Force Feeding

I am entered in the Hatton Agility Festival near Warwick today and also in the Mojito Triathlon at Peterborough tomorrow. That is my test event before the big ‘Half Outlaw’ day, which is now only three weeks away.

L is persuaded into supporting at both, so she accompanies me to the dog show, then we will go direct from Warwick to Peterborough and camp overnight on site at Peterborough. I have to register and rack my bike by 6.30am.... so this will make it easier. Oh and then there’s a fairly important playoff game to get back for which is thankfully a 5:15 kick off.

L goes for a run at the show and then I drop her off in Leamington to see Son. MD and I have already cocked up a run by then and go on to mess up a few others later.

We have poles down in everything in the afternoon and a few tunnel refusals. Meaning that our very first run which was messy, slow, madly frustrating and nowhere near as good as it should have been but was clear was our best effort. We get 6^th for it. Gobsmacked. It was also in a qualifier where the top five go to Malvern for the final. This is one we have qualified for before but on this occasion I’m quite pleased to have missed out to avoid the long trek down there.

We drive to Peterborough and camp on the patch of wasteland that they’ve designated as the campsite. Then we go for something to eat in the local pub. L force feeds me Abbot Ale, telling me it’ll help me sleep ahead of my event. Who am I to argue?

(Saturday 10^th May)

Pub Singer

Another bike to work, so I may be crawling at squash tonight but my legs actually feel alright. I feel done in but in a fitter than normal sort of way.

We attempt the pub at lunchtime but the Brunswick’s kitchen is shut for a refurb. Any old excuse to deny us food. The Waterfall, sadly, has no Abbot only the dreaded Doom Bar.

Then in the pub after squash, where they have excellent beer, we end up sitting outside in the cold avoiding their pub singer. We may have to try elsewhere. 

(Thursday 17^th April)

Mischief

Squash is off again, so at least I can bike again. My opponent’s continued absence from squash is excellent news for my training. I could do with squash being off for the rest of the year.

We do a pub lunch but the Brunswick’s chef has gone AWOL again or ‘done herself a mischief’ according to the message on the door. She’s at a job interview I expect. So we end up at the Waterfall instead, consuming two pints of Abbot.

I cycle home and push L out of the door for her run.

(Thursday 3^rd April)

A Bit Gloomy

Something I rarely do is oversleep but today I do, meaning I’m too late to bike or catch the bus. So I drive in and bizarrely arrive far too early because there was no traffic. No idea why.

We go to the Waterfall for our pub lunch solely because the Abbot Ale is on. Allegedly. This isn’t strictly accurate as it doesn’t taste very on. I think it’s back to the Brunswick next time.

I attempt to book tennis for tonight but the online system won’t give us a court because apparently there’s not enough light to play at 7pm any more and all four of the floodlit courts are booked. We vow to go anyway and if they won’t let us pay we’ll have to play for free instead.

They take our money and the light is fine at 7pm but gets a bit gloomy by half past and gloomier still by 7:45. Still we get two long sets in, 6-4 6-4 (pleased with that), which takes us to about 8:10 by which point it could probably be described as dark. We book a floodlit court for next week.

(Thursday 5^th September)

When You’ve Got To Train...

It was a tad windy for cycling this morning and mostly going against me as well. There are also dire predictions of heavy rain later. Oh dear but when you’ve got to train... you’ve got to train.

L’s training is being hit by kit problems. That being sheer quantity of the kit required and she heads off to buy a rucksack. Although her kit bag does require space for unlimited post-training toiletry products. My problem is more the big pile of used kit that I’ve got piled up under my desk, hoping no one notices the aroma. It’s been so long since I took the car to work that I’m going to need a van to get all that home.

A bit of an indifferent pub lunch today. The Abbot Ale was off, so we had to drink Doom Bar, which is not that same at all.

While we are in the pub being Doom Barred the rain arrives. I just hope the wind’s with me come home time.

As I head out of Pride Park and across the footbridge into Chaddesden I find my route blocked by a fallen tree lying in the road and have to go around it via the pavement. I didn’t think it was that windy.

The windy is gusting but not too badly and the rain seems to blow itself out, so the ride home isn’t too horrific. No trees fall on me but I do decide that I’m not going out in that again and I tell the boys that tonight’s park session is off. 

Squash is on a hiatus while my opponent embarks on a house modernisation project. Which apparently means he’s moved. So that was a quick purchase. I knew they were looking at a place that needed a lot of work doing to it but I didn’t expect them to do it themselves.

(Thursday 9^th May)

After Many Years Of Not Doing So...

I bike into work and finally, after many many years of not doing so, I cycle down the A52. This is the main dual carriageway between Derby and Nottingham. It is also a accident and pot hole black spot. However, as so many other cyclists have told me, the last mile or more up to Pride Park is almost totally static at rush hour. Yes I know. I’m often sat in it in the car.

So I give it a go and it cuts five minutes off my journey. L will be horrified but then it was her fault I was running late, so she can’t complain too much.

My latest injury, the recurrence of dodgy calf syndrome, survives the bike. I’m hoping to do a 10k on Sunday but will know better my chances after squash tonight. The pub lunch also helps to dull the discomfort. So now in an Abbot Ale induced haze, I’m all ready for tonight’s game. Bring it on.

I play at 80% effort to protect my calf, although this doesn’t do the score any favours. Then when nothing has snapped by game 4, I manage to increase my effort and win a game. Afterwards I’m well pleased with the workout.

(Thursday 11^th April)