The Trail Runners Nipple: December 2013

Having overcome the the difficulty of begining to run it is easy as a beginner to think it is all plain sailing after that. However, those in the know, know.
It isn't.
So far this aspiring world champion has had to deal with niggly calfs- a really annoying problem that can keep you from running when all you want to do is keep improving, and a niggly knee. The latter only began last week and is a problem that only seems to raise its ugly head after the four mile mark. Again, anyone who has experienced something similar will share, having to stop or thinking it may be more sensible to stop when you have tons of energy left is really annoying. But the legends are true, the hardest thing about running is avoiding injury!
Anyway that gets me to todays point, taking it easy doesn't have to be as dishheartening as it first seems. I realised this after recently running two really light 2km jogs with the 8 year old member of team trail runners nipple.
In the end I suppose thats the point, running doesn't have to be a serious solo persuit, it can also be a fun friendly one.

Picture the scene, a 29 year old man is finally contemplating giving up the 'smokes' but wonders how best to accomplish such a daunting task. Most people of course would have considered patches, gum, or any other of the available tools on the market. Well not this people.
'How best can I quit?' 'I know I'll take up running!'
Absolute genius on my part.
After a few minutes daydreaming of myself atop a podium receiving my first Olympic Gold the realities of such a plan begin to materialize.
i) I ran the 1500m once when i was in school (ages ago now)
ii) I don't own a pair of runners
iii) I don't know anybody that runs (and my wife is completely against the idea)
iv) How will 15+ years of skateboarding have effected my joints

To be honest the list went on and on and I quickly began to talk myself out of the idea.
But I eventually managed to muster the motivation (having found a pair of nike runners at the bottom of my insanely huge sneaker collection- that however, is a story for a different time) and went for a run around the streets. It is here that i encountered the biggest barrier to that Olympic gold; road running is immensely boring!!!!!
Because of this, well, it is the reason I am sticking too, I was unable to complete a mile without stopping and ended up back in the house dejected and in severe need of a nicotine boost. The internet then granted me a most welcome gift, trail running! Surely this is the answer to the boredom of road running.

To be honest, looking back on that time now, I find it hard to understand how I didn't stumble into trail running accidentally as I live 5 minutes walk from the coast!
Genius!!!

On the 28th October 2013 I managed 7.2km in time of 47:56.
I was rather pleased, and my enthusiasm for running grew.
So fast forward 2 months and 168km later and what you get is something that does not smoke anymore and can loosely be described as a trail runner. No Olympic golds yet though, unfortunately.
I took some photos from my regular 5km route last week.