Monday: February 16th. Deep down I knew I'd made a mistake. Big mistake, deep down. My intention was to do an early morning run but the weather just wouldn't play ball and to make matters worse, my headcold was no better. I felt miserable. AI image. Big wind. Big breakfast. Big mistake! In such circumstances I'd have been happy to skip my run.

They say that a wise man understands how little he really knows. There are things he thinks he knows, only to find that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. So it was with my long run this week. In running parlance, the long run is known as a Long Slow Run. It is all three of these. It is long, it is slow and, of course, it is a run.

It's Friday night and there's a frost and ice warning for tomorrow. I'd imagine it's an easy choice to not run at Wexford Racecourse. I'd imagine it's an easy choice not to even make the journey to Wexford. But whatever about running or not running, we will go for family reasons. On top of all the weather uncertainty I've a bit of a headcold after a heavy hour in the garden on Tuesday.

Never was the turning of the calendar page so dearly anticipated. January was an absolute washout and although February might match it, I'm an optimist so I'm looking ahead to much improved weather. It started out with blue skies on Sunday 1st for Dungarvan's flagship John Treacy 10 Mile race. Once again I opted to help with stewarding and loved the excitement of the event.

During the week I decided to visit John F Kennedy Park to run the New Ross Parkrun. Most of County Wexford was under a flood warning and road conditions were not good, especially for the last section after we left the New Ross bypass. On a positive note, there was no rain. That doesn't mean there was no water! Prior to the start, I was chatting with Jim from Galway.

Sunday January 25th It's hard to think the month is nearly over, and barely a child in the house washed! The weeks are just flying by and in no time it'll be spring. Anthony and I took advantage of a rare dry January day to head off towards Ballinameela and onwards to Clashmore. Despite lots of recent rain the roads were OK.

It was a very wet week. It seemed to me that  it couldn't get much wetter after the drenching I got on Monday in Glenshelane. I was right. I didn't get wet after that but it's because I stayed indoors. I got to the garden for a while on Tuesday and tidied up a few small things. Despite the short interlude between overnight rain and more in the afternoon, there was a wintery dampness everywhere.

We had given ourselves extra time for the journey to Wexford, expecting roads to be bad. But in fact, there was no issue with safety because the gritters had been out before us. When we arrived just after 9am, I to took the opportunity to enquire about volunteering next week. John guided me through the process of installing the Volunteering app to my phone, and and asked if I'd be OK to do the scanning.

It had been in my head for months. Finally, having collected the new Buzzrack Scorpion Lite in Clonmel yesterday, it was time to check it out. As expected, mounting the rack was not as straightforward as expected but after about ten minutes fiddling around, we got the hang of it. As soon as it was mounted and secured to the hitch, putting the bike on was very easy.

Predict Your Time night, and the prediction unravelled early. One clock for the long run, another for the short. Eyes fixed on the wrong one. By the time I was alerted to my basic error, the rest were already six minutes ahead, stretched thin and out of reach. There was no race to be had after that. No targets. A few very quick runners passed me, but I had no business in anything other than just doing my own thing.

I had just an hour on the eBike today, wrapped in loads of layers together with a well-fitted balaclava. Clothing essentials for very severe temperatures. The spin from Cushcam to Colligan was beautiful, yet I needed to be very cautious because of road conditions. I knew this in advance. Unexpectedly, the low sun was treacherous, flashing through leafless trees on the descents, turning familiar lines into something uncertain.

Wexford parkrun again, and the place was sharpened by frost. The kind that crunches underfoot and makes every breath feel deliberate. Heavy frost, sub-zero, the sort of cold that discourages dithering. It was honest weather. Turn up, get on with it.New runners on the feet too — Hoka Clifton 10s — still clean enough to look slightly out of place on a winter track.

The year opened quietly, the best kind of opening. My favourite kind. A mid-morning eBike roll-out that felt like an easing-in, ninety unhurried minutes to let the body move and the head catch up. Coolnasmear first, then on towards Colligan, roads very familiar to me, but that continue to offer small surprises. There was something new threaded through the ride too: my conscious attempt at a faster cadence.

I need to change the front brake pad. It would wake the dead. Please pardon the blatantly obvious: The back ones aren’t far behind.