I’m in the middle of a pretty intense week, training-wise. I’ve been riding lots, including a road ride the other night where I got a puncture right in the middle of The Worst Estate In Bolton ™, but the sky was clear, I could see the moon and it wasn’t raining for a change. So it was nice. I’ve been running a fair bit, including a lunchtime run yesterday with Adam (ex-pro footballer, marathon runner and all-round nice guy) where I attempted to hurdle a metal fence, got it wrong and smacked my kneecap on it. I had blood running down my leg by the time I got back to work and had to cadge a couple of Ibuprofens of one of the girls in the office. A good run though, plenty of ups and downs, mud and slipping about. We were bloody fast too – I don’t think either of us wanted to slow the other one down which is often the case when two blokes go running together…

We’re going to do it regularly through the winter. Ace.

I’ve got a few jobs to do on the CX bike to get it tickety-boo again. All at once, the tyres went bald (well the rear one did), the headset bearings died, the bar tape came off and the brake pads disintegrated. So I’ve had to spend a few quid on new bearings, pads and a pair of very tough-looking Schwalbe Land Cruisers (THE 3 Peaks CX tyre, apparently) but I’m hoping to have it all sorted ready for tomorrow morning’s ride/run over Holcombe Moor and the firing range.

Last night was a novelty – me and Deb went out for a meal with Andrew and Julie, minus the kids. We and they had babysitters, a table booked and clean, puke-free clothes on and it was great. We didn’t talk about Hit the North until we were almost ready to go home!