2025 is well underway already!

 OMG We're well into 2025 and the last time I wrote anything was after the XC. I have been meaning to from time to time but that didn't translate into action.

Then I got caught up trying to find a neat way to  present my photos from Tenerife in December. 

So here is a slideshow of photos from the whole 3 weeks in Tenerife....

and here is one of the Mariposario.

It seems such a long time ago. We ran a fair bit, walked a lot, took lots of photos, had slightly too much lunch beer. I did some work online.

On the night before returning we went out for dinner and had a splendid meal. I don't know if it was this or just an accumulation of all the too much I had had for the last 3 weeks but I woke up at 1am feeling truly awful. After a while it was clear I was going to be sick. Then I was sick for the rest of the night. 

At first I felt like being sick might kill me. It was just too violent, but by the end of the night I was just like a student again, I had the process down. You just have to relax into it. I had a doubled up blanket on the floor so the cold tiles in the toilet didn't hurt my knees, and another blanket slung over my back so that I didn't freeze. According to my watch I had 1 hr 15 minutes sleep, and then it was time to set off home.

The whole thing was an intensely delicate process. The whole world was a disaster. Some guy was trying to talk to me while we were standing waiting for the coach back to the airport. He was loading me up with his misery, moaning about his holiday. I could hardly look at him. Someone nearby was smoking a cigarette. It was horrific.

The fast coach back to the airport took concentration. In the airport I thought maybe I could handle a diet coke. The caffeine in my system lifted me a little bit and I was able to breathe  more freely.. It must have been a long day for PB who was fine but was under orders not to talk or move too much.

It was Xmas eve and the plane was half empty, which was a mercy. We had no 3rd person in our row, so could spread out and relax. After a while I felt like maybe I could eat something  I think I had chilli and nachos. After about an hour the whole lot came back up again but I had enough warning and poured it all into the airplane toilet with consummate ease; a red chilli fountain.

We had a debate about taxi or tram home. PB thought we might get caught in traffic and also wasn't keen on the difference between the £7 or so for the tram (for me, it's free for him) and the £30 or £40 for a taxi. I agreed with him really, I was just a bit concerned about what would happen if I was visited by another red fountain on the tram on the way home - nowhere to run, nowhere to hide....I needn't have worried, I was okay. Pretty soon we were back in our very cold flat. One of our neighbours had been doing some painting with one of these strong smelling high VOCs gloss paints, which was a pity. We opened the windows up full despite how cold it was, and wrapped ourselves in blankets to eat tea.

After that I got a cold and a cough and my lungs are still irritated now. Other than that we're getting in the swing of the year.

We've been doing plenty of running. I've signed up for Alloa half and the Edinburgh marathon so I'm slowly extending the length of my long runs. We ran 17 or 18 miles two days ago - mostly off-road, from Prestonpans to North Berwick. I was very thirsty by Gullane but we didn't have any fluids so just had to keep on keeping on. I promised myself a pint of cider in North Berwick,.and that seemed to keep me going. It might be a dangerous precedent but it was delicious cider.

Happy New Year!