So, I received notification 2 days ago of a successful installation of the v9.0 Garmin Fenix 6 update. “Yey, a new update” I’d usually exclaim… But 2 days later, I’ve still not been able to use it due to the dreaded Garmin battery drain issue, amongst other problems. The ‘stability updates’ on offer appear to have made my watch at least, extremely unstable and certainly unusable. Not only did I discover steps were no longer being counted but a 14 day, 100% charged battery, drained to empty in approximately 2-3 hours earlier today. This also happened yesterday which was the day after update. P ..read more

It’s been a strange 6 weeks since my last blog post. Halfway through March I was taking part in the Up and Running 30 day challenge and I made no mention of Coronavirus. How things can change in such a small space of time and will things ever be the same again? How has running during lockdown been for you? I’m keeping very busy with work. Luckily we sell a product that is in high demand with many people working from home or home schooling. We’re able to run a skeleton warehouse team to make sure items are dispatched as normal, with Customer Service staff working from home. My heart goes out t ..read more

‘Run Every Day’ challenges seem to be the in thing at the moment and Social Run Group has created a March challenge to get you out pounding the streets (or trails!). Part of the Up and Running chain, Social Run Group is challenging its members to run for 30 of the 31 days in March to promote health and wellbeing in the community. As with the various SRG run groups, the challenge is completely free and various social media and Strava groups have been set up to track everyone’s progress. Before the month started you could choose from a number of mileage targets, depending on your ability a ..read more

So, my blog is still here even if I haven’t a lot of time. I stumbled across a post from roughly a year ago in February 2019 and it appears I haven’t moved on much from then! https://www.therunblog.com/starting-again/ I have finally managed to complete my 100th parkrun recently and it only took about 5 years! The main picture above is from a very frosty, very hungover 99th parkrun in Westpark, Munich. A very friendly bunch, mostly made up by ex-pats, and for a big city, they only get around 60 people attend each week. My mileage so far this year has been 47.7 in January and 52.8 in F ..read more

Mile Night @mile_night is a Darlington Harriers @Dharriers organised event at Stadium 2000 in Shildon on Friday 2nd August. Club chairman Mark Tallon tells us more about about what goes on behind the scenes. “The event, like all officially organised track and field events, has a UK Athletics permit.  Permit OUT 19/067 (Outdoor season 2019 number 67) was accredited to Mile Night by the UK Athletics Licensing Office after Darlington Harriers satisfied a number of conditions set out in the application. Different levels of track and field events require different standards to be met.  U ..read more

Social Run Group, or SRG for short, is exactly what you’d guess from the title… An all inclusive social run group, with support for all ages and abilities. Organised by the Up and Running retail group, SRG’s main attraction is a FREE weekly 3 mile run, starting and finishing from participating Up and Running stores across the country. There are currently 23 stores providing a Social Run Group with some even organising 2 runs a week. A handful of shops in larger areas such as Manchester offer 3 runs a week, one of which is 8K distance. Social Run Group (SRG) is for everyone and has be ..read more

I’d almost forgotten what it feels like to be running pain free. I checked my run history out of curiosity to see when I had last completed a 10K and the answer was 9 months ago… During the Half Marathon in which I sustained my knee injury. After months of denial, several failed attempts to run when I really shouldn’t have, laziness and lack of motivation followed by the inevitably lack of self control diet wise, I’ve actually got a smile on my face again. I may be just under the weight I started running at, and of course running with excess weight is more difficult than I’m use ..read more

It’s time to take stock, get a few things in order and start again. I’ve come full circle with my running and I need to make a change. From 14+ stone and no fitness down to 12 stone and 2 marathons… Now I’m almost back to my starting point after injury and lack of motivation to do something about it. I fully intended to start 2019 with a positive mindset and initially I did that, with 38 miles over 13 runs in 20 days. I thought I was back on track but then illness struck around my 40th Birthday. It’s taken a few weeks to fully get over it and even now I’m not sure I’m even 90% ready to run ..read more

Tomorrow is my 40th birthday, so firstly Happy Birthday to me and secondly, ah crap… This time tomorrow, I’ll be in my forties! What does it actually mean though? Does anything really change apart from moving up an age category to V40? I’ve never really been one to massively celebrate birthdays. They’re usually met with “It’s just another day” and similar non-plussed phrases. I’ve not even given it much of a thought until now, the night before, but should I be setting new targets for myself and does life really begin at 40… or is it just time for a new chapter. It’s been ..read more

We’ve all encountered ups and downs in life. Paula Vicky Roberts tells The Run Blog how she approaches her day to day mental battle and how sport and exercise helps her get through. “What can I say about me and running? Well, it’s definitely a love/hate relationship and I struggled with the mental battle for a long time, however, at the present moment I’m loving it… But it’s not always been that way. You see, I know it’s good for my mental well being but sometimes that’s just not enough. I’m not completely new to running. I’ve been running for about 2 and half years now, if you can call the ea ..read more