HMM. Friday morning, 9.30am. I'd taken a day off to do two things; I needed to squeeze in a decent run ahead of a busy weekend, and I needed to make a start on Anna's tax returns ahead of a January 31 deadline.
It's difficult to know which was the least appealing. Well actually it's not. I can think I little less appealing than tax returns, so I headed out into the rain...
A busy weekend last weekend celebrating various birthdays in London, coupled with me feeling ill for the best part of two weeks, meant training had slipped.
So I stuck to the old favourite, a route of about seven miles through hills around our house. Gentle undulating hills with a few beasts thrown into the mix.
I'm working on a cunning plan for the first few half marathons in my year's schedule - Sleaford and Silverstone, which are both flat. If I can run 10 miles comfortably in hills, then I can run just over 13 on the flat. It's a great plan, bound to fail...
Bedecked in my Christmas present from my parents - a 100% waterproof Doncaster Rovers training top - I headed off. And immediately felt it.
It always takes me a mile or so to warm up, sometimes longer. And today it was most definitely in the longer category. Maybe I'd been more poorly than I realised.
But, as is so often the way, I warmed up into it - and began to enjoy it. It was a great morning for running, sunny bit with a slight drizzle. And eventually I decided to go further than I'd planned, adding an extra mile on to the route.
Part of my cunning plan, you see, is to make sure that for every 'big run' I do, I have to make sure each one is longer than the last - even if just by a few hundred yards.
That way, I'll know I'm making progress and heading towards race distance. As for those tax returns.... well, I've made lunch, watched a bit of TV, written this....