Expedition: failed

I have not been very consistent in my posts this last week because I have been away for work again, and this time I was trying to limit the size of my luggage so that I could carry it on the train, which meant my running shoes won priority over my laptop. A colleague expressed surprise that I had bought my running gear (plus spares, and a swimsuit, but they didn't know that!) to a conference and I explained that my trainers are always the first thing to go in my suitcase, no matter where I'm headed. I now have a bit of a reputation as an exercise-addict, but nevermind, I can't hide in the closet forever!

Anyway, I was hoping to do a bit of running whilst I was away, giving those trainers a change of scenery and making more notes for my running explorer's map. Unfortunately for this week's trip I was in Stansted, which is not the most exotic of places, and the hotel was literally at the airport so I was not expecting to come across too many exciting sights, but in the end I failed to even leave the hotel. The only morning I could have got away for an early-morning run it was so foggy outside I could barely see the road, and I could not find any roads or paths around the hotel that led anywhere other than the car park or the tunnel to the airport terminal. I had a sudden ridiculous image of myself stumbling out onto the runway and being startled by a boeing 747 bearing down on me out of the mist, so I gave up and returned to the hotel gym instead.

Actually the gym was very nice. Should anyone ever find themselves with a few hours to kill at Stansted there would be worse ways to spend them than in the clean surroundings of the Radisson SAS health club, and it would certainly be better for your health than hanging around the airport cafes. But I feel I have failed as a running explorer for this week, and can't wait to get back out there in the outside world, to do some 'real' running.