Sometimes you have to persist, sometimes you have to let go.

When I was 14 years old, along with thousands of other British kids I was the front line for a new type of educational curriculum, called the General Certificate of Secondary Education (or GCSE). At the start of this 2 year endeavour (think of this as junior high in the US), you were advised to take 9 or 10 subjects. Some of these were compulsory; English Language, Mathematics, Religious Education and Physical Education. Then you had to select another 5 from a list, but include at least one science and one social science as well as one 'creative' class. The choices were Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Computer Science, History, Sociology, Psychology Economics, Art, English Literature, Typewriting, wood and metal work etc.

In addition to this life-determing moment at the tender age of 14, my dad had sent me off to a different school than my catchment area might otherwise have precluded. I didn't know anyone there at all; none of the teachers, none of the pupils, and so had little. When I returned home, my dad asked me which subjects I had chosen. They were; Biology, History, Sociology, English Literature and Typewriting. My dad was shocked, and had good reason to be. At the time, I loved computers, electronics, anything I could take apart and put back together. I couldn't really explain why I'd chosen subjects I knew little about and hadn't really shown any interest in up until then. When I chose my A-Levels, I cemented that educational path with Sociology, Psychology and Geography.

The truth is, I didn't really want to be a 'geek'. I'd seen the kinds of kids who hung around in the computer labs and went to the extra-curricular physics classes and bluntly, they were boring. I didn't want the only conversation I could strike up to be about bits and bytes (despite being a fairly handy programmer), or how to get to level 256 of Bounty Bob Strikes Back. I wanted to be able to discuss Marx and dialectical materialism, or the 6-day war and Palestine. Perhaps it was part of being an only child and having few friends or peers, that your most pressing concern is impressing adults.

I didn't do particularly well in my later education - in contrast to my early years; I practically aced every test I took up until I was 15 or so, and then barely passed everything else - but I did become a reasonably well rounded person, quite possibly because I chose to study things that I wasn't naturally interested in.

Ever since then, I think I've carried a dichotomy inside me. Things I do because I like the idea of those things, and things I do because I've always enjoyed doing those things. At this point in my life, the distinction is getting blurrier. With running, I didn't honestly enjoy it to start with, as I testified in my very first blog entry. Even after 2 or 3 months, it was more the idea of it, and the idea of being like other runners who always seem so purposeful and strong. Now, over a year later, I can honestly say this is something I do enjoy and get a great deal of satisfaction from.

Even so, there is a part of me that could still quite happily blow 30 hours or more over a weekend, playing a computer game like Elite 2 or Civilisation, as I often did 20 years ago. Which begs the question; who am I really?

Happy (Running) Birthday

A year ago today, I went for my first run after proclaiming rather confidently that I was going to become a runner. On that day, I ran 2.07 miles in 26 minutes and 59 seconds - effectively 13 and a half minutes per mile.

In May of this year, I ran 4 miles in 36 minutes and one second, or 9:01/mile, or a 4 and a half minute per mile improvement on my starting point. I should be pleased, and I am. However, I'd like to further improve in the next 12 months, add more to my blog, and start working towards the NYC Marathon in 2014.

My aim there is to run 9 mins miles for 26.2 miles. That would give me a time of three hours, 55 seconds, or just 5 seconds within my goal time of 4 hours. It's doable, but since my fastest recorded race in May, my times have slowed - a 9:25, 10:09(!), 9:43 and 9:19 have been my mile pace for the last 4 races. I can partly blame the heat and humidity in NYC, something that after 8 years of living here I still haven't quite got used to; but more honestly, the reason is I am not running nearly enough.

So, one year in; I'm happy I'm still running and happy to have shown progress. Being in your 40's isn't the end of the world. However, I need to get faster, stronger and fitter to meet my goals, which are:

- Marathon in sub 4 hours (November 2014)
- Half Marathon in sub 2 hours (Spring 2014)
- 10K in sub 1 hour (end of 2013)
- 5K in 25 mins (end of 2013)

Looking Strong, but end of a horrible race; pace was 10:09/mile

Terrible Race

Wow, walked for the first time ever in a race. I've only run twice in the last 5 weeks though. 

Back to training. 

New PB@4 Miles

36 minutes and one second. 

Next up, 35 minutes. 

I run for... Boston

First race of the year, and just 7 days after the bombing at the Boston Marathon, New York City's Race for the Park's was a race in remembrance for the victims.

Practically everyone wore this

I had a personally disappointing race, actually falling one second short of my four mile personal best (37:50) which I set on a practice run in my neighbourhood. My issue is that I run within my comfort zone for too long before getting up to a decent race speed.

With a starting number of 10345 putting me right at the back, I spent a lot of the time negotiating runners who's dropped to walking pace, pretty much between about half a mile and 3 miles. After that, it thinned out a little, but was still crowded. I can't blame the pack for my slouchy pace (maybe I'll start higher up the field next time), but it was pretty difficult to navigate.

Apart from the last quarter mile, I ran a pretty leisurely pace with no discomfort - something I need to break out of. It's time to run in the discomfort zone.

The Beagle didn't run...

South Carolina

This coming Sunday, I have my first 4 mile run, and for sure I am woefully under-prepared. After 6 days without running, I arrived in Charleston, SC for some sun, Kayaking and warm-weather running. Today I made a fist at running across the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, which connects Mount Pleasant with Charleston. It's two and a half miles long, and rises to 186 feet (the tallest section of the bridge is 575 feet... but you can't run up there).

I don't know if any world class runners come from Charleston, SC, but they probably should. I saw plenty of college-age kids scooting up the incline to the top of the bridge, and running this 3 or 4 times a week would be enough to carve out a hardy athlete.

Aaanyway, I'll be leaving sunny Charleston tomorrow, after getting myself burned kayaking in the morning sun (yes, you can burn in 2 hours, in April, in South Carolina. Who'd have thunk it).

In the meantime, I can say I ran to the top of the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge (they need to work on that name), and back again, and survived.

FInally, a huge shout out to Boston, the runner's of the 2013 Boston marathon and the survivors and victims of yesterday's atrocity. Keep running, don't let the bastards get you down.

Hart beat!

Dedicated to Tony Hart, 1925 - 2009

So a few things to cover. A PR for 4 miles, and PR for 5 miles, and I got a heart rate monitor.

4 Miles

4 miles isn't so tough

Going from 3 miles to 4 miles shouldn't be a big deal, and at the time it wasn't, but I did feel that run for 3 days afterwards, something that's never happened before. I ran in 9:27, which will stand until I race of April 21st - I have a 4 mile 'Run for the Parks' race in Central Park.

5 Miles

Going from 4 to 5 miles int he space of a week seemed like a good idea, so I did. Some slow splits (nearing 10 min/mile at times) but managed it in 48 mins, which is also a PR by default, as I think that is the first time I have ever run 5 miles continuously.

Still hadn't recovered from the 4 miles

I got a heart rate monitor with mapmyrun.com joining their pro program, which has been fun to use. My target heart rate for a steady run is 150bpm, and I am usually over that at the moment.