It is 11.40pm. My daughter is three-and-a-half months old. Having changed her nappy, I am sitting with her on the sofa, tapping out these words with one hand, rocking with the other. She will not sleep. At least she has stopped crying. A few minutes ago she was emitting a cry: loud, shrill and rising….
Author: heightsofmadness
A crisis of running identity
I am suffering from a crisis of running identity. I started as a school cross country runner, became a marathoner before I was a real road runner, swapped the road for the hills and mountains, and then fell into ultra-running. For two years my running aims have been ultra-related, with the 61-mile Fellsman, 66-mile Bob…
The art of the ultra-shuffle
You have to be an ultra-runner to appreciate the qualities of the ultra-shuffle. To the non-initiated (and count yourself lucky), to ultra-shuffle is to occupy the hazy middle-ground between running and walking. It occurs when the athlete is fatigued to the extent that fluent, hamstring-extending motion is no longer possible – but, while the will…
I am running 66 miles tomorrow. Sponsor me?
I run for many selfish reasons: health, wellbeing, fitness, enjoyment, the thrill of competition. More than anything, I like running. I like its simplicity and the way it becomes part of a daily routine. Tomorrow I am running for all those reasons, but also for charity. Charity? Not another one… People are overwhelmed these days…
The night before the night before running an ultramarathon
Tonight is the night before the night before running 66 miles on the Vanguard Way. What happens on the night before the night before running 66 miles? Not a lot, really. Eat. Rest. Prevaricate. Half-heartedly stretch. Devise excuses. Think, ooh, my ankle/foot/calf/knee/hip hurts. I have fielded a plethora of questions today. They have a common…
Running – why time matters (a lot)
When I was training for a sub three-hour marathon, the numbers of consequence were 6.52. Run each mile of 26.2 in six minutes, 52 seconds, and you will run a marathon in under the magical three-hour barrier. I have new numbers of consequence: 8.57. Let’s call them nine-minute miles: that would be a 5k in…
A runner’s worst nightmare? A field of cows
What is my biggest fear about running the Vanguard Way? Completing the full 66 miles? Eating and drinking enough to sustain myself for 10 hours? Conquering 1800 metres of thigh-shredding ascent and descent? I can prepare for those eventualities. A far more unpredictable proposition awaits: the fauna of Sussex and Surrey. My first encounter with…
A runner’s plea to his fellow runners
Do you want to help a runner in need? On Sunday, June 16, I am running the 66-mile Vanguard Way linking Newhaven to Croydon. Leaving Newhaven at around 4am, I will attempt to reach the finish line some 10 hours later. The route follows the coast over Seaford Head to Cuckmere Haven before running north…
Losing my innocence on Wainwrights’ fells
It was a late-October day in 2003 when I climbed my first Wainwright fell. Not that I knew at the time. Not that I cared. I was among a group of five university friends, who – without the benefit of a map – had crawled up the side of Lingmell. I forged ahead and summited alone, unwittingly…
The madness of the ultra distance runner Part II
A few days ago on this blog I reflected on the perception that those who spend a long time running long distances are touched by a unique kind of psychological madness. Not true, of course, I concluded. Madness is everything the ultra distance is not. Amid various responses, a post from Rich Cranswick stood out….
Can running ever be ‘fun’?
In Charlie Spedding’s very good First to Last he observes for years how he’d rated many of his training sessions as ‘not bad’. His conclusion was that to use a negative adjective to describe something that was ultimately a positive and an enormous part of his life and living was psychologically counter-productive. This realisation helped…
The madness of the ultra distance runner
‘Busy weekend?’ the Friday conversation goes. ‘I’m going to Jurassic Encounter Adventure Golf at New Malden on Saturday, then, on Sunday, I’ll run…’ ‘How far?’ Sharp intake of breath. ‘Forty…’ ‘Miles?’ ‘Yes.’ I’ve had this conversation many times over the years. Or certainly words to this effect, as this will be my first visit to Jurassic Encounter…
Heights of Madness 