I usually like to have an easier end to the year in terms of my running, particularly if I’ve had a good year to that point. It freshens up both the mind and and the body. I think I’ll do exactly that this time, limiting time trials and heavy mileage until early next year.

I actually have a plan to build up again with the speed work and time trials in the New Year, so that I hit 60 in late February in form to set a whole new raft of post-60 PBs. Hopefully my recent times of 3:20 for 1km and 20:25 for 5km are just the start. My aim is to lower these after my birthday. It will give me renewed motivation and something to aim for.

I have a range of photos from the world run for readers today. They’re all from Connecticut and Rhode Island on this occasion, taken around this date in 2012. The photos include a few of me running with Chook, who had arrived with his brother, Don, to accompany us to Boston and then drive the support vehicle back to its home in Denver. There’s a photo that Carmel captured by chance, when I clipped the back of Chook’s heels and fell, connecting with his elbow (to my nose) on the way down.

Other shots include Chook and me leaving the Griswold Inn in Essex (built 1776); another with my former work colleague, Betsy; having a drink with Chook, Don, and another work associate, Gregor, in Newport RI (Gregor was presenting at a conference in nearby Providence – he and I still work together on a fairly regular basis); a lovely shot of the colourful trees across the water in Mystic CT; Chook, Don, and Carmel at a roadside break; and a view of The Breakers, the former Vanderbilt mansion in Newport. I took the crew there for a brief tourist stop before starting to run that day.