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Thinking about it.

That’s the best and worst thing about running: thinking. Time to consider, for your mind to wander from idea to idea, flitting between thoughts, plans for the day ahead, happy and sad memories. Anything except the signals of excruciating agony coming from your body.

I’m relatively new to running. I started last year, 2011, because of stars falling into alignment. I was 42 years of age at that time, and although I used to play basketball a bit years ago, I swam for my school a little in early teens and and I like playing 5-a-side, I’ve never been what you’d describe as athletic. I’d tried running dozens of times in my life and generally hated it. Loved the idea, loved it, right up until the point of actually doing it, and then stopping and not starting again.

The first star to align was vanity. I saw a photograph of myself walking with my family, pushing my daughter along in her pushchair, and I didn’t like what I saw – balding and a little paunchy. I didn’t want in the years to come to be fat, bald and old. I knew I couldn’t do anything about hair loss, or ageing, but maybe I could do something about the wodge that had comfortably settled around my midriff. The second star was jealousy. A friend of mine, an old colleague who I don’t see often enough, had just successfully run the Brighton Marathon. This interested me from the point of view of… well, couldn’t I do that? I like a challenge. I had no idea how to go about it. The third star was technology. Another running friend advised me that to run a marathon I’d have to learn to pace myself, to not run above 10-minute miles at first. I love gadgets, and I suddenly had an excuse to get a GPS running watch. That was a revelation.

In May 2011 I set myself up with a little 5km route around Weybridge, Surrey, and ran out at as near to 10min/miles as I could. And blow me, if I didn’t finish it. It was the furthest I’d ever run for fun (previous charity races aside, as they weren’t, honestly, fun). I went again a few days later, and again, and I found a thrill in trying to beat my previous time. Then one day, some weeks later, I finished the loop, and on a spur of the moment decided I’d go around again. Without stopping, I did a 10k run. For fun. I didn’t realise at the time, but this was something that would quickly go on to become a passion for running now, just over a year later. Not only a passion to run, but a drive to go a little faster, and a *lot* further.