Dog On Fire

I do another long run on Friday and go a bit further, all the way to Chilwell Retail Park which totals 16.7km. L and the boys again rendezvous with me at Hillside.

I am home in time for Derby v Leeds on Sky TV. It took me a while to decide whether the game was worth paying a day’s money to Sky or not. It probably isn’t but at least I can see what my Leeds supporting friend is whinging about in his texts. He doesn’t whinge much as Leeds win 2-0 and look scarily good.

On Saturday I have a dog show at Newark, I'm basically checking that the place is all in order for our own show in two weeks time. MD has five runs and starts well with a pretty flawless run in the Helter Skelter and comes 4^th. He is a bit rubbish after that but oddly we also pick up a 3^rd place with a fistful of faults basically because everyone was more rubbish that us.

The Lad meanwhile simply explodes with excitement the minute he was allowed to get out of the car. I had to douse him with a fire extinguisher once he actually got inside the arena. I probably need to start doing more shows again to get him used to the environment.

There was the possibility of a few pints this evening to celebrate my friend’s birthday but he’s basically had to cancel his birthday as it seems that practically everybody is doing Dry January this year and his attempts to organise something has been met with howls of ‘can’t you move it to February’.

Even our lunchtime pizza sessions at work are on hold while my colleague takes a 'break'. I just hope the pubs can get through the month without going under.

The bonus is that I get a night in with L. Which is spent working on our core, as all runners should, ahead of Sunday’s Draycote Water 10k and very nice core work it is too. These nights in started off with the format of sharing a bottle of red, then it became a bottle of Leffe and now she’s taken me over to the dark side that is sharing a few bottles of Manns Brown Ale. Only 2.8% but if you can’t beat them, you might as well join them, in moderation of course.

(Saturday 12^th January)

We Have A Winner

Back at work and on the bike, riding still on my old pedals. The boys and I have scheduled changing to my Christmas pedals for this evening. I’m sure the Lad will be fascinated and very helpful... L gets well out of the way and goes over to visit her folks.

We have discovered that the Lad doesn’t like oranges. I suppose there had to be something. In fact in the photo that L took after she retrieved the stolen orange off him he looks petrified of them. Either that or it’s L’s telling off that’s scared him.

On Thursday, I’m on the bus and due to the light traffic I'm on time for work for once. There’s no squash this week because it’s Race Three of 5k Winter Series but also apparently not next week either as he says he went on the scales this morning and didn’t like what he saw. He should have spent all Christmas running like we did.

That Christmas running must have paid off as I’m quicker again, clocking 21:53 and that was without a dog. L is quick too, so quick in fact that she wins her age category. We don’t find this out until later though and leave before the presentation. Her friend has picked up the bottle of cheap plonk on L’s behalf. I don’t reckon we’ll be leaving the next one early.

I do even more running on Friday. I run from work to the centre of Long Eaton a distance of 14.5km and then get the bus the rest of the way. I meet L at Hillside where she’s been walking the boys round the University.

(Friday 4^th January)