Occasionally you’ve been delayed, maybe by traffic or a late running train. When you finally make it to the meeting it’s already in full swing and you haven’t got a clue what everyone’s talking about.

You’re miss the start of a film or TV drama and join it 20 minutes in. You then spend five minutes annoying your friend by asking who everyone is and what’s going on.

If you’re new to running it can sometimes feel like this when you chat to other runners about training, equipment, pacing or all manner of other things. You nod sagely as if you’ve been a runner all of your life when they talk about threshold runs and fartleks. This is especially the case if you’re of a ‘certain age’ and seem to find yourself finishing in the first half of a race. The assumption is you know what you’re doing and understand all the jargon.

This is where I found myself after starting running in 2015 as an already V40 runner and beginning to enter more local races in 2017, where my age suggested I was a well experienced runner. There can be a bewildering number of things to remember from training for certain distances to fueling for a race and all things between. I even found myself at the start line of a half marathon in Cardiff in 2106 wondering what the plastic poncho in the race pack was for and what I should be doing with it.

Since those days, through researching sensible information on the internet, getting friendly advice from members of my running club and my own experiences, the fog of information and misinformation seems to be clearing a bit.

Being a veteran runner by age group and new to running at the same time I very much felt I was running to catch up, so this blog will recount some of my experiences; the things I’ve learned to do and the advice I’ve learned to avoid. I’ll also include run and race reports from time-to-time, as well as running events I attend. I might even review new running equipment as I use then. I’ve also met some amazing and inspirational runners, so may comment on some of their great achievements too. I’ve definitely still got a lot of catching up to do, so it would also be great if you could comment on my post to offer your relevant experience and advice.

I’m hoping that my experience in getting into and really enjoying running as a moderately active sporty bloke in his mid forties will encourage others to get more active and discover the joys of running, and its mental, physical and social benefits.

Sorry I’m late, I’ll try and keep up.