Who am I…?

The chances are, if you have navigated to this page, you will already know me pretty well. As the focus of the site is my current health status, I will give a very small intro to give some background…

I am a 60-year old Scotsman, living in Fife. My general health has been pretty good (up until recently…). Over my last 40-odd years of working I think I have had around 7 days health-related absence from work (including minor surgery some years ago, and a hallucinogenic reaction to a brand of painkillers).

To counteract the advance of “middle age spread” I decided to start jogging around 12 years ago. Nothing special, just jogging along the local streets – eventually reaching the heady distance of 3 miles without stopping (still scarlet-faced and panting for breath…). In 2013 I ran a trail 5K at Balmoral with members of my family, and found that I enjoyed off-road running more than running on tarmac. Joining a local trail running club opened my eyes to the possibilities of trail running and with the support and help of some of my friends I was able to complete my first half-marathon, 15-mile and marathon distances. Again, with the support of friends, I completed a 42-mile run on the upper section of the West Highland Way and I was due to attempt the lower 53-mile section of the WHW last year, until Covid scuppered that.

So, whilst in no way being an athlete, I was enjoying reasonable health with a good level of fitness. It was the gradual feeling of running getting “harder” earlier this year that prompted a visit to the doctor – the rest is history…