We’re now in the depths of winter training. Or at least, I hope we are.

I’ve just read a blog post from Elise Downing, who ran 5000 miles around the coast of the UK with her kit on her back. When she got to Swansea heading North, she decided she would cycle, rather than run the coast of Scotland.

I feel like I’m in Swansea.

I guess it’s been a slightly more emotional time than average. My job finished (I was maternity covering); a family friend died;  and I’ve decided to move out of London- the city I’ve called home for all of my adult life. But all the same, I’m not sure how normal it is to be doubled over, weeping on the track, after a few 200m reps.

Every session, the distances get longer and reps get more. Any small gains in fitness are quashed by the struggle to keep up with the pace of change, and the pace of the group. Mark tells me over and over to left my knees and flex my feet, but in the struggle to keep moving, I’m just not able to lift them any more.

But Elise Downing passed Gretna Green and she kept running; and so I will too. Not 5000 miles, mind- but I’ll keep putting one foot in front of the other.