Blog.. all the posts
Everything on the site.. all the training and all the random stuff I’ve scribed.
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Strava was once celebrated as the epitome of a community-centered app. It wasn’t just about tracking runs or rides; it was about connection - a digital space where athletes of all levels came together to celebrate, compete and share. But as Strava matures into a corporate behemoth, the very community it fostered now finds itself questioning whether the platform is shifting away from its roots.
A year ago today I woke slightly bleary-eyed, it was Monday morning and we’d had some friends round for lunch on the Sunday.
I met Fletch in Farnham, where the OneTrack Running HQ is, a small studio office and gym. The gym is kitted out with a a state-of-the-art running machine (obvs) and a rather serious looking squat rack, alongside a splattering of extras. It’s not a gym for workouts, one for assessments. Next to the running machine a sharps bit for all those lactate testing ear prick lances and a few gadgets lying about.
My journey into trying EVERYTHING to sort out my back issues has brought me to the foam roller, a history of failure first. Such an innocuous looking device, but one wrong move or location and you can be screaming.
For years I’ve been running in TwinSkin, I haven’t been blister free the entire time but they really have served me well. Don’t fix it unless it’s broken they I hear you say?
Nick, Graham and myself all jumped in a taxi to head to the start. Nick has joined me on many a challenge, but this was the first time I’d met Graham, a mate of Nick’s - what better way to get to know someone than over the course of 100km of meandering towpath.
It’s Thursday, I ran this morning only about 6km, I had managed a similar distance yesterday. I’m recovering and not in as much pain today as yesterday, and certainly not as bad at before.
Make no mistake, this is a page turner. Allie tells her story with a brutal honesty, heartbreaking at times, comical at others. Her “straight from the heart” account of her journey to recovering alcoholic is eye opening.
The Nove Colli Run, 200km across northern Italy, is a course more famous in the cycling world, but one that Mario Castagnoli decided should be run. And, 25yrs ago, he did just that.
If you want a easy and amusing book about running the most extreme Ultramarathon in the world then this is it.
I should be flying back from Miami with Nick right now. The Florida Keys 100 was meant to be on this past weekend and it was cancelled. No need to dwell upon the reason why it got cancelled. The email landed a few weeks back; I’ll be honest, it threw me…. I mean I “got it”, but was still annoyed. Not annoyed at the context, but …. well, let’s take a moment to go deeper.
Well it’s not just 135 miles, it’s across Death Valley in the USA - the hottest place ever recorded on earth, I explain. This is normally followed by a question: “how many days does it take?” “Well, it’s just a single run, it’s non-stop”.
It’s the 10th December and for the second year running I’m doing the “advent accumulator” - the premise is simple, run the number of kilometres of the day of the month up until Christmas Eve. It’s a bit of fun as a concept, but it’s harder than you think.