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5 October 2026 · #Shadows2Giants One year ago today, I wrote my first blog for this campaign. It was about a WaterAid 10k and a right knee that threw a tantrum 100 metres in. Twelve months on, the knee is behaving. Almost everything else is tired. Today is 215 days from race day. And I'll be honest: the training is starting to bite. The sessions aren't the problem None of the individual sessions are beyond me, and that's by design. Mel at Smiling Tri Coach builds every week w

20 September 2026 · #Shadows2Giants Nine Hours, Twenty-Eight Minutes, and One Wrong Turn at a Power Station The Brutal Half — Llanberis, 19 September 2026 Four years ago I retired from triathlon. I was younger, I was fitter, and I had a fifth place at an extreme triathlon to prove it. Saturday was my first serious triathlon since. I finished 32nd of 46 in 9 hours 28 minutes and 6 seconds (and I counted every second of pain…): and to top it all, I got lost on the way to a moun

31 May 2026 — The Great Manchester Run nearly didn’t happen at all. Not because of fitness, not because of injury — but because of the Metrolink, a porta-loo queue, and a kind woman who let a slightly panicked me join the back of the last green wave at 0827, eighteen minutes after I was supposed to have started. Did it matter, not really... everyone’s race is on an individual chip time, but you are not following pacers and every blip on race morning feels like a mountain to c

This week I stumbled through Alderley Parkrun in a blistering 27:35. Last week, same epic quest was almost four minutes slower: 31:32. On paper? Progress - Strava was throwing a party. “ Solid race effort. ” “Heart rate elevated throughout.” “ Good speed when it counts. ” Elevated throughout? Yes, indeed. Because I was convinced I was going to die... This week felt like climbing Everest without oxygen. The kind of hard where you start making deals with the universe at 3km. “J

Starting real training feels a lot like trying to find your car keys when you’re already late: you know you should have done it yesterday, but somehow today is the day you actually do it. After weeks, months, or even years of talking, planning, and promising yourself “next week,” Day 1 finally arrives. And let me tell you, it’s not exactly a Hollywood premiere. It’s honest, awkward, and sometimes downright funny — like tripping over your own shoelaces just as you’re about to

So, in a moment of questionable judgment, I found myself agreeing to run a 10k for WaterAid on September 21. My training regimen? Oh, just a few leisurely 5k jogs at a speed that would make a tortoise feel like Usain Bolt. Surprise, surprise, my right knee decided to throw a tantrum just 100 meters into the race. Fast forward two weeks, and I'm thrilled to report that my knee has stopped its protest, and I can now conquer stairs without wincing like a soap opera star. After a