Faint At The Thought

Monday is a Bank Holiday yet L still has PT and Pilates at David Lloyd. This is so not the council because it isn’t the council. Who would be faint at the thought. I visit my Dad but there is no cycling because that is council but that’s a bit unfair as they do open during the day just not at night. 

Derby lose in League Cup 2nd Round to a late goal 2-1 to Burnley. L misses the excitement on the radio as she is at a bat walk with Daughter and her +1 on Martin’s Pond. 

L runs on Tuesday and Thursday, does a new class at David Lloyd on Wednesday. While I’m at David Lloyd with her on Thursday, using another guest pass, although we get kicked out of the outdoor pool by an aqua aerobics class. 

She has her regular PT on Friday and then a final lunch with her book friend at the all vegan Prickly Pear as it closes down. 

 

Recently my guilty lunchtime pleasure has become the quiz Impossible on TV. Although L is now almost as addicted to it as I am and I often forgo my lunchtime vice so that I can share it with her later. 

On Saturday we are again at Clifton parkrun although I trip over a root and fall. I’m not sure the Lad notices. Later in the Plough I finally get a decent session on their 5.6% IPA which usually runs out the moment I get a sniff of it. 

(Saturday 30^th August) 

Debates

L does a couple of runs and just her regular PT but also a Pilates class and a swim at David Lloyd. As ever I have my cycling. 

On Wednesday L is in Derby first with a couple of friends of hers and then with her Mum. She comes home complaining of two immigration debates in one day. That must have been tough. She does it all again with her Mum on Thursday. 

I have a better night out in Derby with my old school friend. We drink in the Alexandra and then eat in the Exeter. That is apart from the trip over on the bus on the new Red Arrow with their new dodgy app and their dodgy barcode scanners. They let me on eventually. 

On Friday evening I go to the match on my own, as it’s too difficult to get my Dad there for an evening game. Derby draw 1-1 with Bristol City. L meanwhile is at a bird walk with Daughter at Attenborough Nature Reserve. She is still up when I get back which is rarity and a nice treat. We share a few drinks. 

Saturday’s parkrun is at Shipley which has its briefing and its start in different places which means I am able to get on the front row with my excitable dog. Hence we do a decent-ish time of 28 minutes although I was hoping to be a little quicker. I then drop L in Derby and visit my Dad, who I take to the Navigation. Later we have another go at getting to the pub in Stapleford on bus with the Lad. I think he handles it a lot better this. L disagrees. 

On Sunday L and Daughter are back swimming at Colwick while the Lad and I do our walk. 

(Sunday 24^th August) 

Courgettes With Everything

L kicks off retirement with a day of cleaning and washing the net curtains. That’s retirement on speed. 

Fitness wise she starts off the week with a run on Monday and PT at David Lloyds on Tuesday. I have a very tough cycling session as there are just twelve of us in the group. We seem to cycle faster to make up for the missing people.   

Tuesday is her boozy evening Book Club. I again pick her up afterwards but I think this time she’s managed to stop them continually topping her glass up. I listen to Derby beat West Brom on penalties in the League Cup with a reserve side. 

L runs again on Wednesday and comes to us on the park all hot and sweaty. It’s an impressive sight and it’s a shame I’ve got to be on my daily morning work call in half an hour. Luckily Daughter is about to start a stint dog sitting for a friend, so we have the house to ourselves for a whole week. My devious plans fail on Wednesday as my seduction meal of Hake in Roquefort cheese with grilled courgettes clearly doesn’t work. Naturally I blame the courgettes. However, I get Friday nights on both Thursday and Friday. Result. 

L runs again on Thursday and is with her other PT on Friday. Then from another man she heads off to another dog as she’s meeting up with Daughter who is of course on dog sitting duties. 

Saturday’s parkrun is at Clifton where we grab a quick coffee before I head off for an early 12:30 kick off where Derby lose a ridiculous game 5-3 to Coventry. We’re in the Plough later, avoiding the bus to Stapleford after last week's slobbery debacle. 

On Sunday as the lake at Colwick is closed because of an algae scare, L and Daughter swim at Spring Lakes. The Lad and I do a walk around the lake and watch the wake boarding/water skiing which I sort of fancy a go at but I’m sure I’d just keep falling in the water. 

