First post!

OK, so all blogs have to start somewhere and here's mine....my first ever in fact (yes, its taken me a while!).


I think the point of this blog is to provide me with a space to talk about my obsession with all things running, fell-running as well as my love for mountains.  It will no doubt include postings about runs I've done in training and from races, statistical data from my trusty Garmin (other devices are available) and the thoughts I have about running in general.  Over the coming months, it will certainly lean towards describing my thoughts and training as I prepare to climb each of the UK's nine 4000ft mountains in 4 days or less - 10-13 September (more on that later!).


Probably the first thing to say is that I am not and never will be the best or quickest runner there is, neither do I profess to be a particular authority on the subjects I'll no doubt blog about.  I've been running on and off for several years and I guess have taken it particularly seriously (i.e. running minimum of 3 times / week, joined a running club and entered races) for the last 3 years.  In this time, the thing that's struck me the most about running is the friendliness and helpful attitude of those you get to know.  That's not to say its not competitive because it definitely is, but most runners are more than happy to talk about their experiences and thoughts about training, races and so on.


Having played a number of different sports over the years, some at pretty decent levels (i.e. football and cricket), this attitude does not occur across the board.  I'm not really sure that I understand why - maybe its because its not a team game, maybe because runners tend to be a fairly close-knit community (i.e. non-runners often think of us as being a bit weird, especially if they think running up and down mountains is fun!)....I'm not convinced I know as yet.  What is certain though is that this is one of the best things about being a runner, you may well spend a lot of time on lone runs (in the dark in winter months) but whenever you come across another runner, you'll realise you are not alone.


And that's first blog, a bit of a warm-up really.  


What's coming next?  Well tomorrow, I'm running the Edale Skyline fell-race - 21miles around Kinder Scout (Peak District), including over 4500ft of ascent!  What am I taking on?  Why am I taking it on?  More on that later.....