A scary photo of me
I know I'm not 'running' or in any running gear but I don't have any recent pictures with me running. It's been a while!
Questions & Answers
What is your name?
Well, my name is Jamie… but you can call me the Virtual Runner. Unfortunately, my running really is ‘virtual’ a lot of times as my motivation comes and goes!
Where are you from?
I’m originally from Canada but have been living in the UK for many years now. This is my home.
When and why did you start running?
Back in 2007, I had a bit of a health scare and as my son was only about 6 months old at the time it got me really thinking about him growing up without a dad! I also saw a friend I hadn’t seen in quite some time who had taken up running and he looked amazing. Combine those two reasons and I decided to take it up myself.
I seem to go through fits and bursts of running and laziness but I always come back to it in the end.
I seem to go through fits and bursts of running and laziness but I always come back to it in the end.
So what did you do to build up your running?
I did what most people do I believe. I started with walking and then running when I could. Eventually (and quite quickly) the running parts got longer and longer and my stamina increased. I still find it amazing that once I get in to the swing of training that I can run for a couple of hours non-stop!
Of course, this depends on whether I actually have been training or whether I’ve been sitting around growing my backside!
How much did you weigh when you started and what do you weigh now?
Well, at the time of writing this (May 2012) I weigh 223 lbs (101.1 kg) but when I started back in 2007 I weighed a whopping 252 lbs (114.3 kg).
To some that may not seem like a massive amount of weight loss but believe me, it feels completely different.
I still need to continue my journey because ultimately I would like to weigh 196 lbs (88.9 kg); and so my struggle continues.
Were you ever a smoker?
Yes. I started smoking when I was 18 and became a non-smoker when I was 36. Half my life (at that point) I battered by poor lungs. I quit in April 2007 AFTER I started running.
How did I quit? I read Allan Carr’s Easyway. Read it in one day on a Friday and have been a non-smoker ever since. One of the best things I have ever done.
hi jamie as is so obvious by my name im female! Im just learning to use a pc so goggled sorelimbs and found you. I think im a kinda virtual runner but since its your foundation its for you to judge-look kindly on me. I began running 3yrs ago for rather important reasons which i wont bore you with at introduction level. once everyone got fed-up with me telling them some days 3 times about the extra .2 of a second i shaved off i looked for a focus. I got a big laminated map and a white-board marker now at the end of each month i tot up the miles i truelly covered on my slow pegs and mark them,in scale,on my map. Im currently running the coastal roads of the UK. so, judge away, does that qualify as a virtual runner?
Well, this isn’t a “foundation” or anything but I would certainly say that classes you as a runner and a runner with focus. I can’t call you “The Virtual Runner” because that’s me, but you are certainly a virtual runner.
Keep up the running!
It’s nice to see I photo of what you look like Jamie. (I usually don’t turn around while I’m running.) According to one of your blog posts, you no longer wear glasses, is your ‘About Me’ image is out-dated?
Well, that’s all for now.
Run Along.
What are you talking about… turning around? Anyway Rob, I don’t like any of my photos. Just imagine that one without glasses…
Hi Jamie,
You certainly set some high goals for yourself. I’m excited to see how long it takes you to make it across Canada.
So how long did it take you to run the UK?