When I was a young boy, I took part in a 3 mile fun run in the Essex village I grew up in. It was not "fun" and I thought exercise was not worth it after picking up a stitch. A few years later, in secondary school, you would find me hiding in the school library on the computer instead of taking part in PE.

Fast-forward to adult life and now the script is flipped. I'm exercising to get away from the screen. What changed? I think it's a combination of stimulus and hitting a plateau in my career. The outcomes from the physical and mental taxation levied by endurance sports feels a lot more rewarding, certainly from a chemical and emotional perspective.

From my own personal experiences, success is more readily celebrated in sporting achievements than in my line of work, where we move from one solved problem straight onto the next unsolved one. Whenever a sporting feat has been achieved, personal best stats are pored over on Strava and photos shared and emoji-bombed on WhatsApp.

If I had the courage, I'd try and make a career out of this instead of breaking computers. But that's for another blog post.

Cycling has always been my number one passion but it's not without its drawbacks, especially in winter. The weather takes its toll on bike maintenance and the body, not to mention the increased risk of accidents. Winter is the most detrimental season when it comes to mental health and so I needed to find another sport that would fare better for this time of year. Enter running.

I've started this endevour a bit late in life. Now in my 40s, my body is more sensitive to stress and full recovery takes significantly longer. I've cycled with many injured runners and I didn't want to become one of them (sorry). I knew from my cycling injuries that you can't just train by doing the sport you're doing, you need complimentary exercises. I also need the will power to take this on. Hiring a personal trainer to keep me accountable has worked well here.

I was always happy with 5k Parkruns and the occasional 10k with my local running club (big up Spa Striders) but I wondered if I could achieve more. After witnessing, as a spectator, the glorious atmosphere that is the London Marathon, I thought a half marathon could be the smallest step to take next. A commitment of 2-2.5 hours didn't sound so bad (especially given I have ridden 12 hours in one ride before). I decided it had to be local and the Warwick half on February 1st was ideal.

What I'm pleased about most is that I enjoyed the journey as much as the destination. Training got me out of the house on dark and wet days. What really helped was having a running partner for some motivational company (thank you Sarah!) and a structured plan to target and stick to (I used the Runna app).

I'm writing this the day after the event. I managed a time of 2 hours 19 minutes (1 minute faster than my target). The local support and atmosphere was great and thankfully the weather stayed fair. I'm still tired but have recovered well and not picked up any injuries.

After all that has been said and done, I'm left with one answered question. Is a full marathon on the cards in future?