My name is Tom Smallwood and here you will find my posts and those of guests, on the positive effects of time spent outdoors.
There is nothing like running on a trail, and for me it was always therapeutic.
I instantly forget stuff when I am running. I am totally absorbed.
Read MoreI almost certainly looked nothing like this!
First of all you should go and read Emily’s post here: I got of the bus and ran 5 miles home.
I was always a skinny lad who could run a bit and I enjoyed middle distance and cross-country events at school but I had never thought of doing it outside the frame of what was required within school.
Read MoreIf you’re new to trail running and are stumped on where to get started, consider my recommendations below, a primer, if you will, for trail running. Taken together, I think my recommendations will help get you on the right foot, right away.
Read MoreAt 42 years old I find myself stuck in corporate life, chained to my desk for long hours in major cities around the UK. This makes my excursions into the great outdoors even more important, my medicine for the trappings of modern life and the frustrations of big business. I love nothing more than getting out running on the trails and Fells of Northern England, just me, my dog and nature. This is not the story of one individual event but more the repeated restorative powers my adventures exert on both my physical and mental health.
Read MoreI used to talk about it a fair bit on this blog until I began to bore myself.
I decided to go with the last one because it afforded the possibility of alleviating pain through a course of electro / magnet / laser therapy prior to any expensive injections (ACP). Also it made me feel like I was James Bond in the hands of a super-villain.
Having completed these 10 sessions (the bare minimum) on Saturday morning, I flew back with hope in my heart. This morning I went for a gym session in which I attempted to run further than I have in the best part of a year.
I ran 4km on the treadmill, with a minimal gradient to make it feel a little more natural. It is not quite the most I have done as there have been some false dawns this year but I stopped myself just to not stress the cartilage and I have felt no pain all day. Although I am well beyond expecting miracles, this evening I do feel positive.
Running on a trail is altogether a different impact than the metronomic strike of a heavily cushioned foot on a moving carpet, so I will give it a good few runs in the gym before attempting anything outside.
I am so, so far away from the goal (dream?) of running an ultra that I outlined in my goals for the year but I mustn't grumble. I have been fortunate that this injury has not prevented me tramping up a few hills in 2017 - although the descent has not always been comfortable!
Right, I am boring myself again... now I promise not to talk about my knee for a while.
But I dislike self-pity, I really, really hate it. And I think it is because deep down I know it is a fault I have always had in abundance. And one I have battled to eradicate in my own make-up for as long as I remember. But, like smoking and other dependencies, it is always there. Lurking. Self pity is always willing to prop you up like a crutch. Even when you are spent, self-pity always seems to have enough energy to enable you to spend time reflecting, reeling, recriminating, when you might be doing something positive. Self-pity is easy. Self-pity is shameful. It stops you drawing the curtains to reveal a spectacularly sunny day.
Read More"I reached the meadow and stepped through the screeching metal gate.
It was chilly, but in the fading winter light I took a moment to breath deeply and enjoy the view that gets rather ignored during these runs. In front of me a wide circular expanse of grassland, surrounded by water. Only the loud hum of the A14 taints the atmosphere but even this was dulled by the soggy earth and low lying mist.Read More
I went to the physio again yesterday and although it seems my "quads might be loosening" and I might be getting better, I have still not been able to run beyond 2 - 3km without knee pain since early January. It all happens at a time when I feel stronger than ever due to the specific strength training I have done and yet I have no way of demonstrating this to myself through a good, long and cathartic thrash across the fields.
Read MoreOne month into 2017 and I have managed one 10k run in January. Since then problems with my knees have prevented me doing anything but 3km jogs and strength training much of which was of my own design and based on my own diagnosis.
The 17th of June doesn’t seem so far away and I am now staring at the prospect of potentially having to find an Ultra marathon later in the year. In the meantime I nurse two sets of slightly bruised quads. Not from any punishing run as I might like, but from the ravages of a physio. “Have you ever had a sports massage?” was her question after listening patiently to my jabbering repetition of how unfortunate I am to have one pain after another. "I don’t think so”, I hesitated.
Read MoreIn early January I wrote on this blog that one of my goals for 2017 was to run an ultra marathon. Now, I have never actually run a marathon but I was regularly running in the last 3 months of 2016, including a 15km circuit (mostly off road) so... why not?
I thought it would be a good challenge to give myself 6 months to get in the kind of shape that would allow me to run (and probably walk a bit) a course of 74 km (46 miles).
Read MoreI am writing this from Seville, the capital of Andalusia.
A year and half ago I spent a magical few days in this region with my family and some close friends. I was at a lowish point in terms of my working life and the seeds of my idea to change the way I work were first sewn...
Read MoreA few days ago I had a dark day. Dark like those I had before I quit the rat race to try to live a different lifestyle.
I felt anxious and distinctly under the weather. One interesting project I am involved in suddenly looked a lot more daunting. It appeared as if it would not get off the ground for a lot longer than I thought. I was frustrated with a couple of other non-work related matters. Perhaps the sky was grey…
Then it struck me that these were largely incidental. What had really happened is that I had a conversation with Cathy O'Dowd (first woman to summit Everest from both sides and exceptional motivational speaker)...
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