Wading in butter!

With the blink of an eye a couple of weeks have passed me by, a culmination I think of being busy with work (not complaining!), family and running.  Training has continued with our usual mix of sessions since the Guy Fawkes 10 mile and on Remembrance Sunday weekend I took part in the last of this years YVAA races at Spenborough, which, at least since I've run them, the last race has always taken place here.  It's usually a big turn out from all the clubs possibly because it is the last one.  A very cold and frosty but bright morning meant I hoped against hope that it wouldn't be too bad under foot, since I had demoted my cross country trainers to the bin and failed to purchase any more, the only alternative I had to my usual road shoes was my Nike Lunarglides, I chose these simply because they are black! However, they were a very different shade of black when I had finished! Having negotiated mud which I likened to wading through butter - extremely slippy - my shoes were unrecognisable as shoes let alone what colour when I emerged back onto the track to the finish.  It felt like I had a whole field attached to them, much of which was deposited onto the track by mine and previous runners shoes!

We observed a minutes silence before the race

I really enjoyed the race and have to chuckle to myself as I recall the moment when having just exited the railway bridge (a highlight for me as not only are runners turned around and sent back from whence they came we are also treated to the now familiar sight of the metal sheep!), I came down and under a bridge, spying some spectators on my right out of the corner of my eye but concentrating so hard I wasn't listening properly to the marshal who was frantically shouting (I thought) 'Dan's here, Dan's here' - turned out he was shouting 'darn here, darn here' in his southern accent, actually meaning 'down here' - by this time I had completely missed the turn off and had to turn round and run back up the hill! Ha well it provided me with an excuse for being marginally slower than the same race last year!

So with the YVAA series over for another year we 'welcome' the start of the Peco Cross Country League next Sunday with race one at Ackworth, before that though the Abbey Dash which was the next race in the club championship.  For me though, it was to be as cheerleader yesterday, I missed out after leaving it too late to enter and upon logging onto the Age Uk website read 'RACE ENTRY IS NOW CLOSED'.  Sadly I have also missed entry into the Chevin Chase on Boxing Day - I find it financially challenging - if there is such a phrase - if not I've just invented it - to enter races so far in advance - meaning popular ones sell out fast.  It beggars belief how much we runners must spend from year to year on race entry and with rising costs for those hosting them these have to be passed onto runners, this one though will have to be selective in choosing which ones to enter with a factor being the entrance fee. I have also now got Marc who has stepped up to senior level running and can be part of the club championship so if he wants to enter too it's double bubble!

Party season is hotting up with invitations flooding in! I have a sneaking suspicion the social life is going to start getting in the way again! The YVAA Awards Dinner at Elland Road along with numerous coming of age (friends, nephews, neices) and (over the hill cousins, brothers) party invites and the club AGM on the 30th falls right in the middle of it all. Party on my friend........