Why do i run?

I'm often asked why I run, more specifically why I run long distances.

Its easier for me to answer this in 2 parts and probably easier for you to understand if you read only the first part as the second is probably drivel anyway.

So why do I run part 1.

I get fit, keep fit and live longer, who wants to die young?

So why do I run part 2.

I lived an unhealthy life for most of my twenties and right through to my later thirties, where I discovered the joys of Vodka, Stella Artois and self destruction. I was managing all this extremely well and enjoying my existence fully when I decided upon this ingenious idea of cycling the 1 mile to work every day, this would allow me to drink more without having to bother about being over the drink drive limit for my morning commute.

Honister

I gave Halfords one hundred of my hard earned pounds and rode off on my shiny new full suspension mountain bike. That was my first mistake; no self respecting drunk would be seen dead on a bike when he could just as easily get in a taxi.

My second mistake was to actually ride the bike home from work every day, in my defence I wasn’t aware what this would lead to, having had no previous experience of fitness.

Well one thing leads to another and before you know it I was planning secret assignations in the woods just outside Glenrothes with Polly, (Apollo Mountain bikes), trying to imagine what it would be like to ride a bit of rough stuff.

Anyone who has cheated like this knows you can’t keep these things secret for long, with hind sight I can see the mistakes I made. Not drinking all 24 cans of stella and leaving Vodka in the bottle at the end of a long nights drinking was not clever, but these things spiral out of control and before I knew it I was turning up at the girlfriend's house covered in mud, heading straight for the fridge and opening a can of .... Iron Bru.

As you can imagine she was furious, I had been caught cheating with another bike and failed to cover my tracks effectively. There was only one thing she could do “on yer bike” she said and to be honest I don’t really blame her.

I sat in my little flat alone listening to the crowds across the road at Raith Rovers football ground moaning about yet another defeat and decided there and then, I was leaving the good life behind. Polly  and I were going home to good old Littleborough to start a new life together.

Polly and I enjoyed many glorious days riding together over the west pennine moors. I look back at these times and smile, how we enjoyed each other, the long hard climbs and super fast rocky descents, learning each other and discovering the pleasures of a good rough ride.

It was luck again that moved me towards running, a physio suggested that cross training would help a knee injury caused by over developed quads. Running he said, would help to develop other muscles and pull my knee cap back inline.

It didn’t last long, 1 mile, but it had been a long time since my last run, it was also the first time in 22 years I had gone for a run voluntarily. My first “runners high” happened a few weeks later and I was soon addicted, scouring the local moor land and bridle ways, searching for the next high, which seemed to get harder to find the fitter I got.

The truth is, it was pure luck that my impulsiveness rescued me from myself and the self destructive path I was on, I had started the long road to recovery and with running as my companion I was on to a winner.

Its true what they say, life does begin at 40.