Bored of the wind.

Let's see where we're up to... It has been 13 full days since my last blog post, so now I shall test my powers of recall to see what I've done in the interim:

Thursday 22 December - 37 miles of cycling, in hideous wind, during which time I got blown off, actually blown across the road and into a ditch, after about 20 miles. i.e. Pretty much the furthest point from home, so 'turning back' wouldn't have made much sense. Should have turned back before it got so dangerous. So windy it actually blew snot out of my nose, which, although it saved me dirtying my glove, was fairly grotesque.
Friday 23 - made fudge and truffles.
Saturday 24 - about 75 minutes of running with Andy, with one fast 2 minute hill effort, on Simonside hills. Nice day out. Bit blustery and drizzly, but nice running.
Christmas Day - the plan was for a cycle, but wind forbade it, so a short walk and lots of turkey instead.
Boxing Day - 3.5 mile(ish) race, just outside Rothbury. 1st woman, 6th overall, 25:59 and 2 mins 40 down on leading men. Would have rather been a bit faster but was more pleased that my Achilles wasn't a problem. The wind in my face for the last mile made me feel a bit like I was pulling a lorry. Hard work, despite the shortness of the race. Plus, my experiments would indicate that a face full of truffles, fudge, turkey and bread sauce 90 minutes before the start is not conducive to feeling athletic.
Tuesday 27 - 29 mile cycle down the A68 home from Corbridge, since Andy had taken the car to support Jim's BG attempt. 25 miles on one road was ever so slightly boring, although it had sufficient hills to more or less retain my interest. Legs slightly tired from Monday's efforts. Mince pie at Tow Law.
Wednesday 28 - 56 minutes of running on Bowes moor with Andy and Jim, in more strong wind. I think we only did about 20 minutes actually into the wind, but it felt like about 20 hours. 60 minutes swimming in the evening. Should have been 90, but got out early to go for a curry. (It was the Christmas holidays, after all.)
Thursday 29 - 59 minutes of running with Andy, Jim, Duncan and Pippa on Cockfield fell. NB: Had I been left to my own devices, I would have made both Wednesday and Thursday's efforts up to a nice round 60 minutes. However, I was made to feel by the company that this would be obsessive and pointless, so I didn't.
Friday 30 - breakfast, lunch and dinner. (i.e. a rest day)
Saturday 31 - 51.5 miles of hilly cycling (in more wind, although not quite so ferocious this time) in Northumberland with my sister. (Longframlington - Netherwitton - Elsdon - Alwinton - Netherton - Rothbury and back). About 4800 feet of ascent (if the Garmin is to be believed). Nice to ride with Louise; haven't cycled with her properly for about 5 years. Then stuffed my face with soup and cake and hared it down to Glossop for New Year's Eve.
New Year's Day - 10 miles from Glossop up to top of Snake Pass and down through a medley of peat bogs. I think it would be fitting to rename the Peak District as the Peat District. After all, the peaks are hardly prominent but it is genuinely full of peat.
Monday 2 January - almost too embarrassing to write - about 37 minutes of cycling. Fortunately the odometer on my bike had been knocked so the embarrassingly short distance wasn't recorded.

And now we're up to today, which will involve 60 minutes of swimming.

Scanning above it seems to make for a fairly dull read. I'm pleased that despite having been on holiday for over two weeks and being away for most of it, I've managed a fair bit of good training, and now that I'm back to work it should start to get more structured again. Looking forward to the wind finally abating so cycling becomes less dangerous, although glancing outside it would appear that it's as strong, or stronger, as it has been for most of the past month.

Now that my FRA calendar has arrived I think the first race that I'm aiming for properly this year is the English Championships race mid-March. January is traditionally when I find training the hardest - back at work, still dark, seems like ages (! for a teacher this will gain little sympathy) until the next holiday... - but with a race a mere 10 weeks away it focuses the mind somewhat.

In other news, having consumed approximately a tonne of saturated fat over the past month, it is time to begin something of a more athletic diet, in order to prevent dropping dead of a heart attack before my next race.