First Powerlifting Competition - Debrief

It’s amazing how nervous a grown woman can get when faced with the prospect of lifting weights in a public arena. For this, my first powerlifting competition I’d managed to work myself into quite a state about various disastrous possibilities including the risk of my underwear being deemed “illegal” due...

Winter Wolf and other Dirty Weekends

I seem to be lurching from one dirty weekend to another but who’s complaining? Last weekend we were at Winter Wolf for our first attempt at the Leicestershire course. It has such fabulous quality mud that this is now my favourite adventure course. The black soggy clay grabbed me firmly...

Grand Union Canal Challenge

This weekend saw the start of the inaugural Grand Union Challenge and it was time for me to stage another attempt at a 100km hike. Vicky and I set off in glorious sunshine, from Paddington just before 10am. We were down on the canal in no time and began watching...

London2Brighton Challenge 2014: The Second Coming

I’ve done quite few of my long training walks in my hiking boots but none of them were considered successful. I decided quite a long time ago that the London2Brighton 100k Challenge would be completed in my super cushioned Hokas’ with my Inov8s’ held back for the second half when...

London 2 Brighton Challenge: The Debrief

In running events I very quickly find myself in an enforced solitude, I start in the pack but within yards of the start the group have spread thin and my mind is free to wander. As a reformed antisocial loner I’m quite a fan of solitude. With mass participation walking...

New Year Planning of Ultra Proportions

I’ve never been a great fan of New Year’s eve, the social pressures generally make me quake with inadequacy. In recent years though I have discovered the joys of New Year planning, preferably to be conducted with a glass of wine and a credit card in hand. You need to...

Great North Swim 2009

So the big day arrived, not quite the day that every girl dreams of, but as days go it was big enough to require the same sort of dietary preparations. 6 weeks of off and on Stella abstinence brought me to a point where I was prepared to at least...

London to Brighton 2009

Call that a bike ride….? At one point I thought we were actually going to be walking all the way to Brighton. Experienced L2B’ers had warned me to start the event early but I’m too lazy to get up for a 6am start. I may have had a leisurely 8:30am...

Great North Run 2008

I love this event, it is a complete pain to get to, it costs a fortune, it’s almost impossible to get out of South Shields before night fall, but it still remains the highlight of my year. Grubby street urchins high fiving you, toddlers squirting bottled puddle water at your...

Brompton World Championships - 2008

I am such a social cretin before an event and watching the city boys arrive at the coach station in their pin striped suits and titanium s-bar bikes didn’t go anyway towards making me feel at home. I cheered up a bit on arrival at Blenheim when friendly faces appeared...