Some Head Start

A Monday at work? What’s that all about then?

It’s also back to a 'usual' sort of Monday, in the car, shopping at lunchtime and training with MD in the evening.

The highlight of the day is the arrival of my race pack for The Great Manchester Run. The instructions for which look well complicated. There are five different start times, ranging from the ‘Orange’ start at 10:34 to the ‘Pink’ start at 12:30. Two hours apart! That’s some head start.



The good news is that I’m in the ‘Orange’ one, the same as a certain Mr Gebrselassie who, they say, is a bit useful over 10k. Well over any distance actually. Hopefully he’ll have an off day.

L hasn’t got her pack yet so I’ve no idea what colour she’s been given. I might even be able to finish in time to see her start.

(Monday 9th May)

No Stops, No Walking And No Urge To Vomit

I get the bus in and will do a long run after work. Probably a last training run before Sunday, depending on how it goes. Talking of Sunday, plenty of people don’t seem to have got their numbers yet, us included.

Some interesting selections in the British squad for the World Track Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands from 23rd March. As expected, no Bradley Wiggins or Geraint Thomas who are back on the road. Also as expected, no Rebecca Romero, the Olympic individual pursuit champion who has been suffering with indecision and then injury. The interesting news is that there’s no Shanaze Reade either, who was outperformed by Jess Varnish in the team sprint in Manchester and no Sarah Storey despite a winning performance in the team pursuit, she’s at the World Track Para-Cycling Championships in Italy instead.

It’s a good run home, well almost home. 10.7 miles from work to Attenborough with no stops, no walking and no urge to vomit. All very encouraging. The only thing that isn’t encouraging is that we haven’t got a race pack yet.

L does her own run and we rendezvous later in a hot bath to compare aching limbs. It’s almost like a Sunday, we even have a curry. The only thing we don’t have is the post-run alcohol. Which we could indulge in... but best not.

(Tuesday 15th March)

Iron Constitution

L has a bit of a disastrous walk with boys this morning. I gave both of them a bit of leftover curry last night, although I was wary about giving Doggo much, as he's a delicate boy, so he only got a teaspoon full. He would normally, prior to us having MD, have refused it full stop but MD’s a bad influence on him.

It was a teaspoon too far. He chucked it up this morning and (naturally) in front of spectators. One of whom took photos on a mobile phone. Which is odd... but anyway. MD’s iron constitution is, of course, fine.

L, good citizen that she is, went back to clean it up. Not many drunks would go back to clean up their own vomit, so I bet the locals were well impressed.

Daughter then gets involved in a bus crash. Thankfully those city buses are pretty much bullet proof, so she’s fine. Not sure about the other vehicles involved though. She was only asking the other day why you would wear a seatbelt on a bus...

So that was some morning... and all before anyone got to their place of work. Oh well, the week can only improve.

Or perhaps not. The Reading Half Marathon website says that race packs should be arriving this week. They’re cutting it a bit fine. Don’t they know how bad our post is? Though I’m not sure how old the message on their website is. The point is we haven’t got ours yet. If it goes to the next street, like a lot of our mail does, we’re stuffed.

Dog training tonight, but not for the one with the dodgy stomach, just for the one with the iron constitution, who’s lungs seem in full working order this evening.

(Monday 14th March)