Now
Spent the week trying to get back into the rhythm of things. Allergies, project deadlines, and illness basically wrecked the routine from October 2025 onwards so it's not an overnight process.
Had bunch of snow on Monday and Tuesday, by which I mean there was a sprinkling but that’s a bunch by English standards. Got out for a couple of runs; still trying to work my way back up to normal volumes but consistency is more important than volume at the minute.
Later in the week I was down in Leeds for a workshop and to give a bit of blood for the Our Future Health project. The nurse who drew the blood was personable and friendly; I don’t think I’ve ever met a grumpy nurse. The NHS really is a wonder.
At the weekend I ran down to Hartlepool to pick up a package that hadn’t been delivered in the snow earlier in the week. The lady behind the counter at the post office depot told me that they’d been working through a backlog all week and that it was likely that the package was out for delivery at that very minute — but that at any rate she couldn’t check because the computers were down.
Sam came and picked me up and we drove out in the sun up to the top of Teesdale, to climb the first of our Historic County Tops of England, which is our outdoor project this year. The snow was lovely and dry and we met a cross-country skier at the top of Burnhope Seat, and then dropped down to the ski field at Yad Moss to watch the families skid and skate over the patchy snow. I miss skiing.
Awful freezing rain on Sunday, so short of another longish run to meet my weekly mileage goal, we spent the day inside. Watched The Apartment with Jack Lemmon: they sure don’t make em like they used to.