It’s a fresh season of half marathon running. Half marathons are so much more manageable than marathon running. At half the distance it slots in with running your own business. I feel it is conducive to good performance in the office, a complimentary activity leaving enough energy to drive a business forward but long enough to be challenging. Whereas marathon running or should I say marathon training is a big ask to combine. Especially if you have other commitments such as family and you try to have a regular desire to meeting up with friends and socialising. The half marathon slots into that mix perfectly allowing you to train around meetings, work and family. Having said that I do miss playing football and other team sports terribly. Hey ho there always has to be a sacrifice. Maybe I will play in veteran leagues in years to come if I am lucky.

So I have signed up for a collection of races for this half marathon season.

The Bupa Birmingham half marathon as part of the Great Run series, Gosport half marathon in November, Malta half marathon in February, Paris half marathon at the start of March and Berlin at the end of March. I hope to sprinkle this with some 5k and 10k races and maybe a couple of other races in when I can.

Travelling with half marathons is also fun in the fact that it needn’t be the focus of the whole weekend away like a marathon which deserves the full respect of getting some rest. On a weekend away my wife and I will walk around the city the day before and explore. Warsaw half marathon last year was an excellent choice for this. The Sunday morning race edged me away from sampling the local Vodka too.

Races give you the focus. Races make me run that wet and windy evening when you are on a knife edge of ‘to be or not to be’. This happened to me last Thursday, the first miserable evening in London for a while. I came back refreshed, rejuvenated and ready to have a crack at that task I was putting off.

I was once told, always run on the first horrible winter evening when the weather is so adverse as to set a bar for the rest of the winter. It works in the fact that after a summer of glorious warm runs it shifts the mindset and reminds you that in fact not only is it okay, it is actually better so long as you have the correct kit. The post run satisfaction is greater. Word of warning though, people look at you with a mixed look of admiration and that you are not quite right of mind. There are normally some delightful Gothic kids near a skate park on my route who also like to illustrate various hand gestures at me too. This could happen to you if you are lucky. Get out in the next windy rainy evening and come back and find a half marathon to sign up for. You will not regret it.