I’ve never understood why people choose to run on a treadmill? If you want to lose weight, there are plenty of places to run, outside in the fresh air.

Outside is free. Inside a gym costs money. Why do people choose a gym? I don’t get it? Is it because they are scared of the weather? Getting wet for example.

Let me tell you something you may find hard to believe. I run 6 days a week, sometimes twice a day, and I very rarely run in the rain. I live in England which is notorious for it’s regular rainfall, but I rarely get wet.

Always have a Plan B in your endeavours. This is a fall back position should your Plan A get into trouble. I have already written about New Year’s Resolutions and the reason you should embrace failure. If you have a Plan B already prepared, then there is no failure involved in your planning, you have merely switched goals and targets.

Running marathons is a mental, as well as a physical challenge, particularly after the 20 mile mark. In the last 6 miles of a marathon every fibre in your body is saying stop, stop, but you have to overcome those messages and stay focused on continuing your run.

Look I’m going to have to be a bit rude here, but this is a serious matter and I don’t care if I upset a few people. 

Thousands of men die every year because they didn’t want a finger up their bum.

It’s true, thousands of men die of Prostate Cancer every year, because they were scared of having a bloke put a finger up their bum.

I think some of it is the homosexuality thing. Homosexuality. Finger up the bum. See what I mean?

But is it worth dieing,  just because you don’t want people to think you’re gay?

Thousands of men die every year by gambling with their life. They do this because they don’t want anyone to think they have homosexual tendencies.

I mean, I don’t know about you, but I don’t fancy having a finger up my bum, and that’s what it takes to prevent early death.

No thank you. No finger up the bum for me. I’m a real man me. Come on Grim Reaper bring it on. I’m not scared.

Alright scared isn’t the right word, but I definitely don’t want to die before my allocated appointment.

It’s a strange feeling, but the Gloucester Marathon is the first marathon I haven’t got stressed about. I’m actually looking forward to it.   This Sunday 22nd April 2011, I shall line up with hundreds of other runners, knowing I will complete the marathon, the only question is what time?

Why aren’t I worried? Well for a start, this is my 18th marathon, so I think I know the ropes. Also I’m not even training for this one, my training is focused on the Brighton marathon which is 10th April 2011. Trevor from Spa Striders suggested Gloucester because he had a bad experience  in the Edindburgh marathon last year. Edinburgh is run in May and it was very hot, too hot to get a decent race time. 

Running marathons is hard, training for marathons is even harder, so putting the words ‘enjoy’ and ‘marathon’ together doesn’t make sense, it’s an oxymoron. Except it does make sense in one particular section of marathon training – the taper.

Three weeks before your marathon you should start resting. If you haven’t trained enough before this, I’m sorry it’s too late now. The best thing you can do is get plenty of rest, preserving your strength for the marathon race ordeal.

New runners who enter marathons make two basic mistakes, they;

1) Don’t train hard enough.

2) Don’t rest enough.

At the start of every year I see lots of new runners pounding the streets. Christmas and the New Year celebrations are out of the way, and many people are trying to lose weight by exercising.

The other group of new runners are those that have signed up to run a marathon in 2011. In the UK the traditional marathon season is Spring time with London and Brighton marathons in April, and Stratford upon Avon plus Edinburgh marathons in May. 

Surprisingly one of the most nutritious foods that you can eat while on a diet is the humble baked bean. They are rich in fibre, a great source of protein, and very cheap.

Part of a natural weight loss plan is making sure that the foods you are eating are nutritious. Whenever you are on a diet you need to eat foods that are nutrient rich and that contain the optimum amount of vitamins and minerals.  That’s because with reduced consumption you need to make each meal count.

You can WIN a 5 mile race, even if you can’t run more than 100 yards without walking!…….. HOW? Simple, you enter a handicapped race.

This works by the organiser estimating each entrants finishing time. If you have to run, walk, run, walk for example, your 5 mile time may be 1 hour 15 minutes. A regular runner like myself can complete the course in 34 minutes. So in the race you would start off 41 minutes before me, and we would both approach the finishing line at the same time.

‘Scotland’s Biking Heaven’ is how the Galloway tourist board describe the region, and it’s not just hyperbole. I have just spent a week in Newtown Stewart, which borders the Galloway forest, after hearing that it had been officially designated as a ‘Dark Sky Park’. (It has the lowest light pollution in Europe, which means it’s a star gazers delight).

Unfortunately star gazing in June is a waste of time because it doesn’t get dark until 11pm and even then the sky has a blue tinge to it. Dawn is 4am, so you have a very short window for star gazing. If it’s a cloudy day you can forget it.