This middle aged Jogger has become a blogger!

Well, the middlegedjogger has been absent for some time down to a few things but I'm back and sharing my latest update. Since my last blog I competed in the Yateley 10k series of events which is a great, 1 event a month, series in the summer. The atmosphere and organisation is great, with a lovely course in addition. I also completed my second Royal Parks Half Marathon  run on closed streets of London and taking in all the Royal Parks around Westminster. Although this is quite an expensive event, it really is a wonderful atmosphere and the sightseeing during the race is outstanding. Its very well supported and would be a great first half for anybody who feels inclined. It's very heavily subscribed though and entries are via a ballot. Speaking of ballots....... As my running has been improving both in terms of distance and pace I decided to apply for the London Marathon 2018 . Is it something I have always wanted to do? No. Is it something I thought about for a couple o

I'm not going to lie - I've never liked the term "fun run." In my mind, a "fun run" was for people dressed as ostriches (Sorry Neil!) , astronauts, fairies or pretty much anything other than the standard running gear, aiming to just get round any pre-determined distance, usually raising money for a charity. Today in Hook, however, my opinion of the phrase "fun run" has changed - sure it's not a great deal of fun for many during their chosen distance but if you didn't have fun as you turned up this morning to Harltetts Park for the  Hook Fun run and road race  the there's no hope!   I'm probably a bit biased as my son designed the fabulous  Hook Runners  logo and seeing the number of vests, t-shirts and hoodies on display certainly made me feel proud, but overall I knew I was in for a day of fun - Look at them, just look at them..... Now, I was there to compete in the 10K road race but what is superb about this even

In 2012 the London Olympics set to "inspire a generation" - well if you head down to your local park on a Saturday you absolutely see that in action. Hundreds of men, women and children making their way around a 5km (3 mile) course. At my local run in  Basingstoke  there are regularly 500 plus people attending in all weathers PLUS the huge amount of volunteers who are there to ensure the event is run smoothly. I'm presuming everybody has heard of park run but if not, and according to their Website  , park run Organise free, weekly, 5km timed runs around the world. They are open to everyone, free, and are safe and easy to take part in. It may be easy to see the word run and dismiss the event as you're "not a runner" but let me assure you, these events are for every single type of ability you could wish to imagine (as my video hopefully shows) The wonderful  Hook Runners  at Basingstoke park run Now the last thing I want to do is make it

My run on Strava  today saw me post my first video from my youtube channel - nothing to get too excited about but more of a welcome and trying out the quality of the  GoPro Hero 5  to be honest. Anyway, have a look and I'll be posting more later this week with my in depth review of the sensational  sunglasses from Oakley

So I'm a middle aged man (although my son would say I'm old!) and in May 2015 I signed up to the  Dell Management Challenge  along with my colleagues at Ingram Micro. After spending most of my youth playing lots of Rugby Union (I finally saw the light and played Rugby League!) and getting into a bit of cycling later in life I thought it would be a breeze - 2 days of Canoeing, Running, Cycling and Fell walking in the the Brecon Beacons would just need me to up may game a little in the fitness stakes and all would be good right? Now it's worth noting that throughout my life I have been very active but I've never, ever been good at, or enjoyed, running so when I was told to try out the  Endomondo running and coaching App  I tried it, fully intending to try it once then give in! At this stage (May 2015) I was nearly 18 stone and spending most of my days in a car or at a desk with very little physical exercise - now I never felt that big or overweight if I'm honest