Parkrun may well have saved my life

I’m also documenting my recovery journey on Instagram - head over to @flatcapspraggs I'm going to assume lots of you already know what parkrun is. A free, weekly, 5 kilometer run/walk on a Saturday morning, at 9AM. There are hundreds in the UK - most likely one very near you. Anyone can go. You don't …

2022 review – ‘racing/training’ summary

I started writing this thinking it was going to be a summary of misery, but it's actually really interesting, alongside highlighting how much of a stupid moron I can be when it comes to battering myself into the ground. Read on for more. I've written one of these every year for the last 9 years, …

When do you stop believing in fairy tales?

You see it all over social media. Defying the odds and coming back better than ever. Striking back in the face of adversity and proving that 'you can do it, if you just set you mind to it'. But what about if your body doesn't let you? What if it's actually broken beyond repair? You …

2021 review – racing/training summary

So here we are again, at the end of another year already. This will be the 8th annual summary! We're through an entire Harry Potter series worth now (with a similar number of fans, I can only assume). The epic back catalogue can be found here; 2014201520162017201820192020 2021 started off in a similar fashion to …

Gutbuster 10 mile – 28/12/21

Heading back to the Gutbuster was like going to visit a long lost friend you were never really sure if you actually liked, but hadn't seen for absolutely ages. We're talking about back in the days where this blog was still in nappies and the quality of writing was akin to that of a Daily …

Dorney Lake 10km – 12/12/21

The Spring of 2016. It was announced that there would be a referendum to decide whether the UK would stay in the EU. Tim Peake became the first British astronaut to walk in space. England won their last Grand Slam in the 6 nations. Joe Spraggins ran a personal best at the Kingston 10km, when …

London Marathon – 03/10/21

It's been two and a half years since the last London Marathon (no one counts any of that virtual rubbish), and the world has been through an awful lot of pain and misery since then. If there's a event that, without fail, brings happiness and joy to people's lives, it's got to the be the …

Ironman Estonia – 07/08/21

Tallinn, Estonia. It's much further north than you think it's going to be. Looking out to sea from the port area, you can't quite see Finland, but it's very close. Once part of the Soviet Union, it's now a thriving independent state. Anyway - that's the serious stuff done with; you only came for the …

2020 review – racing/training summary

2020 - let's not try too hard to remember it. It's been a bit of a rollercoaster of a year, and I know lots of people have really suffered in a number of ways. But, there's still been plenty to smile about. The real silver lining probably being that this post might be shorter than …

Goodwood marathon – 06/12/20

Regular subscribers will once again note that it's gone a bit quiet on the ol' blogging front in the last couple of months. That tw*tty virus is very much still amongst us, like that annoying hanger-on at a party that you just can't get rid of. I'm struggling with it, as I'm sure are 99.9% …