Roll On Monday

Dear Reader,

Good grief, what a week! It feels as though I've only been at home for sleeping and changing clothes since last Friday. Madness!

Last Saturday I volunteered at my local parkrun instead of running it as I was saving my legs for Gatliff. I really enjoy volunteering; cheering everyone on and having a little chat during the scanning. As long as I'm wrapped up warm and have a flask of tea or coffee I'm sorted. From there I drove to Iver Heath to meet my friend Fi for a very long overdue catch up over lunch and a woodland wander. We met on a Core and Circuits workshop last year and it was fun to compare notes on where our studies are taking us. Then I headed back to my parents' for feeding and an early night before Gatliff, which I wrote all about the other day so I won't repeat myself here.

Monday. Oh Monday. My one semi-relaxed day this week. However, if I didn't move every 15 minutes I started to cease up. Poor sore legs. Climbing onto a chair to put the star on top of mum's Christmas tree was like climbing a mountain, and I didn't even manage to put it on straight. But dad did find my old Christmas LP that I used to listen to most years when I was little, which made me very happy indeed. He even transferred it to CD for me so I can listen to it at home :)

And that's exactly what I'll be doing later as I put up my decorations and hopefully writing some cards or wrapping gifts. It's the first opportunity I've had to do any Christmas prep in December and I'm really quite excited. I'm just a big kid. There have been some fun things keeping me from the tinsel though. Tuesday marked the first RunFitUK session in Bracknell and my first time coaching. It was bitterly cold but six brave souls turned up and let me put them through their paces. I must say I felt extremely smart in my RunFitUK t-shirt but I'll be snapping up a hoodie when they become available to keep me a bit toastier... four layers and I was still feeling the chill that night.

On Wednesday I went to see Imelda May supported by Big Boy Bloater, two fantastic artists that I was over joyed to see together, and then yesterday I dashed into London to be in the audience for the filming of tonight's Have I Got News For You. It'll be cool to see how they edit it together. As dinner was only a rather pale cheese pasty I decided to treat myself to a frothy coffee for the train journey home. Toffee Nut Latte now rivals Mint Hot Chocolate for my favourite festive drink.

So that's all the fun stuff that I've been up to this week. You might think I'd taken some time away from running but no, my coach had me back to running on Tuesday, so it was out at lunch for a slow 2.5 miles. My quads were sore but I managed it and felt pretty fantastic about that. I also ran for 40 minutes on Thursday and today I roused myself at 6:20am to go swimming then dragged myself out again at lunchtime for an hour's run, including 30 minutes at "race pace". I found a bit of speed and also my "quiet running" skills as I took a squirrel by surprise. Poor little blighter was about 6 inches to the side of me and decided to run in front of me rather than away from me. As I was in full flow he happened to run across my foot just as it was coming up, so I sort of kicked him into the air a little bit. I squealed, he appeared to land safely and I'm not sure which of us was more shocked. Squirrel football aside, my legs now feel as though Gatliff never happened. How amazing is that?

Just as well really because I'm down the gym bright and early for an hours cycling before heading up to Nottingham for my friend's hen do which involves cocktails and a treasure hunt around town. No chance for recovery on Sunday either as I head into London for a Suspension Training course... RunFitters watch out, I may come away with ideas! You won't often hear me say this but roll on Monday. I have a rest day and no evening plans and I intend to keep it that way.

Yours, exhaustedly, but excitedly, Vikki.