Hi! I’m Heather,

I’m Heather, and some 7 years ago I took up running. That decision has created some of the best of times; running my first half marathon, running my first (and only) Ultra race and heaping upon me a whole host of running friends. It has also created some of the worst times including being sidelined with injuries whilst my racing buddies were all pounding the roads.

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MY RUNNING OBBSESSED PARTNER

It was purely by coincidence that my partner was a runner. An obsessive runner, an addict in fact. He went from being bedridden with a back operation to becoming a fanatical ultra runner in the space of 3 years.

 

I believe his passion is driven by the fact that the surgeon who operated on him, said he would never run again. Less than a year later he had completed a marathon – a complete two-fingered salute to the doctor who said it wasn’t possible.

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PIVOT POINT

Looking back now, it was probably at that point that things changed, that pivot point proved to my partner that anything was possible, and so began his obsession with miles and endurance races.

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In 2017 he moved in, and it was at that point that my life also changed. I went to the fridge, and it was stripped bare. My (our) flat became cluttered with water bottles, survival blankets, running vests and mountains of trainers.

 

Now it is not all his clutter, working as a Personal Trainer, I have plenty of fitness equipment littered about the place, but it is not until you live with someone that you start to be truly immersed into their world.

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LIFE TOGETHER

It hasn’t been easy. In fact, living together has been a bit like an endurance race. You get up early, have a bit of breakfast, have a chat, and then get to the start line for the race ahead. It’s exciting, it’s fresh, and you can see how all your preparation is going to pay off. But then you get 20 miles in, and you need an aid station, you need a bit of a pep talk, you need some fuel.

 

You head off, knowing that 20 miles are in the bag, but there are 80 yet to come. At the halfway point you are asking yourself what you are doing, and whether there could be an easier way, but then someone feeds you some Haribo and half a banana and life is OK again. You keep going, knowing that you have got to do the same again, and the thought fills you with dread… and then the head torches come out so you can illuminate the way.

 

Steadily you just grind away, hiding behind a bush occasionally to disappear from the world and have some alone time. Suddenly the dawn is breaking and you know the end is insight, but like a mirage it keeps moving and the miles seem to take forever.

 

And then there it is, the finish line, and there are tears, and smiles, and bling, and euphoria, and you forget about all the pain, and the irritating stones in your shoe and blisters on your feet and you cherish that amazing moment before you put yourself through it all again!... see life really is like an endurance race!

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MY BLOG IS MY OUTLET 

So in 2017 my eyes were truly opened up to the world of an ultra runner, and since then things have only become more immersive. Sometimes I laugh, sometimes I cry, sometimes I scream with frustration.

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This blog is an outlet for me. It will also give a window into the home of an ultra runner, and what living with a running addict is like.

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I hope that people will see that they are not alone, that every running household probably goes through the same dramas, and that if you use a little comedy, you can get through anything.

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Heather