this Cuplet gave to thee…
15 fogged up glasses
14 near collisions
13 cluster headaches
12 ditches sidestepped
11 people pointing
10 toes-a-frozen
9 painful stretches
8 winds-a-gusting
7 chums-a-cheering
6 joints-a-creaking
5 running tweeeeeeeets
4 shooting cramps
3 stit-ches
2 poorly tums
And a Cuplet with a big tree

We’re well into December now, and I’m midway through the challenge, so I should be getting into my stride with this running thing, right? Wrong! Oh so very, very wrong! I’m sorry to report that it’s not good news, folks. I’ve hit the wall, full on, and it flippin’ hurts…

Deciding to take on a daily running challenge in the coldest, windiest, darkest month of the year, and after a three-month break from any form of exercise, was never the best idea in the world. But it’s rapidly becoming apparent that I’ve bitten off more than I can chew with this. My body has been fighting me all the way since Day 1. I expected little else. Colds. Vomiting. Fatigue. More colds. And for the most part, I’ve been ignoring it and powering through (probably not a great idea either to be honest!), admittedly with the occasional moan on Twitter. But this week, as I hit the halfway mark, work stress, inclement weather and the sheer effort I’ve been putting in to keep on track has really taken its toll :(. 24 hour bugs and a bit of tiredness I can just about run through, sometimes even feeling better as a result.  But its a whole different ball game when you throw cluster headaches into the mix too!  I was diagnosed with this recurrent condition earlier in the year and though I’ve been pretty lucky in recent months, I’ve been hit really hard by these excruciating bastards over the past couple of days.  I guess I’m fortunate that my attacks are quite short; 15-30 minutes usually.  But they are agonising, and leave me doubled-over and crying in pain.  Basically, they’re not all that fun.

So my poor little immune system has been teetering on the brink for a while, white-knuckled as it desperately tried to cling on, but the aforementioned formidable tag-team has kicked the shit out of what was left of the scrappy little blighter. And he’d tried so hard too!  But there was always a possibility it was going to go this way. Going from zero exercise to daily runs, regardless of distance or pace, was always going to be extreme.  Right now the battle between my body and my brain is in full force, and I’m not sure who’s gonna win.  Days 16-20? At this stage, I really don’t know…