What a great time of the year! For one day only you can eat loads of food, watch loads of TV, take gifts off people but give nothing back and while doing all of this not feel the smallest bit bad about it. As if that weren't good enough, the next day there are loads of sales in the shops so after people have given you stuff for free, you can go out and get more stuff for half the price it should be. There are many great benefits to be had at this time, definitely try to make the most of it.

Some may also have the privilege of having a coach who is very easy to manipulate, so may be able to blag a cheeky rest day or two. Unlike last year, I don't get the choice of what I get to do. Last year Steve gave me three options: either a session, an easy run or a rest day. I'm sure you'll be glad to hear I chose the session. In case your interested, it was 3x10 mins at tempo. This year Steve has just said to do a run and the session will be on Boxing Day. The plan is to do an hour in the morning and some core afterwards. The rest of the day will be spent playing with the new pressies my mummy has got me, hopefully she'll get the Action Man I asked for. No, my mistake, I meant to say hopefully Santa will bring the Action Man I put on the letter I sent him. I've been pretty good this year, so I reckon a couple of them may be on the cards.

I know it's old news by now, but I'm going to bring it up one last time. My dad managed to record the Euro's using his little Sky box gizmo, and when I spent last weekend with him I managed to watch it. I really enjoyed watching it and the commentary was very pro British team, which is always positive. Even though I knew the result, I was still watching it with about a minute to go and thinking "there's no way I'm coming second here". One second there's a gap between me and the medals, and the next I'm in a 3 way battle for silver! A good watch and luckily my dad put it on a DVD so I'll always have a copy of the race.

At the moment I'm back in London and spending the rest of the holiday with my mum & co. In typical style, there was some snow here but it came a week early and now it's all melted, so it's unlikely there'll be a white Christmas. However fun snow can be, it dosen't make running any easier. It's hard to keep the grip and my calves have been pretty sore, which I'm sure is down to trying to stay on my feet while on the ice. But like I said, it's all melted away and the ice is pretty much gone so things should become a bit easier. Whether you're running or not, I hope you enjoy you're day away from the stresses and panics of everyday life. Merry Christmas!!

Have a good one,

Goolab xxx