Not if I have anything to do with it!

So this new year is already (nearly) a week old and I’ve been busy trying to make as good a start on it as possible. A fancy new blender has been acquired for the kitchen, and a lovely smoothie has been knocked up to accompany my omelette or porridge every morning. I’ve also decided to invest in some spirulina, which I’ve been choking and gagging down every morning for the past week thanks to diaryofadashinista. It must be said, I enjoy the smoothies much more than the spirulina. It really is as bad as it smells. But I have heard good things about it, so I shall soldier on and let you know what effects, if any, I feel.

After the excess of Christmas and my annual family Boxing Day Hootenanny, myself and Dash decided to hit the trails of the New Forest for a 10km jog. No records were set, but that wasn’t the plan. This was a run for the sake of running; to get out there and remind our bodies what they’ve got in store over the next 16 weeks. We couldn’t have wished for a better day, clear skies with a cool breeze egging us on to keep our body temperature up. Dash was wearing her fancy new Newton shoes, but I opted for my old favourite Asics Gel Trabuco trail shoe. I really do enjoy running in these, even though they feel about twice as heavy as my current road shoes.

A few days later and I’m back in The Valleys for a sedate new year’s celebrations. So sedate that I went out for a nice easy 10km late afternoon on Jan 1st. This was the first time I got to use my new Christmas toy, the fantastic LED Lenser H7R head torch. “WOW!” is all I can say about this head torch. It really is worth the extra expense over all other head torches. The range from flood to spot was ideal for picking out imminent trainer soaking puddles or just illuminating the entire foot path ahead of me.

And then there was the sprints session that just shouldn’t have happened! I’m lucky enough to have a free to use 400m track near me, so I headed up there with Dash a couple days ago. I don’t know how, but I think we’d both managed to ignore the Force11 gale going on outside the car as we made our way to the track! My word it was cold!! Dash had the foresight to bring her wind/rain proof Montane jacket with her, and I must say I was rather jealous. As it was a sprints session, I was wearing my KSO Treksports. I should’ve taken my gloves, as my hands were freezing! I managed to bash out six good 400m sprints though before my body called time, which I was very happy with considering the sideways rain and the complete lack of coordination in my fingers when it came to turning off my Garmin!

More updates to come this weekend, as I come to the end of Week 2 of The Countdown To Brighton™.

Take it easy,

LD