Paul Cook’s Running Diary

I have run eight marathons. As far as I remember, all but one took longer than four hours. This HALF marathon in Barbados was the third hardest race I have ever run. No amount of training could have prepared me for the heat and humidity, even for a run that started at 5 a.m.! I [...]

So where did the time go? How did we suddenly go from October to December? This is my final blog before the half-marathon on Sunday, Dec. 6. I have to admit, I am pretty nervous about running this distance in a hot climate, but I have a least covered the 20.1 kilometres once in the [...]

I used to think treadmills were for wimps. Ok, I still do, but I guess I am one now. When I ran marathons back in the ’90s, I ran no matter what the weather. I had always been told if you don’t train in bad weather, it could come back to haunt you on race day. So [...]

A long-distance charity runner may get plenty of praise for rising to a challenge and taking up a cause, but with all athletic endeavours, there are some terribly humbling moments.  “Hey Dad, you were really ‘chugging’ along there.” That less-than-flattering observation came from my 16-year-old son after he and a pal observed me running laps [...]

So I changed my fundraising goal from $6,800 to $10,680. Originally, I was truly worried about whether I would hit the first number, so you can imagine what I am thinking right now! But here’s why I did it. When the donations started pouring in, I was blown away not only by everyone’s generosity, but [...]

Have you heard the expression, “You can’t manage what you can’t measure”? Well, the time has come for measurement. I am now up and running online! I have signed up for an online training program with the folks at the Running Room and I have also set up my personal page with the Joints in Motion Team. The Running [...]

I sometimes suffer from runner’s guilt. Not the obvious self-loathing guilt where you fat out and miss several days of running – well, actually, yes, I do in fact suffer from that as well, but in this case, I’m talking about when I feel like I am a stick in the mud – declaring to [...]

You’d think cottage country would be a runner’s paradise: fresh air. An open road. No traffic. No time-sucking city distractions. True.  But there are other considerations -  I call them the Four B’s:  Baileys. Butter tarts.  Beer and…….bears. I find it incredibly tough to take my rat-race fitness regimen to the cottage. People talk about packing on the pounds in the winter.  For me, the [...]

Eleven years and forty pounds later, I have decided to return to long-distance running. There is no turning back now because commercials are being broadcast on the radio station proclaiming “680′s own Paul Cook (gulp) is heading to Barbados this December to participate in Joints In Motion. Join him at the Run Barbados marathon, half marathon or 10K race.” Yep, [...]