Entering a running season
January running roundup - flu, rain and my first ever chilblain
I was very ready for it to be 2023. Although not without its highlights, overall I’ll remember 2022 as being one of the less good years of my life so it felt almost fitting to see it out with the worst bout of flu I’ve ever had. Finish as you don’t mean to go on, or something like that. I cancelled my New Year’s Eve plans in favour of ringing it in on the sofa with my parents. We weren’t sure we’d make it to midnight so, after consulting a list of GMT+3 countries, we celebrated a Turkish New Year at nine o’clock instead.
January gets some stick but I quite like it. It always feels sort of hopeful to me - a big empty year laying open which in theory (if perhaps not practice) you could do literally anything you want with. Who knows what might happen in the next twelve months?! I always quite enjoy those first few weeks of the year too when you’re just genuinely thrilled to be eating some green vegetables after existing solely on the four main food groups of chocolate, cheese, Baileys and wine.
Although the latter hadn’t quite been true this year (between December 19th and 24th my entire diet consisted of three crumpets, four mini ice lollies, half a spoon of soup, several bottles of Lipton Iced Tea and about a gallon of cough syrup) I still spent the first few days of the month relishing feeling somewhat healthy again. I’d woken up with a clear head on January 1st and felt smug that even my lingering flu symptoms were almost certainly less painful than the hangover I no doubt would have had otherwise.
Years ago, I used to religiously read a blog by a runner called Rachael. She would always talk about her life in terms of seasons, times when she would go particularly all-in on a certain aspect. Sometimes that was running, other times it might be working or studying or travelling or wedding planning or puppy training. You probably do all of the things all the time to some extent but, during that season, the main ‘thing’ almost acts as the axis around which the rest of your life rotates. I always liked that as a way to look at things. It takes the pressure off having to do everything with full enthusiasm all the same time.