Freedom to change

It's been nearly 6 weeks since I last posted. I quite like writing for writing's sake, picking it up and putting it down again like an old familiar musical instrument. 

A lot's happened in 6 weeks. More change. I finally decided, after many years, that Policing was taking more from me than it was giving. I want to do something simple and less stressful for a while, so I'm going to be a Postie.

I don't believe in grinding away unhappily for the best years of your life to enjoy a comfortable retirement that may never come. My experience's have taught me to find happiness in the moment and be grateful for what I have now.

Me and my Partner went our separate ways. There was no animosity or hard feelings and we parted on good terms.

I had a much needed weekend away in the Yorkshire Dales with family. I think we covered around 43 miles through the hills. It did me the world of good.

I had a little solo trip to Edale. I walked the fell race route and camped out overnight in my roof tent.

It was the Elmton Chase trail race in mid June. I ran my best ever time. It was a significant milestone for me, as it was the first race I did after treatment in 2025 and it was good to see how far I have come.

Towards the end of June it was my first experience of the Round Sheffield Run. What an incredible race. I've never done anything like it before. If you're not familiar with the concept, it's 15 miles of trails around the scenic outskirts of Sheffield. It's broken up into stages so you effectively clock in and clock out, resting in between. It means you can really push it for the running segments knowing you've got regular breaks. It's like running lots of little races. I finished well inside the top 300 out of 3260 runners. 



I'm not really sure what my next challenge is. I'd love to get PBs in the 5K and 10K this year. It's been a huge achievement to get back to fitness after the year I had. To push on and be better than I've been before, at 44-years-old, would be a dream. But for the immediate future, I don't have any races planned. I need to settle into the new job first as I could be walking up to 13 miles a day and I need to see how distance running sits alongside that!

"Man does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become the next moment. By the same token, every human being has the freedom to change at any instant."

- Viktor Frankl




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