Jingle Bells, piney smells, all the boys and the girls say it’s clichéd, to be cynical at Christmas

It’s been an odd couple of weeks since my last blog, only a few weeks until the Ribble 10k and then the Four Villages Half Marathon, I had planned to ramp up the miles leading up to Christmas but a few unfortunate events kinda got in the way.

First off from 5/12 to 11/12 I managed a respectable 76 miles that included some good tough sessions. Unfortunately, my mum had a nasty fall on the Friday so the following week I was off work doing my best to help her out – I picked my sisters kids (mum usually picks then up from school etc). My mum’s okay, nothing broken but understandably shaken by the fall, she’s a young 63 but it can’t have been very pleasant.

I still got a few runs in, I got to the track on Tuesday for a session that was 10 x 3 mins. My missus is still away and I can tell I haven’t been looking after myself because I really struggled! There was only Nige, Lee Steele and myself from PLS at the track but a very healthy turn out in the group. I should be cranking 80 seconds laps out in these sessions but I was drifting from 80 to 86 and was glad for it to end! Funny how Nige always seems to nip into the toilets after a few intervals then comes roaring out for the rest, maybe there’s something in the water there!

I got down to PLS on Thursday and there was another disappointing turn out form the group 1 lads. Probably the weather had put most off but James turned up to give me something to chase up the Woolton Hills.

Sunday was the PLS Christmas Devils Gallop which we turned into a long slog of a run from Garston Sports Centre to Hale Light House then along the Oglet Shore back to Garston. We got some great pics of the lads all wrapped up for the winter run, Simo and Paul opting to run along the ‘beach’ section of the lighthouse. The shore is treacherous enough in the summer and I wasn’t chancing the brick section of the beach, opting for the single path of mud along the cliff which promptly ran out after around 800 metres. We had to literally slide down on our backside to make it back on the beach, I was first and ended up arse over tit giving me some battle scars on my back/thigh/knee to remember it.

We eventually got onto the front where we run the summer Gallop, it was muddy in part, boggy in others and the good bits were soft sand or pebbles. I was freezing cold so decided to up the pace, James, Martin and Neil quickly. Every corner I turned I thought it was the end but the beach just kept on a comin! We eventually got the end of the shore, regrouped for another few pics and trudged off with what seemed like half the estuary’s mud caked on my legs. The others headed for a slap up breakfast at The Mexican Taverna but I had to go Christmas shopping. Still managed 40 miles though...such is life