Monday 26th Nov - Sunday 2nd Dec

Training Report:

After my strange week of feeling lethargic but running well - when I actually made it out the house, that is! - things only got slightly better. I was getting up and it was still technically the morning, which was a big plus(!), but I was still feeling a little lacklustre and to be honest I didn't really want to be out running. I managed all my planned sessions I just wasn't running as well as I had done. My Tuesday night's speed work didn't flow as it had done before. I struggled a little to hit my targets and it was all way too much huff and puff. Wednesday was a little better, I didn't run that fast but I did enjoy it and felt fine before and after both runs.

That evening I had a sports massage and my masseuse came up with a possible explanation for what i'd been experiencing. Having got back from LA the night before he had a captive audience for all his holiday gossip, especially as he managed to find a real sore spot on my calf and it was all I could do to breathe let alone tell him any of my goss! Once he'd finished divulging his holiday news and had made me green with envy (maybe that was due my lack of oxygen intake!) he finished with, '..and the weather was magnificent 20 plus degrees and bright sunshine, I hear the weather here has been...', being the polite guy I am lets just say his choice of adjective was not to complementary of our very British weather!!

After discussing this weather issue he hit upon the idea that I could have been suffering from 'seasonal affective disorder', and the daily ritual of heading out in damp dull conditions was making me feel less enthusiastic than normal for my training. Which brings us to Thursday, and it was as if someone had been listening! The sun was shining, the sky was blue and I did three sessions in one day and felt fantastic. My energy and enthusiasm were back with a bang. Whether the sun actually cured any 'disorder' I may have had, or whether I'd been able to trick my mind into believing I'd found a reason my poor training and been given the cure the very next morning I'm not sure, I could take a guess but I really don't want to offend my masseuse and his diagnosis, he can quite easily cause me a lot of pain!

Friday I ran well again in glorious sunshine, Saturday was a little dull but I still felt good, but the less said about Sunday's wind, rain and what ever else felt like falling from the sky the better!