- 19th September 2015, the day I ran my first 5k Parkrun in Bushy Park. Six months before my 40th birthday. Heart swelling, legs pounding, me asking, “Are we there yet?” to anyone and everyone. Two and a half years later, I’m running the London Marathon for the Samaritans.
- New acronym. PB. It means Personal Best. It means every second counts. It means I had no idea I’d care so much about shaving off three minutes to reach 1:59 in my second half-marathon. M takes a picture of me on the final sprint. Now I know what my face will look like the day I die.
- New jokes. M’s favourite: “If you find yourself surrounded by Kenyans you’ve gone off too fast.”
- Murakami’s book, What I talk about when I talk about running says: “To keep on running you have to clear your mind and keep up the rhythm.” It’s the same with writing. When I’m running, I plot scenes, invent characters, write poetry. The trick is remembering it all.
- Kevin, my son’s school...
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