Christmas Training Update

Training over the Christmas period has presented new challenges. First there is the diet. Lots of Carbs good. Carbs wrapped round the outside of mince pies less good. Perpetual piles of cakes on the table behind my desk even less good. But I have managed to keep the weight almost flat over the last 3 weeks.

As for running, fitting things in has been the challenge. Sunday 20th I set out to do eight miles, but cut it back to five and a half when (having stopped briefly to help rescue Lawrence, who was suffering from back problems) I spotted a huge snow cloud coming my way. As it was the last 20 minutes was in a significant snow storm!

I did manage a run at lunch time at work on 23rd - from work to Waterstones and back, the return leg carrying a copy of "Shapeshifters" (Allan Lee illustrated children's version of Ovid's "Metamorphoses" - highly recommended, especially for Lee fans!) which was one of Maggie's Christmas presents.

And then the slush turned to ice, making the paths un-runnable for a couple of days.

But back to training now - 8 miles yesterday, 10 today, both through a mixture of slippy ice, slippy mud, claggy mud, and wet bog (in one case capped with ice almost but not quite thick enough to carry me - an illusion of dryness, quickly turning into very wet feet!). Both went well, though, with the 8 mile run only a minute or so off Personal Best, which had been set in much better conditions in the summer.