December Doldrums

[Sweder]

Another achingly chilly morning. The lycra-clad group flocking above the Marina at nine numbered around twenty souls, an impressive turn-out on a day where excuses lay deep and crisp and even.

I loped out to Saltdean with Chris, Steve and Gary, chatting about races in the New Year. Chris suggested the Steyning Stinger as a good TOM warm-up. Crouching at the front end of March this full off-road marathon offers a stern test. My previous form suggests a four and a half to five hour ordeal at an even pace, definitely a good yardstick for the Big One. I'll enter on Boxing Day.

At the three mile break point we gathered to let the more measured runners arrive. As we did an attractive young lady approached me with a big smile.
'I met a friend of yours in Benidorm recently' she grinned.
'He saw my Brighton vest and announced that a friend of his runs the hills in Brighton and regularly ran up the Snake.'
'Antonio!' I cried. This was the very lady to whom my Almerían friend referred in his tale of the Benidorm Half. As fables go it's not terribly seasonal but it is a nice story, a connection across the oceans that warmed me on this icy morning.

Our band of five (a new chap - at least I'd not met him before but I think his name is Josh - joining our regular hilltop marauders) set off up the Tye to take on the Famous Residences once more. Bullied by the ploughed field last week I whimped out of a repeat, cowardly suggesting a festive foray via the paved route, still a challenging incline but without the strength-sapping mud. To my surprise (and great joy) my comrades agreed - all except Steve who, returning from a fair layoff due to injury, quite fancied hammering up the Snake. We just laughed and promised him a New Year's Eve visit to the Serpent.

Perhaps it was a taste of things to come but I felt bloated, my running far from easy. Gary and I dropped back as the others accelerated down the hill into Rottingdean, Gary enthusing about his plans for Paris.

A couple of hours in the hills, somewhere close to eleven miles banked.
There's a Boxing Day run at Hove Park but I'll not be there, rather I plan an early morning trip to Blackcap before joining the mayhem on the M23 and M25 as we make our annual pilgrimage to my Mother's house in Kingston.

One final, self indulgent note. I'd just like to thank Paul Scholes for the sublime early Christmas present he delivered for me via MotD. I'd heard the commentator on Five Live singing about the strike, but to see it was to believe it. I suspect that had Zidane or Ronaldinho scored such a wonder goal we'd still be hearing next Christmas. Sadly the Merseyside Mafia on the Beeb failed to even mention it in their post-match summary. Nice one Scholesey.

Merry Christmas to all RCers.
May 2007 bring you everything your hearts desire.