Running off those cobwebs

Today is the first day in the last 8 days that I haven't woken up without swollen glands and a rash covering 20-25% of my body (yes I know I'm delightful). I still don't know what I had an allergic reaction to, but it was one hell of a reaction.

Apparently I've only ever had that type of reaction once before - when I was 6 years old and I ate a knickerbocker glory which contained tinned fruit. That time, we think, the culprit was some chemical from the tin that the fruit was in. I suspect this was also something quite elusive.

Anyway, sans allergic reaction, I was finally able to get out for my first run of 2014. I'd started to get really bitter when seeing people out running or talking about it on Facebook. There is nothing worse than seeing other people running when you can't do it yourself.

The run itself wasn't long or particularly pretty, it was quite icy out there first thing and I was slipping all over the place. Running on the road, rather than the pavement, I was starting to feel slightly melodramatic until I saw another runner doing exactly the same thing!

I've been quite down on my running lately, but have now decided to get my ass into gear and make an effort. This year I will run a sub-2 hour half marathon if it kills me (definitely achieveable as I'm at 2.05 now) and I'll kick my marathon PB into the dust when I run the Yorkshire marathon in October. Michael, a much better runner than me, is going to help me devise a training plan later on today.

Right I'm off for a bath before I crack on with sorting out that protocol word count from yesterday. Then I'll revisit that wall...

January running mileage: 7 miles