First a thanks for those that have sponsored me as a run for CoolTan Arts, supporting the invaluable work that they do. Every penny helps motivate me, especially in the winter weather as I will describe. My sponsorship page can be found here.
If proof were needed for the temperate nature of London’s weather, then I can say throughout my many years of running, it has been mainly dry.
At times wet, especially that Watford 10k. Now that was wet. I look like I’m running on water in the race pics, maybe because I was so much lighter in those days. And, as a result, muddy – really muddy. I’m clean up front, but caked head to toe behind in the mud. I left most of it on the toilet floor when I changed after the race in the nearby shopping centre.
But invariably when training for a winter race, one has to expect winter weather. Today’s problem was the wind and the cold.
I’d been
itching to try out my new trainers, to break them in before the 22nd February. But it had started to rain and really didn’t fancy being cold and wet. My weather app claimed that within the hour it was due to clear, which it did. And I set off, even though the Shard was charcoal black – indicating those rain clouds were still nearby.
First part was a short, 1.5km warm-up and pre-session trainer check run. My audio accompaniment of choice for this session was the radio; my station of choice BBC LDN 94.9. As the top of the hour chimed, the news was read and travel delays announced to London, followed as always by the weather. The skies would clear and the sun would shine, but a north wind, straight off the Artic and the cousin of Storm Juno, would blow she claimed. And blow. And blow – and chill.
Did the skies clear and become the clearest blue? Yep. Did the sun shine brightly? Yep. And did that north wind crash down? Boy did it. When it was behind me it pushed me along. But when I twisted and turned along the course, the wind too turned – turned vicious. That crosswind pushed me back. I had no option but to press on, to dip my head into it, furrowing my brow against it and narrowing my eyes to cover the distance. The wind wasn’t happy about that and retaliated: scratching at my face with its icy nails and trying to snatch the breath from my mouth. Until I turned again, finding a route more sheltered, leaving the wind to rage against itself, enabling me to clock up another 8 plus km to my training in this impressive interval session. The two slow intervals – I was heading into that cruel wind.
Even the Shard had was bright by the end.
To distract myself on my runs, to focus on the moment, so as to let the distance fly past, I occasionally compose poems. Funny enough, this session it was a wind poem.
Wind. Thou was my friend.
You rapped.
You tapped.
At my window,
You invited me out to play.
Wind. Thou was my friend.
Eagerly I accepted.
Racing with you.
Tussling with you.
Aided by you
Pushing me along.
Wind. Thou was my friend.But you turned.
But you turned.
You gripped me with
Your icy fingers,
dagger nails digging
and scratching my face.
My breath too,
you wanted to steal.
from my lips.
Wind. Thou was my friend.
But nothing.
Nothing I had done against you.
Why?
Woke up to perfect weather for running: sunny, but not too hot; breezy, but not too windy. And dry. Ideal for my last #LongRun before #RunHackney.
and a few red men telling me to wait to cross some roads, nearly all of the 23-km were non-stop too. I think it’s fair to say I gave this run 110% – especially as my analysis shows I’m approving. That is scarily starting to sound like marathon training.
Superb start to my training this week with a good #ShortRun, all kms under #Sub6pkm. The bright sunshine, even of a chilly winter’s day, helped. 5weeks to go to #BrightonHalf.
But I did and I’m glad I did – I knocked out some good km times. 
First of 2015, the grey sky didn’t put me off – unlike yesterday’s freezing rain! Managed a good 9km and was very glad of the traffic lights on last few kms to give me an excuse to stop. #MidDist #BrightonHalf #CoolTan 
Brighton Half Marathon 2015 & Beyond 