Dragons Back Ultra – Success or failure?

I have waited a couple of weeks to ruminate on my thoughts and allow sufficient time to absorb such a terrific experience and to better understand what I have achieved, experienced, and learned about the event and myself. My stated definition of success was to complete day 1 and in this regard I failed. Why? […]

Pre-Dragons Back Ultra – What does success look like?

With two weeks to the start of the Dragons Back Ultra I am pondering what does success look like? How far do I have to go to consider my participation in this awesome event a success? Being realistic, a finish might be too much to expect, this is a multi-stage event over 6 days covering […]

Training for an Ultra – no Substituting Distance

The replacement of my right hip (following Lyme’s disease) in June 2021, has led to a drastic reduction in my weekly running mileage. Yet, I have continued to run ultras (three post op) and set myself the goal of competing in Dragons Back this September. But I had a problem. 13.5 miles per week Last […]

Do something which terrifies you!

For me, one of the big benefits of ultrarunning is that we purposely get outside of our comfort zones, and this is where we grow as ultramarathon runners and as people. Having spoken to many like-minded running souls over the years, I know this also to be true for many ultramarathon runners. Genuinely terrified! So, […]

Super fit at 50 – CW50 on my new hip

Centurion Running, Chiltern Wonderland 50 Thank you to the 51 Centurion Staff and volunteers who put on a really great event for 250 competitors. The route was beautiful, seeing some of the best of our English countryside; with 5,600ft of nice elevation; perfect weather, with some rain during the previous week leaving the ground firm […]

Super fit at 50 – New Hip gets 12 month ‘Ultra’ Approval!

Today, I visited Prof Alister Hart at the Cleveland Clinic London and received 12-month post-op sign-off on my recovery from hip replacement. I never thought this would have been possible pre-op and I am so happy 😊 This is also recognition that running the Pure Trail Race The Tides ultra has done absolutely no harm […]

Running my First Ultra on my new hip!

Last Saturday, some 11 months since having a full hip replacement, I completed the Race The Tide “long-marathon”, my first ‘ultra’ on my new right hip 😊 and I can honestly say that I enjoyed every single step. Puretrail organised a super event. The route was beautiful yet challenging; was really well marked; had 4,383ft elevation earning […]

low mileage ultra training with my new hip

Some nine months after having my right hip replaced due to Lyme’s disease fast-tracking a genetic weakness in the joint and once again, I am enjoying my running so much. Recovery is going much better than I could have hoped, so I have signed up to run my first ultra on my new hip at […]

we are capable of more than we realise

Almost six months to the day I had my right hip replaced and today I ran my first proper trail run; 6 miles with 659 ft of elevation in a little over one hour six minutes (strava). It felt so good to feel strong and confident on my feet in technical and sloppy terrain and […]

Stepping out of our comfort zone

Yesterday I completed 82 miles and 5,385 ft of elevation, hiking the magnificent Ridgeway over three days as I marked XNRG’s awesome Druid’s Challenge (see excellent review Adam in Runderland: The Druid’s Challenge). As I neared the finish, hiking up the 3 mile hill to Barbury Castle guided by my head torch and the light of […]