From Borea

Back from the first genuinely winter run of the season. Temperatures hovering around freezing as the sun came up over the sea and only thin running gear between the artic air and my skin. It's absolutely pointless wrapping yourself up against the cold, within five minutes of running your body temperature soars and getting rid of sweat becomes more important than trapping heat. But for the first few minutes of exposure to the air you feel very under-dressed and exposed before the elements.

But thankfully intense cold is usually accompained by clear blue skies and the sea between Brighton and Saltdean looked equally crystaline, under such conditions its impossible to feel anything other than completely alive and energised. We are really lucky to have the Brighton coast, with its flat, wide, pedestrianised promenades. In all weather conditions but a full-on gale it provides a safe, clean training ground with measured distances, beautiful views and lots of human interest. Actually even a gale can be energising, you come back covered in salt spray but the water tends to be warm.

My brother and myself are training for our first 10k race of the season, which is in two weeks. Last year I completed it in 49minutes having not trained much and smoked. This year I hope to beat that, with 45mins a possible, if not highly probable, target. Our latest training plan is 20mins at a strong pace, 20 minutes at a full-on 5km pace and then 20 minutes back at a measured pace. The middle section is tough and by the end you fell completely spent, but amazingly after only a couple of minutes of slowing back down your body catches up and you find yourself needing to sprint again to the finish.

Between now and February's half marathon there will be many morning like this: cold, increasingly dark and distances increasingly long. But there is something defiant about getting out and embracing the dark mornings when every instinct is to turn over and snooze a little longer.