'In May 2009 I weighed a gigantic 25st 5lbs and was classified as morbidly obese. I had tried dieting but had never really managed it, always quitting at the first urge. After an embarrassing incident I decided it was time to act and set about losing the weight. I have now lost 10st and have never been fitter.'
'I was looking at the local races and saw the Marathon of the North. With it being the inaugural event I decided instantly that was the one for me as it could become a yearly routine, and I would be able to say in the future “I have completed that every year”.'
Richard's blog
The Marathon of the North 2012 Tuesday, 8 May, 2012 It finally came! It seems like a lifetime ago when I started training in those cold December nights. However today I completed my first ever marathon, the inaugural Marathon of the North in 4 hours 43 minutes... Read more >One week to go Wednesday, 2 May, 2012 Feels like quite a while since my last blog, and looking back the only reason for this is the last month has been quite quiet, and everything has pretty much gone to plan... Read more >
No sacrifice, no victory! Tuesday, 3 April, 2012 It’s been a better week this week than I’ve had in recent weeks. I have continued taping my knee to help alleviate some pain I have been having. I had been struggling with getting the tape to stay on, for most the week it didn’t last more than 3 miles. I tried a few things and nothing seemed to work that great so I took some drastic action and shaved my legs in the hope that the lack of hair would make it stick better... Read more >
An interesting week Tuesday, 27 March, 2012 It’s been an interesting week this week. My IT band is still niggling so I spoke to Paul again and he has revised my stretching and sent some KT tape to strap my knee up with when training. The new stretches do seem to be helping and I’ve only used the tape once, which I will come onto… Read more >
Pros and cons Monday, 19 March, 2012 Time to reflect on another week and it’s been a week of pros and cons, which seems to be most weeks at the minute. The week started great, and Tuesday was the first time I had incorporated a Fartlek session into my run... Read more >
Eight weeks until race day! Monday, 12 March, 2012 It’s been a couple of weeks since my last update. Last Sunday was the second day training for Project 26.2, which meant another trip to London. The day was scheduled for a talk on nutrition, a long run around Bushy Park and then a talk on tapering in preparation for the marathon... Read more >
parkrun Monday, 20 February, 2012 Well this has been a bad week, probably my worst week to date! It was scheduled to be an easy week ready for a parkrun on Saturday where I was going to see if I could beat my PB... Read more >
Easy street Monday, 13 February, 2012 So another week has passed and as I right this, in twelve weeks time it will be the day of The Marathon of the North, and as the training is building so is my excitement... Read more >
Failing to plan is planning to fail Monday, 6 February, 2012 Well it’s been a better week than last with the training. The cold seems to be pretty much gone, so I’ve been back up to full training this week... Read more >
Refuelling Tuesday, 31 January, 2012 Another week has passed by, and I have to say this was probably the most frustrating one to date! I woke up on Monday morning with a cold, nothing too drastic, bit of a bunged nose, so I still packed my running gear, excited for my first hill session. Over the course of the day I got worse and worse, so when I finished work I was in no state to try the session so I sacked it off, I was devastated... Read more >
Bare necessities Monday, 23 January, 2012 As write this, it's less than 15 weeks until I run the marathon of the north, the weeks seem to be ticking by very quickly. I’m starting to get quite excited for it. Had a pretty easy start to the week due to my shifts at work, Monday started with a 30-minute recovery run which was nice and early so although easy would burn a little fat... Read more >
Recovery week Wednesday, 18 January, 2012 This past week has been an easier week than some of the more recent ones. This didn’t happen by accident; Nick is planning every fourth week to be an easier week to allow for recovery from the training which is starting to ramp up at a nice pace... Read more >
A week of awakenings Tuesday, 10 January, 2012 Well, it’s been a busy week, and I have to say for me it’s been a week of awakenings and realisations... Read more >
Happy New Year everyone! Monday, 2 January, 2012 It has been a hectic few weeks, start of training sessions, Christmas, weddings, New Year, its been all go! Read more >
Countdown to Sunderland Monday, 19 December, 2011 My journey started about two years ago when I was rocking 25st 5lbs. After a few attempts to lose weight and failing, an embarrassing incident in a suit shop awoke a sense of drive and determination I never knew I had.... Read more >
