Merry Christmas all!
It has been a while... I have been running since my last post but certainly not enough. Christmas and parties etc got in the way and I have been a bad. I can practically feel the turkey and bread sauce and mince pies and port seeping into my blood stream.
My Christmas present to me, from me was some new running gear - some underarmour, a lightweight running jacket and an armband for my ipod - and it certainly makes a difference. 8.8km today in the bitterly cold Glasgow winter and I felt positively warm. However, underfoot conditions were far from ideal, and there were points when I really felt like I was putting my life on the line as it was BLOODY ICY. Suboptimal for general self-preservation. Also - I really miss the lovely flat runs along the Thames and generally about London. The west of Scotland is seriously not flat. Very hilly. Up and down and up and down. Feel the burn.
When I was running today, it really hit home what I had signed up for, and I got more than a little terrified. I really am giving up the next 16/17 weeks of my life (well, the parts of my life that the tower of power doesn't already own) to run 26.2 miles around London.... But I am doing it for an excellent cause, and for all the right reasons. 5 hours of pain on the day (I'm being realistic...) and 16 weeks of misery are not a big price to pay to help the PPWH who help the daily/hourly/minute-by-minute pain of scores of people across the West of Scotland.
Lessons learned today:
1. Improve playlists
2. Sing along - it helps cheer you up
3. Stretch properly - it helps generally
4. I need new running shoes - mine "have done too many miles".
