Hours after the volunteers had gone home and the finishing line packed away for another year, I stood on a rooftop drinking a cocktail. Darkness had long taken away the humid sun and as I over looked Millennium Park (where the Chicago Marathon had started and finished) sipping the last dregs of my Old Fashioned … Continue reading Why I Keep Running – My Chicago Marathon
Rome was the rain, London was being the Samaritan and Edinburgh was my stomach. Every marathon so far this year had in one way or another hampered my attempt at improving the time I had set in San Francisco, which was four marathons and over 14 months ago. That streak of unsuccessful attempts twinned with … Continue reading Always Forward – My Berlin Marathon
A lot of non-runners say to me that running is a cult. Look at the definition of a cult below and change the words ‘a cult’ and ‘they’ to ‘running’ and ‘runners’: "A cult is defined as a group of people having practices regarded by others as strange. They typically have extreme dedication with excessive … Continue reading Endure24 – A Cult Meeting
I almost didn’t start the Edinburgh Marathon, faltering before the starting gun had even been lifted. I had been battling a pretty nasty stomach bug leading up to the race and knew that even if I did make the race I would be running on empty. Luckily, with less than 24 hours to go before the … Continue reading “Then everything went black” – The Edinburgh Marathon
The Marathon is 26.2 miles. Each mile has turning points that can stop your race or define it. It is a collection of thousands of people striving; to finish, to break a record or to best themselves. It has taken me some time to gather my thoughts together following the London Marathon, all down to what … Continue reading Marathons Come Down to Moments
Much like Rome, a marathon isn’t built in one day. It is built upon hundreds of days, hundreds of miles. Yet, while it might not be built in one day it sure can be tested in one day. My training began in January and it has consisted of a few months of slowly building my … Continue reading All Roads Lead to the Rome Marathon
As soon as mile one was done I felt it. Pain. A spiking collection of embers licking at the muscles in my left ankle. I thought my race was done before I had even lost sight of the start line. Luckily, as I pushed up the second of countless hills the pain rescinded to just … Continue reading Like a Bridge over Troubled Running – San Francisco Marathon Part Two
I’ve always confessed to being a morning person, kicking off the duvet and facing the day come rain or shine. The San Francisco Marathon tested that theory and many of the long held beliefs I had in myself. The marathon started at 5:30am but my bus was due to leave Oakland an hour before and … Continue reading Like a Bridge over Troubled Running – San Francisco Marathon Part One
Previously on The Morning Coffee Run…. No Plan, Increasing Heat, Little Sleep and the small matter of the Copenhagen Marathon to run. It wasn’t until mile six that I realised I had made a horrible mistake pushing my pace up. It wasn’t the tiredness or my body groaning under the mismanaged miles but the sun … Continue reading INTERNATIONAL MARATHON MAN – PART TWO
I have been writing a diary of sorts since the start of this year to ‘document’ my running. How it made me feel, my shifting motivations and the random things that pop up while I’m running. I looked at it while on my flight to Copenhagen for my second marathon and realised I had written … Continue reading International Marathon Man – Part One
