Diary of a Madman - Ozzy Osbourne

Old School...

When I started running, back in 1994, we didn't have Garmin or Strava to keep our running records and deliver data - we kept a 'Running Log' - a kinda daily diary where one's runs and times were noted along with a simple mood icon and a small space for comments.

I updated it religiously, as my running experience and fresh PBs were set, and then beaten, sometimes on a daily basis. Back in those days a simple 'Timex Ironman' watch measured times and string on an OS Map or driving the route guesstimated the distances one ran.

 

Sadly, for the 'Running Log' its days became numbered as the world went digital and distances and routes were logged online - but looking at my 1994 volume it's interesting to see where I'd run and what distances I covered all those years’ ago.

 

You see this was pre-first marathon for me, and this current bout of nostalgia came from having a spare half-hour or so, in my old home town of Stratford-upon-Avon earlier this week

 

I thought it would be interesting to run one of my first running routes of 3.1* miles noted as 'Cross 'O the Hill' in the log. A route that was in fact my school’s old Cross-Country course. (No health and safety in 1973 with road crossings etc. btw). Anyway, I thought I'd run it just as I used to in 1994 - as fast as I could possibly go.

 

And looking back I see a couple of entries in April '94 as 26.05 mins and 25.13 mins yet by September '94 I'd managed to get it down to 21.25 mins - not too shabby for my first year of running at 32 years of age - nearly half of my current 63. 

 

So how did it go?

 

Well, it wasn't as bad as I thought, and 24.43 mins was a fair result - not bad considering all the running my old body has done since way back then.

 

What did happen is that I really enjoyed running this route just as much as I did all those years ago. I felt grateful that after all that’s happened to me, after all of life's twists and turns that have come my way, I still love running and the life running has given me.

 

You see sometimes we overcomplicate life and instead of enjoying ourselves at what we love to do, things can become an onerous task - I often say 'When the fun stops - stop'.

 

Luckily for me, the fun is still there - the feelings of joy, love and satisfaction are overwhelming at times, and I urge you, if you are looking for a constant in this ever-changing world of ours, go out as often as possible and make running a part of your world. Enjoy the freedom it brings and the people that come your way. I love that.

 

It's been a constant in my world for 32 years now and I wonder if I will still be able to run my 'Cross 'O the Hill' route in ten or twenty-years’ time. I do hope so.

Until then, I’m going to carry on in my crazy world of running and if I’m lucky enough to with you we can enjoy what running can bring together.

1,220 Marathons - 289 Ultras - 9 Guinness World Records - 18 Marathon des Sables