What a fantastic Christmas I had with my family (well part of it) in Cornwall. On the 22nd I took part in Mud Crew’s Scrooge (RR to follow) a very muddy 9 mile run in the Lost Gardens of Heligan, absolutely fantastic and as you can imagine there was a lot of kit cleaning afterwards but a race I would definitely recommend; it felt like being a kid again!
My other runs were all short but with some speed built in, this worked really well fitting in with the family. I would get up early go for my run by which time everyone had managed to drag themselves out of bed (the boys of course had been up for hours!) and we would enjoy breakfast together.
On Boxing Day we went to the Eden Project for the day which the boys loved, giving them lots of opportunities to get rid of some of their excess energy. I felt quite at home in the Rain forest Dome NO SWEATING heaven, everyone else was dripping with sweat – the only advantage of hot flushes you get used to the heat!! The day was finished off by going ice skating which Theo eventually got the hang of but poor Fin had to be held up by his trousers, even with the support of a penguin called Pedro! I think HWMBO was also holding on for dear life.
Having had lessons as a young lass I was rather surprised at how long it took me to get the hand of it again, but eventually I was gliding along the ice beautifully!! The trick to staying upright is to avoid all other skaters, worked well.
My longest run was on the 27th when the family went to the beach and Becky suggested I ran from the Beach in Polkerris do a loop around the coastal path then run inland back to Polkerris – all I had to do was keep the sea on my right which of course sounds easy unless you are me!
With my backpack on I headed off along the coastal path with of course the sea on my right! Stupidly coming down towards Fowey I went straight up rather than turning right on the path; in my defense there was a yellow marker indicating I was going the right way, obviously the wrong yellow marker! I soon realised my mistake and retraced my steps to the coastal path where I continued my run.
The weather was very changeable, one minute bright sunshine, next rain, hail and of course strong wind that nearly blew me over, but I loved every minute of it. It’s runs like this one that make me realise why I love running. At home going out for a run can become rather boring as it’s always along the same old routes so it makes a huge difference running somewhere new putting the spring back into my legs.
I loved my time in Cornwall, a great Christmas spent with Wayward Daughter Number 1 and her family, loads of noise, games, seeing friends and of course eating and drinking!
Today my house is spotless, wine/fizz is chilling in the fridge, food is prepared, now all I have to do is await the arrival of my friends so we can bring in the New Year together.
Wishing everyone a very happy New Year and may 2014 be a fantastic year where you achieve things you never thought possible.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