Our evening meal on Sunday is courgettes stuffed with keema curry and yet courgettes keep coming.

(Sunday 17^th August) 

A Tale Of Two PTs

L opens up her fitness week with a free Personal Training session as part of her new David Lloyd membership. She’s also continuing with her usual Personal Trainer, at least for now. That's impressive isn't it. I mean how many people have two PTs? 

The gym at David Lloyd has some WattBikes and she’s got some guest passes if I want to go use one or anything else in the gym. So, I take her up on that offer on Friday. The gym isn’t, surprisingly, as well equipped as the one at JD but it’s well equipped enough for a novice like me. After our gym session I join her in the outdoor pool. Yes, really. I remember how to swim which is lucky because there is no lifeguard. The council would have freaked. 

As well as plenty of gym sessions this week she also does a couple of runs and an outdoor swim on Thursday evening with Daughter and then again on Sunday on her own as Daughter is at work. She always says she’s so unfit but the facts of her exercise schedule say otherwise. 

Oddly all our meals this week come with courgettes, thanks to the abundant supply from our neighbour’s allotment. Who knew that vegetable was so versatile.

Saturday’s Parkrun is a new one at Coronation Park in Swadlincote. It’s all on grit paths, which are narrow in places particularly at the start. It’s also three laps, there’s no pond for the Lad and there’s no cafe. So, it’s not ideal but it’s another tourist one chalked up. We end up at Notsa in Aston for our post-run breakfast where it’s really slow service. 

Afterwards I drop L in Derby where she’s meeting her Mum for lunch. I then head to my Dad’s where I cut the lawns and listen to Derby’s opening game of season at Stoke when they concede twice in injury time to lose 3-1. My Dad and I drown our sorrows in the Harrington. Then in the evening we do the Horse & Jockey on the bus which the Lad isn’t terribly happy about. He ends up laying in a pool of his own slobber in front of a full bus while L glares at me disapprovingly. 

She cheers up massively when she realises they have her favourite Leffe Blonde on draught, albeit the new low strength version that they can now get away with because we’re no longer in the EU. Incidentally the Lad is fine on the bus on the way home, which is almost empty but being driven at high speed as the driver is behind schedule. Perhaps that because he’s too busy holding his breath. The rest of us are.

(Sunday 10^th August)

Well, That’s It

L has quite a running week. 5k on Monday morning, then 3k on both Tuesday and Thursday mornings and of course Parkrun on Saturday. Along with a few gym sessions, three swims indoors and one outdoors at Colwick on Sunday. So fit. 

I have my Monday cycling of course and... well, that’s it apart from Parkrun. 

L treats me to a night out on Tuesday and it’s a book event at Nottingham’s New Library. It’s called ‘Genre Wars: Romance v Crime’ and it’s a bit of a competition over which genre is best. I feel L and I line up on different sides here. 

There are three authors of romantic novels - Cathy Bramley, Milly Johnson and Lucy Diamond who are up against three authors of crime fiction - T.M. Logan, Mark Edwards and K.L. Slater. It’s a bit of a worry that the crime authors hide behind initials and don’t have real names. Are they all criminals?  I wonder but we are allowed to call them Tim and Kim, which is almost as confusing. 

It’s a fun night and I am instantly a fan of Mark Edwards. If I ever pick up another book it ought to be one of his. 

Afterwards L and I pop in the Canalhouse to discuss who won and most of the authors follow us. We are too shy to talk to them of course and sit in the corner like a couple of secret groupies. 

On Wednesday, we go to pick up L’s computer from her office and anything else she'd still got there. 

Towards the end of the week we pick up the Iranian Siege audiobook that we started but have now had quite a long break from. 

On Saturday we Parkrun at Wollaton and then I take my Dad to a pre-season friendly against Atromitos, a Greek side I’ve never heard of. I take him for a beer in the Harrington afterwards before heading back home to meet up with L who has been getting in the third of those indoor swims and of course a gym session before we adjourn to the Plough as usual.

 (Sunday 3^rd August)