Following the Stampede Half back in July, I'd been looking forward to my visit to the UK, and in particular catching up with old running chums and doing a couple of familiar races over there for old time's sake. Ok, my race times had been a little slow since the big move overseas, but I'd put that down to the dry air of Calgary and the higher altitude. The only way to put things to the test was to do races that I'd done before, so that at least I had something to compare to. Things went a little pear shaped, and a week or so before I was due to fly to the UK I found myself visiting the local doctor in Lake Chaparral, resulting in a referral to the hospital. I won't go into detail as I don't want to be accused of being a drama queen, but the result certainly gave me a valid reason for my recent poor race performances. I eased off the running and began to alternate running with biking to ensure that I maintained some level of fitness, but I began to doubt ...