Running

Hello. I'm still running, and have enjoyed catching up on the past few months of the thread (though I've been keeping abreast of some people's runs on Strava).

In one way, I'm about to come full circle with running (ignoring childhood/teen efforts). It was about three years ago I was cajoled into trying a parkrun after a 30-year running hiatus. In time – after a few months of predictable mistakes and injuries – that led to volunteering, joining a parkrun event core team, encouraging both wife and son to get involved with running and volunteering, helping out at the juniors as well (there's quite a buzz to be had from scanning the barcodes of six-year-olds dressed as a banana and a pineapple who've just tried to outsprint each other in the funnel), first finishes, and an age group course record. Meanwhile parkrun led to me joining a club (one of the developments encouraged by the parkrun core values document), and that opened a whole universe of training, cross-country, camaraderie, track and field, vets' leagues, 5ks, 10ks, HMs, trail runs, and getting very cold standing around between mine and my son's races. Peak dad-life. I've also become quite the expert in tendinopathy rehab protocols and tissue degradation/synthesis research (but would rather not have needed to).

Now, after much arm-twisting by the more virtuous part of my brain, and having done pretty much every other role, I've finally agreed to be a run director at the end of the month, donning the new and not-very-visible RD's vest, and our crowdfunded defibrillator in its own mini rucksack. Obviously I'm shitting myself, but nothing ventured…

And prior to that I'll be doing the 20min pacing this weekend (unless I get a bad tendinopathy flare-up) if anyone's looking to cross that particular threshold doing five-and-a-bit laps at Highbury Fields in North London.

Are we doing goals for 2020 yet? I have mine, but fuck knows if I'll stick to them. Famously fickle.