From 200 yards
to the wall.
Artist, former art teacher, runner and cyclist. Someone who learned the hard way that you can't fight your way to being well.
In 2007 I was 28, and I wasn't in a good place. I was struggling with my weight and with binge eating, and both my physical and mental health were suffering. A short walk could leave me out of breath.
When I left teaching, I started walking. Just getting outside. It was a small beginning, but it opened up a different life: running, then yoga and meditation, and a growing curiosity about wellbeing as a whole, not just fitness.
For a long time I did it the hard way. Ten years of "no pain, no gain", with the injuries to prove it. What I've learned since is simpler: nourish the body and the mind, don't fight them.
- 2007A short walk, out of breath.Leaving teaching. Getting outside for the first time in a long time.
- ThenWalking became running.Then yoga, meditation, and a wider interest in how body and mind work together.
- 25+Marathons, and counting.Plus ultras, mountain events, road cycling and duathlons.
- 2016You Lifestyle Balance.Writing about balance over burnout, and why exercise isn't war. The Liverpool half marathon.
- 2018The Great Wall of China.A charity trek, written up day by day. Training for Dublin.
- StudyThe mind behind the habits.Training in Neuro-Linguistic Programming and the study of emotional eating.
- 2026Life is always now.Picking the journal back up, with more on the mind than ever.
The adventures and the setbacks.
This journal is where I share both. If something here helps you take your own first 200 yards, it's done its job.