Seize The Initiative

L starts her (latest/updated/improved - delete as applicable) fitness regime this morning with a powerful (her words) swim and presumably she’ll top that with a powerful run tonight. That is, after she’s finished taking training tips from the resident Ironman(woman) where she now works. I wonder if she’s been talked into anything exciting...

Just in case she hasn't, I seize the initiative and the enthusiasm, offering her the Nottingham Life Cycle Sportive on Sunday 23rd August. It starts from Nottingham Uni and will be good training for the Vitruvian 70.3 I'm doing the week after and there’s £5 off if I enter this week. I enter the 50 mile, L will do the 25 mile.

I have another track session tonight, where I must try not fall off. Of the sixteen people on the session, it turns out that seven are redoing level 2 just for the practice. This hugely intimidates the other nine who aren’t. The presence of a photographer (my Dad) snapping away taking photos probably didn't help either.

It’s a very good session and a full one because nobody fell off this time, not even me. Then I rush home, grab the dogs and head straight to dog training where I am only ten minutes late.

(Monday 6^th July)

Military Operation

I park at my parents place and run the five miles to work from there. I’ll do the same tonight in reverse prior to the football match.

The run wasn’t too bad, hard but not bad, ‘sobbing’ or rather grinding my teeth along to Em and Dex at the same time. Yep, I’ve decided to read (well listen) to a spot of popular fiction in the form of David Nicholls’ massively hyped ‘One Day’. I have 40 minutes left to listen to, so I will finish it tonight. I didn’t like the book at first but it’s grown on me. I may even review it when I’ve finished it.

At least parking the car five miles away and somewhere where it would take a military operation to get a bus to makes we summon up the enthusiasm to run back to it. Which means I don’t have the 'shall I, shan’t' I debate with myself that L is having tonight concerning her run.

The match, oddly, yields Derby’s best performance for at least eighteen months. They are all over Barnsley like a rash, although Barnsley themselves contribute to what is, for once, a quality game of football. Rather annoyingly this excellent performance yields only a 1-1 draw and that was only thanks to being awarded a slightly dubious penalty, whereas when we play just averagely, as on Saturday, we win 3-0. Football eh?

(Tuesday 27th September)