New year in Bristol has certainly seen a huge spike in Lycra clad joggers out and about pounding the pavements come rain or; to be honest; rain at the moment.

In the past I have been out there pounding pavements with the best of them and in 2013 I ran my first and last half marathon – the delightful Bristol half marathon which I would heartily recommend. You may wonder why it was my first and last… It was my first because I really wanted to prove to myself that I could run that far, my last because once proved I just didn’t feel the need to continue training and running for two hours at a time – there was so much else that I wanted to do with my free time. It did however teach me that I could love running, the feeling of freedom that comes with being able to run comfortably for 30 minutes, then an hour; suddenly the possibilities seem endless of where running could take you – check out these inspirational ladies for proof…

Elise Downing – currently running the coastline of Britain

Lazy Girl Running aka Laura Fountain – making running her career

Adrianne Hill – planning to run/bike/SUP the world in 2016

The second reason it was my first and last was because I got injured. My hip has never quite been the same. I’m sure it was because I trained to run too fast, too far, too quickly. It took 12 months to feel like I could try and run again, then life got in the way a bit and it’s only now that it seems like the time to run again. To try and make sure I build back up really slowly I’m using the BRILLIANT Couch to 5K app that you can download for free. To make running as fun as it can possibly be to me I’m running off road. To me running through mud, puddles and over varied terrain in the countryside is the best! Distance becomes much less important replaced just by enjoying the surroundings and being present in the moment rather than aiming for the specifics of a training program.

So far so good, my hip isn’t complaining too much, I got to buy some really cool new waterproof trainers and I’ve discovered new off road footpaths less than 5 minutes from my house.

Wish me luck and watch this space for some more trail running adventures.

Zoe