Typecast

I often over-share my running journey on  my Instagram account  with 2018 being a fantastic year for achievements, new challenges and lots of personal best times. 2019 was a bit up and down with a dreaded knee issue (osteoarthritis) flaring up again and threatening to push me into retirement. I still managed to complete a few races, including my first 10-miler and a half marathon for charity . 2020 was going to be my ‘comeback’ year but with emphasis on running for fun rather than chasing any specific times, although I did want to crack a 30-minute 5k at some point. I started to find my feet again by jumping on board as a volunteer with the Blackburn Couch to 5K community running group, being part of the pacing team for the Blackburn Road Runners Winter Warmer 10K as the back runner and doing a few 3 mile social runs with some of my old crew.  But then we went into lockdown and all the fun races that I had booked started to be cancelled. I’m the type of person who ne...

In a time where we are being officially told (not advised - TOLD) to stay at home to help reduce the spread of Coronavirus , people are taking the absolute piss when it comes to their allowed "daily exercise".  Suddenly there are more cyclists, joggers and dog-walkers than ever before, seemingly using Government guidelines as a loophole to be out of the house.  TRUTH BOMB : THERE IS NO LOOPHOLE  Of course, the length of time for daily exercise is totally ambiguous because every single person has a different level of fitness and desire to actually be active. Also, many of us are now working from home or have been furloughed until it is safe or economically effective to return to work, but we're are all in the same boat.  We all have lots of additional time on our  continuously washed  hands.  Every day I read updates from my running peers complaining about how they've had to run into the road to be the correct distance away from someone else on the path...

Recently I've been digging into my podcast library and recommendations and always seem to switch between humour, running and true crime. The latter theme - true crime - has become a bit of an obsession because I'm fascinated by the amount of information that's had to be sourced to create the podcast, and there's always a 'final outcome' rather than it being an continuing series.  Here are my five favourites at the moment. All are available on iTunes, in your regular podcast app and maybe on Spotify but I've included main-page links below. Also, let me know what you're listening to right now.  S-Town ( subscribe ) Brian Reed is a journalist. He was contacted by John Mclemore who wanted help investigating claims that the son from a wealthy local family was bragging that he got away with murder. The investigation goes much deeper, uncovers a treasure hunt and the whole story is absolutely gripping. Don't search for spoilers do get o...

The whole world is currently in uncertain times. Many people are in isolation to help combat the spread of Covid-19 (aka Coronavirus), employers have been forced to request that their staff work from home where possible and schools have closed their doors so parents are having to teach and keep their children occupied during normal school hours. All this can become very stressful so I asked my wonderful friends (some teachers, some home-educators and some who have young children but also work from home) for tips, advice and activities.  I promised to bring it all together into a comprehensive list of resources and here it is!  (Keep reading until the end for some bonus "working from home" top tips and advice to stay sane) Firstly, one popular suggestion was to make sure your day has structure.  Have a regular getting-up time, get washed and dressed as usual and set aside time for learning and play.  When the children are in school they don't spen...

Photo credit:  Carl Heyerdahl I'm guilty of trying to create *ALL* the content.  Social media and blogging fell into line with each other about ten or twelve years ago.  I was already a heavy user of Twitter and met most of my blogging peers on there. We were considered geeks at the time but basic social media was a great way to have conversations and find links to interesting articles.  Now social media has become mainstream and really is the main stream of everyone's lives. It feels like every single person is sharing every single moment, or has an opinion that has to be shared RIGHT NOW.  Where does it all stop?  I'm a busy person and I like it that way. I work full time, I run three or four times a week , I have a radio show at weekends and I still write this blog occasionally. I'm a social media scroller and guilty of occasionally being a social media over-sharer.  But I feel like I'm becoming too invested in other people's lives e...

At the top of my list of things to do on a recent trip to Krakow was to visit Auschwitz.  I didn't realise at the time but at this year marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of prisoners from this concentration camp and I'm struggling to find the words to write about my visit but, just as the journey through the gates of the concentration camp felt like something I needed to do, so is this.  One of the blocks at Auschwitz surrounded by an electric fence The camps are are unique in the sense that the remaining buildings are individual museums dedicated to detailing the history of the Holocaust at Auschwitz and Birkenau. Even before you enter, there is a new memorial display next to the car park telling the story of 18 survivors with a short summary of their life beyond their experience and a photograph of them now (the interviews took place in 2017 and 2018). The camp was divided into three parts and the main tours cover Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II - Birkenau...

I remember the time that Jake brought a letter home from school explaining that he'd been given the "opportunity" to learn to play a musical instrument at school.  He was convinced he was going to learn to play the drums so I told him that he could on the one condition... that he teaches me too as learning to play the drums is on my bucket list.  He wasn't convinced but thought it might help with his college application  https://allsaintsuniversity.org/ There’s a decent chance that at some point your child will ask to learn a musical instrument like guitar lessons online, or it might be something that you as a parent would like your kids to do. Playing music can be one of the most rewarding ways to spend time, and it is a great way to make friends and develop self-confidence too – so if your child shows an interest in music it’s a great hobby to encourage.   You may also have experience of a child starting an instrument and then losing interes...