Hey there, welcome back. I left you at a point where I was struggling after my first run with several issues. Firstly the realisation that running solo as a blind runner was going to be more difficult than I expected. Secondly my fitness level was way below par and I could not simply put on some trainers and go for a run.
My issues around running with sight loss fell into two categories, the environment and the human element. My fix for the environment should be a simple one really change where I was running. After doing some research well, asking friends in the pub who run. I was told that my run route would be terrible training for the great north run anyway as it was to trail based. I needed to find something more tarmac based. So to fix this I’ve done two things firstly there is a 5km stretch of tarmac pedestrian road that runs on the north side of the river which is a few miles from my house. This has very few obstacles for me to avoid although it is a drive to get to, something I simply cannot do.
It was time to convince my wife she should take up running and of course as a dutiful husband I would support her decision fully and even help by letting her run with me. We could train down by the river where it is flat with a nice 10 foot wide tarmac pathed area. She must love me (or saw right through me) and agreed to doing this 3 times a week if we could make the time. Her suggestion of a tread mill in the garage for when I could not get outside was also a good one.
As friends do they did not hold back on the advice about my route and promptly ripped apart my whole approach with training and fashion sense. They tell me I need to get some proper trainers for the road instead of my trail trainers, some actual running shorts instead of the knee length hiking ones and as for the fact I was wearing black dress socks well that was a step far beyond the sports socks suggested that would help with impact when running. Well what are friends for eh!
My next challenge was my fitness level, it was way below what I expect so I needed to set up a better program to get better in smaller steps. I worked out a 5km distance and from some actual research into learning run (rather than asking the friendly pack of wolves in the pub) the plan would be to start with running for 1 minute the walk for 30 seconds until my fitness level grew and we could extend the run time between recovery time. Also as I was going to be running with my wife who is a lot shorter than me it would force me to take it slower until I could gain some base fitness.
With great paths comes a great volumes of users. My first Run went quite well. With my Wife to guide me and the trail not just flatter but easier going my first run on the new route took about 50 minutes to make 5km, not super speedy but a better experience than the last time. That said it still posed some challenges, mainly due to the volume of other users. With dog walkers, cyclists, scooters and other runners to avoid it seemed obvious I needed a new strategy to to ensure I wouldn’t collide with others or have to rely on my wife to guide me round all the other path users.
More research and a preparation was needed before we could truly make this running thing a great success.
If you want to follow my progress with my training and learning to run while I get ready for the race you can always follow me on Strava https://www.strava.com/athletes/134879567
If you would like to help me raise money for Blind Veterans as I continue on my running to get fit journey the please use this link https://AJBellgreatnorthrun2024.enthuse.com/pf/steven-holliday
To learn more about the great work that Blind Veterans complete click the link https://www.blindveterans.org.uk/
Keep on running!
Steve
Blind Steve Adventures 
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