Jogging on the spot

I fell short of my target mileage this week at only 36, mostly because I didn't get my long run in today. I was scheduled to get 14 in, but time constraints ended up me just doing a quick 6. The plan is for the long run tomorrow.
Wednesday was interesting. It was the day storm Rachel arrived, and it was bright out so I figured I would head out. An easy 9 miles was on the cards. The first few went well with the wind on my back, but mile 7 was directly into wind. Jogging on the spot comes to mind, great for the ab's but not great for the time, or face!
Thursday I did some speed work. It was very difficult to get the legs turning over for the first two miles. I did one mile warmup, two one mile reps at 6.10, and then 3 sets of 800's at 6 minute pace with a  mile to cool down. It was nice to get the legs turning over again, although at the end of the session I was fairly spent, and the effort was pretty tough.
The next challenge is to start cleaning up the diet again. When I was running well I was constantly at 10 stone exactly, and I am now up to 10stone 8 lbs. I am enjoying too many potatoes with dinner, the trick I find is to reduce the carbs and up the protein. That tends to make the carbs more effective when you up the dosage before a target race. Funnily enough, for me, one of the best pre-race foods is chips! I like that one.
I am also trying from the start of this training cycle to do some core work every day after my run. 40 press ups and the same sit ups, with some stretching.
Although the weather is cold at the moment, it is pretty good running weather. The main challenge is slippery patches on the road. The last thing I need is to go over on the ankle or something.