A new year a new crunch

2010 started with a crunch. 20 minutes into the new year, while I stood at the sink working out how to deal with the mess I had created during the last cooking expedition of 2009, I could see the snow was falling again. The temptation of a run there and then was overruled by the first washing up marathon of the new decade.

By 11 am, and following a good sleep after that first marathon of the new year, we hit the tracks. Anna was up from London and we headed out for a straight forward 10k or otherwise known as the pea field run. We had done the same run the day before but now the roads and paths held an underlying ice covered with snow that made them treacherous, soon proven when I put my hand on the road to prevent the first fall of the year within 10 minutes of setting off.

100 meters on from the slip we hit the proper off road section of the pea field and were greeted by that magical crunch of running on fresh snow and imploding iced puddles. The clouds that had brought the snow had long gone and the sky was a light blue with a low sun blazing down to greet us.

Back home within 50 minutes we soon chilled and needed to be warmed again with coffee and tea. The first ultra race we have planned for the year is the Highland Fling in April shortly followed by Anna's first 100 mile event over the second bank holiday in May, again in Scotland. Before then many cold, wet and muddy miles will be plodded. Hopefully with less ice but if the snow comes again bring on the training!