Snow Wonderings

You may remember my post last year about hay bales. Well, there is still a field that I pass each morning with dozens of uncollected bales from harvest time. The new crop is growing around them and I am wondering why these haven’t been wrapped and stored as usual. They are now covered in snow and must surely be rotting. Has something happened to the farmer I wonder? I have been unable to take a decent photograph as the country road to the side doesn’t have any laybys to pull in and stop. It’s a spectacular winter scene though. I will try and persist to get that photograph.

I was 6 seconds off going sub-25mins on Park Run at the weekend but that’s still two 5km personal bests in as many weeks. To say how ill and rubbish I have been feeling, this new level of fitness I am attaining is quite remarkable. I am more focussed on technique and pacing in my cross training these days. I still need to speed up in the pool and that will come as my strength and technique improve. I've been doing a bit of science and maths too, plotting graphs based on my velocities and stroke rate. It's interesting seeing how it looks on paper!

 The cycling is dependent on the roads being ice free.

So far, I’ve registered for Aquathlons (400m swim in to a 5km run) at Halesowen, Burntwood, Sandwell, Wombourne and Wrekin College plus the Ashington Triathlon (400m swim, 20km cycle, 5km run). The Ashington event will be my first visit to my family ancestral home. I’m going to take Dad along with me to be my tour guide.

As well as sprint triathlons at Southwell, Lincoln, Woodall Spa, Wombourne and Rother Valley, I will be competing in various Masters swimming events plus a couple of open water swims throughout the year.

I’m really looking forward to the start of the new season.