40 before 40

A lovely yet brisk Saturday morning at Stratford for the Olympic Park 10k.

Starting beside the Orbital the course was three laps along the pathways, beside the canal and mostly flat. Overall an enjoyable way to spend a Saturday morning, despite the parking cost at the Westfield centre.

Quite happy with my time of 48mins. A better warmup and not fiddling with my playlist might have helped me get a quicker time but guess I will learn for next time.

Time for the next one….

So, I’ve just turned 39 and rather than a shinny sports car or other stereotypical mid-life crisis cliche I have a “cunning plan” (always said in Blackadder’s voice in my internal monologue) .

I am going to attempt 40 running. sporting or fitness events before I turn the big 40.

The main reasons for this idea are to prove to myself what is possible, try to counter my dreadful family history of pretty much every major illness and lastly, my two inspirational children and my amazing wife.

So what are the possible problems?

Apart from the obvious level of fitness required, I think staying injury free and healthy will be a real struggle. To that end I will be looking to tackle one of my (many) long standing bad habits, not warming up or cooling down properly.

My main problem, as with most people, is time. Both in terms the lack of it during the week, I currently work in a private school with a six day working week. And most importantly trying to balance family time and fitness/race time.

Event 1/40

My local weekly Parkrun is kicking off day one in style.

The Parkrun is a fantastic event and one I cannot recommend high enough. My local group, Castle Park in Hertfordshire, is a lovely course which combines pathways and grass.

Future events

So with one down I would love to hear from anyone who can recommend an event to help me reach my goal.

I will try to update as along this journey and as I tick off each event.