Aim high, anything is possible! - Blog

It has been two days now since my second Cateran Trail Ultramarathon and I am feeling more than a touch battered! I had an excellent day. The race organisation was superb and the marshals were on top form as always. John Stanton, author and founder...

I received a message from a running friend, Alan Stewart, last week to inform me that he had just “caught your little article in May’s Men’s Running mag” . I had no idea what he was on about initially but, admittedly, had fallen...

I am back at my desk, happy not to be moving too much as I have a pretty bad case of the DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). The good news is that I did it, I managed to complete the 53 miles of the Hoka Highland Fling. I even bagged a new PB by some...

I'm not talking about fighting between Running Bug members. I'm talking about the flu bug, the sickness bug or any other kind of illness. It's bad enough when it strikes at all but, surely, the most inopportune sickness is that which strikes...

Why speed? Not a post about road safety but, in fact, about the 'need for speed' when it comes to running. Speed training is something that I have failed to embrace and, indeed, shied away from. Until now. Back in the days when I realised that...

I haven't posted here on The Running Bug since back on the 20th March. The reason for my absence was an extended leave of absence to mark one of my own milestones - hitting the big 4-0. I couldn't have 'timed' my 40th better. I have...

The D33 Ultramarathon, 17th March 2012 Those of you who follow my blog will likely be aware of my descent into panic in the week leading up to the D33 ultramarathon , the first race of the 2012 Scottish Ultra Marathon Series. Plagued by anguish...

Those of you with a race in the near future will likely be turning your thoughts to tapering. Do you taper? Have you tapered before? What works for you? If you have any experience of tapering, good or bad, please share it with everyone in the comments...

Saturday morning started off sunny enough, or at least it did for the first 3 miles. With the prospect of a long day ahead, I did not think twice and stopped to pull on my trusty North Face Triumph jacket. If ever a product was aptly named, it was the...

Standing high above the beach in the sand dunes, enjoying the scenic view with the sands beautifully lit up, I savoured the feeling of satisfaction. I had run 30 miles for this view, and whilst not altogether an easy 30 miles, it had certainly felt better...

If I ever write a book, 'Return To Quarrel Wood' will most definitely be a contender for the title. It just has such a cool ring to it. Sticking with the book analogy, my return to Quarrel Wood made for a pefect finale to a weekend in which...

Valentines evening and I painted a forlorn picture, trudging along the streets on a windy, wet night. I passed the local Indian & Italian restaurants and, as you would expect, they were all packed to the rafters, windows covered in condensation from...

This weeks post is a bit of a hotchpotch of musings. With a solid start to the year, including a new personal best in terms of monthly mileage, I was determined to keep up the mileage momentum. I approached Friday 3rd of February having covered 40 miles...

I have actually run a bit less than usual these past two weekends. All things considered, that's probably not a bad thing in terms of letting my body recover and adapt. I spent this past weekend visiting and, on Saturday morning, I sneaked in a 10...

Have you ever heard that such and such a supermodel won't get out of bed for less than £50,000 or some other preposterous amount? I used to be like that. Unfortunately, however, it was not great wads of cash that were used to entice me from...

Firstly, let me just congratulate all of the winners of The Running Bug awards 2011 and especially RespectTheStupidity and Westie for their well earned wins. I was shocked enough to even be nominated, let alone make the final shortlists. Thanks to all...

I was lucky enough to be able to extend my festive holiday to accommodate a short break in the Cairngorms. My wife was not quite so lucky in that she had to return to work briefly before we could both head up to Aviemore. Having taken a couple of days...

So here we are in the final few hours of 2011 and, looking back on the year, I am happy to say that it has been a good one for me. Hopefully you can say the same about your year and, in a matter of hours, we will have a whole new year in which to start...

Just a quick additional post to say thanks to everyone who has read any or all of my 14 posts over the past 3 months approx. When the opportunity to write for The Running Bug came up, I jumped at the chance and then, after that initial post, I have to...

I am just back from a 5 day break in Edinburgh. I managed to keep up my Marcothon commitments thanks to 6 a.m. runs, taking me up to 50 consecutive days of running and up to Marcothon day 20. On the plus side, I am chuffed to have made it this...

This follows on from my previous post, Preparing For An Ultramarathon (Part 1) Just by way of a disclaimer, all of the following is based entirely on my own personal experience, that of a ‘plodder’ whose main aim is to finish. What works...

Part 2 of Preparing For An Ultramarathon ( Part 1 ) will follow shortly. In the meantime, I just wanted to share some of the following with you. It's certainly been a busy couple of weeks as far as new experiences go! So, the main news is that...

Following a blog posting that I read by fellow Running Bug blogger, RunDeeMc (love the name!) I thought I would share some of what I have pieced together in terms of planning for an ultramarathon. Other than a real inclination to get out there and...

I spoke too soon when I said that things would be back to ‘normal service’ last week. Turns out that I had not in fact kicked the chest and throat infection and it did indeed return for a further few days to give me a kicking! Despite this...

I am thankfully back on track (not literally!) and hope to be back to 'normal service' soon having just about kicked the chest and throat infection that has laid me low for the past week. In keeping with my Movember pledge, I have continued to...