I have never considered myself a blogger or ever intended to blog about
running. If this sounds like a confession I suppose it is. I have always ran or
been running since I can remember, but it was only in 2011 that I decided to
enter a half marathon and that is when I caught the ‘running bug’ as people
have labelled it. Ever since then I have entered into all sorts of races, be
they tough mudder style obstacle courses to your classic 10k races that seem to
be the staple of every running club. It was only when I gave up playing rugby
in 2013 that I realised I was slowly becoming more and more interested in
running. I started to run longer distances, as well as races, and ended up
(like many other thousands of people in the UK) finishing my first marathon in
2014 at Brighton. It was after this marathon that I experienced a feeling of
elation- one could even call it a high- that I have not felt before; my body
was rushing with endorphins and all around I saw the smiles of fellow runners
who without having to exchange a word knew what we had each been through. In
many ways it was a moment of contradictions; in one sense I felt like I wanted
to do a marathon all over again, but at the same time I knew I could barely
walk let alone run another mile.
