First Post

Hello. I should really start this by introducing myself. My name's Phil, and i'm a 25 year old PhD student from Sheffield. I'm currently training for the SIG Insulations Sheffield Half Marathon (http://www.sheffieldmarathon.com) which takes place at the end of April. At the moment, this largely involves going on a series of sporadic runs throughout the week. I'm hoping to tighten this schedule as the weeks go by so that, come the day itself, i'm some kind of sinew-strewn leg-machine capable of a fairly respectable time.

Me and the Sheffield Half have a brief and cruel history. I trained last year (along with one of my housemates) until I suffered a knee injury a few weeks before. After resting as hard as I could, it became clear that I wasn't going to be able to run. Jealously, I watched a number of my friends bobbing around the course from the sidelines, racing across Sheffield in my car to see them cross the line at the Don Valley Stadium. I was actually surprised by how gutted I felt not to be out there, especially given the cold nights I'd spent pounding the pavement with the very people I was now watching gaze at their medals and commemorative T-shirts.

As my knee cleared up, I headed along to a running shoe shop. They concluded that I suffered from over-pronation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronate) and that my injury had probably been caused by my running shoes. New clog-like footware obtained, I have spent the last 9 months running fairly frequently and my legs have thankfully remained free of problems.

I'd like to use this blog to keep a record of my progress in the weeks before the Big Run itself. I hope to be able to update with reports of improved times, increasing distances and stronger legs. Fingers crossed. However, I also want to use this space to write about running itself. On a cold, blustery, frosty Sheffield night, there's little more loathsome than the prospect of taking to the hilly streets with only an iPod for company. Yet, somewhere a couple of miles down the road, something amazing happens. Warmth floods your limbs, endorphins pile into your brain and the body seems to shift into a blissful autopilot. The legs churn around like they're unaware of any other state, while thoughts idly wander, a side-effect of the body's constant motion. The return home feels like a small victory that lifts the mood. You wonder why you don't do this all the time. Until the next day when you have to do it again.

I've got a few ideas for posts, but I'll try and update at least weekly. Running tonight and it's raining outside...