Training

I am Alastair, the man behind zerofkts.com.

I am a 41 year old resident of Essex, UK. I have a wife, two kids, a dog and a full time job. 

So, why zerofkts.com? 

I have struggled with injury for almost two years and decided I need some accountability to get me back to running and back into shape. I am also looking at where I am in my life (busy with work, family etc) and I am realising I need something that is a bit more for me. Finally, I want to work on my physical and mental health so that I can live a long, happy life where I get to see my family grow and I can be someone that my kids can look up to and be proud of. That’s where zerofkts.com comes in.

So why running? 

Simply, it’s the most accessible form of exercise out there. Lace up your shoes, head out of the door… run. It can also be done in a more timely fashion that fits better with family and work in a way that other forms of cardio (cycling, for example) don’t. More than that though I have some unfinished business with running, due to injury mainly, and I have challenges that I want to put myself through.

As you can probably guess from the title of the blog I am under no illusion about setting records, there will be a LOT of slow running, especially to start with. I injured my right knee in January 2023, made it worse in July that year and it’s been a long road back from there. Even now almost 2 years since the original injury my knee needs looking after with rehab exercises and, leaving my ego at the door, the approach to returning to running has to be sensible, with a slow progression. I can worry about speeding up (if I want to!) later, I have to make sure that my knee is right first.

Even before the knee injury I had attempted to run marathons and other race distances only to find that something would break down during training, ruling me out of the event completely. This has been a mix of things, ITB issues, calf strains etc and as a result this has left me wanting to complete some of the challenges I had previously set myself; I want to tick a marathon off the bucket list and then maybe look at something different with a bit more adventure involved.

I have generally struggled to stick to training plans and be consistent with rehab and training. Life is busy and it’s easy to put things off when that is the case. The trouble with that is when things get put off once it is easy to do that again… and again and again. What I have found is that before I know it I have put things off so much that any progress I may have made has been lost, motivation then suffers and the plan is then abandoned. I know I am not unique in this but my hope is that documenting and sharing my approach this time round will help to provide me with the accountability that will help me to stick to my plan and achieve the goals I have this time round. I am also hoping that if you happen to stumble across my blog then you find something useful and, dare I say it, inspirational.

So, my intention with this blog is to document my journey from where I find myself now, overweight, unfit and generally lacking in purpose, to where I want to be; lean, fit and with a renewed vigour for life.