London Marathon Rejection Day

The Lad so far has failed to repeat his gate scaling antics of last week. Maybe he landed on his head and he’s learnt his lesson. There’s always a first time.

I manage to bike to work on Tuesday, which given the horrendous traffic was clearly much preferable to driving or being on the bus. I assume something must have happened on the A52.

L meets her parents for lunch, which is apparently cottage pie followed by apple crumble, all off the children's meal at £3.90 each.  No wonder they don't cook much.

I'm dogging in the evening while Daughter takes L on a Fartlek session. Scary. This is despite her dodgy arm which her GP, in a phone call, assures L isn’t infected and says it should go away in a few weeks. Although she's already had the problem for quite a few weeks...

Her boss takes a look at it and says it’s infected. So off she heads to see her GP to get antibiotics.

I’m on the bike again on Wednesday which is also known as London Marathon rejection day. L’s sister gets hers first and she’s probably really relieved. Then Daughter gets hers followed by me. So perhaps L got lucky? Nope, hers follows soon afterwards. A full house then.

My latest beer delivery doesn’t arrive in time for us to drown our sorrows and is listed on the courier's website as damaged in transit, which sounds messy. It’s gone back to the retailer and they’re having to do me a new box.

Taking of beer, we spend Thursday evening at the Nottingham Beer Festival drinking our way through some interesting beers and eating a curry from Mem Saab’s mobile van (which is oddly more expensive than eating in their restaurant). I have a steak and stilton pasty for dessert but L doesn't join me in that.

I manage nearly 11 units while L only manages 6. Someone clearly wasn’t trying.

(Thursday 10^th October)

They Call Him Lazarus

In the morning, rather bizarrely, Doggo is much better. He seems to be walking ok and I even take him for a short morning stroll. The trip to the vet is postponed but we both go to work worried about him. I’m on the bus due to the forecasted 45 mph winds.

I keep my promised pub lunch appointment with my colleague although I don’t feel much like eating. A pint is very welcome though.

L’s boss leaves work early, so she does too and heads home to Doggo at about 2pm. He seems fine as if he's risen like Lazarus. Phew. We’ve both been on edge all day. He seems his normal self again and is even scrounging L’s sandwich, bless him, I hope she slapped him. Then he’s outside playing ball, well barking at it. As we keep saying, we never have understood that dog.

Obviously he’s not getting any younger and his legs are getting worse but I’m guessing he may have spent most of yesterday with them folded under him which then meant he was unable to stand on them. So possibly just cramp.

I take them both dogging and he watches everyone train as usual. 

(Wednesday 22^nd November)

Joint Aid

Yay, on the bike today after a slow morning amble with Doggo where we just do a short loop around the streets to save time.

A couple of things we won’t be doing this year are the Salford swim which appears to have completed disappeared from the Great Swim schedule and also a birthday run in Vienna.

L isn’t back up and running yet and I’m a birthday run in Vienna just wouldn’t be the same if only one of us was running. Personally, I’d rather defer it and do it later in the year. Malmo is September is calling to me.

Instead we could always do a short birthday break somewhere in the UK where we can take the dogs. Although L might make the sign of the cross at that but, then again, she would be ok with it if it was in a nice cosy cottage for the old man’s joints. Doggo's joints that is, not mine.

L is out again tonight, at her book club. She was also out on the razz last night and she says I'm never in. I will have my feet up for most of this week as I have no dogging at all.

(Tuesday 14^th March)

The Training Side Of Everything

Back at work today and back into our routines. e.g. Doggo hoovering up all the deer droppings on his walk and L attempting not to lose MD’s ball on a near dark park. Despite being full of said deer droppings, Doggo does eat a full bowl of breakfast for once. I thought the potatoes and rice I put on top might persuade him to make the effort.

L spends part of her day moving her office furniture around in lieu of some new stuff arriving tomorrow which sounds like an excellent workout. I do like to see the training side of everything, I just hope her dodgy back is holding up.

Later at dog training all the sessions are running twenty minutes late because those in the first class at 7pm, who get the equipment out, couldn’t get everything set up very quickly because there were no men there to do the heavy lifting, just seven women. How sexist is that?

When I arrive later I propose to them that as we don't have many men in the club we should offer half price membership to men to encourage more of them to join. That didn't go down well and would apparently be sexist.

Then it’s to the Masons where I meet L and Brian. Brian is a new beer from Black Sheep.

(Tuesday 3^rd January)

Iron And Vitamins

L advises the bus on the basis that she thinks I’m still ill. I don’t actually feel like cycling so I play along. Perhaps I’m still a little bit ill.

L asks for my Christmas list, which I provide but it is very brief. Apparently Son’s is only two items so I feel in good company. I just hope he’s not trying the 'money for driving lessons' line again for the fourth year in a row. We've seen through that one.

L is mortified when she realises that she hasn’t included a race entry on her list but I have saved the day by including something much better e.g. the starter sessions at the Velodrome, that I'm surprised she's left off. I’ve added them to Daughter’s list as well.

I think I can now claim a full recovery as I’ve been to the pub and had sausage 'n' mash for lunch. They also had a milk stout on, which is supposed to be full of iron and vitamins, so I felt it was sensible to have some of that as well.

That should also fortify me for tonight’s dogging but first I get our tired old tree out of the loft and put it up. L didn’t seem that bothered if we had a tree this year or not but Doggo insisted. We’d all miss it if he didn’t have a tree to pull down with his tail. 

(Wednesday 7^th December)

Tips For Improvements

On the bike again today, only in drier conditions, and then lunchtime is spent in the Brunswick.

It’s dogging in the evening and then on to the Masons to meet L where tonight’s exciting guest beer is Harvest Pale. Ugh. I think I’ll go with the Bass this week.

It’s always late when I arrive at the pub, around 10:45, but I’m extra late this evening as the A516 is blocked by an accident so I have to do a long detour onto the A38 to get around it. Thankfully the pub is still open when I get there, just.

My trainer films MD’s training runs tonight, I assumed because she was impressed by them but that is not quite the case. She emails me the films along with some tips for improvements. 

(Wednesday 23^rd November)

Old Man Bike Trouble

Winter seems to be over or a least on hold because Spring seems has to have arrived. It’s really warm today on the bike and I am wearing far too much.

I have old man bike trouble on the way home. That’s the old man on the other bike that slipstreams me before returning the favour. When I again take my turn at the front, he only puts up with my laughable pace for a short while before overtaking me again and disappearing into the distance, laughing manically as he goes.

It's dogging tonight and then a pint with L in Masons where the guest beer is now Harvest Pale. What happened to the Ghost Ship after only one week? Ugh, Bass please.

(Tuesday 15^th November)