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This morning, I noticed a photo memory pop up on my phone showing the weather 10 years ago today. At first, I thought that I must have had a really dull day to be posting about a grey average April weather forecast on social media. Then I remembered (how could I forget!) that it was exactly ten years ago tomorrow that I ran the London marathon!

Ten years!

Now I can't help but flash back through that day, and the ten years that have passed since then, while I drink my morning coffee.

Running a marathon had been on my “to do” list since I was twelve years old. So, when I moved to London, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to go for it. I applied for the 2014 London marathon and was unsuccessful, but in 2015 I got a place.

Training was tough, but I was determined and stuck to my training plan—cross-training with spin classes to keep up the momentum while recovering from shin splints. On race day, I got a bit excited and pushed too hard for the first half, in fact, the first 5k of the marathon was my fastest ever. Oops! As they say, “you live and learn”. By mile 15, when something in my foot went pop, I had certainly learned the most important lesson—stick to your training plan! Why did I carry a heavy water bottle on one side “just in case”, and why did I set out so fast!

Despite the pain, I pushed on and shuffled across the finish line six hours and fifty minutes after I had crossed the start (…nobody tells you that it takes a good mile or so before you actually get to the start line!) I couldn't have been more relieved to stop moving, get that medal, and fall into the ever-supporting arms of my now husband, Bryan. However, getting up and down the steps to the London underground on the way home was an entirely new challenge that I hadn't anticipated.

That day taught me a lot about myself (I spent a lot of time in my own head) and I'm really proud of myself for persevering to reach my goals. Although, despite being told repeatedly that I'd catch the running bug, I never did. I don't think I'll be running any more marathons anytime soon.

It's hard to believe that an experience that is so ingrained in my mind was ten years ago—that's almost a quarter of my life! Saying that, I've achieved a huge amount in the past ten years that I'm also proud of.

Later that year, Bryan and I got engaged. The following year we got married in Scotland while we simultaneously navigated moving house and jobs from London to France. Learning how to assimilate into life in a remote hamlet in Provence had its challenges, but we survived, and created our amazing daughter in the process. When she was four months old, we relocated thirteen hundred miles to Aberdeen—it was an epic road trip! After a short stint in an Airbnb, we moved into our own home twelve days before Christmas 2018, then at the start of January 2019, the three of us went back to work / nursery. It was a busy year! But little did we know what was to follow in the next two years—another marathon of sorts! In 2022, I stepped back from the job that I loved (technical writing) and spent some time recovering from the exhaustion of working through covid times while supporting my family and overcoming my own health challenges. When our daughter started school, I re-emerged into the real world and started volunteering with the National Trust for Scotland as a room guide. I love meeting new people and helping them to connect with local history. Then last year, I embraced my resilience and threw myself into the uncertain world of freelancing as a technical writer, learning as I go! With an interest in the analytical side of information development, I've also started to build skills in data analytics and recently completed a course at Robert Gordon University.

As for the next ten years, who knows where that will take me. I love the freedom of exploring opportunities as they arise and knowing that it's okay to make brave decisions. The past ten years have disappeared quickly, which has only reinforced the need to make the most of every precious moment, do what feels right at the time, and if it doesn't feel right—don't waste another moment on it!

As a freelance technical writer, I spend a lot of time translating complex information into clear, structured content. But when I decided to launch my own business website, I found myself on the other side of the learning curve—navigating unfamiliar territory, troubleshooting unexpected challenges, and picking up new skills along the way.

Building my website wasn't just about creating an online presence, it was a hands-on lesson in continuous learning. From choosing the right platform to understanding SEO basics, the experience reinforced just how essential adaptability and self-education are for freelancers. In this post, I'll share my journey, the key lessons I learned, and tips that might help others tackling a similar challenge.

Quick - I Need a Website to Put on my Business Card so that I can Network!

After diving in at the deep end and deciding to “go for it” as a freelancer, it was a little overwhelming trying to decide what to do first. I knew that my almost ten years as an employed technical author had provided me with a huge skillset, but that didn't include running my own business!

I needed to network and find people that could offer advice, create opportunities, and get my name out there, so I signed up to a few networking events. Next, I needed a business card—but I didn't have a website!

OK, Let's Do This! What's First?

Since I'm naturally creative, I was in love with Canva from day one. So, I used one of their lovely website templates to get started. Great—I had a quick and snazzy website with moving patterns and backgrounds… oh, wait, that's going to slow download time, and isn't great for everyone to visualise. Hang on, how can I add my Google Analytics tag? And why can't I customise my website address? It was clear that “you get what you pay for” (or don't).

So, next I got a little more serious and found some blogs, articles, and tutorials to figure out how I could make a “real” website. With a strong background writing in DITA XML format, I had already dabbled with html, although it was pretty painstaking to start writing a website from scratch.

You might wonder why I didn't use a platform designed to do all the hard work for me, and I'm not sure I can fully answer that as I didn't really consider them. However, I know myself and I know that I like to take responsibility and do things properly—and actually, I relished the challenge!

I bought my domain name from Namecheap, found a simple free template from HTML5UP, then downloaded Visual Studio Code and GitHub Desktop. After a lot of Google searches, I figured out what I was doing and created my first edition of russelltechnicalwriting.co.uk.

After a few months of on-going learning and networking, I found out a bit more about SEO, accessibility, user experience, and marketing—and realised that I could do better. Once again, I set about learning even more. I searched online, found webinars, attended training sessions - Business Gateway have been amazing - and got stuck in. Hopefully, if you're reading this, it worked. This is my first blog post on the new website! Seven pages instead of one (which I'm told: was too text heavy up front, didn't have user-friendly text colours or sizing, had little information about my experiences, and no blog!)

Was it Worth the Effort?

As far as I'm concerned, I'm enjoying my learning journey immensely. Throughout life I have always followed the path that felt right at the time—not always the easiest one. My journey into freelancing was a huge leap of faith, and building my own website as a non-specialist web developer feels a bit like I'm learning to write my name for the first time in front of a global audience. I don't think I would have been brave enough to try that early in my career, but with a bit more maturity on my side, I have thankfully learned to care more about getting on with what I think is right for me instead of worrying about what others think.

Biggest Takeaway?

I'm not talking Chinese food here—although I do love a bit of Szechuan spice! The most important thing I have learned is how important it is to keep learning. There are so many opportunities out there to learn almost anything you want to. It doesn’t need to cost you lots of money or time. Some universities offer upscaling courses paid for by the government (in the UK). In the US, there are also universities that offer open courseware. Talk to people who are doing what you want to do and find out how they got there (web design, or anything else). You might not know how to do something YET, but if you keep trying, one day you will.