The Anchor Leg

John Carroll Leisure Centre closes. A community group might take it on but it seems that wouldn’t include the swimming pool.

My Monday run with the Lad ends up being a relay as I hand him over to L, so that she can also take him for a spin. I get the impression that the anchor leg did not quite go to plan so the relay may not be repeated.

L’s run with The Lad was a trial ahead of her plan to run at least a mile a day, her route is about 1.5 miles, every day in July for charity. She practices again on Tuesday while I assist by carrying him out of the house to the ‘start line’. Given the histrionics, I get the impression that she might be doing this challenge solo.

L has also booked herself onto a weights class on Tuesday mornings with the eyewatering early start time of 7:30am. Meaning she need to be out of the house about 6.45am. She isn’t sure she could get up that early or would at best roll around in bed complaining about it. I offer to helpfully move the alarm forward half an hour. Although to be fair the Lad has already done this.

I have another day at home and go for more Physio at the Mary Potter Centre. I get a different person this time. He tells me I need to do more exercise which is the pretty much the opposite to what the other person said and he even touched me. He did say that it was good that I was cycling as long as it doesn’t hurt. Which it does. He is referring to me to a movement therapist or something like that. This sounds impressive but might not be.  

Once back home and trying to do some more work, the Lad insists on sitting on my knee. That dog has serious separation issues. I only manage to get him off my knee by taking him out in the garden for a ball session over lunch. The next problem is whether he’ll let me watch the match at 5pm. Which is of course England v Germany in the Round Of 16 and to everyone’s surprise England win. Half the nation calls in sick the next day suffering from 'England-Germany variant' more commonly known as a hangover.

What is possibly even more outstanding than England’s win, but is largely ignored by the media is Mark Cavendish’s win at the Tour de France at the age of 36. It was his first Tour since 2018, which everyone assumed would be his last, and it was his first win since 2016.

I cycle on Wednesday and it’s getting a bit nippy weather wise now. Then I cycle again on Thursday, just don’t mention the knees.

On Thursday L starts her 31-day challenge for real and books The Lad to run with her. The website for her challenge says ‘Jogging is a great way to zone-out and rid yourself of stress’. They clearly have never tried to run with The Lad.

Saturday is a total sports fest with Wimbledon, the Tour de France and England beating Ukraine 4-0 in the Quarter Finals of the Euros.

On Sunday we do the Nottingham Checkpoint Challenge again because this time they are using a different route. We start at Nottingham Castle and take in checkpoints on the Embankment and Nottingham Racecourse. Originally it was supposed to include Alexandra Park in St Anns but perhaps they decided, like us, that hanging around any park in St Anns is never a good idea.

We head into town afterwards for a socially distanced meal in Le Bistrot Pierre and a few beers in Langtrys.

(Sunday 4^th July)