As constant readers may recall, last week Oxford experienced the heaviest snowfall of the recent past — certainly since Margaret and I moved to Oxford, and (we were told) for at least a couple of years before that. I didn’t venture out for my weekly constitutional, since (a) the pavements seemed likely to be slippery [as it turns out, they were slippery] and (b) my running shoes have a hole in the right foot, and if I hadn’t slipped and fallen, I would certainly have developed a case of Cold Wet Sock.
I expected, then, that this week’s adventure would mark a setback, and I was technically correct. My time this week was 11:28, a few seconds off the pace of a fortnight ago. On the other hand, I pushed my ‘didn’t break stride’ mark another half block (to Aston Street, for those of you keeping score at home) and I didn’t feel especially stiff or extra-winded. This week wasn’t an upset (over the forces of indolence and bad weather), but neither was it a disappointment. And although I expect to miss another couple of runs over the holidays, I am actually looking forward, a bit, to Hilary Term and running on Wednesday mornings as well as Sundays.