I don’t know what was different about running tonight. Maybe it was the rain (I’m better running in cooler climes), perhaps it was the pre-run snack of yoghurt with some fresh ginger; or even the boiled sweet I sucked for the first mile. Whatever it was, I felt a lot fresher and springier than usual when I zipped around my West Hampstead circuit.

The past few weeks have been a bit quiet on the exercise and blogging front. I’ve been trying to do a bit more walking, in readiness for a five day trek in the Atlas Mountains, which I’m really looking forward to returning to. We had a nice few days in Cornwall recently (I can recommend the pasties, but not so much the Scotch eggs – but you’ve got to try these things) and did some of the coastal path.

Running has taken a little bit of a back seat, but I know that we can’t let it go completely – largely because we’ve signed up to the Grim Challenge (hard race through freezing cold mud) and the Hell Runner (even harder race through freezing cold mud) this winter.

It’s a good I like running in the freezing cold mud. So a run through the rain is a good bit of preparation for what lies ahead.