After my European exploits I've had a very chilled out week. All I've been doing is going Christmas shopping in Birmingham town, eating loads of crap, watching TV, sleeping in until midday and a minimal amount of running. I think it's fair to say the disciplined athlete lifestyle I had has gone well and truely out of the window. There is a good reason for this though. Steve has let me have a relaxed week after all the hard training between September and now. This week I've had a day on and a day off of running, and then proper training resumes next week. However it'll stay basic, just doing normal runs next week and probably light sessions the week after.

I did take a trip over to Steve's the other day. We had a good catch up and I saw Maria for the first time since giving birth, and I even saw Leah for the first time. She is so cute and well behaved, although spends most of her time starring at Steve! While I was there we talked about the race and what I'm going to do over the holidays. Sounds like Mr Sharp has got everything planned out and I'm looking forward to what he has in store for me. Maria was also telling me that now I'll probably get loads of girls coming upto me and she said they have to pass her test before they can ask me out. Loads of girls...I wish!!  

As far as racing is concerned you probably won't see me out on any races courses for a while. Before the Euros I said I didn't want to race before February and I'm still sticking to that. I have been asked to do a couple of races in January, namely the 4k race in Edinburgh and the McCain Cross Challenge race in Northern Ireland. I turned both of these down for two separate reasons. I'm not going to Edinburgh because after my antics this week, I probably won't be very fit for a stacked 4k race just after the new year. With the Cross Challenge race, I was asked to do the senior race and was even offered an appearance fee to turn up, which is a first for me. Before talking to Steve I didn't really want to go over and do it and speaking to him he feels the same. This race is 9k which isn't a big deal (although it is a long way to run!) but I've got two big races in February I want to do well in, which are both big distances.

So what are these races? Well they are the BUCS Cross Country Championships and the National Cross Country Championships. I've had these races pencilled in for a while and am keen on doing them. I think the National is 10k and BUCS is either 10k or 12k. These are two heavy races and I want to be as fresh as possible for both of them. I'm also very, very keen on doing the Armagh 5k International Road Race but I think it's 2 days before the National, so I'm going to have to give that one a miss this year. So far these are my racing plans for the new year and although there are only two races, they are very tough races and the preparation for them won't be easy.    

Anyways, enough chatting. I'm going to head out and waddle for a cheeky 40 mins!

Run happy,

Goolab xxx