A Completely Different Animal

With yesterday being a bank holiday and therefore the Leisure Centre being shut, my Monday 50m swim becomes the Tuesday 50m swim but it’s a completely different animal.

Monday morning is the only morning when they open three lanes, the rest of the week it's just two. So it is either a case of playing follow my leader in the nose to tail congestion that is lane one or to mix it with the big boys and girls in lane two. Naturally I chose the latter and am therefore exhausted afterwards. I also swam for an extra ten minutes but due to the lightness of the traffic I am still in work for 8.15.

Theresa May calls a press conference and we all assume she’s going to resign but no, she calls a ‘snap’ election. What joy.

At dogging in the evening we initiate a new recruit who also turns out to be a marathon runner and a triathlete. We don’t get too many of those in the club. She also trying to outdo me already and has a sportive this weekend with an open water tri also booked. She’s also swam Windermere. Great North Swim? I ask. No, ten miles, end to end. Gulp. I nearly mentioned my upcoming half arsed before I realised this person was well capable of doing a full arsed in their sleep. So kept stumm.

No L tonight, so no pub and no Wainwrights.

(Tuesday 18^th April)

Strawberries And Cream

Second day at the dog show and again ridiculously high start numbers meaning all three of our individual runs and our team run are likely to fall this afternoon, probably en bloc just after lunch.

L meanwhile heads off to meet Daughter on neutral ground in Sheffield.

I manage to ease our run congestion by blagging my way early into two of the individual runs. Again, like yesterday, one is clear and one is an elimination. Again like yesterday due to the massive entry we are unlikely to get a rosette for the clear round.

The team competition is a big success. Eight of our sixteen dogs go clear and only one is eliminated. Team one comes 5^th, team two 9^th and team three 12^th. MD is in team two and is one of the three dogs who go clear in that team, sadly the fourth does not.

After all that excitement and after a sweltering day in the sun for both of us I think MD is simply exhausted by the time he does his final run of the day. He does all the difficult bits fine but then appears to flake out before the final three jumps and goes under one of them.

In the evening we head out for liquid refreshment but again we arrive at the wrong time for the i4 bus. So we abort the planned trip to Stapleford and cross the road to get a city bus to Caning Circus instead. We have a night in the Borlase with Lincoln Green Strawberries and Cream (a beer) but more importantly Quarterstaff, number 64.

(Sunday 17^th July)

Wrong Transport Choice

L runs with MD again. She says she intends to build him up gently, minute by minute, until they can do about 15 minutes. I think she’s just trying to get out of throwing that ball.

There was a bit of rain about when they went for their run which lead to me making the wrong transport choice. After two horrible congested days in the car, I take the bus rather than cycle. The bus driver also makes a wrong transport choice and in an attempt to navigate his way around the queues makes me half an hour late for work. The irony is that I walk in from the bus station in bright sunshine, perfect cycling weather.

Tonight I head off to an unplanned dog training session with my club mainly because I have arranged for a few potential new members to have taster sessions tonight. MD is again, close to brilliant.

(Wednesday 24^th September)