Slow Slow , Quick, Quick, Slow

Eventually dragged from bed at 10am as Alison has the Highland Pipes CD blaring, the "Coming Home" adverts are having an effect with Scots in Belgium. I'm not sleeping late but actually reading a book of the fascinating account of the Belgian WWII resistance fighters. Who it seems had as many problems dealing with the weather as they did fighting the Nazi war machine..

Breakfast and papers delivered by the Team Kennedy Manager, it'll be my turn next week then. I eat my fill and settle down reading Sunday Torygraph, I'm an avid reader of the paper as my maxim has always been , "get to know your enemy". I'm of course equally concerned about the views of the likes of Colonel Jameson-Smythe from Surrey and his ilk in relation to current world events(Johnny Foreigner/latest Labour Government faux pas/ bloody rebellious Scots/Bloody work-shy Northerners etc etc)...its takes about 15 minutes to finish it and my blood pressure is usually a good deal higher at the end. Its probably a form of exercise.

I have a couple of medical issues.....Firstly, I have acquired a head cold, nothing serious just a runny nose and a sore throat. Secondly I managed to pick up a splinter(skelf) in my foot from the wooden floor in the house. I merely mentioned the facts to the Team Kennedy manager and was greeted with her usual bedside manner of "Man-Flu" and "how can you get a skelf on that floor" all delivered with the usual upturned eyebrow and sceptical tone.

I stutter that I'm not looking to avoid my run, it's just that I'm not feeling at my best..........

I sulk off and get my gear together; I also put on a pair of ski long-johns so save my legs from the possibility of another week of corned beef legs. It’s sunny but cold so I stick on a Nike compression training top and a normal running top over it, stupidly both short sleeved.

I'm in the mood for a run and have been since last week. I start off at a good pace 4:10minutes per km on my watch. The run is fine and I'm feeling great, if a little cold round the arms and head. Yes I'd forgotten my hat too. Biggest problem is my MP3 player keeps switching itself off and re-initialising, which would not be a huge problem except that it goes back to the start again, so after 4km I've managed to listen to Mama Mia by Abba 5 times....

At the 4km mark I turn and head up a long, steady and steep hill, it is about 1.3km long and rises about 200feet over its length. I'm starting to get a little windy and of course your mind wanders. Mama Mia plays in the background again.... I'm then wondering if Phil Oakey of Human league used Abba as the template for his group........

Anyway, I'm looking for a fast 10km time and then an easy run in. I'm doing great because at the 7km mark its 32 minutes. The last km I do know is uphill towards the Butte du Lion ,so I hammer the pace a bit on the remaining flat and downhill sections. It’s much harder to race fast when you are on your own and just training but I can get a reasonable pace up but I know it’s always possible to go faster. In this case my legs are lying to my brain and I can do nothing about it. I drag myself up the last km of ankle breaking Belgian pave and finish 10km in 49:23. That was a good pace for a training run for me. I turn the corner and head south down the N5 towards Charleroi, the wind is now right in my face. I pass another guy running in the opposite direction. I've got a tee shirt on; he had tracksuit bottoms and a big thick fleece on with hood up. I laugh to myself and wonder if his Duffle Coat is at the cleaners.

The wind is a killer all the way back, I'm running directly south and it’s taking my breath away. It’s also bloody cold. I eventually turn the last corner on the way back, now east towards Lasne. I'm at 14km so just 2km or so to go and as ever it starts to feel free and easy. I finish 16.49km in 1hr:24, average speed of 5:04 minutes per km according to my watch/distance/HR monitor thing, I'm pleased.

Once in and showered its time for a feed, I'm starving. I've read that you need to be careful what you eat after a training session. I therefore have 2 pork pies with HP sauce, 2 packets of Quavers, handful of fruit pastilles and two pints of lime cordial and sparkling water....you are what you eat as they say...

Haggis tonight and Alison is making Dumpling... I can't wait