Today...

I want to run. In fact, it's almost more than that, I'm beginning to NEED to run.

This year has been a learning curve, and my results have followed that curve, culminating in a run I was very happy with at the South Downs Way 50.

That race took more out of me than I thought, or expected, so the period since then has been a balancing act of keeping training going, but trying to regain freshness.

I don't think I quite got it right - so the North Downs Way 50 on Saturday ended at Reigate Hill Aid Station with a DNF brought on by the onset of heatstroke, cramp issues, and a general "cannot be bothered" attitude to finishing the race. It doesn't help that I don't like the course, and was only running the race out of spite (it beat me last year too, although I did at least walk it in for a finishers medal and shirt).

But today, I want to run. My legs ache (after all, I still did a 32mi training run on the hottest day of the year so far), but my heart and head are telling me to put my shoes on, and go find a trail. The pace doesn't matter, the distance doesn't matter - putting one foot in front of the other, and enjoying the air, the sounds of nature, the smells from the crops - that's what matters today.

Next week sees the start of the training cycle again, the next race to train for, to plan for... Talking to Stuart last night, we talked over the DNF, and the coming months. It will be interesting to see what my training schedule looks like for the coming weeks - but for the rest of this week, there's no plan, just fun, and after all, isn't that why I should be running anyway?