Saturday 25 February 2012

"Keep on Running" Relaunch

  
So, my name is Anthony Forsyth and today I turn 40!  In running terms that makes me a "veteran", well, at least here in the UK;  in the States I am now a "master"! Sounds great, but it just means I am getting old.  Anyway, it seems as good a day as any to restart this blog.

My first marathon - Iceland 2010
Previously I had been blogging here at "Keep on Running" and, like so many other running bloggers, had just been posting up my training.  It had been going pretty well too.  But by the time I had jumped into my first marathon in Reykjavik in August 2010, deciding to enter literally half an hour before registration closed thus requiring a final run to get there in time, I had bored myself sufficiently not to even bother with a race report (I came 2nd in 2:44:51 with almost no specific preparation other than running a lot).



It's not that my running bored me per se, just that it was a lot of effort to keep it up when there were only a few people interested.  After all, I knew what had happened before writing it down!  Training blogs can get a bit like that when that's all there is to write and read.

So, why the restart?  Well, it occurred to me that I do enjoy wittering on about running and that most people that enjoy running also enjoy wittering on about running; we can be passionate peeps us runners!  We are never happier than when chatting away about our own training, but there is plenty more that we discuss: nutrition, shoes, injuries, kit, mileage, races, etc.  And one thing I am rarely ever short of is an opinion on anything running related; you may not agree with it, and I may well be wrong, but I usually have a view and it is, more often than not, well considered.

And as I thought about it some more, I realised that, even though I do read some training blogs of other runners on occasion, what I would prefer to read is a more eclectic blog - and there are several good ones out there.  So, in no particular order, here is some of what you can expect to see here at "Keep on Running" in the not too distant future:

  • Training discussion - always reading, thinking, discussing, learning and trying stuff in the ol' "experiment of one"; this is the heart of running discussion.  From middle distance theory (because I am not going to be practising it), to marathons (I will run a good one one day) and ultras (this year...) we will discuss the "how to do it" of training. And it will definitely involve many a mention of high mileage...

  • Kit discussion and reviews -  I have some very specific ideas here that have been forged through the years regarding kit choices for different events and circumstances.  It's a big deal here in the world of running.

  • Race discussion and reviews - it is amazing to me how good and how, well, not good, certain races can be.  So I don't want to just post up my race reports (though the precious few that there will be will surely be posted), but rather talk about races, organisation, chip timing, cross country, clubs and what not too.

  • Shoe discussion and reviews - I have been a converted "minimalist" for about 8 years now.  Not as hardcore as I used to be, but I will defend the cause.  I may not be a Vibram Five Finger freak (though I do own some and use them on occasion), but they are less strange to me than the "boots" that pass as running shoes for the masses.  There are some great options out there right now for us minimalists as the rest of the world catches up with us and I am excited to share them.  If you are not yet a minimalist (or don't even know what that means), then I will be informing you of the benefits and encouraging you to make the change.

  • Injuries - they happen and they suck. We don't like to talk about them until we have them; when we do we can't shut up about them.  I'll try and keep an appropriate balance - discuss them more than desired when they are absent and try not to go OTT when they crash the party.

  • Introductions and Interviews - there are people in the running world who you need to meet.  Some of them blog, some don't, but they all have a lot to share. Some may be more well-known, some accomplished, many neither, but all with much we can learn from.  I'm looking forward to telling all who read this blog about the many people in the running world that excite and/or interest me.


Tim racing cross country this winter
  •  Family training - so I will talk about my training on occasion too - not a complete training diary, maybe a monthly update or something; I'm not entirely sure yet.  But my kids (five) and my wife all run and (if they allow me to) I'd like to put up a few posts about what they are up to as well.  In particular, my son Timothy (who has just turned 15) is very serious about his running - he beat me for the first time last year and will probably whip me frequently this year.

  • Nutrition - as someone who has spent much of his adult life obese, nutrition is a topic that interests me greatly.  I have much I want to say on nutritional theory for runners, but also there will be topics such as eating on the run for ultras, runners' relationships with food, gels and energy drinks, refuelling, and perhaps even a few recipes. Yum!

  • Books and articles - I love reading about running and, if you are reading a running blog, you probably do too.  I have quite a collection of running books and will be reviewing many of them (some the bad as well as the good) as well as linking to important articles.

  • News - The running world has its own headlines.  My job here will not be to keep you in touch with the important news as it happens (other sites do that much better), but I will be discussing certain running stories that interest me as they happen.  Two or three current stories have ramifications and implications that I want to get off my chest.

Not that this blog will be limited to the above categories; I am sure there is much more running related ruminating that will flow from my brain to the blog with precious little filtering.  In fact, if the blog is much like my running reading, thinking and discussing, there will be something for almost everyone.  Well, everyone who runs.

So, for now, keep on running...

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