Hi all,

As Martin Williams kindly pointed out, I've not written much this month. It's not because I can't be bothered, but mainly to do with the manicness of Christmas and all that comes with it. I'm not the most organised of people generally and don't often look beyond about 2 days into the future. Unfortunately at this time of year, that means I inadvertently sign myself up for social gatherings for things that my way-more-organised friends put together about 6 weeks beforehand! I also had a 29th birthday in the middle of it all to add to the socialising and so the main problem I find is just fitting in the training. It usually means I have to do sessions at 7am, and then not do my easy run for the day, or I have to escape from work in the middle of the day, which is not a problem most times but work has also been incredibly busy: I don't often have business lunches and things but at this time of year they do happen and that makes it even harder to get out during the day. So, I've found myself busier at work than normal, which has made nipping out for runs even harder! To top it all off, there's been bloody ice everywhere so I've had to do tempo runs on football pitches, or be flexible with what I do, like hills instead of reps. Some of my steady runs have had very slow sections indeed while I negotiate sheet ice as well. And I've had to buy presents - I very nearly forgot about that.

Still, training HAS been happening and I've only missed 2 or 3 runs in total over the past 3 weeks and I've tried to make up for that on other days by going out for a bit longer. I had one 'poor' week of about 60 miles or so but the key is not to worry too much about it and just get on with it. One bad week doesn't make any difference, it's not different to me tapering for a week or dealing with an illness and so I'm not worried. The real hard work starts in mid January and I still feel pretty fit and sessions have been going pretty well of late.

Everyone has their own thoughts about Christmas Day training - we all know Daley Thompson used t train three times as he knew his competitors would be slacking. Jessica Ennis actually takes a rest day, or so I read the other day. For me, I do a steady hours run around the country roads just north of Portsmouth, before doing the Christmas thing with my family. A good compromise, I reckon!

I've made sure I get my sleep over the last few days and haven't drunk very much. I had a few dodgy days around my birthday and a couple of Christmas gatherings where I drank more then I intended to, but I'm quite glad those moments are gone and I can focus on training for what's going to be a very important 2011!

Merry Christmas and all that!

Ben