I’ve admitted this before in my column. But I suppose if confession is good for the soul, repeating the confession can’t hurt. So here goes: I’m crazy about running shoes. No I really am and I’m not joking.I like to look at them, read about them
It started long before it began. The idea was as eloquent as it was simple and perhaps a tad outrageous: stuff a couple of pairs of running shoes and a change of clothes into the saddlebags of a motorbike and head across country in search of new
. I looked for vitamin spinach, supplement spinach, clothes spinach… you name it. I was that guy at the race expos looking for the latest, newest, most surefire way of becoming leaner, fitter and faster.The first time I ran a mile in under 10 minutes
“This just isn’t my day,” I heard her whisper. When I turned to look at her, I couldn’t believe my eyes. She wasn’t in pain. She was simply finished. It was as though someone had drained out all of her energy. And the marathon finish was still 13
Recently I received an e-mail from a woman who hoped to become more active. She wanted to start walking and running, maybe even compete in some local 5K or 10Ks. She thought this might be a good way to lose weight and feel better. Not a bad plan
. At the Marine Corps Marathon one year, I almost finished in the top 15,000 runners. I would have, but I went out too fast!As I enter my 10th year as a runner, I have to admit that I’m no longer the new kid on the block. I’ve had some wonderful races and some
in the shadow of a 10,000-year-old glacier. You’ve just imagined the 2001 Antarctica Marathon, aka ‘the Last Marathon’.To me, it seemed like the perfect idea – the Penguin running with the penguins. But just reaching the Last Marathon was a marathon in itself: a
Extract from No Need For Speed by John Bingham (Rodale International Limited, £8.99). To order direct from Runner's World for the special price of £7.99 (inc P&P), call 0800 731 0622 and quote 55174-0.Those who know me well know that I enjoy
d known when they started out. JOHN BINGHAM1. Three steps forward, two steps backI thought that once Id started running regularly, Id become increasingly better all the time. I thought my progress would be linear. For a while, thats exactly what
