I’m writing this at 8pm on a Sunday evening, whilst sitting eating a small bowl of oven chips. My original dinner plans were scuppered when I fell asleep with the oven on and reduced some fish to charcoal. On the bright side, at least the oven was warm and ready for the chips.

Why did I fall asleep with the oven on? Because today I went running, through lots of mud and puddles, and up some steep hills, all in the name of getting a nice little medal and some tea and cake. This is not a usual Sunday.

I’m happy to admit that back when I was dong tons of bike racing I fell guilty of judging the ‘everybody gets a medal’ culture of sportives or running races as somehow less worthy of respect than the harshness of bike racing. Bike racing is unforgiving, there are no prizes for finishing. Nobody is high-fiving you for a mid-pack finish or giving you a medal for getting to the end, even if it’s the hardest thing you’ve ever done. more often than not If you’re not at the sharp end, you go home empty handed.

Fast forward a few years, and I’m sat here absolutely chuffed to bits with my little participation medal, and very proud of myself for managing to run a damn sight further and faster than I ever thought I’d be able to. I entered the ‘Big Cheese’ trail run back in November. It takes in a loop of the Mendip hills, with over 2000ft of elevation in fifteen miles. There are no prizes for guessing that this event is hosted by Cheddar Running Club.

I entered with the idea that it would give me something to work towards over the winter. Since achieving my largest recent goal of walking to Cape Wrath, I’d felt a little ‘at sea’ in terms of having no challenge to point at. A local running race that seemed a bit beyond me was the perfect goal to push the limits slightly and keep me teetering on the edge of my comfort zone. It might be a much shorter challenge but the end feeling is the same. Setting out to do something I’m not sure I’m able to, preparing as best I can, and doing it.

None of this is rocket science and I’m sure everybody knows the good feeling of achieving a goal, but what I’ve come to realise is the importance of actually setting them in the first place. Picking some random goal, challenge, or event in a few months and just saying yes rather than no. Allowing space in your schedule, and prioritising whatever weird challenge you’ve set yourself, not doing your usual hobby or seeing your usual pals because you’ve done some random other thing. For me, that’s the hard bit.

My preparation for the run was halted slightly by hurting my knee when trying to run a half marathon two weeks in a row. Fortunately, a bit of physio and significantly more than the recommended daily allowance of painkillers allowed me to get through the event. It felt like I was really on the fence as to whether I would run at all, let alone finish, so the elation of getting to the finish line in a reasonable time was huge.

I don’t think you can beat that feeling, and It’s a feeling you don’t get unless you go out looking for it. Make a mad plan, enter something silly, try something new, get inspired, I”d be suprised if you regret it.

The running itch has been well and truly scratched for me now, and while i’ll continue to do some shorter trail runs I’m looking forward to getting back on the bike more, The next challenge might be an XC race.