Skins!

I'm examining my excuses again, for one of the Round 2 pre-season tasks.

Round 1 was over summer and autumn, but the autumn has been so warm here in Perth that heat was definitely an issue. Cold, not so much. "I'm cold" and "I have a cold/sniffly nose/cough" are definitely going to come up in Round 2, though. I actually started to run last summer and autumn; I trained for a 4.5km run in May 2010 and completed it. Soon after that I caught a cold and the mornings were so cold that I completely fell off the wagon.

I will NOT do that again! It's not as if we have snow, ice or sleet here, 'cold' mornings are still a few degrees Celsius.

In gearing up for this round, I'm taking the weather and my excuses into account. Today I bought a pair of Skins compression tights, yes, they are quite expensive at $127, but (a) they are full-length and (b) because they assist blood flow, they'll keep me warmer.

I also have a couple of long-sleeved running top in a 'dri-fit' sort of fabric; when I get warm I just push the sleeves up, or I could wear a singlet underneath and tie the top around my waist as they're so lightweight.

I have a headband that will cover my ears.

I'm pretty set, although I'm considering gloves - I wanted to find a long-sleeved top with extra-long sleeves and thumb-holes, but no luck.

Maintaining good eating habits will boost my immune system, and I'm prepared with natural remedies to take at the first sign of a cold. If necessary, I'll use cold and flu tablets; I don't need to worry anymore about drying up my milk because Evie's weaned, and while I don't like relying on pharmaceuticals, if I just take them on the mornings I need to run it won't be so bad.