and very light) Inov-8 Race Pro 18, but eventually I had to give in and up-size to a bulkier, 30 litre model.

As the main event drew closer, and the weather forecast became very real, more and more "essential kit" was added to our list. We had gone from deciding to take the absolute minimum to "Sod it, let's just take everything and be really warm! Let's also take loads of chocolate.. and extra meals". Soon enough, even the bigger pack was full to the brim. I'd been trying to convince Becca for weeks that we really wouldn't be running very much with this much weight but it wasn't until the night before, when we did our final re-pack and kit check and she loaded it onto her back, that she finally agreed with me.

Snowman Tri 2013

Snowman doesn't look mean there, but he is!

Not that I'm trying to lay blame or anything, but I'm not sure who convinced whom to enter the Snowman Tri. Between Ruth and I, we are probably equally responsible for egging each other on and committing ourselves to a "challenging triathlon" in Snowdonia. In my option, "challenging triathlon" isn't really an adequate description. At the very least they should rename it 'Abominable Snowman Tri', or "Snowman Tri of Doom" or something a bit scarier.

The Inaugural Glow Swim

Hot Chilli Tri know how to run an event. I've been to many of their brilliantly organised open water time-trials and aquathons over the last couple of years. Even their set-up at the Club Relays was impressive with some sort of gourmet chef and printed menu scenario (leftovers of which came to the Salisbury Tri camp.. even better!). When I heard they were organising a night swimming event in the crystal clear waters of Vobster Quay, I suddenly had an unusual feeling: motivation for swimming. I signed up immediately.

We turned up not knowing quite what to expect. The goody bag contained one glow stick and a bit of string which needed to be (firmly) secured to the back of your goggles or top of your wetsuit and another glow stick "for fun" afterwards. I was sort of hoping there might be some kind of swimming rave after-party.