The Christmas Day Run Tradition

I love Christmas.  It’s a time of year I can’t help but enjoy.  There’s plenty of food and drink and good times with friends.  But there is one activity that I enjoy taking time out for on Christmas Day.  I first went for a Christmas Day run four years ago.  The streets are quiet.  Families out walking wish each other a Merry Christmas.  There’s time for turkey and all the trimmings later, but a run in the morning is the last chance to make more room for Christmas Dinner.  A quick run in the morning provides a good excuse for an extra slice of turkey, or spoonful of pud.  Or both, it is Christmas after all.

Battling to be fit for Christmas Day

I’m not what you’d call a ‘good patient’.  I hate being ill and when I’m feeling out of sorts for more than a week I’m grumpy too.  Six weeks since I last set foot in a gym and I’m itching to set out again.  Since the start of November I have been ill with various things and have only started feeling myself again in the last few days.

I have an added incentive to be fit for my Christmas Day run; I’ve been given a heads up that the man in the red suit is delivering a pair of running trainers.  After all, who doesn’t get excited about wearing new running gear?

 

Time to Run

I love going for a run in the lull between the excitement of Christmas morning and the indulgence of Christmas dinner.  It’s lovely to have a bit of quietness on an otherwise hectic day.  I will don my trainers, gloves and running gear sometime after breakfast, and head out of the door into the cold, wintery air.

It may seem like a crazy tradition to some of you reading this, but my Christmas Day run adds something extra to the big day.

Christmas Day is one of the only days of the year where you can’t make excuses that you are ‘busy’.

There are no jobs to be done.

It is a day for pure enjoyment.

 

Reflecting on 2017

My first run of the year seems like ages ago.  I haven’t done as much as I’d have liked since.  Although I was really happy with my performance at this year’s Bury 10k, I am keen to make sure 2018 is a more successful year.  I have already committed to running my second half marathon in autumn next year and want to add to the list of races I am currently signed up to.  My plan is to build up my distances again so that I can comfortably run around ten miles in preparation for the half marathon and beyond.

But for now, I am focused on being ready to take on my Christmas Day run.  I’m still coughing and spluttering but at less frequent intervals.  The run is on.