The last couple of days have been dull and rainy but this morning was beautiful, sunny and not too cold. The only thing putting me off running was the thought of the mud which would inevitably cover the first part of our route. Never mind, we can always run in the opposite direction, the quayside by the historic waterfront to the marina and back. Fantastic.
The surface in town is naturally very different to what we're used to. Instead of rough grass it's brick paving most of the way. I realised I was going quite a bit faster than usual . I glanced at my heart rate - well below 130, much slower than I'd expect at this pace.
When we reached the path alongside the marina the surface got worse, it's gravel with a lot of big puddles. If you stray from this there's a grass verge but it was waterlogged and very muddy at the edges.
I trod in a puddle I'd attempted to avoid. One cold wet foot. Had a little think and decided that at least the road surface under the puddle was sound so I'd embrace running through the water. I now had two wet feet but they soon warmed up, especially as I'd turned towards home and the good, solid path.
So that's another 3km completed. Not very far but I've given myself permission not to push it this month. The weather is not our friend, it's cold and slippery outside. Better to complete fewer, shorter runs and end the winter in one piece than to push too hard just for the sake of it and do oneself a mischief.
I found it very interesting how much easier physically, judging by my heartrate, it is to run on a hard flat surface rather than the mud.
Happy running everyone 
