Week 5 and not an inkling of the svelte, toned marathoner with a spring in his step. In fact I'm feeling heavy legged almost all of the time right now. Lurching out of bed in the morning sees the limbs of lead hit the deck so hard the floorboards are in danger of snapping, climbing the stairs is a thigh burner and I'd sooner be wheeled around the office on my chair like a Corporate Davros than go through the agony of actually getting up to walk to the photocopier. In fact, rather bizarrely, the only time my legs don't feel tired and heavy is when I'm running. Sure, the first mile is as exhausting as ever but once I'm warmed up I actually feel quite relaxed and ready to pile on the miles. Hmmm, maybe the marathoner is hiding in there somewhere after all..
Anyway, following the huge amount of fun I had at HellRunner in November I decided to do it all again and this weekend ran the Brutal 10k at Longmoor. The husband half of the dynamic Whitewick duo couldn't make it so I ran the course with Paula. I have to say that I was somewhat relieved that she decided not to wear her Christmas Tree fancy dress costume. Not only were precisely none of the rest of the field in fancy dress but we'd have been more likely to expire somewhere half way round from waterlogged roots than to finish. Cross Country in this format is bloody hard work: plenty of short sharp hills, sand underfoot for much of the time, freezing lakes and a good dose of wet English weather. It sounds like a recipe for a horrible day but you'll hear squeals of delight all the way round (not from me obviously - far too butch) as people splash into muddy puddles, squelch through ditches or slide down mud chutes on their backsides. The GPS watches are left at home; they wouldn't survive and time or PB's don't really matter, and instead you're given the chance to pander to your inner child and wallow in the mud, mud glorious mud. In short, if you've not entered a cross country race since you left school then you should because you are missing out on some serious fun.
So, new year looms and it's back to the roads for me as I up the mileage again. Four runs planned for this week and I'm hoping to get a first use of my very favourite Christmas present - my head torch. So far it's come in handy for searching for things in the garage, changing light bulbs in the bathroom and jet washing my trainers in the dark. Hopefully it will actually prove just as handy for running! I'll let you know.
Happy New Year to all.
Anyway, following the huge amount of fun I had at HellRunner in November I decided to do it all again and this weekend ran the Brutal 10k at Longmoor. The husband half of the dynamic Whitewick duo couldn't make it so I ran the course with Paula. I have to say that I was somewhat relieved that she decided not to wear her Christmas Tree fancy dress costume. Not only were precisely none of the rest of the field in fancy dress but we'd have been more likely to expire somewhere half way round from waterlogged roots than to finish. Cross Country in this format is bloody hard work: plenty of short sharp hills, sand underfoot for much of the time, freezing lakes and a good dose of wet English weather. It sounds like a recipe for a horrible day but you'll hear squeals of delight all the way round (not from me obviously - far too butch) as people splash into muddy puddles, squelch through ditches or slide down mud chutes on their backsides. The GPS watches are left at home; they wouldn't survive and time or PB's don't really matter, and instead you're given the chance to pander to your inner child and wallow in the mud, mud glorious mud. In short, if you've not entered a cross country race since you left school then you should because you are missing out on some serious fun.
So, new year looms and it's back to the roads for me as I up the mileage again. Four runs planned for this week and I'm hoping to get a first use of my very favourite Christmas present - my head torch. So far it's come in handy for searching for things in the garage, changing light bulbs in the bathroom and jet washing my trainers in the dark. Hopefully it will actually prove just as handy for running! I'll let you know.
Happy New Year to all.
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