In 2010 I made a running log in an Excel sheet that had every run, a separate tab for workouts, and a final tab for races. It was awesome.

In 2013 I lost all of it. I was TRIGGERED.

Instead of starting another virtual log that I might lose, I took inspiration from my boy Bill Rodgers and wrote all my runs in a composition book.

Today, that composition book has finally reached the end – every page filled with every run I’ve done for the last 7 years.

The log really shows the career arc of a wanna-be sub-sub-elite runner.

• It started hopeful! For the first few years I was running 30-60 miles a week, breaking 17:00 at the local 5ks, and enjoying running whenever I wanted to.

• Then the times got better. There were a few sub 16:00s on the track, a 4:30 mile, a 55:45 at Broad Street. Things were trending upward!

• I joined PRTC at the beginning of 2019 and was pumped to formally revive my running career! Dreams of sub 15:00 in the 5,000m, 2:30 in the marathon, etc. were alive and well!

• Since then it’s pretty much been entirely downhill. I hurt my Achilles which had never been an issue. Mileage went down. Times went up. My dreams of PRTC being the turning point in my career were true, just in the opposite way I hoped.

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It’s fitting that the running log comes to an end as I’m running the least mileage I have in probably 15 years. My left Achilles has me sidelined at the moment with the exact same issue I’ve had with my right Achilles for the last 18 months. And this isn’t a woe-is-me situation. I understand I can be doing more to heal. I just don’t have the motivation.

Will there be a comeback in the future? I’d like to think so. But at the moment, there will be no joining of Strava, no new running log. These will be the lost years before the big comeback.

But I’m glad I kept 7 years of running in written history. It feels more personal than Strava for some reason. The idea of pulling a Quenton Cassidy and running 100 miles a week with no one knowing then racing a crazy fast time is cooler than showing everyone what you’re doing.

RIP in peace to the running log.