Busy week ahead

As often seems the case on a Monday, I had quite an interrupted night’s sleep and decided to get up before my alarm went off.  Not sure why that happens; too much going through my subconscious mind, perhaps?  Anyway it means I have a bit of extra time and am using that to write a few words of wisdom, or otherwise, on this blog.

I have a very busy week ahead.  It is a busy spell at work anyway - partner appraisal season - and on top of that I have things on every night:

Monday (tonight) - Scottish Athletics board meeting;
Tuesday - regular coaching session at the Meadows;
Wednesday - partnership meeting, which is normally followed by a couple of drinks;
Thursday - weekly visit to the physio, followed by West Highland Way podcast with John K;
Friday - night out with Tuesday night running group and others from my club, Harmeny.

I should make clear that I’m not complaining, as I’d rather be busy.  I’m also going to make a serious effort this week to be more careful with what I am eating, as my lack of running is already contributing to a few extra pounds appearing, something I’m not particularly happy with.  It’s not the easiest time of year for me to cut back, and will no doubt get even more difficult as we head in to the Christmas party season, but I’ll do the best I can now and have a much more focused effort come the new year.

What else has been happening?  Still no running for me; it looks as though this issue is going to take quite a bit of time and I’ll need to be patient with it.  Patience is a virtue, I’m told.  It was the Lindsays Scottish National Short Course Cross Country Championships (quite a snappy title) at Kirkcaldy on Saturday.  As well as the competition at the front of the races - including a win for a Harmeny athlete, Tendai, in the boys’ under 15 race, and bronze medals for the team - I was delighted to see that eight senior women from Harmeny taking part in the 4K race.  What a great turnout from them and from all the other clubs who pitched up and battled their way round the muddy course.

On the political front, campaigning has now begun in earnest.  The Conservatives have made a dismal start to the campaign with various gaffes from senior politicians.  I expect their lead in the polls to reduce as the campaign goes on, much in the way it did at the last election two years ago, as their lack of credibility both as a party and as individual politicians becomes more apparent as they are put under greater scrutiny.  I find the Lib Dem messaging opportunistic, and do not take to Jo Swindon’s rather hectoring style at all.  In my opinion she is not a Prime Minister in waiting.  Despite the massive media campaign against Jeremy Corbyn, he retains strong support (in England at least) from some of the younger voters.  It’s a different battle here in Scotland where I expect the SNP to gain seats, but perhaps not as many as some commentators are suggesting.  I watched BBC’s Question Time on Thursday night.  It took place from Glasgow and felt as though the SNP’s messages were being supported by a significant majority of the audience.  Time will tell if that was a bit of a one off, reflecting the fact Glasgow has been a strong SNP area for a number of years, or if it indicated a turning of the tide towards the independence message.  I certainly hope it is the latter.