While I’m in the UK, I’m really trying to make the most of my time over here. I have no plans to be back before next summer, and the past few years, with deaths, breakups, and closures, I try to take the opportunities in front of me. It’s been a fulfilling way to live. I recommend it.
Events
Thanks to all who came to my event with Hattie in Stoke Newington on Thursday evening. You can see a few photos from that over on my IG. This Wednesday, I’ll be up in Nottingham with Embankment Run Club.
After the run, I’ll be in conversation with ERC founder Luke Myers, who I interviewed back in 2024, and local bookshop One More Chapter is going to be in the pub selling copies of This is Running. It’s a perfect example of how to shop local and boost the economy, and I can’t wait.
If you’ve got a run club somewhere in the UK/Europe, and want to host me over the next six weeks, drop me a line, and let’s see what we can do.
If you have a book club, please consider This is Running. I would love to connect with your book club for a live interview. Let me know, and we’ll set it up.
Get your copy of, This is Running
USA - Bookshop.org US | Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | Signed copy (US)
UK - Bookshop.org UK | Amazon UK | Waterstones
Review This is Running - Goodreads
Like the Wind LIVE
The good people at Like the Wind magazine have got me to extend my London residency by an extra week so that I can be a part of their Run Culture: LIVE event at the Truman Brewery in East London on 4-5 September 2026.
I’ll be on a panel with Adharanand Finn and Howie Goldkland about book publishing in the running world. We all have completely different books created in completely different ways, so this little chat will run the gamut of desires and capabilities.
While it’s very important that you come and experience this Inside Baseball chat if you’re into writing and/or publishing, it’s more important that you come and take a photo of me with Linford Christie. Who’s up for that challenge?
My hidden gem running route
Brooks asked me to write about my hidden gem running route, and I wrote about one that’s deeply personal to me, but probably not to you. I hope that it’s something that can inspire you to find your own.
If you already have a hidden gem running route that nobody else can connect to as much as you do, please tell me about it!
My final word on Josh Kerr
After the Trackstaa podcast dropped, and my son features around the 53:30 mark, they handily clipped the video for Instagram. This obviously meant that I had to lean into the narrative and take a moment to be a daddy blogger.
To sit beside the most freshly-minted world record holder was an incredible moment for my son, but the whole pod is worth a watch, so do check it out.
Zzzz is for sleep
One of the biggest pieces of advice from Josh Kerr is to get enough sleep. As part of his training, he was getting 11-12 hours of sleep every day, including a two-hour nap in the afternoon.
In the Trackstaa podcast he talks about how rather than planning for an easy/recovery run, he plans for rest and recuperation so that he can go hard again. This is obviously the mindset and capabilities of a world record holder, but we can adopt some of that for ourselves, no?
The sleep optimization industry has blossomed into a multi-billion-dollar industry in recent years. While products such as smart mattresses and travel pillows are easy enough additions to the bedroom, it’s wearable technology like the Oura Ring that keeps us poring over data, gamifying our sleep. While a decent sleep hygiene routine is a good thing to adhere to, there comes a time when there’s too much for us to think about in our everyday lives.
While the optimization life makes sense for someone like Josh Kerr, who is trying to extract every last iota of performance from his lifestyle while planning for a singular event, the rest of us have other stuff to do. We only have so much time in our lives. We have to plan our training, our nutrition, our sleep, our social calendars, our everything.
More and more of us understand burnout enough not to celebrate working every hour of the day any more, and the over-optimization of every part of our lives can be included in that.
Just as many are giving up their watches while running and ‘bricking’ their phones to reduce their screen time, simpler, more human methods of improving our health are becoming popular. My advice is to start with your sleep hygiene AKA your bedtime routine. Here are some ideas to think about:
Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day
Limit (or ideally eradicate) caffeine in the afternoon
Try to be physically active every day, but not right before bed
Eat your last big meal at least 2hrs before bedtime
Stop using electronic devices at least 2hrs before bedtime
Keep your room cool and dark (think hibernation)
Try leaving your phone in another room (get an alarm clock)
And I’ve written this as a notoriously bad sleeper. It’s advice for you as much as it’s advice for me. I wrote about getting off your phone as recently as March, so you know it’s on my mind!
Currently away from the familiarity of my own bed for an extended period, I can count the number of nights where I’ve achieved eight hours of sleep over the past month. And let’s not talk about the broken sleep that you get when living with babies and toddlers – the past nine years of my life. At least that part is over for me, but there’s a lot of sleep for me to catch up on!
Thanks for reading,
Raz xx