Blog About Sam's Thoughts And Riting Diary

I wrote a blog post at the end of last year talking about New Year’s Resolutions and goals, among other things. One of the goals I set for 2017 was to run 1,000 miles, the idea being that such a target would lead me to running consistently throughout the year. It was also part of a larger experiment to try to breed a new sense of consistency in my life; something that I feel has eluded me. At the same time as setting that annual mileage goal, having been inspired by the thousands of people running Hastings Half Marathon, I signed up for the 2018 version and set my sights on a sub-90 minute finishing time. I’m not entirely sure why I decided on 90 minutes (my previous best was 1 hour 56 minutes in 2011!) but, clearly, there would have been something to do with it being a nice, round number. I imagine there’s something inside me that thought it would put me into the category of “runner” rather than a person that occasionally runs. After some Internet research I real...

With Valentines’ Day just past I’ve been thinking a lot about marital duty. Sophie and I have only been married for almost sixteen months, but I don’t think this is one of those subjects that only those with a letter from the Queen should discuss. Rather it is a discussion that I think everybody should get involved in. What does marital duty mean to you? Is it putting your significant other first? Is it making sacrifices for your husband/wife? Is it, simply, being faithful? For me, marital duty is putting yourself in your partner’s situation, and doing what you feel is the right thing . It’s seeing them as an extension of yourself – hurting them hurts you, helping them helps you – and approaching everything with that in mind; you’re no longer just a ‘you’, you are now a ‘we’. I can hear the cries of cry claustrophobia – what of independence? Aren’t I still my own person? Of course you are. Don’t ever lose sight of your individuality and the importance of doing your own thi...

When Matt mentioned he was going to Marrakech to race a half marathon something clicked. It might have been my dodgy ankle, but I also had an idea: why not run it with him, and take Sophie along for the adventure? Day One - Le Grand Départ Nothing quite makes you feel like you're going on holiday like waking up at 2.45am. We arranged to meet Matt and Ollie in Crawley, where we'd try to cram as much luggage into our hold bag as possible. Fortunately this went well with no bananas harmed in the process. Our first transfer of the holiday came in the form of Ollie's mum, Sally, who had gone to start the car while we packed. A short journey in the dead of the night - what could possibly go wrong? So young, so naive. We piled into the car and were met with Sally fighting a losing cause against the dreaded windscreen fog (of war). Frantically pushing buttons, repeatedly claiming "it doesn't usually do this" and "it's usually just one button and...

Have you done a good deed today? Doing a good deed then bragging diminishes the good deed. Or does it? If somebody saves a child from a burning building, then proceeds to brag about it, does that change the action? Of course not, but it does reveal the sponsoring thought/motivation. The “hero” saved the child because of the possibility of future recognition. The child is saved – no doubt the deed is good and done – does it matter if the reason isn’t as wholesome as originally thought? I bet the child’s parents wouldn’t care one bit. Full disclosure: I dunno if Buddha said that So then if a good deed is a good deed regardless of the reason for doing so, what does it matter whether the deed-doer was behaving altruistically? If that is what motivates them to do a good deed, surely it’s better that they do the deed and get their “return” of feeling proud, and enjoying the likes on Social Media. Some people are inspired by others to be more charitable, more generous – postin...

In December 2016 I set a few New Year’s Resolutions. Like millions of others, I have tried and failed in the past. I am an advocate of changing your life today rather than waiting for tomorrow or a specific date, so why set NYRs? There’s something powerful about the changing of a year, I had intentions that just happened to arrive before the new year so I married the two together; I wanted to run and cycle faster and further, and I also wanted to be more consistent in my writing. 2016 featured a lot of manic writing (I wrote 40,000 words in a month) followed by uninspired periods of emptiness. So, with those motivations in mind, I set the following goals: Finish my novella ‘Blackout’ Log spending daily Run 1,000 miles Cycle 2,000 miles (+3 other run/cycle targets, all achieved.) I only failed the first goal. Instead of finishing Blackout I wrote Idle Riot , edited it multiple times and polished it. I’m happy with that. I wanted to know how much ...

Last month I wrote a  blog entry  detailing a particularly bad day in which a Southeastern employee told me I'd be better off getting the bus. If you enjoyed that, you'll likely enjoy this. If you still shiver when you think back to that blog post, I strongly advise you to look elsewhere. I can't tell you how excited I have been to post this article. I have logged the lateness of my trains on a daily basis and, up until a few days ago, I was ready to go. Unfortunately, I suspect Southeastern hired hackers to take my computer down, leaving me no choice other than the dreaded "System Restore". So, rather than my excellently colour-coded spreadsheet (the beginnings of which can be seen in the previous entry), you'll have to take my word for Southeastern's tardiness. Alongside the daily entries of exactly how late my trains were, I created a formula to produce a running average of all journeys entered. The last time I checked, at the beginning of ...

Travelling by train should be a peaceful, enjoyable and smooth experience in which one arrives at their local station, boards a train, finds a seat, reads a book, arrives at their destination, alights from the train, and goes about their daily business. However, t ravelling with Southeastern is like tying a shoelace wearing oven gloves; it’s possible but unnecessarily hard. Today  I decided to get the 1053 as I had a meeting in Greenwich at midday. The 1053 gets in to Greenwich at 1132 should the stars align, and those pesky wet leaves keep off the rails.   I left home at 1035, walked a kilometre to get there and arrived a few minutes before the train was due to arrive. I had upheld my end of the bargain. Before I could even ask for an Off-Peak return to Greenwich, the cashier told me not to get a train as the next one wouldn’t arrive for at least an hour. Pardon?  Yep, I’d be better off getting a bus (a what?)  to Dartford and getting a train from the...