My Purpose In Life

Bus again. This time it’s because I'm planning a seriously competitive and seriously sweaty Watt Bike session up against all the other seriously competitive and seriously sweaty boys and girls. Nobody is taking any prisoners tonight.

L says she’s still not changed her mind and still fancies both Leeds and Sheffield. Oh dear, this won’t do. Isn’t it my purpose in life to drag her screaming to these things? Then again, no doubt, come the day, they’ll be some dragging and some screaming.

 

So I take the joint plunge and buy us both a half marathon ‘season ticket’ for Leeds and Sheffield. Sheffield is the 10th April, only two weeks after Cardiff, only a week after skiing. That’s going to hurt. 

(Wednesday 17^th February)

Infestation

L’s Ironwoman friend says she can see that L has an Ironman in her. L fell about laughing at that comment but once she’s got that Vitruvian under her belt in 2017, who knows...

Meanwhile her lowly half-ironman other half heads off for a 'small' watt bike session. Only small because I have a race on Sunday you know. I have to fight my way through a sea of mortar boards to get there, there’s been a right infestation of them across Pride Park all week. They’ve been holding the Graduation Ceremonies inside the velodrome.

Which is so not the place for it. Inside graduation frocks and sweaty gym kit mingle uneasily together. Not a great combo. I tried my hardest not to drip on anyone but unfortunately I think I inadvertently photobombed several once in a lifetime souvenir photos.

(Friday 15^th January)

Minuscule

My legs ache terribly after that minuscule gym session yesterday. Clearly my doctor is right, I’m so unfit.

Dogging is off tonight due to wet ground but it was probably too windy anyway. All the equipment would have blown over. Instead I take the boys with me for a swim. 

As I arrive a very sweaty L is just emerging from the gym. I send her back in again, to get even sweatier. You can’t have too much of a good thing. I tell her I’ll be half an hour.

I try out my new, just bought, pool watch. The idea is the watch will count my lengths for me because I’m incapable of doing so. It takes all my concentration simply to swim. The watch seems to do the job well although I do make the mistake of wearing the band with my locker key on it on the same arm and this changes the watch mode, stopping the lap counter. A mere teething problem I hope but I still don’t know exactly how many lengths I’m doing. The watch says it was at least 38 though.

(Monday 6^th January)

We've Been Around

Four days in a row on the bike and a dodgy thigh for my troubles but at least the calf is fine.

Shock number one. L enters the Great Nottinghamshire Bike Ride. She says she’d rather do that the Grimsthorpe Half Marathon that is on the same day. Hang on, rewind. She’d rather do the cycle... did I hear that right? I best get her bike serviced then.

Shock number two. British Gas ring and say they’re coming tomorrow, to fit the long promised filter. Result. A result for perseverance after taking the intransigent position of demanding a Saturday appointment after they'd already wasted two days of L’s time this year.

Of course there's no guarantee that it will happen, we’ll believe it when we see it. Their record isn’t good and if they do turn up, will they bring the part? Well, they’ve got less than twenty four hours to lose it.

For our cosy Friday night in, I turn up sweaty from my cycle while L turns up sweaty from her run and we put the delightful Rammstein on the TV whilst I cook. Romance eh? I tell L to shout me if anything bursts into flames. That’s on the TV, not on the stove.

Then we dig out some old photos and reminisce on past skiing holidays, going back first to 1999, when we were all a touch younger. Daughter was just five! It’s an interesting reminiscence night over a bottle of wine. Although it should probably have been over a wheat beer and a Jagertee.

‘We've been around’ L says. Quite.

(Friday 23rd March)