Alan Murchison's blog by Alan_Murchison

Ho ho ho, it’s getting close to Christmas now and the busiest week of the year. It’s great for business, but less brilliant for training and racing. Have done lots of hours at work this week so mileage pretty poor, only about 60 miles for the week and 4 hours on the bike. That’s not ideal preparation for the weekend’s racing. I had planned an easier week to try and be a bit fresher for the Southern Masters Cross Country Championships held in lovely Croydon. It’s a good course with hills and some pretty fast running, but unfortunately the mud didn't materialise.

The men's 40 plus race was the last race of the day as it was also the Inter-Counties with lots of fast kids tearing about and with the sun fading fast the course was icing up and the going was firm. I got into a really good race with my old adversary Andy Morgan Lee & John Clarke. We managed to break away from the main field, however when Andy put the hammer down with 2k left, I just couldn't respond. So 3rd place and a South of England medal, but I do need to keep working hard as I’m still not race fit. I am though progressing in the right direction.

I have 10 days off work, starting on Christmas Eve, which means I can focus on my running more in preparation for the next big race which is the Hampshire County Champs on the first weekend in January. I need to get lots of quality training in as opposed to lots of Quality Street chocolates! One of the best things about running is having good company to drag you along and share the beautiful days and a well as to help each other when doing sessions or feeling rough. I am really lucky with running partners as for the last few years I have always been able to run with either Chris 'the racing snake' or Louise 'the demon'.

My latest partner has 4 legs and is my Siberian husky pup, Teako. I have had 2 huskies in the past and as running buddies they are exceptional. They will quite happily run all day, in fact the colder and wetter the weather, the happier they are. And they can run at 8mph or 20mph (I can't manage that). Teako is now 7 months old and only thing I need to be careful of is doing too much too soon with him. He looks like an adult dog, however he's still a pup inside. There’s a lot of satisfaction to be had running with your 4-legged friend as this is what dogs should be doing. Five minutes around a park is not what they are designed to do.

I have a friend, Sandra, who has 5 huskies and 2 of Teako’s brothers and she regularly does ultra marathons (50 miles plus) with her dogs and they take it in their stride. Teako gets genuinely excited when the running shoes come out and especially likes running twice a day! It’s no problem to him. He even comes to the track and watches me running round in circles, dogs are not allowed ON the track unfortunately! Even Louise who is not a great lover of dogs has joined us for training runs. I think she is jealous of his effortless gait and 4 legs....